Articles by Michael Bliss

One of the difficulties of being a small town in the middle of a great metropolis is that Toronto keeps intruding on our airspace. I don’t mean planes on flight paths to Pearson, but rather …more

It’s been said that the first decade or so after formal retirement is most people’s “still” time of life. Most of the questions oldsters are asked contain that loaded word: Are you still going into …more

Most of you were at the cottage this past August, so you missed the remarkable happenings in Leaside. On the surface nothing seemed to be happening. That was so remarkable. Every single day was exactly …more

Some have said that all Leasiders are law-abiding and hard-working conformists. The evidence that presents itself in front of our house is distinctly to the contrary. Judging by what we see out our windows every …more

Have you ever noticed that Leaside is a microcosm of North America? We have two very similar but somewhat different communities, divided by a clear line, Eglinton Ave. South Leaside is older, far more populous, …more

Michael’s age is really showing, the neighbours must have been saying in April. He has to use a cane to go out walking now. It’s true that my age – I’m in my mid-70s – …more

Our household has a harmless affection for pink flamingoes. Some years ago our teenage son threatened to leave home if we didn’t remove from our garden the pink flamingo ornament we had brought back from …more

1955:  Joe and Cheryl Joe works a regular shift at Canada Wire & Cable, brings home $5,000 a year, is a shop steward for the union. Cheryl makes his lunch, gets the kids to school, …more

Hungry for adventure – actually just hungry – after a morning of yoga, my wife dragged me away from my desk for a luncheon out in Leaside. It was a cold, grey day, so we …more