Online Versions Of This And Past Issues
(Choose the year and then the date for the online issue you want)

Issue #977
Including:

From Rosemary

From Russ

From Lauren

The Ontarion

Hi All,

I know that most of most of the country, including us, have been shivering under a chilly blanket of Arctic air. There is however a rather nice up-side to the cold air. The night sky can be incredibly crisp and clear simply because cold air tends to be dry air. And, the night sky during late winter is by far the most scenic and interesting night sky of the whole year. The winter constellations are much more prominent than the summer constellations and there are nebula that are easier to see because they are bigger, closer, brighter and so on. I’m referring to the sky in the northern hemisphere, I can’t speak for you guys down under. Wish I could, and I intend to check out that sky some day if at all possible. I’d love to see the southern cross, the Large and Small Magellanic clouds and so on. But for now my topic will be our northern sky.

For starters, simply stand outdoors (away from street lights and other frustration light sources) at about 9pm or so and look south. You can’t miss the Orion constellation and the included Orion Nebula. Orion stands out for many reasons, its so easy to find, its so distinctive, and so on. The Nebula is Orion’s belt and contains new and still forming stars as well as glowing gasses, visible even through binoculars. You’ll have the bright stars to guide you, like Rigel, Bellatrix and of course Betelgeuse, a red giant, who may or may not have exploded sometime during the last 500 years or so. We can’t know that yet because she’s just a bit further away than that so the light from that star exploding would not have gotten here yet. Then down to the lower left is Sirius, the visually brightest star in our sky. Now look up and to the right where you’ll find the head of Taurus with it’s bright star Aldebaran. Keep going a bit further and be rewarded with the Pleiades, a big bright nebula that’s actually relatively fairly close to us. Its also a stellar nursery, like the Orion Nebula. Its a great binocular target. And that red object currently near by is Mars.

Now go up and over your right shoulder and find the Pegasus constellation, kind of like a big square. Up above it will be Cassiopeia, that W shaped constellation nestled in our arm of the Milky Way. You can use the bigger wedge of the W to point to the Andromeda galaxy. She’s bit hard to find but can be seen by eye under good, dark conditions and turns up nicely through binoculars. Did you know thats it is just in our lifetime that we realized that Andromeda is in fact a sister galaxy and not a local nebula? There are still astronomy books that refer to her as a nebula. It wasn’t until we had our big modern telescopes that we realized there were other galaxies and that ours was not the only one. Rather egotistic of us wouldn’t you think? And then there is Polaris, the Big Dipper, and so on and of course the whole rest of the sky.

To make it all even better, this time of year there are no mosquitoes or other night bugs to bug you. That cold winter air is inviting, and so there is no excuse to not go star gazing. Just finish reading this letter first because each contributor has put a lot of effort and thought into their contribution and so deserve your attention. Watch and listen to my song, enjoy Rosemary’s interesting narrative and link, enjoy Russ’s always entertaining and clever column, read about Lauren’s frustrations with working at a federal institution, and read Gregs informative entry.

And now, for something the same and yet a little bit different, this week’s song is an old country-ish tune called North To Alaska. The song was originally done by Johnny Horton. By the way, for whatever reason, when I videoed this one I had a brain fart and couldn’t remember who had done the original so if memory serves, I simply said that I didn’t know or some such silly thing. Anyway, the song is about a couple of gold miners back at the turn of the last century who headed up to Alaska from Seattle, crossed the Yukon River, and found their bonanza gold “below that old white mountain, just a little south east of Nome”. In the song, George turns to Sam and says that even though he has gold in his hands, he’d trade it all for his sweat little Jenny’s hand. And as the song puts it, George was a lonely, lonely man. Enjoy.

North To Alaska

doug

****

From Rosemary

It's funny how nostalgic we get for the good old days, when things were "so much better". This video is 7 minutes of 1950's nostalgic enjoyment. It's very well done and conjures up some wonderful memories.

But if you really think back, not everything was better back then. Take note of the smoking advertisements in the video. One of them shows a photo of a baby saying how much Mommy likes her Marlboros. There's an advertisement for bras and girdles. As a young teen we wore girdles whether we needed to or not. I haven't worn one since, and in these lockdown days I know I'm not the only female not wearing a bra, haha. It's going to be rough when everything opens ups again and it's back to bras and non-elasticized waistbands.

