The Squamidian Report – April 5/03
Also in this issue:
North Nova News
The Melbourne Report
The Ontarion
Hi All,
The ever elusive Sue was somewhere in mid Manitoba this week. She gets to leave behind flower-covered spring and get back to good old prairie winter. I think they want to get all the Manitoba audits done before blackfly and mosquito season. Of course, there aren’t many mosquitoes when a prairie blizzard is happening. They had to drive back to Winnipeg on Friday morning to catch a flight to Calgary so they could connect on to Van. She was pretty beat by the time she got home.
For something totally different, Warren and I played a gig at the local Legion hall. They are just getting set up in a new building and wanted to experiment with some entertainment. They wanted something fairly quiet and acoustic. Well, I have never in my life been in a building with such horrible acoustics. Think echo chamber times 10. If there were only two people in the whole place they would have to shout to hear each other up close but they could hear across the room fairly easily. Add a bunch of people and it was almost disorientating. At least it is non-smoking in there or we wouldn’t have even tried.
We did our best but even standing side by side we had trouble telling what song the other was doing. There were people sitting right in front of us that didn’t even realize we were there, but the bar tender across the room said she could hear us just fine. The people in charge said they hoped we would come back, we said we’d wait until they addressed the sound quality problems.
However, I did find out that they have what they call a bluegrass jam session on Tuesday evenings. Kind of like the song circle that Beth is involved in only different. So I figured it might be worth checking out, as I’m not the best at socializing and meeting people. (I was going to say “meeting new people” but that would imply they were either very young or had been something else until recently).
There were about 8 other guys there and they all seemed to know each other so I was the outsider. It was actually kind of fun. There were two 5-string pickers, one of whom was quite good. One guy had an upright base. Two of the guitar players also had mandolins. There was one man there that just had a mandolin as he had a badly damaged fingering hand from an old accident and had found the could still play a bit on the small neck. I was there with the fourth mandolin. I didn’t have too much trouble holding my own with them and the two guitar players soon stuck to their guitars.
After a lot of pestering from Warren, I’ve set them up with their own Internet Domain Name using a web hosting company that registers the name as well as hosting it. Then of course, he wanted his site posted immediately but wanted it done bigger and better than the one I put up under my Shaw account. Now, I don’t have any dedicated HTML software and I don’t have Clyde’s talent so his new site is done in MS Word again. It can be checked out at:
http://www.tantalusviewretreat.com
Now I have to collect the cost of registration etc from him once it shows up on my Visa. We are dealing with a Brubacher here, you know.
Tech Note:
There have been some problems with the links on my web site that took you into or out of some nested directories. They seem to turn up on systems using software other than the programs I used to set up and test my site. I’ve gone back in and edited the links, changing them from ‘relative’ to ‘absolute’ paths. That should fix up any bugs you might have been having.
And just to show my sympathy for all you people living east of the Rockies and north of the equator that have to deal with snow and ice, I have been putting off mowing my lawn as long as possible. However, it reached the point where I either had to mow or send out a search party for Tracy when she went out for a dump. So I mowed!
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North Nova News
I would like to start my report by saying how much I
enjoy reading this ever-growing newsletter and how I am so pleased to take
part. I too had a walk down memory lane with Greg’s column last week. I had the experience of living in the city
and out in the rural areas around Kitchener.
Speaking of smells, we lived for three years in “very close” proximity
to a pig farm/tire shop on Ottawa Street South. Living there had some great advantages as well. Everyday or two the bakery truck would come
and drop off day-old packages of everything from tarts to cakes and
donuts. Our parents would send us to
the barn for dessert! Also the
Kitchener dump was not far behind the farm and my brothers spent many hours
finding wonderful treasures that others thought were junk. Mom and Dad weren’t always happy with what
they hauled home. We spent many a time
out in the Chicopee area with our cousins (Gale, Doug, Carol, Gary and
Tim). I have so many great memories of
growing up in Southern Ontario.
So back to present day: This morning (March 31st) started as any other day
except for the torrents of rain that seemed to be coming down. It slowed a bit for our early walk but as we
passed through the village of Millsville we noticed one of the side roads had
nearly washed out from a raging brook.
Later, driving down our road on the way to New Glasgow, we saw people
stranded in their driveways because of missing culverts.
Further along, a river was frantically rushing
across the highway with a large chunk of ice ready to flow.
