All posts by George Walters

George Walters is a Canadian columnist and author with more than forty years of writing experience. For over twenty years he has written a weekly column for Postmedia Network — Canada's largest newspaper chain — never missing a single week, publishing fifty-two stories a year. Combined with his work in Reader's Digest Community Voices, World News, Country Living, The Country Register, and farm and rural lifestyle magazines across Canada, he has published well over two thousand stories drawn from everyday life. He writes about farm work, fishing, old trucks, and the kind of people you only find in small towns — but just as likely he'll hand a voice to a weathered telephone pole, or turn his eye on something happening in the world today and tell you exactly what he thinks about it. No subject is off limits. If there's a story in it, George will find it. He has been called a philosopher of everyday life, a description that came up more than once during his television appearances over the years — and it's not hard to see why. His writing has a way of making the ordinary feel worth sitting with. He is the author of eleven books, including yearly short story collections and the Clay Moretti Files mystery series. Clay is a fifty-year-old private investigator who drives a 1967 Ford Galaxie, smokes cigars, and operates by a code the modern world gave up on a long time ago. The cases are present day. The man handling them is not. All titles are available in paperback and eBook on Amazon. Together, George and his wife Ruth have also created Elmer Finds His Way, the first in what he hopes will be a long series of children's books. Ruth did all the illustrations, as she has for every one of George's books — and beyond that she designed and painted the covers as well. Her work is woven into every page of everything he has published. A few words from readers: "I pulled up a kitchen chair and read your story three times." "You have a way of making a person homesick for a place they haven't been to." "Thank you for writing things that make old people and kids feel the same way at the same time." All my titles are available in paperback and eBook on Amazon.ca here.

“A Whisper and a Memory”


By GW Only On The Walters Post!

These are my own thoughts from what I’ve seen and lived through. I’m sharing them to spark some thinking and honest conversation, not because I have all the answers.

The other day, I was sitting here at my computer reading an article, about that strange new signal coming from deep space. Fifteen thousand light years away, can you believe that? Regular as a heartbeat, two minutes on, forty-four minutes off. It wasn’t noise, not something random, and it felt like a rhythm. Like something alive.

Scientists are scratching their heads. Some think it’s a magnetar, others figure it might be a star system caught in some strange dance. But none of them can explain why it’s so steady, or why it sends out both radio waves and X-rays. They’ve never seen anything quite like it.

The moment I read it, I thought of Grey Wolf.

He was an old friend of mine, a native man who used to spend his summers in a small cabin tucked behind our farm. He never said much, but when he did, you listened. Occasionally we would sit by the fire, with him watching the flames, and me watching him.

One night, I asked him what he thought life was all about. He didn’t answer right away, just poked the fire with a stick and then said, “We’re energy, we were sent here to learn. We come from it, and we will eventually go back to it. This place, this life, it’s just part of the lesson.

Another time I asked if he believed there were others out there. He gave a small smile and said, “You think all this sky is for just one world?” Then he looked up, real slow, and added, “There are many fires burning, some just burn quiet.”

I’ve never forgotten that.

Anyway, reading more about that signal, I started to wonder if maybe it’s not a message the way we think of messages. Maybe it’s not trying to talk to machines or telescopes, maybe it’s more like a pattern. A quiet nudge, not shouting for attention, just letting us know we’re not alone.

Grey Wolf believed in balance. He said everything had its place, and that some things were felt, not explained. He respected science, but he also knew its limits. Not only that, but he said the deeper truth doesn’t always come with answers. Sometimes it comes with a feeling you can’t shake.

That’s how this signal from a distant planet feels to me.

We’ve been told Earth is special because we’re the only ones here. But what if it’s special because we’re one of many? One stop in a much larger journey, and what if that signal is just the first knock on the door?

Grey Wolf used to say, “The Great Mystery doesn’t speak in words, it waits to see if we’re ready to listen.”

Well, maybe now we are.


Until the next time: Keep Your Minds Open & Your Stories Alive. GW

All my books are available on my Amazon Author Page.

If you purchase a book, a brief Amazon review really helps new readers discover my work—it means a lot.

Support my writing: Support My Writing

In Closing, I Would Like to Wish You Well!

George Walters | [email protected]

Tariffs and Turning Points

Only On The Walters Post

These are my own thoughts from what I’ve seen and lived through. I’m sharing them to spark some thinking and honest conversation, not because I have all the answers.

Well, here we go again. President Trump’s back in the spotlight, and this time he’s doubling down on tariffs … 50% now on Canadian steel and aluminum. That’s a hard pill to swallow, especially for the folks in Ontario who rely on that work to keep food on the table.

At first glance, this looks like trouble. And truth is, in the short term, it is. Companies will hurt. Some jobs might be on the line. Things could get tight, no doubt about it.

