The Squamidian Report – July 5 / 03
Also in this issue:
The Ontarion
The Melbourne Report
Hi All,
Hey, I finally got around to putting the bike back on the road. My insurance and registration had expired last November. There were lots of times that I could have taken the bike out for a spin during our winter but not enough to warrant carrying insurance the whole time.
The insurance setup is very different here in BC compared to Ontario. ICBC is the government run system and you have to buy your insurance and registration package through them. Needless to say, government owned insurance is more expensive than private insurance.
If you purchase 12 months of insurance, your vehicle is also registered for 12 months. If you purchase 4 months, you are registered for 4 months. Then you put a sticker on your plate showing when the expiry date is. You actually put 2 stickers on, one for the month and one for the day. If you are have paid till say, October 27th, you can drive until midnight on that date. It’s easy to go back in and purchase the next amount of time, so I just put 4 months on the bike. If we are having a nice dry Fall, I’ll put more on then.
And I also got around to getting my summer haircut. Should have done it long ago. For the summer, I just have them put their coarsest head on the clippers and buzz my head. Nice and cool, low maintenance and I get better mileage.
Ryan and Emily have been going up to Alice Lake (Alice Lake Provincial Park) to swim and hang out. It’s about half way between here and where Warren lives. The park is mostly campsites and a couple of little lakes fed by ice melt. The trees are huge and you feel like you are miles from anywhere. There are small beaches where people like Em who don’t seem to mind the cold water can swim.
Ryan bought one of those cheap little rubber boats that you inflate so he can paddle around. They seem to have fun there, gives them something to do when they don’t want to hang out with us old farts.
OK, here I go rubbing it in again. I checked the Environment Canada web site about mid week and saw that Kitchener had an air quality index of 61, Guelph had 63 and so on. Meanwhile, our air quality index for Squamish was at 3. I can live with that, literally. To be fair, in cold weather we get readings in the mid range of ‘good’ due to a lot of people heating with wood stoves. But generally speaking, it has sure been nice getting used to breathing without having to gasp of air and without you chest hurting from the effort.
Now onto something else. As you all know by now, we are getting the 2010 Olympics. I’m not much of a sports fan or the politically driven Olympics but this should be a pretty good thing for BC and this area. You could really feel the excitement leading up to the vote and the jubilation and relief when Vancouver / Whistler was named. I’m sure that had we not gotten the games, we would be in a recession by the end of the summer due to the letdown. As it is, with the exception of the NIMBY types, everyone is pumped.
We will have to put up with a lot of highway construction and all sorts of prices will go up. Whistler was a crazy fantasyland before, now it will be even worse. Playground of the rich and famous. The Squamish area has been booming will probably boom for a while now too. Our house values just went way up. Motels and B&Bs will be booked years in advance. Hey, anyone want to rent one of our rooms in about 7 years from now? We take Visa!!
When we bought here it was still a buyer’s market. That changed just after we bought and has been a seller’s market ever since. It will stay that way now. There are condo and townhouse developments in town that are completely sold out before the groundwork even starts. Good for us, bad for anyone wanting to move into the area, but its that way all over the lower mainland now. Should be interesting. Maybe I should renovate my storage shed.
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THE ONTARION REPORT
July 4, 2003
Hello again my friends! Hope you all had a great week. I guess Karin is sitting alone wondering what to do without her hubby by now. I’m sure he’s got no problem occupying his time here in Canada. Usually holidays like that are filled with visiting relatives and friends and everyone wants a piece of you! I personally don’t know what it’s like to live away from your original home like Karl and Karin but my wife Carole sure does. She’s from Belfast Ireland. She moved over to Canada with her parents and 3 brothers in the mid 60’s. She still refers to Ireland as “home” when she’s in a conversation about her family and her youth. I guess you never lose that feeling of loyalty to your original roots. We have not been back to Ireland together yet but want to travel there someday soon. I would like to see Carole’s heritage and meet her relatives still living there. It will be interesting to see her original home and the area that she spent her childhood in. She’s been “home” a couple of times since we got married but not with me. I’m sure we’ll have the time to do this trip now that I’ve retired. We’re looking forward to it very much. Well, here’s wishing Karl and Karen happy times and wonderful experiences and memories from this next 2 months. I’m sure they’ll miss each other very much but thank goodness someone invented computers so they can keep in touch daily if they want. I hope Karl brought his digital camera along. I know I don’t leave the house without mine since receiving it as a retirement gift. Sure is nice not to have a huge development bill for the pictures I take.
