The Squamidian Report – Dec. 27 / 03
Also in this issue:
Brenda in Ireland
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Wow, if Greg hadn’t sent in his column I’d have totally forgot that today is Saturday.
Thanks everyone for all the kind, seasonally inspired words. It’s great. Just look at all the friends I’ve made simply by moving away ;)
We have had a week of typical west coast weather, some very wet days (this is where the rain forests are after all) and some dry days where the scenery simply takes your breath away. Warren and I did a small hike along the banks of the Upper Squamish River near where the Ashlu branches off. That flooding back in the fall has left huge scars along the riverbanks. The main channel has shifted wildly is some places. There are huge piles of trees and stumps that were pushed up by the waters. There are huge piles of rocks that were deposited by the water. There is a small island on the Ashlu (where those two wooden bridges are) that is framed by steep rock cliffs. The upstream end of the island has been completely changed. There is river silt all through the trees and a huge pile of boulders where the tip of the island forces the river to split and go around.
And there are eagles everywhere. They are soaring above the rivers, perching in practically every tree from the coast on inland and up the valleys. They are in the trees right down town, they are eating the fish in the river where we take Yogi for his swim. The young ones that were hatched this year don’t have the white head and tail yet like the older ones. They are more gray / brown and look like giant hawks. They kind of remind me of human teenagers with their hat on backward and their pants crotch down at their knees. They should be hanging out somewhere, smoking and spitting and skateboarding.
On the spur of the moment, Sue and I decided to go up to Whistler for lunch one day. The snow covered mountains were so bright they made your eyes water. We had figured we’d splurge and take the gondola lift up to the Roundhouse Restaurant where they charge gourmet rates for a burger and fries. I had figured that the lift rates would be up a bit from last summer when had the nerve to extract $25 per person for the ride up and back. I was not prepared for the prices to be tippled just because it’s ski season. Liked everything about Whistler, its gouge everyone for as much as you can. Needles to say, we abandoned that idea and settled for one of the overpriced eateries in the village.
For anyone interested, there is a web cam up near the top of Whistler Mountain pointing at the restaurant. Its link is http://www.whistler.com/webcam/ and you can get a good sense of the local weather up there and see a lot of skiers when you view it. The cam shot below it is from along the highway, about half way between Squamish and Whistler, just north of the Canyon. This shot tends to give a good idea of what driving conditions will be like if you decide to head up the highway. The Sea to Sky heads north and climbs in altitude as you leave the temperate coast so you tend to drive into winter as you go. Whistler Village is at about 2500 ft. If it were raining here, you would probably hit snow somewhere between Allis Lake and Brohm Lake.
This has been our second Christmas out here. Just like last year, we spent a very relaxed and enjoyable Christmas Eve up at Warren’s, way back in the woods. Then they popped down to our place for Christmas day dinner. I guess that is now our ‘new’ Christmas tradition. Works for me. Being the ‘back woods’ people that they are, they look with suspicion on our full, straight artificial Xmas tree. However, ours still has all it’s ‘needles’. Warren had cut their tree out in the bush somewhere and dragged it home. There had been a steady rain of needles dropping from its branches right from the time he set it up. By the morning of the 25th they had to take the poor thing down. It was bare, looked like that one Charlie Brown always seemed to pick.
One thing that was kind of neat, when we were on that hike I just mentioned Warren had gathered some tree moss. There is a kind of moss out here that hangs like long hair from the branches and can be tens of ft in length. It made very attractive green garland when wrapped around their tree.
Sue was out in the flowerbeds doing some weeding and stuff yesterday. We woke this morning to about 2 inches of snow. It has stuck to everything so all the tree branches are covered. The world is a subdued painting of whites and silvers. Very nice.
We have taken a bunch of pictures with Sue’s new digital camera and I’ve posted 2 of them on my sites. Go to the ‘Pictures’ link and look for the ‘More Local Pictures’ at the bottom. I’ll add other as I get around to it.
