The Squamidian Report – Apr. 15 / 17
 
Issue #777

Including:
From Lorne
The Ontarion

Hi All,

We just can't catch a break around here. The none-stop rain continues to not stop. April is already in line to be a rainfall record breaker which makes sense because every month since and including last October have been at or near rain records. Anyway, and rather incredibly, last Sunday started out in a 'not raining' state and as you know, I go down to Horseshoe Bay every Sunday morning to hook up with my riding club. And as you know, I've put the insurance back on the Harley. So, with it actually not raining and the balmy temps almost reaching the +4 range, I bundled up and headed out. The ride was good from a traffic point of view but as I rounded one of the curves about half way down I noticed that the cars coming toward me all had their windshield wipers going. Keep in mind that one can't necessarily see around the curves on a mountain highway and therefore can't see whats coming up. Bummer. And sure enough, about two curves later I ran into rain. A cold, cold rain. Looking up I could see the trees a couple hundred meters above me turning white. At that elevation the precipitation had not yet melted and was still snow. Only myself and three other bikes turned up for coffee and the ride home was not too bad but the rain and wet roads left the bike dirty. You'd think rain would wash dirt off but it seems to wash it on instead. Again, bummer.

Oh, get this..... the operations manager at the gondola got the bright idea that they needed to clear the snow from the Panorama Ridge trail in time for Easter on the off chance that there would be a lot of people up there wanting to walk that trail. You see, they get a lot of people coming up that don't put two and two together, that being that while down in the city the grass is green and there is no snow or ice around, a trail on a mountain ridge just might not be all that bare or dry. Its not uncommon to see people heading out onto the trail wearing the kind of footwear that is appropriate for inside a shopping mall or house. Its not uncommon to see them stuck up to their hips in the snow because they wouldn't listen to anyone trying to tell them that the packed snow is six feet deep on the trail and it can be soft during the day or icy first thing in the morning. So, in order to clear a mile long trail that winds up and down along a ridge, they decided to bring in a mini-excavator. One that could fit between the handrails of the two foot bridges.

First challenge.... get the mini-excavator up to there. There is an access road in behind. Its the old logging road and was used by trucks and equipment when the gondola lodge etc was being built. Problem was, and is, there is a lot of snow on said road right from where it climbs up out of the valley. They have been using a snowcat (they type that are used to groom ski hills) to bring in certain items. It has wide tracks designed to float on top of the snow. An excavators tracks carry a lot more weight per square inch so they do not float on snow very well at all. They ended up having to use the snowcat to pull the excavator up the last eight or ten clicks. On its own, the excavator would just dig in and not get anywhere. It took them a very long day but they did manage to get it up to the lodge courtyard. Then, they had to walk it out the trail. That must have been fun. If it wasn't for the fact that the trail has been walked on so much it simply would have sunk into the snow and been stuck. But, they got it all the way out to the viewpoint where they then started to dig the snow off the trail, working their way back toward the lodge. Basically, a small mini-excavator was having to dig a trench in the snow a mile long and six feet deep.

They had intended to be finished by this weekend but that didn't happen. Heck, it couldn't happen. So, while I was going to continue on about the newly dug out trail, I can't because it ain't  finished being dug out yet, and its still snowing up there.

And one last thought, here we have another long weekend where us retired people get ripped off again. We don't get long weekends, we don't get time and a half for not being able to take them off. This happens time after time. Discrimination I say!

doug
****

From Lorne

Back when the world was young because we were,  Easter was always fun hiding coloured eggs and Ed,  now married to sister Evelyn was always a delightful victim. Ed had no siblings so he was absolute raw material for Evelyn's 4 brothers.  Everyone's basket was hidden with care and respect but Ed's was not.  Places like inside a deflated car tire then inflated and remounted on the car or on a cord lowered down the chimney or in a fruit jar and tossed in the pond back of the barn or down the well. When the weather was bad and had to stay indoors, Ed was most disappointed, so we would then colour but not boil his eggs. As I recall, after 3 or 4 times he caught on and we had to again be more
imaginative.  To-day Ed misses all the extra nice things and fuss we made over him some 70 years ago.