But here’s the thing , I don’t think it’s all bad. In fact, if we’re smart about it, this might just be the nudge we needed.

Doug Ford says we’re going to onshore every widget we can. And you know what? I agree with him. We’ve been too reliant on the U.S. for too long. We’ve seen this movie before, remember when they cut us off from masks during the pandemic? That was a wake-up call. And now, here we are again, being reminded that we need to start looking after ourselves.

We’ve got the resources, we’ve got the workers, and we’ve got the know-how. Why are we shipping aluminum south, only to have it turned into cans, marked up, and sent right back? Makes no sense. Let’s build the can plant here. Let’s melt our own steel, make our own beams, and keep our people working.

This won’t be easy. But long term, it could make us stronger, more independent, and better prepared for whatever comes next.

Sometimes, it takes a good shove to get us moving in the right direction. This might be one of those times.

Until the next time:
Keep Your Minds Open & Your Stories Alive. GW

All my books are available on my Amazon Author Page.

If you purchase a book, a brief Amazon review really helps new readers discover my work—it means a lot.

Support my writing: Support My Writing

In Closing, I Would Like to Wish You Well!

George Walters | [email protected]

Waking up My Old Computer on June 2/2025

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Country Breakfast

Good Morning… Some days start with a chore list, others with a memory.

It’s a cool morning here in Port Loring, Ontario, Canada. However, the sun is breaking through the clouds, and it’s looking as if we’re in for a pretty nice day.

Anyway, here’s the weather forecast: For Port Loring Ontario Canada.

Today (Monday, June 2): Warmer with hazy sun; smoke from distant wildfires will enhance the sunset. High: 72°F (22°C), Low: 52°F (11°C).

Tonight: Partly cloudy with a low of 52°F (11°C).

Tomorrow (Tuesday, June 3): Hazy sun; breezy in the afternoon. High: 83°F (29°C), Low: 65°F (19°C).

Wednesday, June 4: Not as warm, with periods of rain. High: 73°F (23°C), Low: 55°F (13°C).

Highway 522 was quiet yesterday morning, but by the afternoon, it picked up with lots of new faces roaming around our area.

Bug Report:
With the cold, wet weather, the black flies have slowed down some. But when the sun shows herself, they will be back with a vengeance, along with the mosquitoes. I actually dislike the mosquitoes even more than the black flies. At any rate, with things warming up today, you can bet some folks are in for a stretch of itchy, swatting days ahead.

On another note, we had another really good day yesterday with our garage sale, with lots of folks dropping by. I thought, being Sunday, it might slow down some—but nope, for most of the day, we had a steady stream of folks picking up things. That said, we still have quite a bit left to sell, so we’ll keep the sale going right up until the middle of July, or until it’s all gone. We figure we might as well get all we can out of what we have, as we worked downright hard for it over the years.

Amazing, though, how much stuff a person can collect without even realizing they have it.

So what are you up to today, GW?

Well, today being so nice out, I’m thinking we’ll do some work in our vegetable gardens. I want to work up around the tomatoes, and we’ll be adding some grass cuttings, which we use for fertilizer. You can’t beat it once it’s had a chance to sit for a while.

The good news is, I was sure glad we covered our vegetables last night before heading to bed as we ended up with a frost, and it would’ve done some damage to a lot of the plants. Just had a feeling we might get one, and sure enough, we did. Pays to listen to those little feelings that come around from time to time.

At any rate, everything looked happy this morning when I uncovered them.

So, with that, I’m off to enjoy the breakfast my lovely wife has made for me, then I’ll be heading outdoors. Hate to waste a day as nice as this.

Until the next time: Keep Your Minds Open & Your Stories Alive. GW

All my books are available on my Amazon Author Page.

If you purchase a book, a brief Amazon review really helps new readers discover my work—it means a lot.

Support my writing: Support My Writing

In Closing, I Would Like to Wish You Well!

George Walters | [email protected]

Seen a Lot, But This Feels Different

These are my own thoughts from what I’ve seen and lived through. I’m sharing them to spark some thinking and honest conversation, not because I have all the answers.

I’ve been around a long time. Farmed most of my life. Watched the seasons change, year after year. Some were dry, some wet. Cold snaps in June, thaws in January. That’s just how it was. Nature had her own way of keeping things in balance.

So when folks talk about climate change, I can’t say it’s all new to me. The Earth’s been shifting for a long time. We’ve had ice ages, warm spells, droughts, and floods long before people were driving cars or flying in planes. That part I understand.

But if I’m being honest, something’s not just right now.

The thing is, our Weather’s not just different, it’s strange. Too many records getting broken. Too much heat too fast. Fires burning longer. Rains coming when they’re not supposed to. It feels like the rhythm’s out of step.