In town the street drains were not able to keep up
with the continuous downpour. We
managed to do all our shopping and decided to head for home. That was another story. We tried three different routes and had to
turn away as I did not feel confident enough to drive through these depths of
water on the road. Finally the last
resort was to go over Campbell Hill, dirt road and all, head for high
ground!! Some of the steep parts of
the road had deep ruts but the ditches were dryer. This proved to be our best bet.
As we passed through Millsville again that same side road was totally
washed out.
Luckily we live on the side of Fitzpatrick Mountain
(they call them mountains here but compared to B.C. they are hills) where the
soil is gravel and water drains well away from our homes. It was good to get home.
Watching the news tonight we found out a small town
in Northern Nova Scotia has been evacuated due to flood conditions. I’m sure
there will be many more problems resulting from this weather system. March is certainly going out like a lion.
Until
next time,
Sus
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THE ONTARION REPORT
April 4, 2003
“Well hello there! My but it’s been a long long time!
It’s been so long now, but it seems, like it was only yesterday…….and ain’t it funny how time slips away?”
Thanks to Tom Jones for those few words.
Have you ever noticed how there is a song to fit any given situation you might encounter in life? I guess that’s what songs are all about, LIFE. I know that Doug has spent a good many years playing and singing songs. So many of us wish we had a musical talent like his. I’d say he’s a lucky man but that kind of talent, although inherent, takes many long hours and years of practice to perfect. Damn, did I just admit that Doug is perfect??? Oh well, I guess we are all perfect at something in our lives. I’m still waiting to find out just what it is that I’m perfect at and then I’ll exploit the heck out of it! I used to drive my wife Carole nuts by suddenly bursting into song because she said (in normal conversation) a line from a song that I knew. I’d get “Can’t you ever be serious”? What a drab world this would be if we had to be serious all the time. Speaking of serious, we are having some serious weather right at this very moment. It’s been pelting down freezing rain for the past 2 days and its still happening as I write. Just enough to make things miserable and spoil what looked like the start of a really nice Spring season. I figure it’ll come back to normal within a week but I’d prefer it to be normal right now. Oh well, it’s still better than 2 feet of snow. I didn’t check the Squamish weather report but it’s probably +25c and blooming like crazy out there. I was actually thinking of getting our ’79 MGB out this weekend.
The weather was looking like it would stay nice but I guess that was too much to hope for so early in the spring. We’ve had a lot of fun with the MG. We purchased it in 1989 and have been fixing it up a bit at a time. It’s a cool British Racing Green colour with a nice set of Mag wheels. I completely rebuilt the motor 2 years ago and last year I gutted the interior and replaced the carpeting. I also installed new seats from a ’99 Mazda Miata. They are sooooo much more comfortable than the original British seats. Now the car not only looks good, it feels and runs great too. We joined a British sports car club 3 years ago and spend most weekends during the spring, summer and fall traveling with the other members. We do mostly day trips to points of interest. The other members of the club are all about our age and grew up in the 60’s when the only sports cars around were British. This would be a fun thing to do out in BC where the roads through the mountains I’m sure are much more interesting to drive on. Here in the Big “O” we have to drive a bit of a distance to find any mountainous areas and even then, they are more like hills when compared to the Rockies. Just thinking about that, I’m not so sure I wouldn’t get bored seeing nothing but mountains and trees for miles and miles. Doug says you never tire of the scenery so I’ll have to take his word for it. If he ever gets Sue to buy him that digital camera maybe we’ll see more of what’s out there on the west coast. Until then, we’ll just have to be content to have Digger describe it to us in the weekly Squamidian publication. He does a fine job of it anyway! This week I’m writing The Ontarion a day early. I figured since I’m wide awake and playing with the computer anyway, I’ll have more time to write something interesting. I’m not so sure it worked! I never plan the content ahead of time. Spontaneity is usually more fun than structured content anyway, don’t you think? I’ve enjoyed reading the comments that some of you have been writing about the Squamidian etc.
It’s nice to hear that a few of us are having fun with Doug’s publication. Thanks to Doug for starting this and keeping it going. Talk to you all next week. Have a great weekend!
GREG.
PS: Something To Think About > With some people a mind is a storage bin…With others it’s a trash barrel.
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News from behind the black stump !
The Melbourne Report
Everyone,
Well, this is my first official contribution to your weekly newsletter. Let me tell you, I am thrilled to have this opportunity to share my thoughts with a whole new captive audience.
