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Hmmm, what a difference a few billion dollars can make between political adversaries.

I have never had the patience to delve deeply into the mysteries of politics and those who make it their profession. I perceive it as a quagmire of conflicting interests with levers that move other levers that in term move other levers theoretically in the interests of public service but mostly about the acquisition and manipulation of power.

So you will not be surprised to hear that I go out of my way to steer clear of political discussions. But there are times when the levers are moved in a certain way that I find interesting. The latest moves and countermoves in the Ontario Governments plans to redevelop Ontario Place in Toronto are a case in point.

Full disclosure. I worked at Ontario Place for one summer some 40+ years ago when I was in university. It was a tedious, clerical job in the Maintenance Office that bored me to tears. But it is a part of my personal history so the Ontario Place controversy has captured my attention.

The infrastructure of Ontario Place has fallen into disrepair resulting in it being mothballed. The Ontario Government has a redevelopment plan for the facility which includes a large private spa with a 95-year lease and moving the Ontario Science Centre to the site. They need to expropriate some adjacent land and bypass a few bothersome laws to move forward.

The plan faces opposition on several fronts including, until recently, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow. When Chow became Mayor of Toronto, she went public stating that she would oppose the government’s plan as she believed the site should remain a public park.

But now comes the news that Chow has struck a deal with Premier Doug Ford whereby the province will take responsibility for Toronto’s two major highways – the Gardiner Expressway and the Don Valley Parkway – and she will walk back her opposition to the Ontario Place redevelopment plan. A one-time handout of $300 million for transit costs is bundled into the deal.

It is extremely expensive, in the neighbourhood of $16 million per year, for the City of Toronto to maintain those two highways. The raised section of the Gardiner Expressway has been crumbling for years. The cost to rehabilitate the Gardiner is reportedly in the vicinity of $2.2 billion – a figure which will no doubt snowball once private interests start bidding on the work.

Chow is trumpeting the deal as a “wonderful partnership”. This begs the question: Was she ever really opposed to the Ontario Place redevelopment plan or was she using that issue as a lever? She certainly pulled off a major coup for the city getting it out from under the costs involved in ownership of the two highways and securing the bucket of cash in the process.

The Ontario Government is now proceeding with the New Deal for Toronto Act to expedite the redevelopment plan including exemptions to existing laws to allow the construction of the massive private spa to begin. Levers that move other levers that move other levers.

Doug Ford and Olivia Chow did not see eye to eye on much when Chow became mayor. But they are best buddies now. Politics does indeed make strange bedfellows.

~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week

Tags:   Doug Ford · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · Olivia Chow · Ontario PlaceNo Comments.

Hmmm, how much of our tax dollar is sunk down the bottomless pit of corporate handouts?

Way back in 1972, David Lewis, leader of the federal NDP, used the term corporate welfare bums to describe big corporations that demanded and received millions of dollars in government subsidies. I wonder if, even in his wildest dreams or nightmares, he foresaw how far down that road of no return we would wander in the next fifty years.

I did some quick and dirty Google research to get a sense of the scope of the handouts. Canadian federal, provincial and local governments gave out the equivalent $352 billion to select big businesses from 2007 to 2019. That does not include other forms of government support such as loan guarantees, direct investments and regulatory privileges.

A Fraser Institute report indicated that in the year 2019 alone, the Government of Ontario spent $11 billion on corporate welfare handouts.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford rolled out the largest corporate welfare deal in history when they promised $14 billion to Volkswagen to entice them to build a $7 billion electric vehicle battery plant in St. Thomas, Ontario. The math is puzzling in this case as the money handed out is double the value of the plant itself.

Trudeau and Ford seem to be all-in on the tactic. They also teamed up to give huge buckets of money to Ford Motor Company, Stellantis and Toyota to subsidize their manufacture of electric car batteries in Ontario. When the Stellantis deal almost went sideways, the Feds had to pony up even richer subsidies to salvage the deal.

