RIP Wilmer Nadjiwon

It's been a bleak start to 2018, and I resolved to avoid saying anything about it until I found a story that grabbed my attention. I found it yesterday at the Topnotch.

The proprietors had set up a small shrine in honour of a long-time customer, Wilmer J Nadjiwon. It included a couple of paintings, a small sculpture, and a copy of his book, "Not Wolf Nor Dog." I bought a copy of the book. The woman behind the counter says I should have bought it last week - I could have had it signed.

Ya, I said. Too bad he didn't give us a heads up.

Funny how that works; a guy buys the farm at age ninety-six, and everybody around them is like "where the hell did that come from... we had no idea!"

One reason you had no idea with Mr. Nadjiwon is that he looked a good quarter century younger than his ninety-six years. And what a run he had! From surviving the residential school system to surviving the depression to surviving front line action in WW II with the Canadian Army, Mr. Nadjiwon was a survivor many times over.

But he was so much more than that.

He was an Ojibway elder who devoted his life to the betterment of his people. He was highly respected locally and nationally by Native and non-native alike.


Godspeed, Mr. Nadjiwon; you'll be missed.

The phenomenal good value of the $10.99 buffet at the Topnotch

I recently raved about their buffet at $12.99.

Don't know if they dropped the price or I just got it wrong.

In any event, that's got to be about the best value out there.

We tried out the all-you-can-eat buffet at Pebbles in Varney recently. For $18.99 you get much less than what you get at the Topnotch. But they have the esoteric appeal of being an old-school Amish joint.

Me and the Farm Manager used to breakfast there before it fell into the hands of the Amish and before we had a farm. The Amish picked up the place for around half a million, which got them the restaurant, the motel, and the bungalow next door.

That was a shrewd deal.

In fact, you'd be hard pressed to find our Amish neighbours making a bad deal when it comes to real estate and business.

The bungalow next door would be worth close to half a million today.

But getting back to the point of value for your dining dollar, I strongly recommend that you drive by Pebbles and head for the Topnotch.

Ya, it's another hour, but what the hell..

Putin's hackers take down Bruce County internet

No, as I matter of fact I don't have any "proof," but we live in the post-proof era, don't we?

I'm pretty certain with a high degree of confidence that it was probably Russians, acting on the direct orders of you-know-who. Three of my neighbours and a guy I ran into at the liquor store think I might be right. That's pretty much a consensus, wouldn't you agree?

Me and the Farm Manager and the hounds drove into town this morning, blissfully unaware of this attack on our freedoms. We were looking forward to breakfast. Had to stop at the bank first, and that's where we ran into the first inkling of trouble. As I'm strolling towards the ATM, debit card in hand, a bank employee intercepts me.

I'm sorry sir, the ATM is down.

Oh, guess I have to stand in line at the counter.

No, I'm sorry, the whole system is down. We can't give you your money.

Bummer!

We go to The Korean's. His ATM is down too, and so is his debit machine. We don't have enough cash between us to buy our Globe and Mail!

We head to the Topnotch. Been a while since we had breakfast without the paper. Years... maybe we'll have to talk or something.

Get to the Topnotch. Guess what?

Yup! Nothing works there either.

By now we're a little frazzled. The Farm Manager figures we should try the liquor store. Surely they've got a bullet-proof system.

Damn! Out of luck again!

Grasping at straws I figure let's try Foodland.

The FM goes in and comes out a minute later waving a fistful of twenties.

Phew!

I run in and stock up on cash too. That machine ain't gonna be spitting out cash for long once folks realize it's the only working ATM in town.

After all that, there wasn't much worth reading in the Globe, the FM's BLT came drowned in mayo instead of with mayo on the side, which always makes her grumpy, and both dogs shit in the park where we take them for their traditional after-breakfast feast of left-overs...

So all in all it was not a successful trip into town, but it did hold a lesson. We have no idea how dependant we have become on this invisible infrastructure until we lose it for a couple of hours.

What would happen if there were a real cyber-attack and it was gone for a month?

The torists are back

Yes, I know they are properly "tourists," but in these parts that's pronounced tor-ists.

Torists are the folks who have million-dollar summer shacks on the Bruce. That would be the Bruce Peninsula, if you're not from around here.

You can have a leisurely breakfast at a window seat in the Top Notch and watch them roll by all day long. Range Rovers and BMWs and a never-ending caravan of $80,000 pick-ups pulling Sea-doos and ATVs and BBQs and summer fun accessories of every description.

They clog up the Timmies, make the Foodland parking lot into a nightmare, and hog all the good seats in the local dining establishments.

But they're more than welcome.

Our new Foodland was built and stocked with the affluent summer crowd in mind. They're not carrying Sambal Oelek chili paste and Kitchen of Love Spicy Quinoa for the benefit of the locals, I can assure you of that.

Couple of things you should know about Wiarton. They tore down a school to build that Timmies. Speaks to our priorities around here.

Also, right up until the sea lamprey found its way into the Great Lakes almost a hundred years ago, Wiarton was a major commercial fishing hub. Wiarton's population was higher a hundred years ago than it is today.

Up until very recently, that fact translated into very reasonable real estate prices. That's changing fast.

The Muskokas are pretty much built out, but you can still get quality Georgian Bay waterfront on the Bruce for well under a million. And once you factor in the inevitable traffic jam on the 400 heading out of town on the Friday of a long weekend, we're really not any farther away from Toronto than is Lake Joe.

So forget Lake Joseph and come take a look at the Bruce.

What makes a good restaurant breakfast?

Anybody can fry up some ham or bacon or sausages.

That's not what makes a good breakfast.

And believe it or not, it ain't the eggs either.

Mind you, there is a level of skill that I don't have that's essential to doing eggs over-easy.

Me personally, I can do eggs sunny side up. Once I try for over easy... well, that's generally where I decide to go for an omelette instead.

Flipping those eggs over on the grill is an art.

But any greasy spoon everywhere has found a minimum wage cook who can flip those eggs without breaking them. Which is why we like to have breakfast out.

What really makes or breaks a breakfast is the quality of the potatoes.

Those deep-fried potato cubes aren't fucking breakfast potatoes, OK? That's just crap!

We were shocked to be served those with our breakfast at the Green Door the other day.

Now to be fair, the server actually spilled flat out that they're not doing breakfast.

So why are you open for breakfast hours? They used to do breakfast, and they used to have real fried-on-the-stove-top potatoes on offer as part of it, as befits their stellar rep.

But now they don't have breakfast but they're open at breakfasty hours, and they've got a couple of breakfasty things on the menu, but they come with DEEP FRIED FROZEN POTATO CUBES!

No way!

The Top Notch still offers up real potatoes, but the last few times we've breakfasted there, they've been undercooked. That's almost worse than those faux fries masquerading as fried potatoes.

So today we ventured all the way up to Lion's Head for breakfast. Real fried potatoes! Properly cooked!

Trust me, it's worth the drive to the MaryDale restaurant. And now that the tourists are gone home, it's not even crowded.