Good Writing All Around

 Good Writing All Around

At Calico’s Coffee House, I pick up the free magazines, the Wall-Eye, Bayview, and Northern Wilds, read a few articles with my coffee and take then home to read over the week. I know I’ll encounter strong writing, interesting essays and lots of good information about the vibrant local scene.

I could list a dozen or more wonderful well-written articles I discovered in the winter issues of these three magazines. Since I often read magazines back to front, I found, in the Walleye, Rebekah Skocinshi’s delightful  “Six of One” about local perogies, the most perfect, of course, being those that Baba makes in her own kitchen.

The Walleye is always big on food and this was the dumpling issue but instead I read Betty Carpick’s ode to Old Dutch Potato Chips. Why not?

Then, flipping through, I saw a photo of Julia Miles of the Metropolitan Moose Coffee House in Kakebeka and what’s this? She’s holding a tray of Cuban food and selling same at the farmers’ market. The story by Wendy Wright explains the Miles’ delicious connection to Cuba.

 From there I move to well-known writer Michael Sobota’s excellent piece about the local symphony orchestra’s Juno nomination for its classical album Into the Wonder.

Bayview’s winter issue caught my eye with the words “Nipigon Nylons” on the cover. Who does not own a pair, or over a lifetime, many pairs. “Are You Wearing Your Nylons?” is the neat title chosen by regular contributor Brian Spare. His articles are often historical gems and this piece is no exception.

Donna White’s fine essay “Our Fine Feathered Friends” discusses local birds and specifically the McKellar Island Bird Observatory, one of the favourite summer hangouts for this bird watcher.

 My sister and I are big fans of the historical merry-go-round at Chippewa Park and we follow the restoration project with interest. We plan to take another ride this summer but first, Karen Christie’s well-researched piece, “On the Carousel” about this 1915 antique, gives us the background to appreciate our local treasure all the more.

Northern Wilds, an American magazine from Grand Marais, has a lot of Canadian content. I always start with Thunder Bay’s Elle Andra-Warner’s Strange Tales column. This gifted writer is a master of the historical essay, this time on the tug boats of Lake Superior. This issue contained two excellent articles about the northern environment: Emily Stone’s feature article on preserving Lake Superior and Gord Ellis’s fishing column on alternatives to lead sinkers which can poison loons and eagles and other fish eating birds.  

Local art, food, adventure, the environment, history, sports, culture, gardening, business: a kaleidoscope of interests and good writing to boot.