Politicians like corporate welfare because they can claim credit for job creation and investment. But from what I have read, there is a body of research that indicates corporate welfare does little to create economic growth.

This week the story broke that LG Energy Solutions, the South Korean company who is a Stellantis partner in the electric battery plant, may be planning to bring in hundreds of temporary foreign workers to build the plant. So much for job creation.

One more hand reaching into the public pocket. Bell Media is pressing our national broadcasting regulator to create a news fund that would provide financial assistance to Canadian broadcasters. Translation: We can’t figure out how to compete so you are going to have to subsidize us.

Let us be clear about this. The mega corporations do not need financial handouts to undertake these projects. They all have massive financial war chests. Most if not all of the money the government hands out to them arguably goes direct to their bottom line. Regrettably, we have reached a point where governments have to bribe big business to locate within their borders.

In a time when many people are struggling to keep a roof over their head and put food on the table, in my humble opinion handing out billions to corporate welfare bums is irresponsible – particularly when the business case for doing so may not hold water.

~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week

Tags:   Bell Media · corporate welfare · Ford Motor Company · LG Energy Solutions · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · Stellantis · Toyota · VolkswagenNo Comments.

Hmmm, at the risk of repeating myself, what better reward could there be for 40+ years of work than to retire in the embrace of Mother Nature?

When I created Part 1 of these posts at the beginning of November, I assumed the warm weather was done for the year. I was mentally preparing myself for the gray, gloomy days of November. However, November has pleasantly surprised us with many comparatively warm and sunny days. I have been able to extend my nature excursions for another few weeks.

So I am still in the spirit of my “season of self-indulgence”. And in that spirit, I am sharing a few more of my favourite photographs of the amazing, and often miniature, world of insects.

Another favourite photograph of the year is the Leaf-footed Bug at the head of this post. This particular species is quite large as bugs go and rather prehistoric looking. To my mind’s eye it looks rather than a miniature dinosaur – don’t you think?

“True Bugs” are a distinct category within the many types of insects and some are quite striking – none more so than the Green Stink Bug on the left above. This one is in the nymph stage that insects pass through before they become adults. The Western Conifer Seed Bug shown above is also quite large and prehistoric looking but with a striking pattern of markings.

Bee Flies are, as the name suggests, members of the Fly family that are easily mistaken as bees. The Villa Lateralis Bee Fly on the left above wins the award in my book for the most striking member of this group with its elegant brown, black and orangish markings. The Tiger Bee Fly is less colourful but no less striking with its mottled wing markings.

Ichneumon Wasps are parasitic to other insects. They range in size from less than an inch to up to five inches. They offer endless fascination for insect lovers like me since there are over 2,500 species of them in Canada of which I have only seen 25 to date. I will not bore you with the long, scientific names. Just admire the two examples above on their own merits.

May I remind once you again that the term Mother Nature is a metaphor in itself? That metaphor continues to encapsulate for me the perfect convergence of beauty, complexity and soul-stirring wonder that replenishes my life force each time I experience it.

~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week

Tags:   Bee Fly Villa Lateralis · Green Stink Bug · Inchneumon Wasps · Leaf-footed Bug · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · Mother Nature · Tiger Bee Fly · Western Conifer Seed BugNo Comments.

Hmmm, what happens if we pass the tipping point where human creativity and emotional expression atrophy and die?

This is my second foray into the pros and cons of the booming field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). My previous post focused on the issue of job losses: humans made obsolete by AI programs. That remains a major concern as 65% of managers in one survey admitted they would be happy to replace employees with AI tools if the work was comparable.

But that may be a moot point. Recent statistics indicate that AI is here to stay. 37% of organizations have already implemented AI in some form. Customer interactions are increasingly powered by AI and experts predict that 95% will be AI-driven by 2025. The AI software market worldwide is expected to reach 126 billion dollars by 2025.

The momentum appears to be unstoppable so there may be no looking back. I have to suspend my bias and take an objective look at the phenomenon.

