From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. I’m getting dark, worried feelings about the Frost Centre on Highway 35 just south of Dorset. The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) bought the 40-acre site and…
Fears for the future
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. It’s been a while since I’ve gone shopping at a gun store, but I found myself in one last week. A target shooter was having trouble finding ammunition…
Fewer perks for the privileged
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. I've always been in love with the RCAF – the Royal Canadian Air Force. My love affair began young when I set out to become an RCAF fighter…
Of elves and trolls
From Shaman’s RockBy Jim Poling Sr. The world’s problems are becoming so complex that it appears politicians are turning to elves for help. It’s happening in Mexico. Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador recently posted…
A Needed Covid Inquiry
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. Canadian politicians have been working diligently to complete a new long-term agreement on how health care will operate in this country. Sounds nice, but they are neglecting something…
The threat from above
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. I’m eating my cereal and staring out the kitchen window when M arrives at the bird bath, now filled with seed for feathered friends not gone south. M…
Jack’s POV
By Jack Brezina The recent agreement on health care transfers and the attendant side deals notwithstanding, there is still a lot to be done to improve health care in this country. And while the federal…
Thinking hearts and flowers
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. It’s been an unsettling week. My two oldest children were born on Valentine’s Day, two years apart. So, I had to consider whether to cancel their birthday celebrations.…
Bye Bye American Pie
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. It’s February, and as the singer-songwriter Don McLean wrote in his 1971 smash hit American Pie: February makes you shiver. It isn’t February cold that makes McLean shiver.…
No greater love…
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. There are times when we might want to despair over living in a world of selfishness. This week isn’t one of them. That’s because the first week of…
The age of the grandparent
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. There’s been little to do during this winter’s days of chilly grey overcast. So I’ve taken to thumbing through stacks of photo prints that have been gathering dust…
What’s with our winters?
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. Canada is winter country and we Canadians are winter people. So, I’m concerned about what is happening to our winters. Is the current one of above average temperatures,…
Lots of noise about little
From Shaman’s RockBy Jim Poling Sr. When you go to a 10-pin bowling alley you have to put up with a lot of noise.That’s why Prince Harry’s book Spare, released this week, seems so appropriatelytitled.…
The realities of 2023
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. The celebratory shouts of Happy New Year! are but faint echoes now, pushed into the past by the realities of today. Today’s realities unfortunately remain the realities of…
O Holy Night!
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. (This column is a story I have written and told many times. Christmas without it again would not be Christmas.) --- Fresh fallen snow protested beneath the crush…
Our roadside garbage pits
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. What the world needs now are more dog walkers like Row Iliescu. Iliescu is the Toronto woman who spends a lot of her time picking up litter while…
Winds of Change
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. The wind off the lake is furiously slapping the flag on the pole anchored in the little flower patch out front my place. There’s nothing noteworthy about a…
Who will stop the Russians?
From Shaman's Rock By Jim Poling Sr. IF I THROW stones at my neighbours relaxing on their backyard patio, other neighbours witnessing the crime will rush in to stop me. If I take wire cutters…
Fixing social media
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. Whenever I read about global problems, I note climate change, serious pandemics, wars-military conflicts, poverty and hunger always top the list. I’d like to add one: social media.…
How to shiver correctly
By Steve Galea Now that the cold weather has finally arrived, new deer hunters might need a reminder on how to shiver correctly. As any veteran deer hunter can attest, this is one of the…
Finding a new way of living
By Jim Poling I’m not one for rewatching a movie, no matter how good it might have been. Especially if it is a remake. I made an exception recently and ordered up the 2021 remake…