Now and for the last 15-20 years the tradition has been to colour the eggs Good Friday then bring the left over colour to the wood pile and toss it on the pilled wood leaving an interesting site and a fond reminder as I feed the stove all the next season.

Lorne
****

THE ONTARION REPORT

Hello Everyone!

Well, I promised to report on the Lightfoot concert in Orillia this week so here goes!
We left home in Kitchener at noon on Friday and the night before we had had a blast of snow that amounted to about 2” of the white stuff. The roads in KW were pretty much cleared by noon on Friday and the drive started out ok. We took Victoria St (Hwy 7) to Guelph city limits and other than a few dip headed drivers it went smoothly. The route we were taking to Orillia was the same one that I had taken for years to drive up to Gravenhurst to attend Ontario Fire College so it was quite familiar to me. We were heading north on Hwy 6 to Fergus and then across the country side past Belwood Lake to Orangeville at Hwy 9. I was thinking that it would be an uneventful drive but that all changed once we cleared the Belwood Lake area as we headed toward Orangeville. From the lake area until we hit the section of Hwy 9 on the outskirts of Orangeville the road from Fergus was a treacherous mess indeed! I’m sure that that area had taken much more of a beating from Thursday’s snow storm than the Waterloo Region area had. There were a couple of cars in the ditch apparently having lost control just minutes before we came upon the stretch of road that had tossed them in a skid. They obviously hadn’t slowed their speed enough to maintain control as they came upon a very snowy and slippery section of the road. I managed to see the coming white stretch far enough in advance to slow down and make it through without incident. There were bare patches for a km or two and then you’d come over a rise in the road to be greeted by a few inches of white slushy and dangerously slippery sections. I guess the bare stretches had lulled many drivers into thinking that driving the speed limit would work ok for the entire drive but, not so, it seemed that over each hill or around the next curve there was more and more snow to throw you a surprise challenge. It was a nerve-wracking experience for that half hour or more of a drive.

Once we hit Hwy 9 at Orangeville, the road cleared up and from then on it was clear sailing the rest of the way north. We headed across Hwy 9 to the 400N and on up through Barrie to arrive in Orillia about 3:30pm. We had booked a motel room at Knight’s Inn on West St in Orillia thinking that we’d rather spend the night there after the concert than drive home so late. I figured the show would be over by 11pm or so and maybe we’d play the slots a little before heading away from Rama. We spent a few hours in the motel room and then decided to head over to Casino Rama. We figured we’d eat at one of the restaurants in RAMA and then just kill a little time until the concert started at 9:30pm. Once we arrived at the Casino the thought of the Buffet attracted us so we stood in the line for tickets. That took about a half hour and once inside the dining area we were seated quite quickly. We had had a buffet dinner at a couple of other Ontario Casino’s and really enjoyed them so what would be different in Rama? We found that the selection at Rama wasn’t nearly as diverse as the others we’d enjoyed. They had their food items sitting in unheated two-foot diameter round serving trays with a half globe dome lid. Most of the lids were left open after each person sloppily gouged their portion out and consequently the food was luke-warm at best. There were about 5 different meat dishes and of course when they were not piping hot, they were not very appealing. At the end of the 50’ long table with the serving dishes on, was a chef carving what looked to be a large tasty roast of beef. Most times, you can’t go wrong with roast beef so Carole partook of a couple of slices. Back at the table she showed me her plate of beef and trimmings and once I had muddled my way through my lasagna, cabbage roll (half cooked and cold) I decided to head back up to try the roast beef myself.