We didn’t go out for Canada Day but there were lots of celebrations going on in the area. Loads of fireworks and parties etc. The one bash at the University of Waterloo was huge. They said that the cost of the fireworks was $1000.00/minute! The show went on for 20 minutes. Wow, talk about your money going up in smoke!!! I guess it’s all donated funds anyway. There’s lots of money in this area now with the RIM company making billions over the past 2 years with their “Blackberry” hand held computer. The folks that made huge multi million dollar profits from that have been very generous to the area projects that both Kitchener and Waterloo have been involved in. One couple has donated 5 million to building a “Children’s Museum” in downtown Kitchener. I’m not sure what this Museum will house but it’s open now and I guess we’ll have to visit it to find out.
They have also
been asked to help finance the building of a couple of foot bridges over the
river between here and Cambridge. I guess when you make 500 million overnight,
you can consider donating to causes like this. When I read about this kind of
thing, it really makes me think about the majority of the citizens in this
community that are just average or below in income. We all have the notion of
investing but most of us don’t have the resources in the first place to put
into the stock market etc. Oh well, the rich get richer as they say! I’m not
jealous, in fact I’m happy for those that have the good fortune to be able to
be in the right place at the right time. It would just be nice if it were
spread around a bit more. They have also donated huge sums toward projects like
the “Heritage Trail” along the Grand River from Waterloo to Cambridge. Good to
see people of means supporting projects that benefit all in the community.
Friends of ours were over for a visit last night and they showed us a letter from his long lost cousin. Reg is from England and his wife Margie is from Scotland. Reg was contacted by his cousin about 2 weeks ago. He hadn’t seen her in over 50 years and she told him that she found him through a search using her new computer. She took a chance and contacted his son Brian when she found his name listed online. It’s amazing how computers have made this world smaller. Reg and Margie are in their mid 70’s now and have just acquired their first computer. We are going to help them get started learning how to use it. They are really nice folks and are young at heart. The computer has already injected new life into their conversation and thoughts. Like anyone else they are a little shy about their ability to work the computer but they will be able to do it I’m sure. They have 3 young granddaughters that are willing and able to help them as well. It’s going to be interesting to see how they develop with this new skill. Reg and Margie’s last name is Trim and they have already discovered a town in Ireland by the same name. Family Trees are interesting. Carole has been working on one for her family for many years. Reg was saying that he has traced his family back to the 13th century in Ireland. He himself is English but the family is spread over the entire British Isles. I’ve been asked many times if I’m related to Payne’s in other parts of Ontario and have always said no but, I’m sure if I researched it I’d find out different. My father never mentioned his family outside his brother and sister and mum and dad. I don’t know if he had any cousins named Payne or if his parents had brothers or sisters. I must look into the Payne family name and start to find out about my possible relatives. Should be interesting. I have the world at my fingertips with the computer, why not take advantage of it.
Well, I guess I’ve covered a variety of topics this week. Hope I’ve stimulated you imaginations somewhat! I’d be interested to hear if any of the Brubacher Clan has ever had anything to do with or known someone with the Payne name in their past. Better go for now. Hope you have a great week ahead and please stay in touch. I know, I know, you’ve all had plenty of “pain” in your lives but that’s not the kind I’m talking about! LOL! Before I go, I must say that it’s been interesting to say the least having a last name like Payne. I’m sure you can imagine! Thanks for being here again and I’ll talk to you all next week.
GREG.
PS: Something to Think About<
Those who complain about the way the BALL BOUNCES are usually the ones who dropped it!
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Friday, 4th July, 2003
Hi Everyone, thought I would write a short piece this week.
Karl is now in Canada, probably enjoying
warm summer weather, while we are freezing our goolies off.
Well, it's not all bad. Yesterday we
actually had some very spring like weather.
I decided to enjoy it while it lasts, so I hopped on my bike and biked up to
Altona. We are lucky in our area, because we now have a wonderful bike trail
which starts just down the road from us, and runs through some very scenic
areas, all paved and going through parkland, crossing a river
and taking you along the beach for miles. The only traffic you have
to dodge is other bikes or pedestrians, and dogs taking their humans for
walks.
Rather than riding all the way along the coast to Williamstown, which is a really long bike ride, I decided to bike to Cherry Lake, which involves riding on the road, but only for a short distance.
Cherry lake is a very scenic lake within a park, which has been created
for the community as well as the wildlife. You will find a lot of waterbirds on
the lake, including black swans, pelicans, geese, ducks and various others,
which I can't name without consulting my bird identifier book.
