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The
Squamidian Report – Sept. 23 / 23
Online
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Of This And Past Issues Issue
#1113 Nova Scotia Sus Russ Carol Wayne and Sylvia The Ontarion
Howdy, Road trip time….. As stated last week, we will be heading out and driving east starting on Thursday (Sept 28). I don’t know how long it will take us to drive all the way to KW but we are not as young as we once were and so it could easily take us 5 or 6 days depending on how it all goes. First issue to work out will be how to get out of BC. The shortest route is the TransCanada (#1) but it is currently closed through the Kicking Horse Pass due to construction. That means to head out on #1 we’d have to do a 2 hr detour from Golden down to Radium and back up to the TC west of Banff. The other choice is to take #3 which is even longer but gets us into Alberta at Pincer Cr whereas the #1 takes us through Calgary. Both routes are still smoky and affected by forest fires. I probably won’t know which route we are taking until we start out and I take note of which way I’m headed. Once into Alberta there aren’t a whole lot of choices to make so that works out ok. Hopefully, once we get to Ontariaiaro we’ll be able to hook up with a bunch of you guys for a bit of a visit while we are there. That’s kind of up to you. Unfortunately for us, we’ll be in town during the Octoberfest week. That’s when we’d have left town way back when we lived there in order to get away from all the Octoberfesters. That’s a bummer. Then there is the matter of this letter, the good old Squid. I simply can’t do it properly on my iPad. I know it can be done but not by me. I need a good old fashion computer to set it up and put it all together. So, we will forgo our weekly publication for about 3 weekends, but, having said that, I may try to do a very bare-bones version where I simply send out an update each week as to where we are and what we are up to. That I can do. I guess the bottom line is don’t bother sending in anything to the Squid while I’m away. Save it up for when we get home sometime in mid October. Rhododendrons couldn't take the heat….. A very popular ornamental shrub around here is the rhododendron. They come in several varieties from low shrubs right up to small trees. They come in all sorts of flower colors and they stay green all year round. They thrive in a west coast climate. Problem is, we haven’t had a ‘west coast climate’ for several years now. Our winters have become longer and colder and our summers have become longer and dryer with no spring or fall in between. This is a problem for the rhododendrons, they are not doing well at all. We had a rhoto tree at the side of our driveway that was loosing it’s struggle to live which is a nice way of saying it was dyeing. It was loosing leaves that had to be constantly cleaned up. It was time for it to go so I got out the old reciprocating saw and dismantled it, loaded it into the back of my truck and took it to it’s final resting place out at the dump.
The video for that Humperdinck song….. I wasn’t going to bother with doing this video but then I figured why not. I don’t have to watch it. On the other hand, given how rusty and out of practice I’ve become at doing that kind of thing, it might be good to do one so I can see just how ‘out of practice’ I am, a learning tool so to speak. I struggled with sound levels, with how to capture what I intended to capture and just ‘doing’ the song, and so on because it’s been quite a while since the last one. So, for what it’s worth, here’s the bare bones video of ‘There Goes My Everything’. (the bare bones video version) Doug ****
From Nova Scotia Sus
A couple of weeks ago we went to the Pictou Exhibition. They have it every year. Its always good to see all the farm animals and competitions going on. In one of their buildings was a display of many beautiful hand made quilts. As we looked around we were asked if we would pay $5. and fill out a ballot to win a quilt. Of course we both did, never dreaming of winning. The phone call came a few days later to pick up our prize. The lady said that hundreds of ballots had been collected for weeks before the Exhibition and during and were laced in a large plastic bag and shook up before drawing. Amazing! The quilt we won has many horses large and small displayed. It's also a twin bed size so we are thinking about giving it to Dave's grand daughter who will love and cherish it forever. The latest hurricane was just a big wind overnight and into the next day. We did lose power for at least 24 hours and we were prepared for that. It doesn't take much it seems to lose power here. So the generator was put onto action. We watched 3 movies all action packed. Sus ****
From Russ
Canada eh? We Canadians are somewhat like sheep - generally polite; easily-led, we are used to being pushed around, and although heavily taxed we take it on the chin. Some of us say sorry all the time, even when the fault is definitely on the other person's side. We apologize so much that in 2009, the Apology Act was passed in Canada. It allows us to say sorry in court without accepting guilt! If we object strongly to some government edict we may even hold a peaceful demonstration where, like sheep we say "ba-a-a" to our 'leaders' in high places. And like sheep we yield to having our very fleece sheared from our bodies; leaving us even more vulnerable to social pressures (and you know what I mean!) Don't get me wrong: we do complain among ourselves - pleating "ba-ba-ba" to the high price of food, fuel, borrowing, building and dying. Some of us spend a whole bunch of time and energy finding fault with everything under the sun! Sure, there are lots of things that could be improved; that's why we have a right to vote a no-good government out of power and bring in a new government. But we may find those who ba-a-a the loudest never bother to vote!! Those of us who are fortunate enough to live in Southern Ontario, can count our blessings; we have had a pleasant summer season - no hurricanes, few tornadoes, just the right amount of rain