Watch the shot of the kids in school. They do not look particularly happy. Back at Bridgeport P.S. and no doubt many other schools, the strap was regularly used to discipline the misbehaving kids. And in one of my elementary grades the students were seated in rows with the best and smartest kid sitting in the first seat, first row, followed in seat two by the next smartest and weaving up and down the rows until the one with the lowest marks, and not surprisingly with the poorest behaviour, sat in the last row, last seat. Unbelievable.

But the toys back then were great. The music was great. The decor was weird. If you were a kid in the 50's and early 60's you will like this little trip down memory lane.

Rosemary

https://1funny.com/fond-memories-of-the-1950s/

****

From Russ

SNOW*

There is a lot to be said about snow. Have you ever examined a single flake under a microscope? Neither have I. But we’ve all seen pictures of single snowflakes up close and personal. No?. They are a thing of ‘breath-taking’ beauty! Trust me. Their delicate formation of short-lived ice crystals – and no two alike, boggles the mind! OK, maybe just my mind. Although each flake is transparent and colourless, when clustered snow is definitely WHITE! No argument there!

“Daddy, why is the snow ‘white”? asked little Johnny.

“That’s a good question” he replied, “I can’t honestly answer it, “Let’s ask the ‘Weather people”.

“The sun” was the answer given by the experts.

Do you agree? The lay people I’ve asked generally don’t agree. Some say, “Take a plate-full of snow into the near- total darkness, and it’s still white”, they argue, “No sunlight in my cold-cellar!”.

I can’t argue with that because I placed some into my chest freezer for two days, and it still came out white! How dumb is that?

There is a lot to be said about snow:

As I look out my window at the gently falling snow, watching it alight upon the evergreen bows, I ‘gasp’ at it’s incredible beauty! Only God can create such a spectacular scene! May I say it?? I’ll say it – I LOVE SNOW!!

With the Coronavirus causing us to change our lifestyle or perish, many of you have taken to outdoor activities; people are walking in the freshly-fallen snow, cross-country skiing, jogging – filling their lungs with air so clean you would like to ‘take it to bed with you’! Oh, and let’s not forget the latest fad the pandemic has spawned – dog-ownership! Seems everybody has acquired a dog -or two- or three, and they are walking the poor canines to total exhaustion. Some have even run away from their owners to escape the multiple, daily torture! But, let’s not knock it! There are fewer colds and flu cases around this season – all because we are keeping more fit, and keeping more clean, and not touching each other ‘anywhere’. Maybe this is the ‘new norm’!

There is a lot to be said about snow:

Snow doesn’t care where it lands. When enough accumulates, we have to shovel it from our sidewalks and driveways (some of us have invested hundreds – and – hundreds of dollars in snow-blowers/throwers just to ‘get rid of the stuff!) Municipalities have invested millions of our tax-dollars in costly snow-removal equipment, and continually spread tons of salt and sand upon our streets and roadways, in an attempt to prevent us from ‘rear-ending’ each other! (vehicle-wise)

Sadly, we still have too many collisions on our streets and highways, causing death and destruction, and raising our insurance rates. (maybe drivers should practice ‘social distancing’ instead of texting!)

There is a lot to be said about snow:

Yes, it’s beautiful and very welcome in the middle of winter, but when spring finally comes, and those huge mounds of snow on the mall parking-lots turn into piles of coal, the dirty snow is most ugly!

Snow also melts. Flooding is one of the most costly springtime events! Flood insurance is costly, and unavailable to some. We humans cannot live without water – but, we certainly can live without water flooding our basements! Streams and rivers over-flow their banks as more, and more of the snow-melt occurs. Nature suffers. Pets, animals, and people drown! How can anything so beautiful at first become so ugly and devastating in the end?

“Daddy, why is the snow white?”

Your old Uncle Russ.

****

From Lauren

I keep meaning to write something for the Squamidian, then forget that Friday has come & gone & that I have missed the deadline... the life of a shiftworker, you never really know what day it is.

Speaking of shift work, the last time I wrote, we had dodged the proverbial “Covid” bullet at my prison & were plugging along as merrily as could be, that is, until just before Christmas time, when the wonderful decision makers in Ottawa, who have probably never set an a foot inside the actual walls of a prison, decided to transfer a bunch of covid carrying inmates (which they didn’t know at the time, go figure!) from the red zone of the prairies, out west to our prison.

