The Squamidian Report – Sept. 6 / 08
Issue #328
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Seems every part of this country has had its share of way too much rain this year. Our August out here on the coast was more like our November is supposed to be, cool and very wet. In fact, the PNE, Vancouver’s answer to Toronto’s CNE, posted its wettest run in its ninety-some year history. We’ve had record hot and record cold days all in the same week. It all points out just how short our memories are. We tend to think this is unique to ‘now’. Unwanted weather conditions have been with us forever, we just tend to remember the ‘good times’.
And that brings me to an extension of last week’s topic, about a time way back then, when that part of the country got way too much rain. I know that my personal mandate for this newsletter is to convey life on the west coast from my perspective, but sometimes the well runs a bit on the dry side and I need to dig into other areas for a topic. And this topic ties in nicely to the fact that anywhere in this country can get too much rain at times, present and past.
I don’t remember just what year it was but it was probably in the early 60’s. Summer had been fairly normal, weather wise. Some summers were way too dry and the crops would die in the fields. Other summer would be too wet and the crops would die in the fields. Farmers faced that gamble every year. You could have a great crop just starting to ripen and a thunderstorm would rip through the area leaving the fields flattened and flooded. In that particular year things actually looked pretty good for a change. Harvest time came and the cutting and stooking of the grain commenced. But before it could be finished the rains started, and never let up for weeks. Any grain that was still standing was ruined. The stalks turned moldy and soft and the heavy grain heads fell to the wet ground where they rotted.
The rains never stopped until well into November. By then the fields were so saturated that the tractors couldn’t pull empty wagons through the mud. Keep in mind that in those days, the modern four-wheel-drive, comfy cab machines didn’t yet exist. When the rains finally stopped, at least temporarily, the sheaves in the stooks were stuck into the mud and too heavy for a man to lift and pitch onto a wagon. They had to take the hay mower and cut the sheaves about half way up. Then to pull an empty wagon out into the fields and a lightly loaded one back, my uncle and the neighbor came up with a desperate idea. They chained the front end of one tractor up onto the rear hitch of the other tractor, giving them four drive wheels on the ground and one set of steering wheels out front. A final modification was to use a piece of bailer twine tied to the governor on the tractor’s carburetor to over-ride the engine speed limitations and then just goose the engines until the big back wheels were spinning fast enough to propel them through the mud. It worked and both farms were able to salvage enough grain to feed their livestock for the winter. No money available from selling their grain, but at least they could feed their animals. There was no such thing as crop insurance or any other kind of government assistance at all back then. And we now complain about a rained out weekend or two. The weather has not gotten worse over the years, each generation simply gets softer than the one before it, and so on down the line.
And speaking of rain and stuff, after a soggy August, we were promised a nice sunny Labour Day weekend. Well, that didn’t happen. It was more like a Thanksgiving Day weekend with cool cloudy skies and the occasional cold shower here and there. Even smelled like late fall. But anyway, our Harley riding neighbour and his wife hooked up with Sue and I and we went out for a coffee on our bikes. Came back 10 hours and 600 kilometers later.
We headed into the city and then out into the Fraser Valley where we stopped at a Horton’s somewhere near Abbottsford. After all, it was a nice early Sunday morning and there was not too much traffic. After sitting in there and chatting for a while we headed on east to Hope where we jumped onto the old Tran Canada and rode up the Fraser Canyon. The highway is narrow and winding as it follows the river through that very narrow steep topography. Hard to believe it was the main highway corridor before the bypass was built. There are 6 or 7 long narrow tunnels along there and I’d hate to see large trucks meet in one. Its hairy enough meeting another vehicle while on a bike.
Once you get north of Hell’s Gate the canyon widens out a bit, but not much, and the highway continues to follow along the river, part way up the east side with the river way, way down below. There are very few places where you could actually climb down to the river, or back up from the river. Most of it is straight drops and incredibly steep slopes. At Lytton we left the TC and followed #12. The TC turns northeast here and 12 stays with the river up to Lillooet. Again, spectacular steep scenery. There are places where the highway is just single lane as it grasps for a handhold on the mountainside. There are places where the slope above is a smooth field of small gravelly material that goes on up as far as you can see. There are places where black bears are eating at the side of the road and don’t bother to move until you rumble by.