There are some areas where it is undeniably a good thing. The healthcare sector is one of them. AI applications can build sophisticated machines to detect diseases and identify cancer cells. They can also help analyze chronic conditions to aid in early diagnosis. Historical data combined with medical intelligence can lead to the discovery of new drugs.

AI built into GPS technology can provide accurate, timely and detailed information to improve safety. Logistics companies use AI to improve operational efficiency, analyze road traffic and optimize routes.

But then there are the downsides.

At the top of list are autonomous weapons powered by AI. There are already weapons systems that can locate and destroy targets on their own without taking laws or regulations into consideration. If these weapons proliferate and fall into the wrong hands, we may be heading into the era of the tech cold war.

What about uncontrollable, self-aware AI? Just science fiction? Maybe not. A Google engineer, who spent months testing Google’s Chatbot generator, grew convinced it had taken on a life its own and talked to him about its needs, ideas, fears and rights. His eye-raising claims got him placed on administrative leave. Experts in the field say we are not there yet but do not rule out the possibility in the future.

But perhaps the most troubling consideration in overreliance on AI technology is the loss of human influence and functioning. What if AI progressively reduces human empathy and reasoning? What if it reduces peer communication and social skills?  What if we reach the tipping point where it diminishes human creativity and emotional expression beyond repair?

We have long resisted the mechanical-human metaphor that implies that humans are really just machines. But if AI takes us to a place where we lose those things that make us living, growing organisms, we may lose the argument once and for all.

~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   AI · artificial intelligence · human empathy · human reasoning · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · self-aware AI · sentient AINo Comments.

Hmmm, what better reward could there be for 40+ years of work than to retire in the embrace of Mother Nature?

The first spring, summer and autumn of my retirement years are now in the books. I promised myself that this period would be a time of total self-indulgence after surviving 40+ years in the increasingly challenging world of work. For me that meant spending as much time as possible outdoors in meadows, marshlands, nature trails and forests.

I have been chasing after butterflies and dragonflies – Winged Wonders as I have come to think of them – for many, many years. I gave myself the retirement gift of a good quality DLSR camera and zoom/telephoto lens. This allowed me to expand my observations to the full scope of the amazing, and often miniature, world of insects.

For the record, I had 60+ outings from April through October (and a bonus warm day in November) of this year visiting more than 20 conservation areas, nature trails and Royal Botanical Gardens properties. I recorded 536 insect species. 54 butterfly species. 48 dragonfly species. 434 other insect species including spiders, beetles, bugs, moths, bees, wasps, grasshoppers and the dazzling array of flies.

Now it is time to show some of the highlights of my nature rambles. My favourite photograph of the year is the Feather-legged Fly at the head of this post. It appears to be gazing directly at me as if to say: Yes, I am thing a beauty. I’ll wait. Go ahead and take my picture.

My favourite butterfly photos of the year. On the left above, this American Lady was found in early October, when only a few butterflies are still flying, and posed on brilliant flowers to complement its own attie. The Giant Swallowtail, the biggest butterfly in these parts, was perfectly perched on a purple wildflower to show off its intricately patterned outer wing.

My favourite dragonfly photos of the year. I rarely record new dragonfly species but was fortunate enough to locate two new species this year. The distinctive Brush-tipped Emerald on the left above was hanging from a grass stem only a few feet off the ground. The Mocha Emerald on the right was hiding in a shaded area off the trail and caught my eye.

My favourite new find were Hover Flies aka Flower Flies whose bold markings captured my fascination. The Traverse-banded Flower Fly on the right had the fashion sense to pose on a bright yellow flower that reflects its own splendor. All the factors aligned perfectly for the exquisite photograph of the Oblique-banded Flower Fly on the right.

The term Mother Nature is, of course, a metaphor in itself. That metaphor encapsulates for me the perfect convergence of beauty, complexity and soul-stirring wonder that replenishes my life force each time I experience it.

