By Jim Poling Published Nov. 23 2017 December looms on the late November horizon leaving us wondering how it will treat us this year. Will it be cruel or will it be kind? It has…
Silence of the birds
By Jim Poling Published Nov. 16 2017 I am in my deer hunting stand watching and wondering. Wondering where they all have gone. Not the deer. I am beyond the days of anxiety over seeing…
Thoughts as I buy my poppy
By George Farrell Published Nov. 9 2017 I’m a baby boomer the product of a war time romance between a Polish fighter pilot and an English woman who was a member of the Woman’s Auxiliary…
No safe distance
By Jim Poling Published Nov. 9 2017 One bug season ends another begins. The one just begun is one to be concerned about. The late autumn-winter flu bug season already is showing evidence that it…
The brilliance of Stephen King
By Jim Poling Published Nov. 2 2017 This being Halloween week I have Stephen King on my night table. Nothing is spookier than ghostly autumn moonlight spilling through the bedroom window onto the horror master’s…
One paw or another
By Jim Poling Published Oct. 26 2017 I am sitting on the deck watching the squirrels skip through the fallen leaves searching for something to steal. Squirrels are beastly vandals and unrepentant thieves. At this…
To catch a litterpig
By Jim Poling Published Oct. 17 2017 “We’ve got a good one” Scully calls out. She holds it up examining it carefully before dropping it into a plastic evidence bag. “It’s recent” she says “maybe…
Trouble in Bahteh Wallow
By Jim Poling Published Oct. 12 2017 Bahteh Wallow was a democratic society founded on the idea that all animals are created equal. It had evolved from a revolution and a civil war as a…
A tree dies in Haliburton
By Jim Poling Sr. Published Oct. 5 2017 An old and dear friend at the lake passed away this autumn. Our grand sugar maple the signature tree of our lake property became too sick to…
Get your tech questions answered
By Lee Burgess Published Oct. 5 2017 Do you need assistance with technology related topics? On Wednesday Oct. 11 and Oct. 25 at 2:30 p.m. the Dorset branch of the Haliburton County Public Library is…
I am the captain of my soul
Published Oct. 5 2017 Coming Events – Friday Oct. 6 7:30 p.m. Karaoke with Fred and Linda Monday Thanksgiving Day closed. Invictus means “unconquerable” or “undefeated” in Latin. Invictus is a poem that focuses on…
Neuromuscular connection
By Laurie Sweig Practical Fitness Published Oct. 5 2017 A neuromuscular connection occurs between a muscle fibre and nerve. It’s like a conversation between the two parties. Our brain says: Scratch that itch on the…
Ma Bell and Me
By Jim Poling Published Sept. 28 2017 In the beginning there was none. No television. No electronics. The lake itself was the entertainment. Swimming in it canoeing on it fishing it or just sitting by…
Car buyers beware
By Jim Poling Published Sept. 21 2017 Mopping up the messes of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma is happening hundreds of miles away but Canadian consumers need to take care that they don’t get soaked. Flood-damaged…
When will we ever learn?
By Jim Poling Published Sept. 14 2017 Most of us have gone through life thinking little about nuclear war. The chances of it have been minimal because everyone understands that launching just one nuke could…
To code or not to code
By Jim Poling Published Sept. 7 2017 School days school days good old fashioned . . . Reading and writing and ‘rithmetic . . . . and coding. Coding apparently is the hottest trend in…
Surrounded by dummies
By Jim Poling Published Aug. 31 2017 So much to do but so many stupid people in the way. You can’t get important stuff done when surrounded by incompetents. Precious time wasted trying to get…
If you hate it you won’t do it
Published Aug. 24 2017 At one point in my life I considered myself a runner. I truly believed that if I didn’t go for a run I wasn’t exercising. Even an hour on the squash…
Gone glamping
By Jim Poling Published Aug. 24 2017 My first thought was that it was a ludicrous notion. Then I said to myself: “Get cool. Explore a new trend.” And that’s how I got to go…
A debate too shallow
By Jim Poling Published Aug. 17 2017 It is disheartening how we Canadians manage to turn interesting and important debates into spiteful squabbles. We toss emotion and hard core bias onto the path toward the…
Personality versus the news
By Jim Poling Published Aug. 10 2017 The era of the personality cult finally appears to be ended at CBC’s The National. The daily 10 p.m. news program will replace as expected the saintly but…