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Brenda has sent the second part of her trip to Ireland. Amazing how each part of the world has it’s own special feel and flavour.
With our friends George and Ethel driving, we
set out for the West of Ireland and spent the first few days in and around the
Sligo area. Passing small stucco
farmhouses, we marveled at the gardens and the luxurious greenery everywhere;
it was so hard to get used to. The
first pub we stopped to eat in had a sign …’founded 1609’. Each night we stayed in a different B &
B which was really fun as we met so many people from various other
countries. The Irish breakfast was
amazing. you usually ordered breakfast the night before…”will that be a Full
Irish breakfast?” If you like lots of
fried eggs, Irish bacon (similar to our back bacon), tomatoes, sausage, spiced
sausage, toast and Irish soda bread, then Ireland’s the place for
you. This would follow having had a
glass of juice and a bowl of Muesli.
John and I soon began to choose only occasional mornings for the full
breakfast treatment!
We started to visit castles, ruins of cathedrals and many memorials to the victims of the famine which drove so many to North America’s shores…these memorials were heart wrenching as those who emigrated did so with the clothes on their backs and leaving Ireland, knowing they would never return. The party for the immigrant the night before leaving his home was known as an “American Wake”.
One trip took us past the castle once owned by Prince Charles’ Uncle Louis Mountbatten
His yacht was blown up by the IRA, killing him instantly along with two local men who were working on the yacht. The castle looked beautiful perched on a headland facing the Atlantic with many narrow turrets standing tall against the sky.
One other trip took us past Ballyshannon, Carrick and Glencolmkille right to the end of a long narrow winding road. We drove right to its very end catching glimpses of the Atlantic with pounding surf and high rocky cliffs. There were huge headlands on either side of a small inlet and a sign which read “163 steps to the beach”. Ethel decided that it would be her only time visiting in this remote area so down the steps she went. We could see her bright yellow windbreaker as it got smaller and smaller and then she finally reached the beach, walked along, took pictures and then began the slow ascent back to us. Meanwhile we three just stood and took in the amazing vista in front of us…we were way above the Atlantic with nothing but the bright blue sea in front of us…I waved and called out something like, ”Hello Newfoundland.”
We felt pretty insignificant standing there.
Turning to the south and west we visited another isolated site named Ceide (KAYJ-uh) Fields. It is the largest excavated Neolithic landscape in the world. It’s marked by a tall pyramid made of peat and glass surrounding a 5 000 year old Scottish pine tree dug out of the bog. There were models and pictures throughout the exhibit which rose two stories above the main floor; the second floor allowed you to climb stairs past the Scotch pine and to go outside to a platform which let you see the rolling hills, the ocean and the stakes marking out the extensive site of the village which had been here thousands of years before.
Later, driving into Belmullet, we were lucky to find a lovely B & B with rooms facing an inlet. The owners were very interested in talking to us as they don't see many Canadians. He was a quiet man, a postman. She was quite chatty but listened as well and asked lots of questions.
She brought us each a tea tray...cookies, a kettle tea and instant coffee. She offered to let me write my diary in the breakfast room and she also built a peat fire in the fireplace. When it wouldn't draw, her husband came in with a sheet of newspaper. He opened it wide and placed it up against the fireplace opening. That forced the fire to draw straight up the chimney. It worked like magic. And the memory of the lovely smell of that burning peat is still with me.
As our first week came to an end, we drove back towards Dublin to meet with a tour group, which would take us to Northern Ireland.
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THE ONTARION REPORT
December 26,
2003
Well folks, it’s all over
for another year. Christmas has come and gone and we’re now looking forward to
New Years Eve. We had a wonderful Christmas here in KW. Yesterday was a day of
enjoying each other’s company and seeing the joy as we opened gifts from each
other. It’s one of the days of the year that we actually sit down with just the
3 of us and spend quality time. Most of the morning was taken up by opening
gifts and talking about the past year and other Christmases we’ve had together.
