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…
Bin there, done that
By Steve Galea Like many hunters and anglers, when it comes to hunting and fishing gear, I have a lot. I actually have so much that you could probably do a two-part episode of Hoarders…
A merry-go-round of scams
By Jim Poling Hey, Beverley J. Karl@aliciablong05@gmail.com. I am emailing to let you know that I am returning your nose. I found it sniffing around my business the other day, looking for ways to relieve…
All that is old is new again…
By Fay Martin Housing is unaffordable, we read and hear everywhere, and that is jeopardizing our economy and discouraging the younger generation. Ah, hasn’t it always been thus? In Middlemarch, George Eliot’s novel published 151…
The buck stops here
By Steve Galea f you hunt deer, two things are for certain: first, there will be times when you are sitting with a perfect wind in your face at a spot where your trail cameras…
A bureaucracy gone mad
By Jim Poling Sr. I have confirmed that COVID-19 is not a respiratory disease. It is a mental disease that makes some people more stupid than they already are. I confirmed this during yet another…
The splendour of the woods
By Jim Poling Sr. The lights dim. The audience turns to other spectacles.Nature’s annual autumn show is over. It was a spectacular one. Certainly one of the most vibrant in years. Crimson and golden hillsides…
Wondering about Ma Bell
By Jim Poling Sr. I’ve been wondering a lot recently about Bell. You know, the telephone company now into mobile phones, internet service, digital television, radio and television news, sports and entertainment programming, plus TV…
Birds for better health
By Jim Poling Sr. Probably the best thing anyone can do after listening to a morning newscast is to go outside and listen to the birds. Studies show that birds are beneficial to our mental…
They’ve got me numbered!
By Jim Poling Sr. We Canadians love our bureaucracy as much as we love our maple syrup. If we didn’t why would we swallow so much of it?I’ve been asking myself that after a recent…
Waiting for the ‘big one’
By Jim Poling Sr. Thunder Bay, Ontario – I’m sitting on the Hillcrest Park stone wall overlooking the city where I was born and raised. The view of Lake Superior and the Sleeping Giant is…