Hunting with Mike

Tom, Greg, and my brother Randy (R to L.) Norm and Nancy came along later!

Ok so here’s the “skinny” on my Canadian wilderness cousins! You would think I would have ample opportunity to explore the far reaching forest, mountains, and tundra of the Canadian “bush,” with my three male cousins right? I mean aren’t all Canucks like Paul Bunyan, Daniel Boone, and Chingachgook? It is even rumored that my Canadian mothers side of the family has a little Cree blood flowing through their veins. Why that makes me a “shoe-in” for some high adventure chasing grizzly bears, caribou, moose, and Rocky Mountain bighorns right? Why after spending some time in the north country with my cousins I could probably do a sequel to “Dances With Wolves!” Well on all of the above the answer is “no way, no way, and no way!”

Now don’t get me wrong; it’s not that they couldn’t of all been Davy Crockett in their own right. It’s just that their dad (Mel) and their mom (Dorene) gave them guidance in a different direction. As far as education, natural abilities, and industriousness they far excel the norm. I’ll give you a small sample of what I mean.

Tom Douglas is my oldest cousin (around 66.) It is not hard to get information about Tom. Type in his name on the internet, and boom, web-site after web-site pops up about my famous cousin. The only thing that may be a little confusing is there is a chef, from the west coast, who goes by Tom Douglas, and he also has alot of internet ink! Tom is a noted free lance writer, journalist, travel writer, and author. He is a founding member of the Travel Media Association of Canada, and also a member of the Canadian Association of Journalist. He is an editor and has had columns appear in many newspapers and magazines throughout the world. He has authored several books about WWII, and is a walking military encyclopedia. Much of his inspiration came from his father (Mel) who was a tank commander during some of the roughest fighting in Europe.

Greg is the next oldest cousin (65) and everyone always knew he would land a job in sports someday! He followed the Detroit Tigers religiously, and could give you every statistic on the team, from the bat-boy to the front office! He knew his baseball, hockey, boxing, football, ect. After a few years as a sports reporter, it was no small surprise that the Vancouver Canucks hired him as public relations manager, and later as assistant general manager. He is an “icon” in the Vancouver area sports scene, and does a spot on radio called”Dr. Sports!” He also does a sports segment on CKWX T.V. and is the featured sports writer for the Vancouver Sun. Not bad for a lad from Sault Ste. Marie Ontario.

Now my third cousin is Norm (61) who was named after my dad. You see my dad Norm was stationed in Sault Ste. Marie Michigan when he met my mom. He became good friends with my moms family, and Mel and him hit it off just great. They honored my mom and dad by naming their third son after my “pappy!” Norm studied hard and became a lawyer and eventually “Crown Attorney”for the Sault. His dad (Mel) worked for the Sault court system, and that’s where Normie got his inspiration. Norm was one of the rising stars amongst the lawyers and judges of Ontario, and even did a stint in Ottawa. He is currently The Honorable Mr. Justice Norman S. Douglas Ontario Court of Justice serving just outside of Toronto. As with the older brothers, you can get more information on my famous cousin on the internet. Oh I almost forgot Normie also does Elvis impersonations and is the led singer in his band called “The Boomerangs!”

Now I do have a fourth cousin and her name is Nancy. She may be the smartest of the lot, but she also is an introvert, and not an extrovert like her brothers. She is a beautiful women (looks like my aunt Dorene) and is content to stay under the radar, so to speak. She writes music, plays music, and has a beautiful voice to go along with her other talents. She is a real sweetheart.

Now you see why I don’t hunt with my cousins. Why in the world would “they” want to shoot or catch anything? They are quite happy and content with the lives they have, and I say God Bless them. Meanwhile back at the “lower forty” I can’t wait to do a little pre-season scouting, and soak up some contentment of my own.

Mike

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 15th, 2008 at 5:44 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.