Hence, even though I was not scheduled to be off over Christmas, I ended up getting a mandatory self-isolation order to not leave my house for 14 days, after close contact with all 4 Covid positive inmates on more than one occasion who came to my prison. And it only took about 5 days before they decided I was close contact, even though I informed management earlier that I was.

However, they have to go through the contact tracing process which is a big joke. Our prison has never had so much overtime, half the staff were off for close contact & the other half were working their butts off, some practically living here.

They even had to call staff in from other prisons for overtime & management (we are talking upper management here, like the Warden himself), were working, that’s how desperate they were. Unprecedented times!

Fortunately, I dodged the bullet, others were not so lucky & did get infected (only 2 staff I think), but I ended up having Christmas off, not being allowed out of my house & spent most of the 14 days in my pajamas, hanging out with Ryan & the kids! It was great, but the reasons behind it were not.

You can’t make this stuff up, which is why I am not surprised by our government’s bungling of the Covid vaccine, another mess made by the decision makers, who clearly, shouldn’t be in charge.

Everything at work is mostly back to normal, & the powers that be have allegedly suspended all inter-regional transfers until March (for the time being), but can override that decision in cases of emergency etc., unfortunately, the Edmonton institution for women is bursting at the seams, & that is how we end up with many of them, so much so, that we are nicknamed “Edmonton west.”

What they really should do, is open up another women’s institution in the prairies, but that too is a logical idea, therefore it won’t happen, because the government & logic do not go hand in hand.

Lauren

****

THE ONTARION REPORT

Hello everyone!

The weather here has been as many of you know nice and sunny but not warm in the least! The groundhog said we’re in for an early spring but so far there are no sign’s of it! I’m sure we’ll get whacked with a few more big loads of snow before any reprieve comes along! The wind has been howling and blowing down the hydro right of way for several days if not weeks now and even our local Cardinals have gone into hiding. We haven’t seen hide nor feather of them in about a week now but the food is there so here’s hoping they come back soon for a good meal! Watching them on the feeder has been one of the few entertaining happenings of our days here in the Lockdown. As most of you know, our CTV News has been dominated by the Covid Stats for over a year now and that’s been boring the heck out of us every night! I know I’m not alone when I say I’m getting sick and tired of listening to the ups and downs of the Covid-19 hour long news casts these days. It sure is enlightening when Lisa LaFlamme comes up with a “Good News “ spot now and then. Such as the updated report about the175 homeless men that had been given space in the tower portion of the hotel while this cold winter persists and in the million dollar fire, all of their meagre belongings were destroyed in the fire. What a shame for these destitute individuals to get kicked while they are already down on their luck. IF not for the generosity of our local people and a couple of local church groups they would be without even the bare necessities of life such tooth past and deodorant/under ware and warm socks! Thanks’ to the goodness of our citizens and many more around ONTARIO hundreds of items if not thousands have poured in to the churches and the Waterloo Inn Itself. It was enlightening indeed to see and hear of all the warm clothing sent in to help these poor street people. Hopefully the Hotel will be repaired in short order and these men will once again have a place to call home, even if it is only temporary! Having never even been close to being homeless I am grateful for always having had a roof over my head and warm to hot meals three times a day, thanks to my not only being employed for all of my life but for having a lovely wife who has loved me and provided these meals every day. Thank You Carole!

The men in our cities and many others around the Country have for one or another reason not had the luck or skill or guidance through life to enjoy building a family life or career and most definitely need our help to just barely eek out a living. SO if you can take a look into your closets and see if you have any warm clothing or shoes that you might be able to part with please take them in boxes or black plastic bags to the local Sally Ann or most churches or fire halls will accept these donations on behalf of the less fortunate! You won’t believe how good it will make you feel when you spot a street person wearing one of your good warm used coats some day on the corner of King and Queen Sts. So take the time and make the effort and make someone smile this week! I’m going to dig through my closets tomorrow to see what I have that I can give!

That’s all for this week folks! Thanks for tuning in and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next time in The Ontarion Report!

Bye for now …… Greg

PS: Something To Think About>
Please let us know if you were able to donate any warm clothing to this worthwhile event!

****

Take Care And Be Safe
The Fine Print!
The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them and should be respected as such.