A side effect of the partial closure of Hamilton's steel mills is the rather noticeable improvement in air quality since the blast furnaces went idle.

Leaving aside the politics of the situation- Hamiltonians are out thousands of jobs unless the steel market picks up- the birds on the Burlington side, at least, seem to be enjoying the unusually clean conditions this year.

Good drawings take time to make. Time costs money. Therefore, good drawings are not cheap.

Some boat builders seem to think that this logic leads to a fourth point: "Therefore, we will not include drawings."

Er, guys? Not cool. Seriously, not cool. Just see what happens the very first time the owner has to have something fixed, and the technician spends most of a day rooting around in the bilges trying to figure out where the hell all the wires are going.

Canoes are simply amazing little boats. They have no systems, no motors, no sails, none of the usual trappings of maritime life. The boat is really nothing more than a hull, a thwart or two, and a place to sit.

And yet this simple boat is a veritable magic carpet, taking you to an unfathomable number of secret, hidden places where no other vessel can travel.