And I believe that we humans got something to do with it.

You can’t cut down forests, pave over everything, and pump smoke into the air for over a hundred years and expect nothing to happen. We’ve sped things up. Maybe not on purpose, but it’s happening all the same.

The scientists today say we’re getting close to breaking points or tipping points, they call them… where once something changes, it keeps on changing, no turning back. Glaciers melting faster, ocean currents slowing down, forests drying up.

That’s not the kind of thing you fix with a new law or a better gadget. That takes time, and I kinda feel time’s something we’re running out of.

Now, I’m not trying to scare anyone. But I am saying we ought to start paying attention, and if we don’t smarten up, the next generation’s going to be dealing with a world a whole lot harder to live in.

That’s just how I see it.

Until the next time: Keep Your Minds Open & Your Stories Alive. GW

All my books are available on my Amazon Author Page.

If you purchase a book, a brief Amazon review really helps new readers discover my work—it means a lot.

Support my writing: Support My Writing

In Closing, I Would Like to Wish You Well!

George Walters | [email protected]

Thoughts Between Coffee and Chores on June 1/2025

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Good Morning… As my old Dad used to say: “The tools are where I left them, which means I’ll be searching all morning.”

Port Loring, Ontario – Weather Outlook: June 1–10, 2025

As June begins, Port Loring will see a steady shift from spring’s leftovers to a more settled stretch of early summer warmth. There may be a few unsettled moments early on, but overall, the weather looks decent in the days ahead.

Sunday, June 1 to Tuesday, June 4
Daytime highs will range from 64°F to 72°F (18°C to 22°C), with overnight lows around 46°F to 54°F (8°C to 12°C).
Expect a mix of sun and cloud, especially on Monday, when a weak front may bring a few scattered showers or a brief thunderstorm.
Winds could pick up slightly Monday afternoon, but nothing to be concerned about.

Wednesday, June 5 to Friday, June 7
A slow warming trend begins. Highs will reach between 70°F and 75°F (21°C to 24°C), with mostly sunny skies expected.
Dry, comfortable air will move in from the west.
Nights will stay cool but pleasant, dipping to between 50°F and 55°F (10°C to 13°C).

Saturday, June 8 to Monday, June 10
The cooler air mass will move out, allowing for more typical June warmth to take hold.
Afternoon highs could reach 78°F to 82°F (26°C to 28°C) by Sunday and Monday.
There’s a slight chance of a pop-up shower or thunderstorm on Sunday, but most of the time will be dry.
Evenings will stay mild, with lows around 55°F to 61°F (13°C to 16°C).

Summary:
Mostly dry and stable weather ahead.
A chance of light showers early in the week, followed by several days of fair skies and rising temperatures.
It’ll start to feel more like early summer by the second weekend of June — good weather for yard work, sitting outside, or just getting some fresh air.

Highway 522 saw a good bit of traffic yesterday, and we had a steady stream of folks stopping in for our garage sale. I’ve got to say, it turned out to be a great day—lots of people picked up some real treasures, and we even made a few dollars along the way.

If you missed it on Friday or Saturday, don’t worry—we’re still going strong! The signs will be out again today, and we’ve got plenty of great items looking for a new home. So if you’re out and about, it’s definitely worth your while to swing by. You never know what you might find!

We’re open today from 10 AM to 4 PM at 11588 Highway 522, Port Loring, Ontario, Canada. Come on by and say hello!

Bug Report:
Well, yesterday wasn’t all that bad, at least not until later in the day when things started to warm up. Black flies and mosquitoes don’t care much for the cold, but once that sun comes out and the air heats up, you can bet they’ll be back—buzzing around, looking for a bit of that warm blood we humans haul around. And it’s not just us. They make life miserable for the critters too.

On another note, like I mentioned earlier, yesterday we had a busy day with the garage sale. There was plenty of chatting, laughter, and some real nice sales—not just from the garage sale tables, but from our little gift shop too. Folks were picking up all sorts of treasures, including my books and handcrafted flutes, along with my wife’s beautiful paintings and one-of-a-kind creations. All in all, it was a great day filled with good company.

So, what are you up to today, GW?

Well, today we’ll be carrying on with the garage sale, which will likely take up most of the day. If the sun decides to warm things up a bit, we might even squeeze in a little front porch sittin’ between customers.

With that, I’m off to enjoy the breakfast my little woman has ready for me, then I’ll head outside and get things opened up.

Until the next time: Keep Your Minds Open & Your Stories Alive. GW

All my books are available on my Amazon Author Page.

If you purchase a book, a brief Amazon review really helps new readers discover my work—it means a lot.

Support my writing: Support My Writing

In Closing, I Would Like to Wish You Well!

George Walters | [email protected]