First of all let me say thanks to Carol, because she was the one who introduced
me to the Squamidian News. I am still working my way through the previous issues
(all 50 pages or so), reading a bit here and there. It makes for good
reading...but I'm a slow reader and it takes time.
Thanks "the Doug" for inviting me to contribute. I will do my best to keep it light and entertaining, and informative.
Also, Greg, and Sus, I really enjoyed your columns, and look forward to reading more about your lives.
Jackie, your report was great! What an awesome holiday you had. I am looking forward to the pictures...You write so well, I hope you will write more often.
Well, it's been an interesting week. Mostly because I have received so much correspondence from many of you, and it just went back and forth. Every day this week, my mailbox seemed especially full. (my mailbox runneth over...)
I got to know Clyde really well, after checking out his website. I have to admit that I was confused at first. Initially I thought Clyde was an 84 year old gentleman, but later on found out that I had him confused with his "Uncle Clyde". So that was kind of funny!
So, what am I going to write about... this is kind of hard in a way, because I am used to writing to one person at a time. It feels different to be writing to a mix of people, some of whom I know well, and some I don't know at all, and variations in between. It feels a bit strange.
I'm hoping in time I will get to know all of you a little better...
Did you all remember to put your clocks ahead by one hour on Saturday night? We had to do the opposite over here - yah, that's right, while you guys all lost an hours sleep, we gained it. So that wasn't too hard to get used to, except now it gets dark a bit earlier.
Monday I only had one appointment: I had to take Buddy to the vet. Nothing really wrong with him, other than an annoying itch on his backside. Fleas were ruled out, so it is still a mystery what is causing it. The lady vet also told me he was a bit overweight, and has a bit of tartar on his teeth.(he hasn't been brushing - naughty boy). He also got his yearly immunization booster shots, which is what his appointment was for. It was worth the $55 for the peace of mind.
Tuesday (April Fools day). Not a very exciting day. Weather was perfect and I was just about to head out for a long bike ride when my girlfriend Liz stopped in unexpectedly. I hadn't seen her for a while, so I was really happy to see her and we sat in the kitchen and talked for hours over a cuppa. She left when I started cooking dinner. So much for my bike ride.
Wednesday - normally I would have gone to teach my Arts and Crafts class, but had this week off. This is a volunteer job I do most Wednesdays. It is respite care for a group of elderly and disabled folks - and I do arts and crafts with them. Last week I taught them watercolours for the first time, and it went really well. So I am really looking forward to doing more classes in painting and drawing. Up until last week I have been doing mostly papercrafts with them. We also offer other activities, such as pottery, painting, bowling and board games. It's a social day out for the "clients" and a break for their carers. I find it really fun and rewarding too.
Thursday: I have been thinking about getting into teaching art, possibly at a community centre or even from home. This is something I have been pondering for some time, but wasn't sure if it was what I should do. So it really blew me away yesterday, when I received a phone call from a man who had come across one of my old business cards, from when I was doing the pencil portraits. Well, this man didn't want a portrait, he wanted to know if I was interested in giving art and drawing lessons to his daughters. I see it as a definite sign that I should go in that direction. So cool !
Friday: It was slightly frigid this morning. Just a taste of winter....Well, it did warm up a bit later on, but not much. Actually we had a real mixed bag of weather this week. Monday wasn't bad, but Tuesday was a perfect day. Wednesday and Thursday, rain. It really bucketed down at one point.
Every bit of rain is a real blessing because we have had severe drought this past summer. The farmers really had it tough, and are still struggling. Bushfires were also raging out of control in recent months, in Victoria and up around Sydney area, and Canberra. (where a lot of people lost their homes).
There were some ladies from some small town, who were prepared to do a rain dance, naked, but before the day of the raindance, the heavens opened and the rains came. I don't know if they still did the rain dance.(in the rain). In case you were wondering, they were going to do it in a secret place, without media coverage...
Well, my brain is refusing to think straight and when I read this tomorrow I will probably cringe at what I wrote. (by then it will be too late). It is nearly (Friday) midnight. If I don't send this in 8 minutes I will turn into a pumpkin, so it's time to wrap it up...
I hope that I will have my own website sometime soon, so I can also share more pictures with you. I will have to solicit the help of my offspring to help me in this endeavor.
I really like Greg's idea of ending his column with a bit of wisdom...and thought I might pass along this little gem:
Life is either a great adventure, or it is nothing at all. ( Helen Keller)
Hope you all have a great week, and look forward to our next chat.
Karin
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Have a good one
the doug