With Memphis in the back seat, this morning I drove to Guelph to visit my friend Chuck. We used to work together until he retired a couple years ago. Now Chuck is in the walking stick business. He fashions sticks he finds along the Eramosa river into what he calls “Urban Survival Sticks”

These walking sticks have metal points and a compass embedded in the butt. As well, they unscrew apart revealing a cavity where he has stashed a little package containing sterile bandage, strike anywhere matches, an alcohol swab, water purification tablets, safety pins, part of a space blanket, cotton swabs and a utility blade. 25 meters of string are wrapped around the body of the stick. Each stick also has a leather strap, with a wooden whistle attached.

Chuck’s sticks are handsome, fashioned with care and attention to detail, and very handy in the woods. I have one that I’ve been using while mushroom hunting.

Chuck and I went for a nice walk along the Eramosa, accompanied by Memphis and Chuck’s 12 yr old Golden Retriever, Champ. The dogs had a ball. Memphis of course went for several swims in the river. Chuck also canoes and fishes in the river. It’s a very nice place.

While in Guelph, I visited the Biltmore Hat factory. Biltmore have been Canada’s master hatters since 1917, and are known all over the world. I checked out the factory outlet. Good thing my buddy Stagg wasn’t with me or we’d still be in the shop. They had some excellent lids there. Here’s an excellent article from the Toronto Star on Biltmore Hats. All I bought was a nice toque for winter, but believe me I could spend some money in that place. While I shopped, Memphis snored in the back seat of the car, dreaming of Champ and the river.

When we got home, Memphis went for another nap and I did some grocery shopping. My object was to make a nice beef stew, which is slowly cooking away in a Dutch oven as I write this. It smells really great.