Debbie Ristimaki

Listen to what the sun dogs say this winter

According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, “sundogs appear when sunlight passes through a thin veil of ice crystal clouds (usually cirrus or cirrostratus) and the ice acts a prism, refracting the light.” They most commonly appear in winter.

There’s more than one way to buy wine

There is a part of me that understands the measures that Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries put in place at Liquor Mart stores in order to deter thefts and attacks on its employees. I am keenly aware how costs are passed on to the consumer and, as someone who has experienced a number of holdups working for a financial institution, I also understand the impact of such violence on the employees.

Never too late to address mental health

Every year, when the Bell Let’s Talk campaign launches, I have done my part to help raise funds for Bell Canada’s mental health initiative on Let’s Talk Day (which was Jan. 26 this year). I add a frame to my Facebook profile, I share posts, I retweet messages.

Get involved this municipal election

There is still plenty of time to get to know those running in the next municipal election, slated for Oct. 26.

Letting bird photos tell our stories

Nature, and birds in particular, tell the story of where we live, according to South Pointe’s Brock Gunter-Smith. A self-taught photographer, Brock has succeeded in capturing everything from muskrats to deer and coots — which he feels “have the ugliest babies, known as cooties” — even an osprey that had just caught its dinner. Did you know there are fish in our neighbourhood lakes?

As much as he takes it all in, Gunter-Smith admits to being partial to what he calls, the “mysterious birds” such as owls and cormorants.

“They make me wonder ‘Where do they go?’” he says.

There is no shortage of birds and wildlife to capture in his own backyard but he is also known for exploring the area with camera in hand. He is surprised by how many people will stop and talk to him about the birds. Other spots he can be found include FortWhyte Alive, the English Garden at Assiniboine Park and Oak Hammock Marsh, which is known as a birding hotspot. All his experiences have him now thinking of putting a book together.

Late snowfall puts cycling on hold — for now

April at last! The snow was fast disappearing, leaving the evidence of winter’s passing in the form of sand and grit everywhere. The birds were happy and even the geese and gulls were back in abundance.

Best of all, the trails of Bridgwater were clear, albeit wet, from the melting snow which meant that it was time to get the bicycles out.

We decided to purchase new bikes this year and had been looking forward to breaking them in and exploring the trails after what had felt like a long, cold and brutal winter.

Did you know that there are approximately 30 kilometres of trails in Bridgwater, with five kilometres in Forest alone? Combine that with the trails in nearby Prairie Pointe and South Pointe and there is no shortage of biking options.

Getting used to the ‘new normal’

I know that life has to return to some sort of normalcy because we all know that the last two years have been far from normal. Our lives have been disrupted on many levels. From how and where we work to how and where we play.

I have spent the better part of the last two years working from home, rarely going into the office. My laptop is my lifeline. It is how I work, connect with my colleagues and meet others. It is my phone, my meeting place and my workplace. All this to say, my laptop and I are practically attached at the hip. No, let me rephrase that, we are attached at the hip — there is no maybe about it.

The funny thing is that prior to March 2020, I could often be heard saying that I would like to work from home. There is a lesson in there — you have to be careful what you wish for!

We were in Mexico just as the world was closing down and have not travelled since. A trip out to the Half Moon Drive In in Lockport does not count.

What do you call various types of snow?

Snow is definitely a ‘hot’ topic this winter and one I could certainly rant about — but I won’t. Instead, I have opted to take another direction.

Have you ever wondered how many words and terms for snow there are in the English language?

Well, my vocabulary includes a few and, admittedly, a few I cannot print.

Let’s see, there is ‘snowball snow’ which is wet and easily moulded into a ball that holds its shape — perfect for launching at your arch nemesis. It can also be called ‘snowman snow’ as it is relatively easy to roll.

I’ve tried be (mostly) nice this year…

Dear Santa,

I know that you keep naughty and nice lists and I have no doubt that there would be many a name on both.  

I am not sure that I should admit this and if you ever repeat it, I will deny it — but, every now and then, I might have made a brief appearance on the naughty list. That said, when push came to shove, I have, for the most part, been good.

So, yes Santa, I am trying to make a case to ensure that I am on the right list when the big day rolls around. It has been a difficult year — filled with challenges of all sorts.  I have been jabbed, not once but twice.  I wear a mask and social distancing is now ingrained in my psyche.

A reminder to be kind to yourself and others

Sat., Nov. 13 is World Kindness Day. Many would agree when I say that the world can do with a little more kindness but, for that to happen, we all have roles to play.

Be kind to others

Perhaps I am old fashioned but I am a firm believer in ‘please’ and ‘thank-you’. It says that you recognize that you are asking someone to do or maybe even not do something. It says that you appreciate their effort. And, most of all, it says that you respect and value them.

Funny enough, it does not take much to make this happen. Two simple words and yet it often feels like politeness is becoming a lost art.

