Never have I considered myself an entrepreneur. It’s a privilege associated with famous business operators like Steve Jobs or Elon Musk. But when I read today the “About Us” section of Mr. Sam Barber Shop on the internet I was instantly smitten with interest. It’s the newest business in Town and something tells me it’s the beginning of a marvellous adventure. Almonte is curiously known for its successful and singular businesses, enterprisers who attract those seeking quality in a rural environment.

Sam

Sam has been a successful hairstylist and barber for more than 15 years serving both female and male clients. He has always enjoyed hairstyling and we are confident you will be pleased with the services you will get.

Sam has finally achieved his lifetime dream of opening his own salon.

Mr. Sam Barber Shop Inc.

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The Rive Gauche (Left Bank) is the southern bank of the river Seine in Paris. Here the river flows roughly westward, cutting the city in two: when facing downstream, the southern bank is to the left, and the northern bank (or Rive Droite) is to the right.

“Rive Gauche” or “Left Bank” generally refers to the Paris of an earlier era: the Paris of artists, writers, and philosophers, including Colette, Margaret Anderson, Djuna Barnes, Natalie Barney, Sylvia Beach, Erik Satie, Kay Boyle, Bryher, Caresse Crosby, Nancy Cunard, Hilda Doolittle (H.D.), Janet Flanner, Jane Heap, Maria Jolas, Mina Loy, Henry Miller, Adrienne Monnier, Anaïs Nin, Jean Rhys, Gertrude Stein, Alice B. Toklas, Renee Vivien, Edith Wharton, Pablo Picasso, Arthur Rimbaud, Paul Verlaine, Henri Matisse, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Baldwin, and dozens of other members of the great artistic community at Montparnasse. The phrase implies a sense of bohemianism, counterculture, and creativity. Some of its famous streets are the Boulevard Saint-Germain, the Boulevard Saint-Michel, the rue Bonaparte, and the Rue de Rennes.

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What better preoccupation on a drizzling Sunday afternoon than to square oneself! The ordination of life  – putting it in order – affords its own elevation not entirely dissimilar from the process by which individuals are consecrated in various religious rites and ceremonies. The object is perhaps not as dynamic as an understanding of ethics, spirituality and humanity but it legitimizes one’s life by strengthening the fibres that insinuate our being. Clearly while there is a metaphysical world of untold dimension there is also an inescapably blunt but equally wholesome foundation beneath us all. Straightening the corners, overlooking the trifling debris and dust gives a bigger picture, one which clarifies and expounds.

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Steel-cut oats are oat groats that have been sliced into smaller pieces, whereas old-fashioned oats are oat groats that have been flattened. They all contain the same pieces and parts, but the difference between slicing and flattening explains why steel-cut oats take longer to cook (around 30 minutes).

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Much to my surprise yesterday I heard myself say to someone whom I have only just met that I recognized her good breeding – an abrupt compliment to a young woman made all the more astonishing by the fact that it subsequently arose from a brief enquiry into her ancestry that I was perfectly correct in my initial summation! It was a two-fold reward: one, that people of good breeding do in fact exist; and, two, that the breeding itself was so palpable – as pleasant as the aroma from a fresh rose, as gentle as the offered hand of a charming new acquaintance, as stimulating as a conversation with a learned person.  I think that pretty well covers all the relevant odoriferous, tactile and intellectual sensibilities. No doubt there are far more acute methods of determining someone’s breeding but I consider the talent akin to identifying the magnificence of a Steinway grand piano upon completion of the first movement; viz., as plain as daylight.

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After an unsettling time – whether a succession of small annoyances or an event of material disruption – a day devoted to precision and alignment, clarification and assessment is a welcome abstraction.  Today is for me such a day.  The weather is by common standards currently unfavourable – drizzle and a moderate wind from the south – but the afternoon forecast is for sunshine and a high of 19°C which translates to good biking weather which will hopefully enable me to fulfill my daily ambition for purgative exercise. The overall aim of an agenda such as this is the cathartic effect, ridding oneself of unwanted feelings or memories.

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I knew when I heard the clang of the grandfather clock at 1:00 am this morning I wasn’t likely to go back to sleep.  Normally I would just have stayed in bed, tossing about for perhaps the next hour or so before finally having relented and slept.  But today I had things on my mind. Late yesterday afternoon when I returned from grocery shopping I was asked, rather sharply I thought, why I buy so much at once.  The grocery bill was only about $76 so I did not see that as the basis of the complaint.  Nor did I imagine it mattered that I had bought 4 apples, 1 celery stalk, 2 English cucumbers, 2 green peppers, a bag of lemons, 2 packages of Black Forest ham and 2 bags of frozen jumbo shrimp.  What did however seem to be the root of the cool enquiry was the three bags of steel cut oats (2 of which were gluten free) – particularly since there were two others in the cupboard, one of which was already open.

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reckoning
noun

1 by the judge’s reckoning, this comes to close on $2 million: calculation, estimation, computation, working out, summation, counting; addition, total, tally, score.

2 by her reckoning, it was high time her luck changed: opinion, view, judgement, evaluation, way of thinking, estimate, estimation, appraisal, consideration.

3 the terrible reckoning that he deserved: retribution, fate, doom, nemesis, judgement, punishment, what is coming to someone.

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Deck furniture has not normally been of much amusement to me.  The one time I undertook the subject seriously it proved to be far more than I had anticipated in either cost or production.  To my horror the fine print included “some assembly required” which was an understatement! Thankfully all ended well – after considerable recalculation and waiting – and I recall vividly with delight the three or four times we actually used the furniture.  Yet on balance outdoor furniture is not something to which I aspire.  My outdoor activity is limited to cycling, whether in Canada or along the Atlantic Ocean.  Mine is a modest existence. In such circumstance I never carry a chair with me. I am not a gardener or a landscaper; and, when it comes time in the late afternoon for “two-fingers” in the crystal tumbler, I’m content to remain indoors, away from the flies, listening to my music and reading Jane Austen, regarding the shrubbery and blossoms from a distance.

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While bicycling – as is my wont – into the depths of St. George Street this morning (a modest deviation intended to prolong the outing) I noticed on more than one lawn an assembly of miniature bicycles and toy cars, things for children to ride about upon. They all had pedals so the propulsion would afford the cyclist or driver a moderate level of exercise. The real advantage naturally was the fun of doing so.  It is this lasting element of vehicular conveyance which captivates me to this day. The once youthful urge for mechanical movement has grown into a full-fledged passion for driving.

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