The Squamidian Report – Jan. 10 / 15
Issue #659
Including:
From Russ
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Ever notice how when winter sets in firmly in the north, the deep south
stays warm and sunny, the way it should be. But, when winter somehow
doesn't set in properly, in the north and we bounce back and forth
between warm and cold, wet and dry, the deep south gets hammered by
freezing temperatures and snowstorms. Needless to say, this is one of
those years where winter is bouncing between warm and cold. Just one of
my little observations.
We had been enjoying one of the 'cold' bounces only to have another
'warm' session move back in. Problem with the warm sessions this time
of year is they carries a lot of moisture. Because of that warm and
moisture meeting the cold, on Sunday we had snow, real snow, a lot of
it. The highways were a mess. Anyone trying to go somewhere either gave
up or it took them hours, most of their time sitting in stopped
traffic. I didn't bother trying to go anywhere except up the gondola
for a nice walk in the heavily falling snow. No scenery because you
couldn't see very far but very enjoyable. By the end of the day
Squamish had received about 38 cm according to Environment Canada. That
was measured at the local airport down by the river. My measurements up
here was closer to 45 cm or more, but we are quite a bit higher than
down there. For the first time this winter I was able, and in fact,
needed, to use my snow blower. First use was that morning after walking
the dog. There was about 4 inches on the driveway. It continued to
accumulate all day, in fact, I had used the truck to go to the gondola
and needed its 4-wheel drive to get back up the hill. I blew about 12
inches off the driveway that evening and then another 4 inches came
down. Then, as is so often does here, it turned to heavy rain and
rained all night. By morning that last 4 inches of snow had turned to 1
inch of very heavy slush. The blower cleared that away quite nicely. It
stayed raining for the next day or so. I just wish the local municipal
roads department would learn how other towns clear their streets. Ours
are a mess and will stay that way until it all melts. The town makes no
attempt at all at controlling street parking and the plow operators
make no attempt at all at clearing the streets. Oh well, bike season is
less than 10 weeks away.
Here's something funny... if you remember way back I used to write
about the Stellar Jays around here and how they scramble for peanuts
when we put said peanuts out for them. They will come in a big mob and
then madly try to choose the best one, the biggest one, whatever seems
to be the most prized. We've been putting peanuts out for them every
morning which is a waist of peanuts because they don't eat them, they
hide them. Anyway, when I put them out the other day, the jays must
have been busy at a neighbors who had apparently put out chunks of
bread for them. One jay came frantically after the peanuts with a big
piece of bread still in it's beak. It put the bread down on the deck
rail, took its peanut and flew off with it. There is usually only about
1 peanut per bird so they each only get one unless they can jam 2 into
their mouths. Anyway, a few minutes later, it, or assumably it, came
back for its bread. Well, I thought it was funny.
'The Wife's' short visit back to check on in her parents went by pretty
fast. Not near fast enough for her dog but it seemed fast to both her
and me. I had intended to do a lot of guitar playing while the house
was quiet and I guess I did but never quite got around to half the
things I had wanted to do, but I did manage to write, but not record
yet, what will probably be the first song for this coming year's CD
project. She flew home late Thursday. Her flight was supposed to get in
about 10:30pm but the whole coastal area out here was and had been
socked in by thick fog. Up this way we had been having brilliant
sunshine and starry nights but YVR and the city were having pea soup.
So, air traffic controllers were spacing the incoming flights widely
apart meaning her flight was held in Calgary for an hour or so. Her
flight eventually came in and I picked her up at YVR just before
midnight Thursday night and we headed for home. That made for a rather
late night. 'The Dog' who had been waiting impatiently in the back seat
was rather ecstatic to see her. All is now right in Willow's world.
And then Friday morning we did a nice walk along the ridge up at the gondola. I guess all is right in our world too.
doug
****
From Russ
"A SIXTH SENSE"
1. sight
2. hearing
3. feeling
4. taste
5. smell
6. memory
The Gage Canadian Dictionary describes "sight" as follows:
- The power of seeing; vision;
- The act or fact of seeing; look;
- the range of field or vision.
Sightless = blind
hearing = the sense by which sound is perceived.
feeling = the sense of touch; the act or condition of one that feels.
taste = the sense by which flavour of things is perceived.
smell = the sense of smelling; to perceive with the nose.
memory = (Not truly a "sense", but a capacity) the ability to
remember; all that a person remembers. Memory emphasizes the ability to
keep in mind or call back something once learned, experienced, or
otherwise known.
Memory SHOULD be included among the other 5 senses, as when any or all
of them fail, we still have our precious memories. And what about
a "sense" of "well-being" ? Surely if one enjoys all or most of
the 5 senses, we should also enjoy a sense of "feeling good".
