By Jim Poling Sr. Thinking about putting the dock away for winter brings painful memories. And, nasty thoughts about Canada’s favourite rodent – Castor canadensis, commonly known as the beaver.Every fall I tow my dock…
Mice on the move
By Jim Poling Sr. And so begins the annual invasion of the mice. They are on the move, searching for cracks and gaps in homes, cottages, garages, sheds and other buildings where they can find…
Observe and report
By Jim Poling Sr. This week marks a special anniversary. It’s of little interest to anyone but me, but I’m writing about it anyway. Sixty years ago this week I walked into the second-floor newsroom…
Time for a different trip
By Jim Polling Sr. The world is on the move again after two and a half years of COVID. I’m itching to do some travelling but can’t decide where to go. I’ve considered Tasmania to…
Summer: going, going …
That voice is in my head again. It sneaks in every August; a throbbing, melancholy voice sighing sad words about loss and change.“All the rainbows in the skyStart to weep and say goodbyeYou won’t be…
Growing food, not lawns
By Jim Poling Sr. My lawnmower has been put away for the winter. I doubt if I’ll bring it out next spring.This year I didn’t cut the grass until well into June. It grew to…
Beauty in a marshland
By Jim Poling Sr. I was having one of those bad days that everyone has. Hot water tank gave out, thunder storm took out satellite service and a boat flying a flag with an obscenity…
Good advice from Norman
By Jim Poling Sr. The best advice given the way the world is recently came from a man celebrating his 100th birthday.Norman Lear, who produced the famous 1970s Archie Bunker show titled All in the…
The monarchy: A needed tradition?
By Jim Poling Sr. It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words.I’m looking at a picture that tells me everything I need to know with one seven-letter word – madness.It’s a wire…
Turn on the audio
By Jim Poling Sr. It’s the time of summer craft sales and I find myself in a sunlit park helping a daughter display and sell some of her artwork. I’ve tossed some of my own…
Give them our respect
By Jim Poling Sr. A friend is ill and not doing well. I’m watching her closely and, if the illness looks incurable, I will end her life.The friend is not a human, of course. She…
Congrats, 2022 Grads
By Sue Tiffin I’m proud of this little newspaper, and the people who do good things that make for the stories that fill it. This week is no exception. What is exceptional this week, is…
Letter to the Editor: July 6
The best days are spent fishing To the Editor, The 2022 Canada Day Kids Fishing Derby is in the books and what a day it was! We had over 330 kids participate! The excitement and…
Listen to the dark winds
By Jim Poling Sr.From Shaman's Rock Dark winds are blowing. Some real. Some fictional. The real ones are clearly seen. The wild ice storms, droughts and floods of climate change. Ukrainians dying in rainstorms of…
To ink or not to ink
By Jim Poling Sr.From Shaman's Rock July 17 is National Tattoo Day and I’ve been thinking about getting one. Some years back I wanted to get a screaming eagle tattoo on my chest, but was…
Let’s not get too relaxed
By Jim Poling Sr.From Shaman's Rock The COVID-19 pandemic is over. That seems to be a consensus in a world that has succumbed to COVID fatigue. Most people have tossed their masks. Government mandates and…
Pictures that cause pain
By Jim Poling Sr.From Shaman's Rock Working in the news industry can be depressing. It is work that draws much criticism and little praise. The men and women who gather and report news get blamed…
Bread is making us bedbug crazy
By Jim Poling Sr.From Shaman's Rock I now know why our world has gone crazy. It’s from eating rye bread. Rye is a bewitched grain. We know that from modern research into the Salem witch…
A gun range disgrace
By Jim Poling Sr.From Shaman's Rock An organized gun range is a beautiful place. It’s a classroom – indoors or out – because it teaches valuable lessons. Lessons in safety and care and maintenance of…
The beaver ate my dock
By Jim Poling Sr.From Shaman's Rock I try to be Mr. Nice with my critter neighbours at the lake. It is becoming more difficult, however. Much more difficult, especially this spring. I feed and comfort…
Make life easier for women
By Jim Poling Sr.From Shaman's RockThe abortion debate has flared into rage again in the United States, spilling of course, into Canada and elsewhere. Much time, energy and money is spent arguing whether governments should…