Skip to main content

The Best Kept Secret

  When I was first hired by CKVR-TV as an anchor and reporter back in 1993, I was living in a small apartment in Richmond Hill.

I was happy to commute back and forth in my little Honda Civic, up and down Highway 400.

There was no way I was moving up to Barrie.

That was farm country.

Where the rubes lived.

It even had a Co-op store, where country bumpkins bought their farm feed and supplies.

The only culture that city had was agriculture.

Imagine!

I was better than that!

I had been born and raised in the thriving metropolis of Oakville, then we moved to Brampton when I was a teenager.  

I even lived in Montreal for several years while in my roaring twenties, for goodness sake!  La creme de la creme of culture and sophistication!

Well, after three long years of driving up and down that Highway 400, surviving snow storms and other harrowing highway experiences, I succumbed.

In 1996, I moved up.

Literally and figuratively.

And I have, since then, eaten a lot of crow.

A lot.

And I have never looked back.

And I would never move back.

Anything south of Highway 89 is too crowded.

Claustrophobic, even.

In my 17 years working at the TV station, covering stories that took me from Muskoka to Markham, from Lindsay to Orangeville, I had the privilege of travelling throughout the best keep secret in North America, in my opinion.

The sweeping vistas and scenery, the peaceful serenity, the glorious fall colours, the sparkling blue waters, the magnificent rock cuts, the clean, fresh air, all of it.

And I now get to call it home.

Today, whether I am travelling through Oro-Medonte, or Springwater, or Essa, or Tiny or Tay Townships, I am gobsmacked by the beauty.

Everywhere you look, it's picture postcard perfect!

A scene worthy of a painting.

And that Co-op store?

I happily frequent it regularly - to buy treats for my horse.

Yes, I was able to fulfill a childhood dream of having a horse after moving to this area.

And I am happy to call myself a rube - happy to be a part of this breathtaking region in Central Ontario.

Happy to have moved "up" in the world.

Literally and figuratively.


Popular posts from this blog

The Bird

 He fell out of the sky one day last summer, landing at the horse barn. A tiny, bright coloured green, yellow and blue budgie. He was caught and put in a pretty cage in the tack room. And there he stayed. For days. Weeks. Months. A tiny room with a closed door so the barn cat couldn't get in. A cage with only two perches, a water dish and a seed dish. The thought was that his owner would want him back. But despite repeated and numerous attempts to find an owner, none ever showed up to claim him. Perhaps he had escaped through an open window somewhere. Perhaps he was set free intentionally. They can be noisy. I brought him a few seed sticks, where he would get some enrichment having to chew away to get to those tasty treats. I brought him a couple of hanging toys, so he would have something to do and wouldn't be lonely. And then, November came. It turned cold. The heater in the tack room was on high, but it would sometimes get overheated and t...
Read more

The Mother Mode

  "Did you bring your gloves?" I found myself involuntarily asking my senior client the other day. "It's really windy out today - don't get blown away!" I then blurted out without thinking that they are a grown-assed adult and don't need to be reminded about that! Least of all from me! I have never had children and am not a birth mother. In my 20's I yearned for children, as one does when one's hormones are in peak form. However, by the time I hit 30, I came to my senses. I had a lovely little career in broadcasting going by that time and didn't want to put that on the shelf to have children. A choice I have never regretted to this day. My maternal instincts have been satisfied doting on numerous pets, however. And more recently, some long repressed motherly instincts are rearing their lovely heads, and I find myself turning into my mother. Something they say all women do, eventually. In a good way. And now, I find I...
Read more

From Terminator To Motivator

 Arnold Schwarzenegger is having a moment. I wouldn't call it a comeback. He never really went away. He has always been there - always pumping out movies, advice, his opinions, books, and now a tv show, a comedy action genre shot right here in Ontario. And today, as he celebrates his birthday, I have to admit, I am fan-gurling over the 78-year-old bodybuilder/actor/politician/author/activist/fitness advocate and now motivator.  I somehow stumbled across his latest book, Be Useful: Seven Tools For Life, and I had to read it. His grizzled face on the front cover, almost in a Terminator scowl, not hiding anything, his wrinkles and grey hair there for everyone to see. It is part memoir - part instruction manual to live one's best life. To contribute to society, to make good choices, to work hard and have a servant's heart. One could argue that he took his own advice, having a servant's heart, a bit too literally, after he fathered a child with the househol...
Read more