But what if we've lost the senses of sight, hearing, and smell (and to
some extent, the loss of feeling and taste ?) I suggest we are
already "dead".......unless we have our abilit to recall life's fond
memories.
A person who had lost BOTH her sight AND hearing lamented that, of the
two, her HEARING loss caused her the most pain. She could not
communicate, because she couln't make out the words, and was not "part
of the conversation", so she was "left out in the cold", or living in a
BOX!
The words of a song go;
"When I'm weary but cannot sleep, I count my Blessings instead of sheep"
And when I start counting the things I CAN do, instead of fretting
about things that I'm no longer able to do, I soon discover I've a
whole range of abilities or Blessings.
So, I start with my 5 Senses;
"sight" = I see God's creations all around me! The beautiful blue
sky, the whispey white clouds, the expanse of blue water from horrizon
to horrizon (Lake Huron); the towering trees bursting with fresh green
leaves, the flowering shrubs and plants, the lawns coming back to life
as Spring rains finally come to quench their insatiable thirst.
And then, there are the birds who've just returned from their vacations
in the South; the red-breasted Robins, the orange Oriols and the
red-thoated Humming Birds who dart about at blurring speeds from
blossom to blossom.
All Winter-long I'm Blessed with the presence of the brilliant blue
Blue Jays, and the exciting scarlet Cardinals perched in the lower
branches of the Evergreen trees against a backdrop of pure white snow.
Yes, I love the four Seasons we have and wouldn't want to live anywhere
else!
But, the most outstanding beauty that greets my sight is that of the
happy faces of my good friends and relatives who see to it that I'm not
without food and water nor company. Their kindness alone is a
thing of beauty!
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention here the unparalleled breath-taking
beauty of the sunsets here on the West Coast of Ontario. They
have been described as second only to those in BC.
When night falls, a whole new stage is set.....the sunset gives way to
the rising moon, and the night sky is illuminated with a million
twinkling stars. And I recall the words of that Christian Hymn,
"How Great Thou Art"
"hearing" = The second Blessing I count is that of "hearing".
Closely related to "sight" is "sound", so as described earlier, as I
observe the towering trees I become aware of their "voices".
Sometimes they "whisper" to me, sometimes they rustle, and if the wind
is angry, they roar their concurrence. Sometimes the the wind and
the waves try to out-roar one another so I can't tell who is
loudest! But when the wind is calm the birds begin to seronade
me, chirping, whistling and tweeting in chorus which treats my ears.
In the distance a dog barks, or is it a Coyote or a Wolf?
Sometimes my dog, Donny joins in and adds to the not unpleasant "Sounds of Music".
There's life all around me, and I can hear its heartbeat, and I count my Blessings.
Some years ago, a movie by that name, brought us some fine melodies,
and although I now wear hearing aids, I'm Blessed that I can still
listen to my favourite music from "The Big Band Era", or Country and
Western Stars like Johnny Cash, or chorus groups or Barber Shop
Quartets, heck, I like ALL KINDS OF MUSIC!
And I count my Blessings that I'm not tone deaf.
"feeling"(or sense of touch)= There is on old saying,
"You don't miss the water 'till the well runs dry"
I have diabetes. This insidious, creeping disease attacks the
eyes, kidneys and feet. I might add, it also attacks the nerves
in one's fingers causing numbness (loss of feeling), tingling and poor
circulation, as a result I can no longer do/undo buttons, tie a
tie, or pick up anything smaller than a hammer handle! You'd me
amazed at the number of tiny operations I'm unable to perform.....like
milking a mouse! I'm gradually converting from buttons to Velcro.
But, enough already!
Let's talk POSITIVE. What CAN I still feel? Well, for
starters, the fur on my Donny's handsome coat; the warmth of a pair of
gloves; the firm handshake of a friend or acquaintance; the whiskers
when I need a shave; the "snap" of a light switch; the "grip" of a
watering hose; the steering wheel of my all-terraine vehicle; the
handle-bars of my three-wheel bike; the firm roundness of an apple
fresh from the fridge; the supporting arm/shoulder of a friend when I
lose my balance (which occurs frequently because of diabetic neuropathy
in my feet) The security of my walker when I have to get up in
the night; the comfortable feel of two walking canes as I venture out
in the community.
"taste" = I can't imagine life without the ability to taste. My
father-in-law, Fred Dickson, apparently lost his sense of taste due to
an operation on his septum(sp?). Heavy smokers, I'm told lose
considerable ability to taste food and drink. Another of the
things I CAN do is taste, so it's counted as a definite Blessing!
Closely related to the sense of taste is the sense of smell, and one
might consider them simultaneously here. How often, when your
favourite dinner is being prepared, and you smell it, you can at the
same time, almost taste it!
