My father had the habit of taking me to the woods from an early age. Six years old, to be precise. Back then, one didn’t have to drive for four hours to reach some form of legitimate wilderness. We had woods even in developing areas such as Ville Saint-Laurent and even more on Laval island in Montreal. I’m talking about woods you could hunt in. But, of course, now all these areas are covered in residential developments and shopping malls. On one occasion, my dad went the extr

Back when I was eight years old, I lived with my mother on Gatineau street , where I was allowed to go out and play within a one-block area. Of course, I wasn’t allowed to cross the street, so I stuck to my side along with the other kids my age, who were pretty much under the same rules. We’d play in the alley behind my apartment building, where we could hear our mothers call us in for meals and the like. On this occasion, one of my little comrades and I were trying to see ea

My lifelong friend Marion has a wonderful son named Thomas, whom I’ve known all of his life. He’s now in his forties. Growing into a fine man, Tom has done quite well for himself using grit, his wits, and uncommon perseverance with his most current years devoted to skydiving as a respected instructor with over ten thousand jumps to his credit. His many years of bodybuilding have also given him an impressive physique. I’ve been absent from Tom for most of his life for various