Looks as the future will be in good hands

I recently had an opportunity to sit down with a future voter to talk politics - not so much about the parties and their respective candidates - but his passion for politics, what drives it, andabout  the importance of voting.

Matthew Sévigny is a 16-year-old Grade 11 student at Vincent Massey Collegiate with strong opinions gained from living in five different provinces.

He sees that experience as having given him “a vast diversification of views from the Maritimes to the very different politics of Quebec, Ontario and the conservative ones of Alberta.”  

He is fascinated to see how, in his words, “the thought process varies from region to region within the same country.”

Fill your drawers with the sharpest knives

Everyone has a story and this one is about Bret Gordon and how a crazy idea turned into a thriving business called Wood Forge Sharpening.

Three years into his chosen career in environmental design, Bret was sidelined with a repetitive motion injury in 2018 which meant that he could no longer continue. Wood Forge Sharpening emerged in 2019 as Bret reinvented himself by leveraging a completely different set of skills.

“I would do the work by hand, if I could,” Bret said.

Unfortunately, that was no longer an option, and a Tormek machine, which requires very little pressure, has become his primary work tool and blade sharpener of choice.

‘Outhousing’ across the country

What do a three-legged black bear and an outhouse have in common?  The answer might surprise you.

A little over two weeks clear of my second vaccine, I packed up my car and was Montreal-bound to pick up my mom and her cat Rosie, who were moving here to Winnipeg.  

Admittedly, I was concerned about travelling in these strange times given that I was driving alone and unsure of what I would encounter in terms of facilities and accommodations. My concerns proved to be unfounded.

Enter the outhouse.  

Better signs installed in Bridgwater

My first column of 2021 was about my wish list for the neighbourhood, which touched on speed, road safety and road design.

What didn’t make it to paper, but no less important, was the fact that I also felt that the city needed to take a serious look at the intersections of North Town Road and Kenaston Boulevard - I use the plural because Kenaston is split into north- and southbound lanes by Bridgwater Centre.

At issue is the high number of drivers who turn the wrong way on to Kenaston, either heading north on the southbound side or vice versa, heading south on the northbound. Over the years, I have lost count of the number of times I have witnessed it first-hand and I know that I am not alone in that experience.

The design at Kenaston and South Town Road and Kenaston and Bison Drive is similar, but I cannot say if and how often the situation occurs at those points.

Spring is for the birds

I know that there are those who would disagree with me but I think that we are privileged to live within such close proximity to nature.  There is no shortage of parks and green spaces in Winnipeg where there is an abundance of wildlife.

White-tailed deer and birds definitely top the list.

Deer can be found in parks and neighbourhoods across the city, including Bridgwater Forest. Outside of rutting season, they are relatively docile when you maintain your distance.

They also happen to be quite photogenic and I have been lucky enough to capture a few good photos. If you are like me and enjoy exploring with a camera in hand, there is a Facebook group - Manitoba Bird and Wildlife Photography - where members share their wildlife photos and where they were taken.  I have discovered some new areas to explore thanks to them.

Facebook memories are made of this…

If you’re on Facebook, you’d be familiar with the ‘memories’ in the form of photos and posts that periodically pop up in your feed. I am not sure how it works behind the scenes, as there appears to be no rhyme nor reason to me but, for the most part, they bring you back to what was, hopefully, a happy moment in time.

The latest memory in my feed was a pleasant reminder of our January 2020 vacation in Mexico. In it, I had commented on both our breakfast churros and evening margaritas, the colour of the ocean and its waves and that, on Day 1 alone, we met vacationers from Chicago, Vancouver, and England. It was wonderful.

While the pop-up did what was intended by evoking a variety of thoughts and emotions, it also served as a stark reminder of what was and what is.

Fast forward to January 2021. What is.

Code red doesn’t mean there’s nothing to do

It was 6:30 p.m. on a Monday night and I was exhausted. My column was due and all that I could do was look at an empty page. Instead of trying to force words on to the page, I opted to give in and head off to bed.

As I laid down, there were no visions of sugar plum fairies dancing in my head.  There were no flashes of beaches or infinity pools. There was only life under code red.

Sure, this new state of pandemic response level means that restrictions have been placed on day-to-day life but there is so much more to life than shopping, going to the movies and dining out. We are surrounded by life and there is nothing stopping us from embracing it to its fullest.

With that in mind, here are my top five ways to embrace the life around us.

A useful message in these times

Be local, be kind, be clean and be brazen.

Sound familiar? 

Perhaps that’s because you have seen the intriguing sign in front of Brazen Hall Kitchen and Brewery on Pembina Highway. Sure it may be a plug for the establishment but it’s also a simple and yet powerful message. It’s a good reminder of how we should be holding out as we live through the COVID-19 experience.

Why do we need a reminder?