Columns

Hockey Time at AU

The hockey season has officially begun, and all anyone can say is, “Game On!” Already teams have surprised odds makers and fans alike! The underdogs came out with a bang, but the favourites haven’t slacked off either. It’s too early to even contemplate who may win the Stanley Cup, but it’s the perfect time to… Read more »

The Good Life – Enjoying The Trickster

Central to the spiritual world view of many First Nations is the figure of the Trickster. As the Canadian playwright Tomson Highway explains, in his introduction to his play Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing, the Trickster is a “pivotal and important figure,” as important to First Nations as “Christ is in Christian mythology” (1377)…. Read more »

Lost & Found – Photograph

There is this photograph of me. I’m eleven years old, living in Northern Ontario. My head is poking out of the entrance of a tunnel dug into a snow bank. The tunnel entrance is maybe six feet off the ground. We used to dig these tunnels into the huge mounds of snow piled up on… Read more »

Dear Barb – Saving for Retirement

Dear Barb: I am a thirty-six-year-old single woman and I am just starting to think about investing for retirement. I am also planning to save for a house that, God willing, I intend to purchase in the next five to ten years. I know I am a bit late in doing all this. I want… Read more »

From Where I Sit – Thank You, Thank You, Thank You

Oprah and others have long advocated the benefits of keeping a gratitude journal. It’s supposed to create mindfulness. And say “thank you” for blessings, even when some days there doesn’t appear to be a single thing to be grateful for. On some cosmic level, it changes our focus from bitching and complaining and wanting, wanting,… Read more »

From Where I Sit – Stop Dead

I live just a few miles away from the intersection of Secondary Highways 855 and 637. The intersection is a four-way stop marked by oversized stop signs, flashing red lights and rumble strips. From two directions, if you’re a gambling person you could probably blow the stop sign and live to talk about it. For… Read more »

Lost & Found – Feathers

My buddy tells a story about the day he saw the towers falling to the ground, the day he knew he would never have kids of his own. Here is how I picture it. He’s in between jobs on the rigs and staying with his sister in her Edmonton apartment. It’s early in the morning,… Read more »