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Issue #1077
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Russ

Nova Scotia Sus

The Ontarion

Hey There,

Stuck up at top. It happens, it has happened to us in the past and it will happen again in the future. The gondola does not mean as much to us as it used to. It has lost that intimate feeling, that feeling of belonging, that it had in it’s early years. But, we do go up for a morning coffee as it’s still great for location. We get up there as soon as they open and usually have the place to ourselves as we sit by the fire and look out at the scenery. We decided to go up this past Monday morning for just that reason, morning coffee with a view. Environment Canada was posting wind warnings for our area but that usually means out the Sound closer to open water and the Gondola’s web site and highway signs were all saying they were open. So, up we headed. The lift was running at a reduced speed because yes, it was gusty, but that’s often the case. Air movement along the cliff faces and through Olsen Valley often cause quite a bit of turbulence that will bounce the cabins around.

It soon became apparent that they were trying to run at the max wind speed permitted. The ride up became interesting as we swung back and forth. Some gusts seemed to stop the cable cabin in it’s tracks for a slit second before letting it go again. I personally found it kind of fun, I like that sort of thing. ‘The Wife’ however was not impressed and if looks could kill I wouldn't be here to write this. Once we got past tower 10 and into the wind shadow of Wrinkle Rock and that ridge, we were out of the blasting wind and the ride settled down to something closer to a gentle sway that almost put me to sleep. The system had been running at half speed so instead of the usual 15 minute ride, it had taken almost half an hour wildly swinging and bouncing to get up to there.

Once up and out of the cabin we headed inside, headed for our ‘usual’ seats by the fire. Then, in came a young lady who had been riding in the cabin behind us. She had been the last customer to board the lift before the Gondola management decided to shut it down due to the high, and climbing, winds. She was in tears. She had ridden up alone and was not familiar with windy rides and wildly swinging cabins. She was pretty upset. We all (the whole 3 of us) sat by the fire and enjoyed the mountains through the big windows. We were informed that it would be an hour or so before they would reassess the situation. An hour went by and then another half hour. At that time they decided the winds had dropped to the point where they could let customers up, and in our case, down. We suggested to the woman that she should ride down with us as more weight in the cabins make then steadier when it’s windy, and, she really didn’t want to head down along so we all boarded a cabin and down we went. The wind had dropped off so much it was barely noticeable. A real let-down, so to speak.

I certainly hadn’t minded being stuck up there. We didn’t have any appointments or any where we needed to be, and, as long as they were shut down, no more customers could come up and I tend to like having the place to myself. I’m weird that way.

And then there was the lost dog. Dogs are not supposed to run loose in our town but some people don’t follow that rule and let their dog out whenever it wants. The neighbors a few doors down are like that, their dog has run loose for years. Funny thing is, it often runs straight for our house as it likes me. Most dogs do, I think they think I’m one of them. One morning they came home from wherever they had been, ‘they’ being the whole family including the dog, at about the same time we got home. They let the dog out of their car and he of course decided to do his own thing and go for a walk. At about the same time had we pulled into our garage, got out of the car, and headed into the house. As I entered the house from the garage I reached up and hit the wall mounted button that closes the garage door. An hour later I was out on the front porch for some reason and saw the husband walking up the street. He was looking for the dog. We chatted and I said I’d keep an eye open for him. An hour later I looked out and saw the wife, she was looking for the dog and the husband had jumped into this car to search a bit further afield. That dog is too old to have gone far but they had to try. I went out to offer my help with the search even though I’m still a bit limited due to my hip. As I went out, Sue decided to take some recycling material down into the garage. She opened the door and there, smiling up at her, was the missing dog. He must have followed us in through the big vehicle door but had not caught our attention when we went on into the house. As he is very old, his bark is too quiet to be heard, if he had even tried to get our attention.

I put him on an old leash and lead him out to the street where I called for the woman who was still working her way further down. Just as she turned, her husband pulled back onto the street in his car, and there I was with dog in hand. They were relieved, I felt terrible. The poor dog had been locked in our garage for 2 hour and they had been looking for him for 2 hours. There’s probably a lesson here but we’d have to learn it for it to do any good.

And lastly, I’ve finally gotten back to trying to do at bit of music videoing. I must admit I’m a bit rusty and my old voice is a bit rough but thats how it goes. In this case it’s a very old song that pretty well all of us know, or are at least somewhat familiar with. So, if you want to know what song it is, you will have to follow this link and give it a listen.

An Old Song That Most Of You Know

doug

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From Russ

I married a school teacher's daughter - WHAT have I got myself into??

She was: Classy; sassy; independent; intelligent; assertive; physically-fit; of clean mind, body and spirit. She was also, pretty; well-stacked with legs like Betty Grable. She was a great cook; knew how to set a formal dinner table, and which tools to use first, second, third, etc. She was of the Anglican Faith, a member of the 'Alter guild', President of the Canadian Mental Health Association of Kitchener-Waterloo. She was 'Office Manager' of Memory Gardens when I met her, and she "stood her ground" against horny salesmen, and 'Male chauvinist boss's!

She was the widow of Arthur Pittman, and mother of Macfarlane (Mac) age 8, and Gregory (Greg) age 5 when I fell hopelessly in love with this "Miracle woman".

