|
The
Squamidian Report – Feb. 8 / 20
Issue
#924 From
Karl Hi All, Contrary to popular belief (or perhaps wishful thinking) we didn’t get washed away during last week’s rampaging rains. And yes, it certainly rained. At times there was so much water in the air that if one was a strong enough swimmer, one could almost have swum straight upward, assuming one could swim up faster than the rain was falling down. Locally we faired quite well with only sections of the Squamish River Valley being flooded and the roadway through there being washed out in a few places. The Vancouver area and Fraser Valley suffered a lot more than we did with overflowing rivers, rock slides, road washouts, residential areas flooded and so on. One of the border crossing had to shut down for several days as that area (Sumas) was under water. Most major highways that access the Interior were closed due to rock and mud slides. We only had a foot and a half of rain during that week, parts of Vancouver Island had a meter (3ft) during the same period. Interestingly, the type of weather system responsible for that kind of rain used to be called a ‘pineapple express’, but is no longer. I guess that name must have offended pineapples because those systems have had a name change, now being referred to as ‘atmospheric rivers’. That’s actually a better name because on a weather map they do in fact look like rivers and they certainly have the volume of water embedded within, to qualify as a river. When they get set up over the Pacific ocean and target an area by staying fairly stationary were they hit land, they can keep on pumping for days on end with staggering volumes of water. Makes for interesting observation. * One week to go…. As you know, the gondola re-opens next Friday. They have put all the new cabins on the line. Most are still wrapped in their shipping protection material but thats ok, they should be nice and shiny with that ‘new cable cabin’ smell. Gondola staff have been going up regularly, getting the shelves re-stocked and the lodge spiffed up. There is a feeling of excitement there, and a lot of hustle and bustle. Lots of activities have been planned for the opening, including live musicians and that therefor includes me. It’s been 6 long months since the devastation and now (well, a week from now) its time to get back up there, and be part of ‘up there’. There will be dignitaries, owner, vip’s, important people, the media, and so on at the base level doing their thing and giving their speeches. Then they will all ride up as the ‘first’ to go (ignoring the fact that staff has been going up for a couple of weeks). Then, the lowly public will be permitted up. That’s the group we are in. The day will be hectic due to the events taking place. It could very well be a total gong show because for some reason they are trying to do their opening ceremonies on the first day they are back open when they’d have been better off opening on the 14th then having the ‘grand’ opening on the following Sunday. Oh well. Could be entertaining. doug **** From Karl Thanks for a great read again to all who contributed there stories ,Here in Australia “Melbourne” we are having the most CRAZEY weather with 40+ temps and Dust storms Hale stones the size of Baseball ALL in one Day on top of the Fires that are raging around Australia ,Climate change you think??? Last night we had Lots of rain and in the morning EVERYTHING was covered in RED DUST which is a new thing I guess its from the Dust storms picked up from central Australia and washed down with the Rains ,Bur NOT enough rain to put out a lot of Fires they have been ongoing for 5 MONTHS now, Lot of the Fires where started by Lightning strikes ,The sad thing about this Fire situation is the loss of Animal life which is I kid you not 1 BILLION yes BILLION some species will be extinct from this fires ,I am getting emotional just writing about the loss of wildlife so I will end for now and I will post a few photos. KARL These photos where from the beach in Altona which is just down the road from here with Smoke haze, and depends which way the wind blows.. 
