In the butcher shop
Late one fall, near the end of the moose hunting season, I was at a local butcher shop, when “Harrry” came in. The conversation went something like this: Butcher: “Well, Joy, B’y, how did you make out with your hunt?”. Harry: “Well, me son, I got luck early dis mornin’. I got me a lovely…
Christmas Character
When I was teaching in Northern BC in 1969, in December, I asked the grade 5 class to draw a Christmas picture. One boy drew his version of the Nativity Scene, but in the corner he had drawn what looked like a snowman. I said: “Ernie, I don’t remember the Bible talking about a snowman…
Identity Crisis
A few years ago, before automation, I was standing in line at the West Jet check-in counter when a man in a 3-piece suit, carrying a brief case, went to the front of the line and demanded: “I need to get on this flight now. Will you help me?”. The attendant said: “I am sorry…
Brief Anniversary
The other day, while at Tim Horton’s. I heard a couple of older men talking. One was talking about the anniversary celebrations he and his wife had just celebrated. The other man asked how long they had been married, The reply was: “This was our 62nd Anniversary”. The astounded gentleman replied: “Well, that didn’t take…
Got Your Goat
When I was a boy in rural Newfoundland, goats roamed freely, and most people had their vegetable gardens fenced in, to keep the goats out. Also, most goats wore a triangular “yoke” to prevent them from getting through any gaps in the fencing. One day, a car from “away” was going through our town,…
Spellin swiles
In Northern Newfoundland, the term used for ‘seal’ is (or used to be) ‘swile’. And, to carry an armful of wood from the woodshed to the kitchen stove, was to ‘spell’, as in “Go spell in some wood for me, will ya?” In my teaching days, the female teacher in my school shard this incident:…