It was near the end of office-party season just before Christmas many moons ago. I was rushing out of a well-known hotel in downtown Montreal into a nasty day, with the wind blowing snow twisters down the street and spinning […]

  My fox fur cap was slipping off my head and I awkwardly adjusted it back into position. I was in a television studio in Timmins and the year was 1968 and my whole class was part of a Christmas […]

I’m calling around for people to give me a boost. But it’s cold and most have left town. It’s the annual pilgrimage to Val-d’Or for some all-out sports event featuring the up-and-coming, the best, the fastest, the oldest, the messiest, […]

Grasping the handle of the super-sized shopping cart, I join the long line of sweating, winter-coat-swaddled shoppers a hundred metres deep. We are all waiting our turn at the automated checkout machines. One of the machines has communication issues with […]

Halloween is on the tip of everyone’s tongue as the scary, hairy, beautiful, ridiculous and just plain crazy costumes are dug out of the closet. It’s a bit like the Mardi Gras of the north, with kids in cute costumes […]

The sturdy Norwest 24-foot cedar-and-canvas canoe reached the crest of a 15-foot wave. We bobbed over the top only to see a mass of swells. The 40-horse outboard quickly revved up and we flew across the swells for some time […]

“Yes, I’ll take the baby car seat and GPS options please, plus the take-it-to-the-max insurance,” I tell the tall, young, professional-looking man at the car rental counter. In short order I had my pick of colour and finish. Two hours […]

I’m adjusting my tie and checking for any missed beard stubble. A quick shower and shave gets me ready in about 15 minutes. It’s just a matter of finding some good socks to go with my George dress shoes and […]

We sat around silently waiting for the next person to say something meaningful. The silence was thick. The atmosphere felt discharged of energy – no emotions, just sombreness. The lampshades did little to brighten the room as muffled shadows greyed […]

I’m sitting halfway up the hills formed from the Precambrian Shield near a cluster of old dry pine trees, which must be at least a half-century old. These wizened tiny trees – our northern Bonsais, I like to call them […]