As it turned out, while we were eating, they had replenished most of the food items on the serving table and they at least looked fresher! SO I grabbed a couple of lovely little “New” potatoes and a scoop of green beans along with a couple of lovely slices of a new roast the chef was carving. At least this time the food I picked was hot and fresh. I guess we had just hit the lineup when the food had been picked over the first go round! This time it was much better to the taste and at least hot! Of course like most people we indulged ourselves a bit too much with the main course as well as with a desert after the meal. We had spent the better part of an hour eating and it was almost time for the show to start so we headed out to the lobby to kill a few minutes. The doors were not supposed to open until 9:30 but the crowd started moving toward the theatre at about 8:45pm so we figured we might as well take our seats inside to wait for the show to start. We were inside for about 15 minutes and suddenly at 9pm the lights dimmed and the band members took their places on stage. They had barely gotten settled when out came Gordon Lightfoot. There were still a lot of empty seats but during the first 5 songs he played people were still barging in and causing disruptions to the show. Finally things settled down and Gordon continued to play and sing. When he sang his first number he sounded terrible and I remarked to Carole that he sounded like he had a bad cold! Most of the people around us made comments that he was either losing his voice or was sick!  He hit his stride about a half hour into the show but had to stop three different times to squirt what looked like a prescription nasal spray up his nose. Then he would excuse himself and walk off stage for a minute or two. Once he would return he sounded better but was sniffing and licking his teeth as if he’d snorted a little coke of something off stage! I was quite surprised that, if he was sick, he didn’t cancel the concert until a later date. Oh well, I guess he’s of the mind set that “The show must go on!” The music was spot on and he did sound better with each passing number! He sang and played and commented about the content of many of his songs but was quite dry when I think of his demeanor. We had great seats just to the left of center stage and only 9 rows back from the stage on the main floor. We had the advantage of seeing him and his band from a good vantage point live as well as having their huge video screen slightly to our left. We watched most of his show on the big screen. They had the camera on the upper 2/3 of Gordon all through the show so we had a good look at the aging superstar! At times he really looked his age and older. During the instrumental portions of most of his songs he was breathing with his mouth hanging open and just his upper teeth showing. He actually looked as though he had no lower teeth! It’s a bugger growing old, even if you are a true superstar! These detractions notwithstanding he did put on a pretty good show but I must say, I’ve heard him sound a great deal better! I guess when you realize he’s now almost 79 years old he still deserves credit for touring and playing for his many fans.

The show lasted a full hour and a half and he came back on stage for one encore. Many of the people got up and were leaving the room before he even came back out for a final number. We stayed to the end and enjoyed the show but came away wishing he’d been feeling better than he obviously was! I do think however that this will be the last time we’ll purchase tickets to a Lightfoot concert! It was good to see and hear him once more in person however I do think its past time that someone of his fame and stature reduces the cost of tickets to his concerts if for no other reason than to give a little payback to his loyal fans! With a capacity crowd in attendance the other night, at an average ticket price of close to $100.00 I’m sure he could have sold out for half that price and still done very well. After all, when you Google Gordon, he’s listed as being worth more than $50,000,000.00 in his personal fortune so he can well afford to give his fans a break! I’m sure there were at least 2500 people in attendance last Friday if not more.

Once the concert was over, we decided just to head back to our motel room as it was getting late and we had another three-hour drive ahead of us the next day. Before we had entered the theater Carole pointed out that they were selling tee shirts with the name Lightfoot across the chest. Since this would likely be the last time we’d see him in concert, she asked if I’d like a shirt. So, we popped for a black shirt with gold lettering for a quick $30.00. Now I have one more tee shirt in my collection and it’s just too bad I wasn’t able to have Gordon autograph it for me personally! LOL!

The drive home the next day was much more enjoyable than the drive north. Most of the snow was gone and the roads were clear all the way home! Guess that’s 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>
Where did the idea of the Easter Bunny bringing chocolate eggs to children ever come from?

HAPPY EASTER TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU!
Do you remember “Here Comes Peter Cottontail” By Gene Autry?
I wonder if Doug can sing and play that one for their grand children?

****

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.