Carole’s brother Alan came up from Toronto about 3:30pm and once again we
exchanged gifts and enjoyed a Christmas drink. Carole prepared another of her famous
turkey dinners and we dined for a good hour on the fruits of her labours. She
has never in our 31 years together produced a dry turkey. The main meal is
amazing but I also like the turkey sandwiches we enjoy for the few days
following Christmas Day. The rest of the evening was spent visiting and playing
cribbage. Carole’s brother had only recently learned the game and brought his
new board along to teach Adam. Alan and Adam played while I helped Carole clean
up after the big meal. We had one of the quietest but most enjoyable
Christmases in a long time. It was a perfect day all round and once again I
took loads of digital pictures. It sure is nice not to have to take loads of
film cans in and wait 3 days to get the pictures back. I’ve already down loaded
them into a folder on the computer and will print out a few if we want to place
them in the family album. I’m sure Doug and Sue will be thrilled with the new
Digital Camera he gave Sue this Christmas. Doug sent me 2 pictures that they
took of Howe Sound just today with her new camera. I swear they could take
pictures out their front or back door and make one of the most beautiful
calendars possible with the results.
I can’t get over the amazing
scenery around their home. I’m sure if we lived out there I’d be broke from
paying the developing bills for the film I’d use on a conventional camera.
Luckily someone invented digital photography. Hopefully Doug will treat us to a
regular display of photos now that Sue has a camera he can borrow. Orrrrrr,
maybe this will get Sue involved in the Squamidian Report and we’ll hear from
her as she describes the pictures she sends us. Get at it Sue and join in on
the weekly fun. I know you’re a busy lady but it would be nice to hear from you
too.
Speaking of amazing scenery, Adam and I were driving into Kitchener from the east end on Highway #8 last Sunday and were crossing the bridge over the Grand River. The bridge is directly below Doug and Sue’s old house and I was looking up at their former residence when all of a sudden, a HUGE Bald Eagle swooped past the front of our Jeep as we crossed the bridge. We were amazed at the size of this bird. Most of you will remember last Spring sometime when I told you in one of my Ontarions about a conservation organization here in Ontario that was going to release 4 Bald Eagles they had raised in captivity in Guelph. They opened a web sight as of August that allowed anyone that wished to access it the chance to follow these Eagles and check on their progress. The Eagles were released along the Grand River and have nested in the area now. There have been other Bald Eagles in the Cambridge area of the Grand over the past several years but I have never seen one myself. I forgot to check that web sight and seeing this eagle has reminded me to take a look at it. I’ll have to look back in my Ontarions to see what the address is for the sight. I’m sure I’ll be able to find it. This eagle was an amazing sight. It just hovered over the north side of the bridge watching a flock of ducks that were floating on the water below.
Although we only saw the
Eagle for 20 seconds or so, it made an impression on us that we won’t soon
forget. I can only imagine what it’s like from Doug’s point of view seeing
hundreds of these magnificent birds every time he’s out and about in his home
area. I was talking to my brother yesterday and he received a digital camera
for Christmas. I told him about seeing the eagle and we’ve decided to take a
day and hike near the river to see if we can photograph an Ontario Bald Eagle
to show the westerners. I’m looking forward to checking out the Grand River
eagles soon. I’ll be sure to forward the photos to Doug should I be successful
in capturing the Eagle in pictures. Well, we are heading to Carole’s other
brother’s place today so I’d better go get ready. I hope you all had as nice a
Christmas as we did and I’ll talk to you all again next week.
Until then, thanks for tuning in!
Bye for now……Best wishes to all….GREG.
Something to Think About>
Don’t walk behind me, I am not a leader.
Don’t walk in front of me, I am not a follower.
Walk beside me and be my friend!
****
For low speed dial-up connections, just the basics:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b2/
For high-speed connections, a little more fancy:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/
Have a good one..
the
doug