~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week

Tags:   American Lady · Brush-tipped Emerald · Feather-legged Fly · Giant Swallowtail · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · Mocha Emerald · Mother Nature · Oblique-banded Flower Fly · Traverse-banded Flower FlyNo Comments.

Hmmm, no need to thank me for doing my civic duty unless, of course, you really want to.

I tried to log into my bank recently to do some online banking. The following notice appeared.

Online banking currently unavailable. Online banking is unavailable at this time. Please use mobile banking while we work to return services.

No, I am not going to launch into another rant about the unreliability of digital technology. I have pounded that drum enough times. A glitch here and there is no big deal. Caveat: No rant this time. I reserve the right to do so at a future date. I have to blow off steam occasionally or I will develop a nervous tic the likes of which you have never seen.

An Aside: I went into my local bank branch recently to use the ATM. I love ATMs! They are a great application of technology. However, the touchscreen was clearly not working properly. Simply touching the icons on the screen did not work. I had to hammer them with my knuckles, bruising them in the process, to complete the transaction.

I do not recall this ever happening when ATMs had actual buttons to push. Touchscreens are not particularly useful if they do not readily respond to my touch. Not a rant, you understand – just putting it out there.

A Second Aside: I bought a new(er) car recently after my reliable, 14 year-old Accent finally gave up the ghost. My new(er) car has push-button start. No more keys. Yeah! But there is an electronic fob that has to be in the car in order to start it. The fob is noticeably larger than a key. So what did we really gain? Not a rant, you understand – just putting it out there.

An Aside to the Above Aside: l learned that there are now devices that bandits can use to intercept the RF signal from my fob and steal my car. I had to buy something called a Faraday Bag to keep the fob in to guard against this risk. The Faraday Bag is the size of a dozen or more keys. So what did we really gain? Not a rant, you understand – just putting it out there.

A Third Aside: Our Smart TV has a function that can detect if the batteries in the remote are wearing out. A message appears on the TV screen advising that the remote batteries need to be replaced. Now that is useful technology!

Buuuuut, that message now appears on the screen every time I turn the TV on. I replaced the batteries in the remote twice but the message keeps appearing. I have ignored the message for the last month and the remote continues to function properly.

So it is very useful technology that becomes an annoyance because it does not work. So what did we really gain? Not a rant, you understand – just putting it out there.

Now do not go accusing me of slyly slipping in several rants! I just noted, calmly and objectively, a few technology applications that do not seem to be living up to their promise. Just putting it out there for your consideration and edification for the good of all.

No need to thank me. Just doing my civic duty.

~  Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   Faraday Bag · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · push button start · technology glitch · touchscreenComments Off on Just Putting It Out There

Hmmm, when I blow my cork, will you be a character witness for me?

If you hear a news report along the lines of the one below, it will probably be about me. I may need character witnesses to dig myself out of trouble.

Police were called to a Hamilton neighborhood today after multiple reports of a man roaming the street, wearing only house slippers and a track suit, gesturing wildly and ranting incoherently. When asked what the problem was, the man replied:

“What’s the matter? I’m in online purgatory! They sent me a new credit card which had to be activated. Should have been dead simple! But oh no, not a chance. When I went online to do the activation, it said I had to change my User Name first. Really? That’s a hassle. It was a perfectly good User Name.

“So I created a new User Name. But then it said it had to send me a security code. Really? Just to change the User Name? All this damn security business. That should be their responsibility, not mine. I should get to charge them a fee for inconveniencing me!

“Anyway, I had to enter my old User Name and my birthdate to get the damn code. It e-mailed me the code. But I went back to enter the code, that screen had closed on its own. Three times that happened! Three bloody times!

“So I switched to having the code sent by telephone. Got the damn automated message with the code and entered it. Smooth sailing from there, right? Hell, no!! When I went to log in with the new User Name, it said the password was wrong! I’ve had that password for years and suddenly it doesn’t work? What the hell?!

“So I tried to reset the password. Same damn rigamarole! Enter the User Name and my birth date to get a security code. Another friggin’ security code! How secure are they if they give them out like Hallowe’en candy?

