By Jim Poling Sr. From Shaman's Rock The kids are back in school, which is a good thing. Excellent education without COVID-19 infections is the hope of all. Canada has good education systems with teachers…
Dreaming of life without digital
By Jim Poling Sr. From Shaman's Rock How sad that the sweetest dreams never last long, or come true. Just the other night my fantastically happy dream evaporated into the shrill ring of my mobile…
Surviving lives in the forest
By Jim Poling Sr.From Shaman's Rock There was no finer sight for a New Year’s morning. At the edge of a freshly snow-covered clearing behind my place stood a whitetail doe and her fawn. The…
O Night Divine!
By Jim Poling Sr.From Shaman’s Rock (This column is a story I have written and told many times. I’m repeating it because for me Christmas without it would not be Christmas.) --- Fresh fallen snow…
That other pandemic
By Jim Poling Sr.From Shaman's Rock There’s another pandemic infecting Canadians, and millions of others around the world. It’s a pandemic-within-the-pandemic and medical experts say it will continue long after COVID-19 is brought under control.…
The problems of economic growth
By Jim Poling Sr.From Shaman's Rock I’ve been struggling with a problem that many older cottage owners are facing. Cottages used to be family heritage items passed from one generation to the next. Passing them…
Have you arranged snow clearing yet?
By Jim Poling Sr.From Shaman's Rock If you managed to find regular snowploughing for the coming winter, it likely wasn’t easy and you likely are paying more for it. Snowplough operators big and small have…
Thatta boy, Will!
By Jim Poling Sr.From Shaman's Rock Suddenly, the Royal family no longer bores me to tears. I’ve yawned through years of watching the Queen deliver stultifying television addresses with her cut-glass upper-class accent. And, one…
Guns and autumn
By Jim Poling Sr.From Shaman's Rock This is the golden time; the best days of the year. Sparkling sunbeams spill from a brilliant blue sky. Golden bronze and crimson leaves catch them, then lose their…
Shapeshifting for the future
By Jim Poling Sr.From Shaman's Rock While we humans continue to fret and argue about climate change, animals have already started to adapt to it. That’s really no surprise because some folks, me included, believe…