There is also a great playground for kids including two huge slides. This would be a great place to bring your kids, because by the time they run up the big hill and go down the big slides about ten times, they will be so tuckered out that they will probably pass out for at least a one hour nap. Good place to bring any hyperactive kids. If they still have energy after the playground you can make them bike or run around the lake. (it's about a 10- 15 min bike ride right around the lake, depending how fast you go.)
Anyway, it was a beauty day, but not exactly warm. There was a bit of a fresh breeze. I was glad I had worn my warm coat, but I noticed quite a few people out in shorts and T-shirts. I guess I'm a whuss, because I often notice people out in flimsy clothing, while I feel the need to wear winter gear. (wearing a hood when there's a cold wind).
It rarely gets below freezing any more. I was told that winters used to be colder here, and the summers used to be hotter, but apparently the climate has changed down here in the Melbourne region. All I can tell you is that it's never the same. Just like Ontario weather, it varies from year to year.
My first winter here was a big shocker. It
was cold, wet and miserable for about three months. I remember getting
frustrated since it would always rain as soon as I hung out the washing. Most
people over here dry their washing the old fashioned way, rather than
using a dryer. The weather was quite a letdown to me, since I had left behind
Canada in the hope of finding a tropical climate over here. Boy was I naive.
Since then we have also had mild, dry winters, but no less depressing.
One good thing about winter over here is that it only lasts three months. If you ask other locals about winter you will get mixed answers. Some do prefer the colder climate and some hate it.
One thing I would never want to go back to, is driving in the snow and ice, or taking 1/2 an hour to scrape off and defrost the car. I did enjoy some of the wintersports and the snow does look rather pretty when there is enough of it. Oh well, you have to take the good with the bad...
Well, lucky Karl... he is going to miss winter altogether this year. He should be back in time for spring planting. I am looking forward to spring. There is not much point in planting anything right now, although there are a lot of flowers coming into bloom this time of year. (mostly in other people's gardens). For instance the camellias are a winter bloomer. They are huge and gorgeous and come in many colours, shapes and sizes.
I'm still continuing with the watercolour classes, and have found them an excellent motivator. I have almost finished my fifth painting, and am well into a sixth. Some of the paintings were painted in one session, while others took me a long time to finish. I suppose I could do more if I worked on it 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Eventually that is what I want to be doing, but so far I only work on painting here and there. I am planning to put all my watercolour paintings on my website by this week. So if you feel inclined, check it out at http://www.8ung.at/karincharlottezeller/art.html
I have signed up for a new painting class. This one is during the day for two hours per week and will be a larger class. It's being taught at our local community centre. I think this is going to be a more social and fun class. I met the group there and they seem friendly and enthusiastic, and like a fun group. In this class I can learn either watercolour or oils and other mediums. It starts on the 18th July, after the school holidays are over.(right now the public schools are on their two week winter break).
It's important that I keep myself socially active, because if I don't, I have a
tendency to get the winter blues. So this is not just for fun, but also good
preventive therapy.
Most winters I do get go into winter mode. All I want to do is eat and hybernate.
I think there is a name for the condition,Seasonal Affected Disorder or SAD for short. It is apparently caused by lack of light which causes too much melatonin in the brain. Treatment involves light therapy which is nothing more than daily exposure to very bright artificial light. I have read a lot about this condition, but haven't actually tried the light therapy. Apparently going out of doors and getting light exposure helps also and even snow is therapeutic, because it gives more light exposure. (this is what I read, anyway).
Well, I didn't intend to ramble as long, but I guess since I don't have Karl to talk to, I need to talk to someone. Thanks for listening.
Have a good week !
PS. Greg, I finally had a look at your pond, and I think it looks great. I do have one suggestion. I think it would really look good if you could plant some shrubs behind the waterfall, or paint a trompe l'oi on the fence to make it look like it's in a more natural setting. I think you did a great job with the pond. You must be proud and pleased.
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With it being summer, and Sus having both her hair business and Peter’s sailing business, she no longer has time to compose a column each week. Can’t hold that against her, she has given us some great reading over the past weeks and we thank her for it. I look forward to when she can contribute again but I also encourage her to take all the time she wants to enjoy her summer.
Again, I encourage anyone who might want to get creative and send in an occasional column to do so. You just might become a famous writer.
Hey Greg, maybe a “Children’s Museum” is where you put old fossilized children!!
Have a good one..
the
doug