By Jim Poling Sr. Published Feb. 14 2019 Tree branches whisper in a summer breeze or creak in an icy winter wind and I wonder if they are talking to each other. A wolf howls…

By Jim Poling Sr. Published Feb. 7 2019 When you write you get messages from readers. Some are complimentary. Some are not. I have received a couple that accuse me of being anti-American anti-Donald Trump.…

It was a lifetime ago 1967 to be exact when I sat listening to a lecturer at Columbia University in New York City. The lecturer turned to the blackboard and drew a horizontal line. Above…

By Laurie Sweig Published Jan. 24, 2019    Canada’s Food Guide is getting some attention these days because a new version came out this week. That seems to be a big deal for some folks.…

By Jim Poling Sr.  Published Jan. 24. 2019    If John Steinbeck was alive today he might consider changing the title of his 1961 Nobel prize-winning novel from The Winter of Our Discontent to The…

I’ve seen their tracks and heard their howls but haven’t met any wolves on my back 40 this winter. Not that I really expect to because it is rare to get even a glimpse of…

By Jim Poling Sr.  Published Jan. 10, 2019    The New Year opened with so many questions:  Will the global economic turmoil become a recession? Will western Canadian oil be given a stable delivery system…

Many Christmas Eves have passed since the one years ago when I heard the voice of an angel. It was a voice I can never forget; a voice that gave me the best Christmas present…

By Jim Poling Sr. Published Dec. 13 2018 It was a long time ago but I was an elevator operator once. That was back in the days when elevators were not push-button automatic and needed…

It has been a week of thoughtful recollection and warm tributes to George H. W. Bush the 41st president of the United States who died last Friday. Like all leaders global or local Bush collected…

There are days when you look around and see too many mean-spirited jerks. Then you turn on the television and meet Tim Green. Green appeared on the 60 Minutes television news show recently and provided…

It is 6:25 a.m. opening day of the deer hunting season. Still coal black outside so I am sipping the last of my coffee before heading into the woods. The telephone rings. Who calls at…

I was so overwhelmed by bad news this week that I decided to write a column about the good news that is plentiful if you go looking for it. There is no shortage of happy or…

The 737-800 I am flying in just broke through 10000 feet the height at which the crew turns off the seat belt sign and makes the flight announcements. “The bad news. . . ” says…

There’s nothing better than being first. So I was ecstatic on Wednesday Oct. 17 when I became the very first Canadian to get high as smoking marijuana became legal in Canada. I had planned to…

Time to look ahead to winter and what we might expect from it this year. There’s bad news and more bad news. Sorry about that but this is Canada the country that has the world’s…

I step off the airplane into the California sunshine and am welcomed by the sweet voice of America’s senior citizen diva Barbra Streisand. She is singing through someone’s car radio “Don’t Lie to Me” a new…

Canada has become a place where people are busy all day every day without getting much done. We have slumped into a preference for sitting at tables and debating rather than lacing up work boots…

He is a splash of brilliance on a gloomy overcast day. Sunshine yellow body feathers standing out stunningly against deep black wings and forehead. It has been a long time since I have seen a…