But, aside from things we eat or drink, many smells conjure up
recollections of EVENTS in one's life. New mown hay always
reminds me of love and romance, while the smell of a haymow brings back
fond memories of playing in the neighbour's barn and kissing my Cousin,
Jerry. (a girl of course). The smell of Lindseed oil brings back
memories of highschool days at KCI, and the wooden floors of the
machine shop.
The smell of the brew kettle at Carlings Brewery puts me back on King
Street South in Waterloo where I worked as an electrician and as a Cop
when I was first married, back in the 50's.
All this because of my 6th sense........."memory"
Russ Brubacher
(turning 86 in May this year)
****
THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
Well, Sunday is going to be my 66th birthday and I don’t feel a day
over 18! LOL! Ya sure! Oh well, I like to think that way just so I
don’t dwell on the fact that I may only have another 25 or so years
left on this earth! LOL! I’m continually inspired to think youthfully
by the folks that I talk to several days a week via e-mail that really
are older than me and still think like I do. At least via e-mail they
do anyways! They say you’re only as old as you think and since I can
still think I guess I’m going to be around for a few more years at
least.
We finally got the winter we usually get a month earlier than this most
years and it’s trying it’s best to beat the coldest temps of the past
and doing a good job! I don’t doubt we’ll break a few records this
winter the way it’s going. The past few days have really been cold and
it seems we’re just getting started with winter here in Ontario.
Another of the thrills of this winter is the price of gasoline at the
pumps! It’s been many years since we’ve paid below the $1.00 mark for a
liter of gasoline and today I filled my tank on the new Jeep from about
1/8 of a tank to the brim and it only cost me $58.00! Imagine that! I’m
used to spending around the $90.00 mark per fill up since the new Jeep
has a 74-liter tank. That’s up 10 liters from the old Jeep and the MPG
output is about 3 MPG less on this new machine over the old one! Guess
I just have to bite the bullet or get myself a Toyota Prius. I’m not
about to stoop to that sort of vehicle just to pay less at the pump per
fill up so I guess I’ll just quit bitching about poor fuel economy and
enjoy my 4x4 in the winter!
I’m sure if I figured it out, I’m getting a lot shittier fuel economy
with my TORO and I never seem to mind filling that tank almost daily
when the snow shows it’s face around this time of year. I’ve been
thinking about purchasing a rechargeable “Show Shovel” for the smaller
parts like the porch and side walks on either side of the house. It’s a
bit of a bummer to have to shovel them by hand with the old
conventional shovel but the idea of using a battery operated one looks
like more fun and less effort. I checked them out on line last night
and found one that Lowe’s sells one for $249.00 plus tax of course.
That’s a tad costly for a 13” wide piece of plastic with a tiny motor
on it but it takes the cake over the next one up in size that requires
being plugged into the wall socket for a power supply! I think it would
be a bit of a hazard to have to manage an electric cord in the snow.
They say the battery is a 40-volt that will run at full power for up to
52 minutes in normal snow. I guess normal snow means the white fluffy
stuff not the heavy wet or icy stuff! This little unit is supposed to
toss the snow up to 20 feet but only in one direction! The critiques I
read on line about this battery powered shovel say the only complaint
that crops up time and time again is that there are no directional
veins that let you point the snow off to one side or the other. It
tosses the snow strait out in front of the shovel and that can be a bit
of a nuisance I guess. Something you don’t want to do is toss the snow
into the wind, as the result would be akin to pissing into the wind on
a cold winter day. It would tend to blow back on you and freeze up the
legs of your jeans or your mustache for that matter, not a nice
happening! LOL!
Anyway, the battery powered shovel is only a thought for now as the
hand held shovel still works well enough for the moderate amount of
clearing I have around the edges of the house. I use that part of the
snow clearing as a warm up before cranking up the TORO. Besides, it
helps to keep my hands warm where holding the handles of the TORO does
not!
It looks like we’re getting some more snow as I look out the window so
I’m sure I won’t have a Green Birthday this year. I do remember having
one about 3 or 4 years ago; back when I rode my Motorcycle around a few
city blocks on January 11th just so I could say I did! The bike is
tucked away under its cozy cover this winter and will once again be up
for sale come the spring of 2015. If any of the Squamidian Group other
than Doug finds they’d like to take up Motorcycling come spring, or has
a friend that is wanting to do so, don’t be afraid to give me a call. I
have a beauty of a bike with Low mileage on it that was only driven
short distances by a little old man (me) waiting in my garage for some
nice young person with money in his pocket! Don’t be shy make me an
offer! LOL!
That’s about it for this week folks!
Thanks for tuning in and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next week in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now … Greg
PS: Something To Think About>
Warner Communications paid $28 million dollars for the copyright to the
song “Happy Birthday” and come this Sunday I’ll have had it sung to me
for free 66 times! I hope they don’t find out and send me a bill!
****
Have a good one..
the doug
The Fine Print!
The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them and should be respected as such.
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