by Steve Galea If you live with an angler, you probably have a sense that the fishing season is drawing near. This is very likely fueled by the clues that you might see in and…
My foxy friend
by Jim Poling Sr. I’m opposed to feeding wild animals. They get to like human food, depend on it and stop foraging for their natural foods. However, I have a confession to make: I’ve been…
Carbon tax and tribalism
by Jim Poling Sr. Our federal government is running out of lipstick to put on the pig it calls its carbon pricing policy. But as the famous proverb notes – when you put lipstick on…
Ins and outs of ice
by Jim Poling Sr. Many of us got fooled with ice out predictions this year. The mild, almost non-existent winter, had many predicting ice off the lakes in March. There just wasn’t enough really cold…
Politics and evangelicals
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. What used to be a source of pride for me has become a source of shame. My father’s family had evangelical roots since coming to North America almost…
Whither goes the Frost Centre?
From Shaman's Rock by Jim Poling Sr. It was roughly one year ago that I wrote about the dark, worried feelings I had about the Frost Centre on St. Nora Lake just south of Dorset.…
See you soon
by Emily Stonehouse I’ve been keeping a secret.Well, as much of a secret as you can when you have a very public-facing job and are active on social media. So really, not much of a…
Will rainbows replace the snow?
From Shaman's Rock by Jim Poling Sr. If you think this winter and last were strange, you “ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”Our winters are going to get warmer and wetter, the wet becoming more rain as…
Buffalo story offers hope
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. We live in an increasingly crazy world that some believe is on a fast track to extinction. Perhaps, but despite humanity’s destructive tendencies you have to believe the…
The importance of snow
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. Many folks are cheering the recent arrival of snow that has been missing for most of this unusual winter. Lack of snow in October, November and December has…
Our roadside shame
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. The exceptionally late arrival of winter’s snow has covered up Canada’s dirty little secret: We are not holier than other countries when it comes to garbage. Especially the…
O Night Divine!
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. (I have written and told this story many times. Christmas would not be Christmas without telling it again.) --- Fresh fallen snow protested beneath my gumboots breaking trail…
Mysteries with a bonus
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. We tend to think of global warming and climate change as some new development, It’s not. There have been warnings about it going back many decades. You find…
Goodbye Self-checkouts!
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. Some people are unhappy with the growing number of retailers getting rid of self-checkouts. I am not. Self-checkouts don’t pay income tax. They don’t contribute to social insurance…
Red tape and small business
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. There’s much talk lately about the need to reduce red tape. We live in a country in which people are swimming in it, just trying to keep afloat.…
Not the time to forget
By Emily Stonehouse I’ve been sitting with this document open all week. A Remembrance Day editorial. There should be lots to say. How we remember. How we honour the fallen soldiers who have bled out…
That unequal tax exemption
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. “Politics will always break your heart,” Catherine McKenna once tweeted on the social media platform now called X. She should know. She suffered a barrage of verbal attacks…
Living in a world of despair
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. There is much controversy over whether mental illness is a significant cause of mass shootings, which are becoming a common occurrence, notably in the gun-crazy United States of…
Litter boxes and lies
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. I’ve never been a fan of cats. I find them self-obsessed and neurotic. If I was a cat fan, however, I certainly would not be dressing up as…
Replaced by a computer?
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. I’ve tried to ignore all the hype about artificial intelligence (AI). How it will transform work and reinvent business. How it will replace me as a writer. Any…
We want baseball, not Moneyball
From Shaman’s Rock By Jim Poling Sr. Baseball broadcaster Buck Martinez said the Toronto Blue Jays’ 2023 season would be a disaster if they could not advance past the first wild-card playoff round. They didn’t.…