The question asked was, “How do we know China has free speech?” The answer: “No one says otherwise.”

Last night we had our first community supper in two years. For twenty bucks you got a slab of roasted ham, a scoop of scalloped potatoes, fresh peas from the Hutterites, coleslaw and a slice of pie or a brownie.

Before presenting the financial statement to his boss, the office manager asked, “Before I continue, you’re not one of those guys who blames the messenger for bad news, are you?”

We all have the earth in common. The land called the settlers to her, away from the noisy industrialized cities, writes Sheri Mitchell in Sacred Instructions.

Recently the newly installed security system at the Martensville Veterinary Hospital kept sounding a false alarm. The culprit was their feisty resident cat, who had been triggering the alarm…

I am looking forward to driving to Eastend on the 23rd to read to you. I am sure many of you are like me in that there is nothing more comforting than getting together to tell and hear stories.

Q: What are the similarities and differences between the Canadian and Chinese Constitution? A: Both have freedom of speech, but only one has freedom after speech.

The entire world, including Russia, was watching the freedom convoys, when Putin declared war on Ukraine. I’ve listened to disheartened Russian civilians say the timing wasn’t coincidental, as media turned its attention towards Ukraine.

Here we are again, poised at the edge of the desert, about to enter forty days in the wilderness of our spiritual lives. Or not.

The practical joke I saw involved a beautifully decorated cake. However, the first slice revealed, not cake, but layers of meatloaf!

On Tuesday, the 15th of February, the PM declared The Emergency Act. I recalled a similar declaration, The War Measures Act, in 1970 when Trudeau Sr. suspended civil liberties in Quebec after a series of bombings by the FLQ.

Here’s a bit of history humour for you: “Question: Where was the Constitution Act of 1982 signed? Answer: At the bottom.”

A young girl wanted to make a cake, but when she realized there weren’t any cake mixes in the pantry, her mom pointed to a cookbook and suggested she think outside the box.

I spent too much time in front of the computer last night, scrolling for information about what’s happening in Ottawa. I admit I knew about the caravan, people from my own village have joined it…

The sign read in large red letters “Danger: Alligator!” Underneath was posted another sign in green letters: “No Lifeguards. Beach is open for swimming”.

I realize, in my offering up brief descriptions and gushings over the gold nuggets of prairie prose and poetry, I could easily be outlining a year’s worth of columns.

The old saying goes, “You can’t see the forest for the trees.” So it goes for oilfield services as another tough year ends.

Last week, I promised to offer a list of some of the Prairie Gold I’ve mined over my life as a reader. I realize the impossibility of listing all the inspiring books I’ve read just since moving to Val Marie…

This week’s humour: “I told the procurement department a joke and they didn’t get it for 4-6 weeks”.

Prairie gold is not always wheat. It is also the wealth of writers sprung from this land. So much of the character of this place, its very soul, is in its stories, many of them not written but told over years, decades and generations…