The Squamidian Report – May 14 / 16
Issue #729
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
This getting old nonsense in the pits. Just as I'm getting my strength
back from that dumb pneumonia stuff, I woke up Thursday morning and
realized I couldn't hear through my left ear. Totally deaf. To make it
more frustrating, thats my 'good' ear, the one I tend to depend on. I
could feel pressure, as if it were blocked but there was nothing
blocking it. Now this is a problem. I'm playing at the gondola on
Saturday as part of their 2nd anniversary celebrations. Hearing is a
rather important part of being able to play and sing. It tends to
come on handy. So, this needed to be dealt with immediately and that
meant scooting down to the walk-in clinic which opens at 9am. Funny,
you get there at 9:01 and they are already backed up by 3/4s hour. Oh
well. I'd have that much of a wait if I'd booked my family doctor,
assuming I could get an appointment, so, I waited. Much to my surprise
and pleasure, the clinic doctor was the same lady that took care of my
pneumonia. It didn't take her long to decide I had an ear infection.
Just like before, I have no idea how it got there or where it came
from. I don't go around sticking dirty things in my ears, ever. Long
story short, she wrote out a prescription for some sort of drops that
go in twice a day for a week and with luck I'll be able to hear again
soon.
Its really weird hearing through just one ear when you are used to two.
You can't tell what direction a sound is coming from, nothing sounds
'normal' and so on. I picked up the phone to answer a call that came in
and couldn't figure out why no one was on the line. Then it dawned on
my that I was trying to use my usual phone ear. Nothing. Switched the
phone over to the other one and sure enough, there was a voice talking
away.
Getting back to playing the gondola gig with a malfunctioning ear, its
going to be interesting. The ear that still works, works poorly.
Everything through it sounds tinny making hearing the proper tones and
notes difficult. I can only hope that what I hear inside my head is
somewhat similar as whats going on outside my head because if its not,
I could be off key and not even know it. That would be fine if I were
doing that rap crap or some other form of commercial diarrhea type
music but the stuff I do needs to be on key and if its not, it bombs
big time. Or, to be more exact, I bomb big time. I'll let you know how
it worked out.
They have 4 bands lined up for the afternoon, starting at noon. I'm
just acoustic me and not a high powered band so I can't really compete
with the up-tempo excitement a band can produce and obviously, I don't
try. I've got my locally inspired original music to offer and thats a
lot more than most bands or individuals can claim. My time slot is just
before noon, and just ahead of the bands. Thats a good thing both
musically and by the fact that its been a tad on the warm side around
here lately and I'll be doing my thing before the real heat of the day
kicks in. Its always a pleasure to be able to share my music with
others and this is another opportunity to do so. It should be, and will
be, fun.
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
Spring has sprung and I’ve already cut our lawn three times. It’s
growing like weeds but luckily we only have a few dandelions on the
front lawn. There are none on the back lawn so it seems that the
Scott’s Turf Builder with Weed Suppressant is working! Living on a
corner lot means that we have a large boulevard on one side of the
house and it unfortunately is quite populated with dandelions. I did
spread the weed suppressant Turf Builder on that area as well but the
weeds had already taken hold on the boulevard. Guess you can’t win ‘em
all!
With the onset of the good weather come many other enjoyable and not so
enjoyable guests in our back garden. We have a lovely array of
beautiful birds that are in and out of the garden and shrubs throughout
every day and it’s fun to watch and hear them as they enjoy the flowers
etc that we have lining our back yard perimeter! However, we also have
a few critters that are not so welcome! I’ve found a few quite large
dead moles floating in the pond and had to scoop them with my net.