**** From Russ A whale of a tale, or a tail of a whale. Southern Right Whales are a member of the ‘baleen whale’ family. Many baleen whales will take in large amounts of water as they skim along the surface with mouths wide open, then strain the water back out through special plates in their mouths known as “baleens”. The ‘krill (their main diet), are trapped inside the baleen and then are swallowed. These ‘dorsal-less’ sailors know when it’s time to take a load off, occasionally holding their back flippers in the air and letting the wind push them through the water! Yeah, really! Where would I go to see these ‘sailors’? There are cruise ships that sail to Antarctica making their $money by guaranteeing gullible tourists they’ll see many of these whales and penguins. Yeah, maybe. Southern Right Whales have other destinations; Antarctic Peninsula, Falkland Islands, South Georgia, and Tristan da Cunha. In other words, all sub-tropical to sub-Antarctic waters. The Southern Right Whales are big; 15 metres long and weighing up to 47 tonnes, but not as big as Hump-back Whales. The Right Whales in the Arctic were hunted to near extinction by Whalers coming from Europe and Iceland, etc. around the turn of the 18th Century. Our Northern whales are slowly recovering since ‘whaling’ is no longer allowed. But the ‘conservation’ status of the Southern Right Whale is of “least concern”. If you’re ever lucky/unlucky to get close enough you may be able to see they are dark grey or black with white belly’s, which could describe most water creatures; that being a ‘safety feature’ granted by evolution. Predators looking up will see only white, which they may take as the surface, while looking down see only darkness which the may take as the bottom. But, the feature which sets SRW’s apart is the UGLY, crusty growths on their heads! Some authorities claim these are caused by ‘host parasites’, resulting in calluses. Yeah, and they’re still ugly! Ugly or not, they are social creatures, sometimes playful when it comes to being around humans. They have been known to give boaters and kayaks rides on their backs! They are also known to interact with dolphins and Humpback Whales. But, don’t expect a fast ride – their top speed is around 5Km per hr. As you all know, that’s how they got their names, “Right Whales”. Because they were slow and friendly, with lots of blubber, they were the right whales to he harpooned. WARNING to readers: The following three paragraphs may be offensive to females and may invoke feelings of jealousy among males. But, you’ll have to wait until next week to find out! Your old Uncle Russ. **** **** THE ONTARION REPORT Hello everyone! Well, here we go again with another serious situation in our fair city. There was another serious fire last night on Blackhorn Cr. The homeowner was able to exit the home before any serious harm came to him. I’m not sure exactly where on Blackhorn Cr it was situated but I hope it wasn’t within close proximity to Doug’s sister’s place. The house number was 76! The fire gutted the home so I hope the gentleman had insurance. There seem to be a lot of serious incidents happening in KW these days. If it’s not a major fire, it’s a shooting or stabbing somewhere in our area. There must be something in the air that provokes such happenings. The big item in the news these days is of course the Coronavirus from China. With over 500 deaths so far from this dreaded disease I think the world could be in serious trouble if the medical specialists don’t find a vaccine soon to combat the spread! The latest news stated that there are two huge cruise ships filled with passengers that have been quarantined because of people on board that have tested positive for the virus. The first one mentioned is sitting just off the coast of Japan and there is a couple from Port Dover Ontario that is on the ship. They stated that all passengers have been confined to their cabins for the next two weeks to help combat the spread. Back a few days ago there was a report of a fellow that was on board an Air Canada plane heading for Jamaica who stood up and announced to the other passengers that he had just gotten back from a trip to China and had tested positive for the Coronavirus. The crew immediately enacted their disease protocol and the Captain decided to turn the plane around and return to Toronto. When the plane landed the police took charge of the situation and removed the offending passenger from the plane. The passengers were all tested for the virus and it was found after questioning the offender that he did this as a joke to gain some online publicity for himself. He’s been charged with public mischief and a couple of other offences and is due to appear in court in April to answer the charges. I’m sure he’ll be held responsible for the cost to Air Canada for the return trip to Toronto as well as the cost for rebooking the trips of all the passengers. What a foolish thing to do! This epidemic is nothing to joke about for sure! * Life isn’t all gloom and doom but sometimes it seems that way doesn’t it? With the winter dragging on like it seems to be doing this year I’m sure most people are really looking forward to spring arriving. I know I am as I may have stated before! Once the weather warms up a tad, we can at least get out onto the patio and do some barbecuing again. That’s the one thing I miss once the winter sets in! I know that BBQing is a handy way to give Carole a break in the kitchen and it’s kind of fun to do some of the cooking without getting in her way in the kitchen. Of course one can BBQ even in the winter but it’s not as pleasant to be outside in the cold weather. It’s more fun when I can do it in a tee shirt and jeans than in a heavy winter coat and snow pants etc. I hope that our groundhog has predicted accurately this year and that we are in for an early spring. I’m sure he’s tired of this winter too! Oh well, until such time as spring arrives we’ll just have to keep on shoveling and blowing the snow off the walkways and driving with due caution. Let’s hope Mother Nature will take pity on us and warm things up soon! * That’s
about
all for this week folks! Bye for now … Greg PS:
Something
To Think About> **** Have
a
good one.. |