and sunshine to yield good crops. Yup, even sheep benefit from good crops. Look around you my fellow Canadians - is there any place you'd rather live? Did you know Canada has been ranked the third-best country in the world? According to the 2019 Best Countries report by US News, Canada ranked third, just after Switzerland and Japan. But how about this? Canada ranked first in the "best quality of life" in 2019. (wonder if we still do?) Canada is one of the biggest, and best countries in the world. Have you ever visited it? Or are you like many Canadians who have traveled abroad but have never seen all of this interesting, and beautiful country of ours! What is Canada known for? Hockey? you say - right on! Ice hockey is one of the most popular sports in Canada, if not the most popular. We have the most successful hockey teams in the world. Beavers? Yes, but why? Maple syrup? Right again. We export from Canada to over 50 countries all around the world. In fact, we produce 80% of the world's maple syrup. Cold winters? Not lately. Our country is affected by climate change - our winters of late have been milder and wetter than normal. The lowest recorded temperature was -63 degrees Celsius! Many parts of Canada consider -40 degrees C. normal. (If it gets any milder we'll have alligators in the Grand River!) Popular Canadians: Can you list all the actors, or singers who were born in Canada? Let's start with a few of the most recent ones: Justin Bieber, Celine Dion, Jim Carrey ........ Trivia. How good are you at answering these few questions? OK, we'll make it simple for you - true? or false? > 80% of Canada's residents live within 300 km of the US border. True? or false? > The Rideau Canal in the capital city of Ottawa, frozen in winter, is the world's longest ice rink. T or F. > Maple leaves are the national symbol of Canada. > The Golden Horseshoe is an industrial centre located around Lake Ontario which produces cars, steel, chemicals, and paper. (and pollution!) The above would be more appropriate for Canada Day, but the Great Squamidian was not in print at that time. Russ. PS All of the above statement were true. ****
From Carol
I cooked up tomatoes from my garden and made juice using the old ricer pictured here. Every time I use this piece of kitchen equipment I think of my grandmother Brubacher as this belonged to her. She bought it before I was born, she gave it to me back in the early 90s when she moved into Sunnyside. The other picture is a pot from my grandmother Hawkridge and was also purchased before I was born. I had 2 pots but my daughter, Jackie, absconded with the other pot years ago. Can you imagine that any kitchen equipment made today will still be in use in 75 years or so? I am lucky to have these tangible reminders of my grandmothers to keep their memories still close to my heart. Just a quick update on my health situation; it seems my surgery in July has failed. I will see my surgeon again and in the mean time my family doctor is trying to find a way to end my constant coughing and get my voice back. Carol
****
From Wayne and Sylvia
Hi There Squamids: (Got to be careful about pronouns so I hope that works!) One of the easiest jobs is that of "weatherperson" ( formerly weatherman). It seems that being wrong increases your social credit score! My only remaining and always my favorite sibling brother, Russell, enquired into our safety, due to Hurricane Lee which truly went directly over us here in Southwestern New Brunswick. Logging 100% by the weather personal, as always, it was a dud by the time it got here, notwithstanding the state-sponsored fear that preceded its arrival. I replied to Russell in a most flippant manner, without explaining that my sarcasm was directed at the weather service and not his query. I hope that I didn't offend him! However, I liked my response regarding having the eye of the storm passing directly overhead, with its preliminary winds passing from east to west and its following winds passing from west to east so I am filing my report with the Squamidian so all can know how we fared. Well!
What
a storm!
I
don't know if it is repairable! At least it was only one
leaf!
Good thing, eh? We also had two electrical generators up and running and pails of water filled for flushing if we lost power. And we did! For several seconds! We are OK now.
Wayne and Sylvia ****
The Ontarion
I just got out of st Mary’s hospital! Last week I had a bad fall at 3am in our bedroom! I was getting up to go to the bathroom and tripped on the rug! I went down on my right side trapping my right arm under my side and on the floor and right back! Adam and Carole lifted me up and I thought I was ok! As it turned out,I couldn’t breath much on Friday and Saturday! So, Adam took me to emergency Saturday at 6pm. They found my lungs and chest filled with fluid! The cardiologist admitted me and they gave me a good going over and so many doctors worked with me every day to drain my lungs! I’m home but darned near didn’t make it! I was in congestive heart failure! I finally had a good hot shower and am feeling better now. I've developed a cough and have an appointment at the family doctor at 3pm tomorrow to see if I’ve developed anything from the idiot coughing in the bed next to me in the hospital. I did a covid check when I got home yesterday and it was negative but want to make sure I haven’t picked up anything else! I also was told by the cardiologist to see my family doctor as soon as possible when I got home for a basic check up. So tomorrow the visit will kill two birds with one stone so to speak! Wish me luck. I don’t want to have to go back to the hospital again! That first stay from Saturday till Wednesday was enough. Luckily the doctors were able to drain my chest and so far I’m OK! I’m sorry I’m unable to sit here much longer and keep typing but I’ll do a proper Ontarion next week when I can handle the longer typing session. For this week, I’ll sign off for now. Take care everyone and stay well my friends! The shock of this weeks heart problem was enough for one week!
Bye for now…… Greg ****
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