At Lillooet we gassed up and headed up onto the Duffy. As we climbed, we climbed into some cold rain that was falling as snow on the peaks above. Good thing for our heated vests. They kept the girls warm and happy (or at least not ticked at us). Once over the Duffy we dropped down into the Pemberton Valley and then on south to Whistler. Had to keep our speed down because of the radar blitz that the RCMP where doing but that was fine, we weren’t in any hurry. Going through Whistler we say a young bear sitting at the side of the road right by a main intersection eating blackberries. Less than an hour latter we were home, happy, tired and hungry. Had a great ride, thank you.
doug
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Hello Everyone!
With all the strange weather we’ve had this summer
one would think it’d be over for a while. I guess Mother Nature isn’t finished
with us yet. We here in southern Ontario are just finishing up a two-day stint
of rain from the tail end of the southern US’s last hurricane and now they’re
getting hit with another one. This time it’s the southeastern seaboard that’s
taking a beating. Remember the times when almost everyone up here had thoughts
of retiring to the sunny south? Well, I think we’re better off to stick it out
here in the “Great White North”! At least we’re used to the weather up here and
there are very few surprises other than the odd freezing rain storm. I’ll take
Southern Ontario anytime over the killer monsters they are having down south.
I’m not so sure that they should have tried to rebuild New Orleans! Who in
their right mind would build an entire city below sea level especially when
it’s right beside the sea? I know, I know… the Dutch have done it too but then
again, they’re DUTCH! That in itself explains that situation! This problem in
Louisiana isn’t one that can be solved by sticking a little boy’s finger in the
dike. The storm surge from Katrina was as high as 9m in height. That’s a wall
of almost 30’ of water for you non-metric folk. There isn’t much that’s man
made that can withstand that sort of assault. If they were smart, they’d be
building every structure in “The Big Easy” on 30’ stilts as they put them up
again. This is just going to keep happening over and over. Haven’t they ever
heard that old chestnut “Once bitten, twice shy”? Now I’m sure it would be very
difficult to bulldoze that whole city and leave it that way but, what the heck,
they’re already all out of there and their businesses are destroyed. Why not
just start over somewhere in Texas since they have to start over anyway?
This most recent storm didn’t do as much damage as
the last one so the people of New Orleans have a head start on rebuilding but……
well, you know what! Next year or the year after it’ll all happen again! I’d be
getting my butt the heck out of there and moving to higher ground for sure!
*
Speaking of low ground, we were at Carole’s cousin’s
cottage on the shores of Long Point for a couple of days again this week. The
weather was amazing and the time relaxing for sure. As I’ve said before, their
cottage is old and needs a good rebuilding inside but the outside shell is in
pretty good shape. If it were ours we’d do a complete reno on it and bring it
back to life. Carole’s cousin’s hubby bought the place for $30,000.00 in the
mid 80’s and has no plans of selling it. He did mention to us that there is a
cottage 4 doors down the beach from theirs that’s for sale and he suggested we
buy it to keep them company. He said what the heck, it’s probably listed for
around $300,000.00 and we could probably pick it up for less. Well, it’s a 1025
sq ft bungalow with a 10’x10’ shed on the property. The piece of land that goes
with it is a 40’x100’ flat lot of sand but it’s “Lake Front” on Lake Erie and
that’s the big bonus. He said people are buying up these old cottages and
tearing them down to build new cottages in their place. We talked about this
place all the way home the other night. It sounded good but I thought it might
be a stretch financially. I got on the net and looked it up on the MLS listings
and it’s one of two available in Long Point. The asking price is a tad more
than Perry thought it might be. They are asking $469,000.00 for this little
piece of heaven. Now, this being a stretch is bad enough but when you think
that people are ripping these little cottages down to erect bigger better ones
for an additional $250 to $300,000.00 and more………………whew….. I don’t think so!
At least not for us anyway! It would be a very nice spot but for almost a
million dollars it would have to be a lot nicer than squished between two other
tiny pre Second World War shacks on a sand bar in Lake Erie. Now, I don’t mean
to be talking down to the inhabitants of Long Point but surely $1,000,000.00
can buy you a better location with a little more elbow room than this? I do
really like this location but it would be more attractive to me if the lot were
double the width. I’d still feel as if I were in the city if my neighbours were
that close beside me. Guess we’ll just have to pass on this purchase and keep
our money in the bank for now!
That’s about all for this week folks.
Thanks for tuning in and I look forward to talking
to you all again next week in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now… Greg.
PS: Something To Think About>
Election time in Canada!
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Have a good one..
the doug
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