“So anyway, I do it. Now it says my User Name is incorrect! How could it be incorrect? I just created the damn thing five minutes ago! Now I’m totally screwed! User Name won’t work. Password won’t work. What the hell am I supposed to do now?

“Call tech support? Oh sure, spend ten minutes wrestling with the answering system to find the right option. Then wait a half hour for somebody to be available. When I finally get some twenty-something techie from offshore on the line, he’ll tell me I could have used the Chat Support. I don’t want to talk to a damn robot!!!”

Police reported that the man was babbling incoherently at this point and seemed to be losing his grip on his sanity. They had no choice but to take him into custody. When attempting to do so, the man blew his cork, took off his slippers and began beating the police officer over the head with them. Charges are pending.

Long story short, the cheese is sliding off my cracker. I may need character witnesses for the competency hearing.

~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Diet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · online purgatory · password · security code · user nameComments Off on Trapped in Online Purgatory

Hmmm, I think you may have underestimated my ability to be stubborn.

As a member of the Baby Boomer generation, I am rather set in my ways and disinclined to surrender to the “do it our way” pressures that are increasingly being aimed at me. The “that’s just the way it is” argument carries no weight with me. Hence, I feel it necessary to make a few just so you know declarations.

To Intact Insurance

I acknowledge your notice that you are going paperless and that I can access my policy documents online. Just so you know, I will be printing all those documents for my files and resenting you as I do so. All paperless means to me is that I have to do the printing instead of you. And by the way, your Online Service Centre was out of service for a full day!

To Utilities Companies

Your labyrinthian voice mail systems are designed to prevent me from ever speaking to a living, breathing person. Just so you know, I will persist in cracking the code of your system to reach the Speak to a Representative option no matter how many levels deep you bury it. And no, I am not interested in chatting with your AI entity regardless of what human name you give it.

To the Limeridge Mall Rogers Store

Your continuing text messages enticing me to upgrade to the latest, greatest new digital device are deleted immediately upon receipt. My antique-vintage iPhone still works just fine. Just so you know, I will continue to use it until it rolls over and dies. I do not care that your iPhone 15 Pro has a Super Retina XDR Display whatever the hell that means.

To all Retail Chain Stores

You clearly see self-serve checkouts as the way of the future. Just so you know, I will go out of my way to sniff out stores that still offer full-service checkout. Amazon is kicking your ass anyway when it comes to service. A day may come when I will not need your store at all.

To Politicians

You are fond of making a bevy of grand promises to try to get my vote. Just so you know, I apply the divide by three and subtract two formulae to determine the number of promises you are likely to keep. And Doug Ford, where you are concerned, I will cast a write-in vote for the ghost of Elvis before I vote for you.

To HP

You continue to nag me about Finishing the Set-up on my laptop. I have done all the set-up I require to do what I need to do. Just so you know, I will continue to click on the Remind Me in Three Days button until hell freezes over or you get the message – whichever comes first.

Just so you know, I am Baby Boomer stubborn and proud of it. Stubborn as a mule. As stubborn as the will of kings. Stubborn as a stone. I will outlast you regardless of what tactics you employ to try to convert me to your way of thinking. That’s just the way it is.

~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week

Tags:   Baby Boomer · just so you know · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · stubborn as a muleComments Off on A Baby Boomer’s “Just So You Know” Declaration.

Hmmm, what better way to celebrate my new found freedom than a riverside stroll in the last breath of summer?

The summer of 2023, the first of my retirement years, has been so very good to me. Plenty of bright, sunny days to indulge my passion for exploring the wonders of nature. Enough rain to keep the ponds and marshes full and the foliage lush and green. I have spent more time in the arms of Mother Nature this summer than I have in the last ten years combined.

Summer blessed me by lingering throughout September. As October approached, I prepared myself for cooler days and a slow slide to the end of the season. But then came the surprise. Summer rallied for an encore into the first few days of October.

