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Fence Posts

Who You Gonna Call?

Mar 31, 2021 | Dan Needles

A country house has a lot of moving parts that can stop moving at any moment.

No Cause for Alarm

Nov 24, 2020 | Dan Needles

Given the choice between a Rolex watch and a 1948 Champion root pulper that weighs 500 pounds and needs sharpening, the burglar is more likely to take the watch.

When The Spirit Moves

Sep 18, 2020 | Dan Needles

I often tell my writing students that they are unlikely to get better at writing, but it is possible to get better at not writing.

Trying to be More Like Dexter

Jun 25, 2020 | Dan Needles

Dexter wants us to believe he keeps us safe from coyotes, but this is a harmless fiction. The truth is he craves news and gossip as much as any of us.

A Halfway Henhouse

Mar 24, 2020 | Dan Needles

Chicken police from the provincial marketing board patrol the neighbourhood in big black Escalades.

A One-Horse Open Sleigh

Nov 22, 2019 | Dan Needles

In the haymow I found a red sleigh built by the McLaughlin Carriage Company about 1910, and I took it home to my own haymow 30 miles north where it sat forgotten for another 27 years.

Keeping the Mind Free of Reptiles

Sep 16, 2019 | Dan Needles

Science now agrees that changing your mind actually improves brain health.

Retirement Advice for the Self-employed Landowner

Jun 20, 2019 | Dan Needles

Age 65 came and went without a gold watch or a cake, or any of those earnest speeches assuring me how much I would be missed.

Champlain Slept Here

Mar 19, 2019 | Dan Needles

There was something totally manic about Champlain. He crossed the Atlantic some 27 times without losing a shipmate.

Finding Traction on the Backroads

Nov 20, 2018 | Dan Needles

You made up your mind between one or the other when you turned 16 and you drove that make for the rest of your life. If you drove a Toyota into town, as I did, you would be watched …

The View from the Top

Sep 18, 2018 | Dan Needles

People seldom bother you when you are up 20 feet painting an eavestrough, just as they don’t come near you when you are beekeeping or forking steamy piles of manure.

Varmints at the Gate

Jun 19, 2018 | Dan Needles

Coyotes are like hotel burglars. They won’t force a lock, but if a door is left open, they will slip in and strip the place to the walls.