She was also the daughter of a "proud Scot" high school teacher at Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate Institute (KCI) named Fred Dickson, and her Irish/German mother, Edythe, Mae (sans Tilton). I moved into this highly civilized family immediately after our marriage and quickly discovered I was "last in the pecking order"! I had no status whatsoever - even the children out-ranked me! Correction - mostly they out-ranked me! But, I survived and learned a few things about Scottish customs/traditions, such as:

"Hogmanay" (pronounced 'hug - man - ay') > Scottish for New Year's Eve, celebrated on December 31st each year, Hogmanay is a time for clearing out the old and welcoming the new, and is reflected in the ancient customs and traditions surrounding this transition from one year to another. These celebrations began during the Middle Ages when religious reformation meant celebrating Christmas was discouraged. Christmas Day wasn't even a national holiday! And instead, Scots celebrated on December 31st with singing, dancing and a number of traditions and customs passed from one generation to the next. They exchanged gifts as they rung in the New Year.

The term "Ringing in the New Year" references the church bells which rang out in villages and towns across Scotland at midnight, to mark the change from one year to the next. Historians believe that many fascinating Hogmanay customs and traditions have their roots in pagan festivals such as the Norse Winter Solstice, the Viking Yule, and the Gaelic Samhain.

Another Scottish tradition practiced by my wife's family and introduced to me early in our marriage (Mid 1950's) was "First Footing", which I believe appeared in my report on New Year's Day, and not wanting to repeat myself, I'll not make further comment on this subject today.

And finally, I'm into writing another little book I call, "Doors and Corridors" while its predecessor "A hill, a river and a family" remains stalled in the hands of a third party who promised to redo the Family Tree portion and have the book printed before Christmas 2022.

Russ.

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From Nova Scotia Sus

Just got back from the vets with our fairly new cat Tigger. He needed one more booster shot a month after his first visit being fixed. Now he is good until August. So far we call him our 500 dollar cat. I don't quite remember spending so much money on our previous pets. The best part is he is so easy to transport..calm and collected.

Something strange is happening around here with our veterinary clinics. Apparently almost all of the clinics here have been sold to one company. So if you are not already a client you are out of luck. They will not take any new clients. During my waiting time today I witnessed a very distressed lady with her dog begging they see her sick dog. They refused and she went out the door angry and worried. What will she do if all the clinics refuse. I don't get why the new companies are against expanding.

We finally got some snow and now it is raining heavily. A strange winter we are having.

I really enjoyed reading about the Highway Market stories. I loved that store.

Sus

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The Ontarion

Hello everyone!

With the present condition of our weather, I’ve just celebrated my second “Green” birthday in 74 years!

It was a great day yesterday to celebrate it with just the three of us here to do so! Carole and Adam asked me what I’d like for my birthday and since I’m as ancient as I am, I decided that I really couldn’t think of anything I still need after collecting whatever I’ve wanted over the past 74 years, so, I told Carole that all I really would enjoy as a birthday gift would be to have her bake my favourite “Chocolate” cake and also for her to cook me my favourite dinner of Pigtails and a baked a potato! She said surely there must be something you’d like so I said if you must buy me something, just give me a couple of scratch lotto tickets!

Well, was I surprised when they blew the bundle on me once again! Not only did they give me a Chocolate cake, along side a lovely pigtail dinner but they also gifted me a fantastic “Husky” brand tool cabinet that is built to hold my battery operated tools ( Of which I have several) it’s also a built in electric battery charger shelf for the purpose of course of charging my tool batteries! It really is something I needed and never thought of myself. However, it’s something I’ll make good use of to keep all of my battery operated drills and circular saw in one place along with the two chargers that power these tools! They also gave me a new pair of Croc slippers which I wear daily and most evenings as well. Along with these useful gifts they also gave me a fist full of scratch tickets to attempt to make me rich! I sat for a couple of hours scratching these tedious items in a vane attempt to grant their wish and mine to win a lovely sum of money! However, my effort was in vane since the only winner was one ticket that yielded a $5.00 reward! Oh well, maybe that $5.00 which I cashed in and bought another ticket with will produce better results!

Not only will I have the gifts to remember the occasion but I also will have the picture that Adam took of me standing on our Green front lawn in January 2023! This has only happened one other time in my life that I can think of and that was about 10 years ago or so when I was able to take my motorcycle for a short drive on a dry and snow free January day! I’m at this point, hoping that this mild winter weather will sustain for the rest of January at least and maybe into the rest of this winter!

This coming week will be another special one since Carole and I are going to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary on January 19th. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been married that many years! The time has gone by so quickly, it’s amazing that we’re still here to celebrate such a remarkable occasion. I think that very few couples manage to make it this far and still be together to celebrate the occasion! I have to tell you that all these years Carole has kept a large piece of our wedding cake that her mother made for us that many years ago in the freezer and on each January 19th, she brings it out of the freezer and we each take a small corner of the cake and eat it to mark the day! It’s a tad freezer tasting but still the glue that has bound us for so many years! Carole says it’s a good luck charm that to have kept it and tasted it each year of our marriage. So, who am I to dispute that belief? So far it’s been working so hopefully there’s still enough of it to last another 50 years! LOL!

I think it’s about time to pack this week’s Ontarion in! 
Next week, I’ll be sure to give you the low down on what we did to celebrate our anniversary! Not sure how interesting that will be but, we’ll just have to wait and see!

Take care everyone and thanks for tuning in this week! I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next time in The Ontarion Report!

Bye for now…. Greg.

PS: Happy Anniversary Carole … Love Greg!

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