My heart was beating overtime, my brow sticky with sweat and dust. The drumbeat was at once exciting and soothing. The songs sung by men from Alkali Lake, BC, effortlessly reached the high notes. Many from the circle of admirers […]

I was patiently waiting for the customer service rep. I’d been standing in line for 15 minutes behind two people, and listening to the first one go through a long-winded explanation of how he come to the counter to purchase […]

Oh, what to do this summer? The goose-hunting season is now going full tilt in every Cree community on both sides of the James and Hudson bays. Every community has emptied out, leaving lonely stragglers to fend for themselves. In […]

Ahhh. Finally a warm south wind. The sun is out and birds are chirping. The sounds of nature fill the air, streams dash through the streets… and into my back yard. What? I check to see if my little scrap […]

Americans, our southern neighbours. On the maps of North America, the boundaries that keep the cold up north are clearly straight with a little wiggle here and there. On the southern boundary (which is clearly wiggly as it follows a […]

Recently, the local news heralded the reopening of Chez Willie in Val-d’Or, which is now located a little ways from downtown. This is good: the poor homeless have a daytime sanctuary from the harsh realities on the streets of an […]

Ahhhh, the warm air masses created by politicians in full oration could thaw the coldest day of winter. What would we do without them? Hmmmm. Naw, not worth sending everyone down south anywhere in North America during the winter months. […]

I sliced the fresh caribou meat thin with a razor-sharp beaver knife; so thin the meat looked translucent. The recipe for this dish was evolving as I delicately cut the meat into mouth-sized pieces. A little leftover wine and honey-garlic-sauced […]

Ooowwwaaahhh!  It’s chilly!  I slowly creep out of bed, the early morning light outside barely makes it past the curtains.  Using my cellphone, I light my way to the thermostat and start up the trusty oil furnace. No electric heating […]

In old movies, whenever you hear background sounds and talking, the audio is almost always faked to enhance the effect of the visual art of the film. One such sound was the crowded room background, people talking to each other, […]