Issue #915
Including:

From Russ
From Lorne
The Ontarion

Hi All,

So far, this has been a very strange autumn. As previously stated, the cold and rain of November came in September and October. Now its December but feels more like late October. The mountains should be covered in snow but just the high peaks are. However, when we get those cold nights where the temperature drops below freezing we tend to get black ice on the roads, frost on the roof and all over any vehicles that were parked out side. We also get rather interesting frost patterns on our sky lights, the new ones that were installed last summer. The old ones leaked so much heat that frost never formed on them. The new ones are quite artistic. I took some pictures yesterday morning and like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words so I figure I’ve written more than my share for this addition….

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OK, I’ve got another one for you. This time it’s an old CCR song called ‘Have You Ever Seen The Rain’. They did it as a southern rockabilly number. My version is by nature and necessity more laid back and folky, with an acoustic sound rather than their electric sound. Again, just click this link to listen to the MP3 I’ve uploaded.

Have You Every Seen The Rain

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One last thing….two weeks from now will be Dec 21, our Christmas issue. Please give some thought to contributing to that one. Everyone is supposed to be involved so here’s a good time to get started. And something for next week would be a good start.

doug

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From Russ

"Faith can move mountains"

Yes; faith can move mountains and so can some women. Picture this: Nova Scotia Sue wants to see her three uncles together at the same time; she lets Ontario’s Carol know her wishes; Carol ‘musters the troops’, Gail locks arms with Carol, Ripley’s Bettie collaborates, now Sylvia is on board and the mountain begins to move!

A scrumptious meal is planned.

Transportation is arranged.

Overnight accommodation follows.

A ‘Command performance’ is issued,

men of the ‘Clan’ respond (pressured by their women)

Result: Three ‘mountains’ come together, and a gathering of a happy family happens,; yes, and even some with hugging (don’t even THINK about hugging Lorne!); kissing (again, kissing Lorne is like trying to kiss a passing freight train!); and some crazy stuff like lap-sitting!

In all seriousness, it was the most treasured time we all enjoyed together. The eldest mountain, Lorne was looking quite well in spite of all the meds put him through; the youngest mountain, Wayne looked surprisingly healthy, and with his ‘upbeat and positive attitude’, you’d think he was ‘faking his big ‘C’ issues!

God, Carol – I’m glad you invoked your ‘woman power’ and proved that “women can move mountains too!”.

By middle-mountain, Russ.

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From Lorne

And an other week is past and still Crawler '78' adorns my side yard. Daughter Gale was out here to decorate the house. Now she wants to run a string of lights on '78'. OK with me. I agreed to pay $ 385 + tax an hour for '78', a wood chipper and a crew of 3 men. With only '78' still with me, I don't think I should have to pay the full amount. After all, by the time this issue reaches you, the total number of hours will be about 280. Oh well, it all comes out of the kid's inheritance.

As most know by now, I am no longer a candidate for the valve job. Something about 3 spots showing up somewhere within. The local hospitals won't proceed with tests to determine what the spots are because I have a pace maker that 'they' themselves implanted. We are now trying Hamilton but at this point, no appointment.

Lorne

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THE ONTARION REPORT

Hello everyone!

Tis the season too be not only jolly but friendly and generous as well! What makes one smile more than the spirit of giving? It’s kind of an infectious season. Most people can’t help either humming along or singing along to the Christmas tunes as they wander through the shopping malls or plaza stores these days before Christmas. It’s just one of those things that stick in one’s mind when the snow and the temperatures start to fall. I doubt the same spirit hits home with people that live in steamy hot climates like Florida or California. But, of course if they’ve never experienced a Christmas in the Great White North then maybe they do have that same Christmas feeling, just without the snow and change of clothing we have to make each year at this time! I personally can’t identify with that sort of hot Christmas under the palm trees. The only taste we’ve had of Christmas in a hot climate was one vacation over Christmas that we joined friends of ours at a home in Florida. The lady of the couple worked for a lawyer that specialized in dealing with a very rich man and said rich man gave her a two week stay in a house that he owned in Punta Gorda Florida as a gift for looking after his business affairs for him. The couple was good friends of ours and invited us to join them at the house over Christmas. The home was one that had two different wings to it where two different families could be accommodated. The three of us stayed in one end and they stayed in the other with a common area in the middle that contained a living area and a kitchen/dining area. The house was located on a golf course and the screened in sun porch overlooked the 9th hole of the golf course. We could sit and enjoy a friendly drink while watching the golfers hack away at the putting green of the 9th. It was kind of fun to do that especially when the local alligators would often take a stroll across the fairway and disrupt the play of the shocked golfers! LOL! It was amazing how quickly an alligator could move when they took a mind to! The manager of the housing development told us that if we encountered an alligator while out for a walk, not to run in a straight line if one took a notion to chase us. He said always run in circles because this action would make the alligator trip over it’s own feet and take a tumble before gaining any speed. That was one fact that we never knew before that day. We were fortunate enough not to encounter any of these beasts while there for the two weeks but we did see a few of them on the golf course out behind the house. They are amazing animals for sure. They seemed to like to pick a spot in the fairway that was soaked in sunshine and then just lie down to sunbathe for an hour or two. There was a course attendant that would sometimes come along in a golf cart and chase the alligators away. They didn’t seem to like the sound of the motorized carts and he could easily herd them away into the surrounding water hazards!

We spent that Christmas in relative sunshine but it just so happened that that year was the coldest Christmas that area of Florida had experienced in many years! On Christmas Eve there was a very cold frost that had all the orange grove owners scrambling to save their crops. The owners would burn what are called “Smudge Pots” between the rows of orange trees and the heat from these fire pots would hopefully keep the oranges from freezing. Some of the owners would spray their trees with a mist of water to coat the oranges with ice. The ice would in turn insulate the oranges from the frost and save the crops. I don’t see how the coating of ice was any different from a coating of frost but it seemed to work!

On Christmas Day, we all went to Disney World in Orlando for the day. It was our first experience at Disney and it was quite interesting. We actually had to wear our winter coats for the first part of that day but as the sunshine warmed things up by noon, we were able to discard the coats and enjoy the Florida warmth. They had a huge Christmas tree built out of layers of poinsettia plants in the middle of a “Town square” and every one of the plants was drooping from the previous evenings frost! It was quite a sight to see! We did enjoy our stay in the Sunshine State but we sure did miss the beauty of our winter and Christmas season back home in Canada. The sunshine was nice but the atmosphere was so different than one of Canada’s winter wonderland at that time of year. I don’t think I’d like having hot weather all year round. When it comes down to it, I’m one of those people that prefer the change of seasons each year. I know even I complain about the cold and sometimes the heat but like they say, “Variety is the spice of life!” and I like variety!

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>

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