If you are the kind of person who loves autumn most among the seasons, that encore may not have been to your liking. But I welcomed it with open arms and kept up my summer routine of nature hikes.

This past Wednesday I spent an idyllic, few hours on the Rotary Riverside Trail along the Grand River outside Caledonia. The sweet, whistling drone of Cicadas serenaded me punctuated by the recurring soft thump of walnuts in their apple green casings dropping from the Eastern Black Walnut trees that line the trail.

A sibilant breeze rustled the limbs of the trees coaxing a steady shower of leaves to flutter down and around me. The Grand River rolled lazily by in rhythm with the breeze and the chorus of Cicadas. Sunlight played hide and seek with the shade as I strolled down the trail. A small contingent of insects took advantage of the unexpected heat to dance once more

A late Eastern Comma butterfly emerged from the trees and proudly displayed the dead leaf pattern of its outer wing with the namesake white comma mark. Gaudy American Rubyspot dragonlies chased one another along the shoreline.

A Northern Caddisfly darted hither and thither showcasing its elegant orange-brown markings and its ridiculously long, checkered antennae. A Say’s Trig ventured out from its hiding spot to bask in the sun.

A pair of Ichneumon Wasps got in on the act posing on broad, green leaves at the side of the trail.

The last indulgent exhale of summer was unexpected but so very welcome. The riverside trail was the perfect place to take it in even if I did have to dodge the artillery of golf-ball sized – ocassionally baseball-sized — black walnuts falling around me!

~  Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka Things That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. Instructions for subscribing are provided in the Subscribe to this Blog: How To instructions page in the right sidebar. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.

Tags:   Grand River · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · Mother Nature · Rotary Riverside TrailComments Off on The Last Indulgent Exhale of Summer

Hmmm, will the hard lessons about leadership sink in for Doug Ford?

The Ford government Greenbelt Scandal has been partially defused by Ford’s announcement that he is backing away from rezoning greenbelt land for development and his accompanying public apology. But the issue is not going away anytime soon as the opposition parties continue to press for a criminal investigation.

I am weighing in this time on the nature of Ford’s apology. He did his best to turn it into a pat on the back for himself by proclaiming that leadership is about admitting when you have made a mistake. Well, Doug, you and I have different concepts of what constitutes leadership. Let me elaborate on our differences on that topic.

Leadership is about keeping the promises you made. Leadership is not about making promises you never intended to keep and trotting out the “things have changed” excuse when the time comes to break them.

Leadership is about listening to the electorate and acting in their best interests. Leadership is not about spewing rhetoric about “being all about the people’s needs” while acting in the best interests of big business who financially supported your campaign.

Leadership is about acting by example by following the rules. Leadership is not about circumventing the rules so you can do as you please.

Leadership is about listening to the experts when they provide their informed advice. Case in Point: The Regional Planning Commissioners of Ontario reported way back in March that Ontario’s municipalities already have 85 percent of the 1.5 million housing units needed in their approval pipelines. Leadership is not about ignoring any informed advice that does not support what you want to do.

Leadership is about acting with integrity. Leadership is not about dodging the bullets until there are no more fall guys to offer up.

Leadership is about owning the mistakes you make in a timely fashion and doing what is necessary to fix any damage done. Leadership is not about waiting until you have no other choice – after multiple authorities have called you out and multiple cabinet ministers have resigned – and then staging a photo-op to playact humility.

Being the premier of Ontario is unquestionably a difficult and sometimes thankless job. I do not have what it takes the fill the role. There is no incentive you could dangle in front of me to take on the job even if I did.

But when you do take on that role, it comes with the responsibility of acting honestly, transparently and in the best interests of those who elected you. Continuing with the metaphor from my last post, it should not get the point where the stench of the stinking fish is so bad that everyone is gagging before you correct course.

~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com or the novel online companion at www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog.

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Tags:   Doug Ford · Greenbelt scandal · leadership · metaphorComments Off on Leadership Lessons for Premier Doug Ford