Luckily we have the hydro right of way behind us so disposing of the
carcasses is a simple catapult over the fence and the crows out back
take care of the rest! We have also seen that we have a rat inhabiting
our back fence line. He likes to climb around on the limestone rocks
that I used to build the waterfall and surround that makes up the
background for the pond. He appears mostly in the early mornings but
we’ve now spotted him a few times throughout the day. I’ve set a nice
big trap for him at one of his holes near the fence but he seems to
trip it without getting caught. This morning I found it flipped over
and to my chagrin when I checked it’s topside, it was picked clean and
there was no corpse in the spring bail! Oh well, perhaps he’ll fall
prey to the cheese I baited it with tonight. I’ve also placed in line
with and against the back fence where we see him sneaking along to get
to his hole under one of the railway tie planters I built against the
fence. Hopefully he won’t have good night vision and he’ll wind up “IN”
the trap tomorrow morning! I’ll keep you posted of course! I just know
you’ll all be looking forward to hearing the outcome of this one! LOL!
Just to the right of our patio sliding door we
have a small metal shelf mounted on the wall and there is a miniature
watering can on the shelf. Each year we get a family of Robins that
build a nest in the can and this has been happening for about 10 years
now without fail. This year is no exception and after a few days the
Robins become quite trusting of us when they see that we mean them no
harm. They now will stay on the nest while we go about our chores in
the yard. It’s interesting watching them as they go through the process
of laying, warming and hatching the eggs. They spend much of their off
nest time fighting with the starlings and red-winged black birds that
try to steal their eggs. I’m surprised that the rat hasn’t made his way
up to the nest but I guess he’s too busy chasing the chipmunks that
compete with the birds for the sunflower seeds that Carole keeps in
supply in the bird feeder! I watched today, as a baby chipmunk got a
little too close to the rat’s hole by the fence and the rat chased him
right onto the patio. The chippie made it to safety under a plastic
trunk we keep our outdoor chair cushions in and the rat was too big to
follow him! The rat also saw me standing just inside the house at the
screen door of the sliding patio door and he scooted like a scared rat
back to his hole under the planter! I waited for him with the BB Gun
for over an hour but he never showed his ratfink face a second time!
I’ll get him one way or another, either with the rattrap or a lethal BB
shot some day soon! He’s destined to be gone if he gets in my sights!
Hahahahaaaaa…..! I used to be able to hit a dime at 50 feet with my
original “Red Rider” BB Gun back in the 50’s so he’ll have an extra
hole in his head if I have my way!
Just to mention a few of the birds we have out
back, there are Robins, Cardinals, Gold Finches, Doves, Sparrows,
Starlings and Red-Winged Blackbirds. We’ve also had the odd Red-Tailed
Hawk hanging around back when we had our little Poodle “Bailey” I guess
they thought he was a rabbit or some other tasty meal! LOL!
Speaking of rabbits, we also have our share of those little critters as
well. I spotted one hiding in the bushes just this afternoon but as
soon as he saw me he headed for the neighbour’s yard. I’m sure he’s
around on a regular basis as well but he doesn’t trust me like the
Robins do! I don’t blame him we don’t like him feeding off of Carole’s
prized shrubbery! If he’s not careful, he may just wind up in one of
her prized pots of stew! LOL! Just kidding!
Anyway, it’s fun to experience the wildlife
out back and it’s nice to see that these critters inhabit the city too!
Some of them can be destructive so I guess it’s up to me and “Red
Rider” to keep order in the wilds of Royal Orchard Drive! Actually, the
only truly unwelcome critter is the R A T, hence the BB Gun. The other
critters are mostly cute so they can stay! I didn’t realize how skilled
the chipmunks were at burrowing underground until they started living
on our property. We have to keep filling in the holes they dig in our
flagstone walkway. I’m sure they have a whole network of tunnels under
the walkways and gardens. If they start to get too prolific, I may have
to resort to stuffing a garden hose in a few of the holes and flush
them out! Just another adventure of a property owner and the local
wildlife!
That’s it for this week folks! I hope you all enjoyed this week’s episode!
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>
Most of the stuff people worry about ain’t never gonna happen anyway!
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Have a good one..
the doug
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