The Squamidian Report – June 14/03
Also in this issue:
North Nova News
The Ontarion
The Melbourne Report
Hi All,
Lots of reading again this week, so be patient.
The heat wave last week spilled over into the first part of this week. Our rivers and streams are running high and fast due to the snow melt happening in the high country. That’s probably not a good thing as it’s supposed to melt slowly over the summer, feeding a constant supply of ice-cold water into the river systems.
There is a small river or large stream called Mammoth Creek cascading down from Mammoth canyon that can be seen from all over Squamish and from our house here. It rivals Shannon Falls in both flow volumes and majesty. However, it flows down the mountainside on the far side of the Squamish River and is therefore almost impossible to get to. It can only be seen from a distance.
We can sit on the deck and watch torrents of white water as it spills and tumbles down the steep mountain. If this were anywhere else it would be a tourist attraction. Here it is just part of the backdrop. Streams like this one are fed from year round snow fields so it will flow all summer, but due to the extra fast melt happening, its volume will be substantially decreased by mid summer.
Interesting geological stuff here. I was digging a large hole the other day on a job site. As I dug down with the excavator, I went through the usual soil, gravel and silt etc. About 10 feet down I came to a harder layer of material that still had stumps and logs in and on it. Now what you need to understand is that the surface of the valley has been unchanged for thousands of years. When the area was first settled, it was covered with what we call ‘old growth’ trees, massive beauties that took hundreds of years to grow. For these trees to have been there in the first place, they had to evolve and colonize the area. The ‘old growth’ trees are long gone and we are into second and third growth.
Now, 10 feet below the level that the current trees are growing on is the remains of a far older forest that grew in the valley thousands of years ago, probably after the last glaciers melted. At some point in geological history, a massive flood has deposited huge volumes of silt on the valley floor, burying that ancient forest. And just as amazing, that old wood is just as solid now as when it was covered by the silt that was washed down from the mountains. Now that’s just plain cool.
Cougars and bears made the news again this week. Last weekend a bunch of campers were routed out of their tents at Alice Lake Park, just up the highway from here by a bear. Probably scared the wits out of them. Poor thing had to be trapped and disposed of. And on Monday a cougar stole a goat from a hobby farm down in the valley. It had to be disposed of as well. We sure don’t seem to get along very well with our natural neighbours. Too bad the critters don’t have some kind of religion or cultural heritage that we know of, for then the authorities wouldn’t be able to touch them.
Sue got home from her visit to Kitchener. Her life is sure hectic. Picked her up at the airport about 9:30 Friday evening. By that time there isn’t too much tourist traffic on the Sea to Sky highway so the drive back up to Squamish was relaxing. It’s always neat to look across Howe Sound and see the lights of Gibson’s shining in the dark.
****
Well it has been quite a week of comments. I feel much more informed after hearing everyone’s
perspective. I have always felt, each
to his own, as long as it doesn’t encourage or affect anyone else’s way of life
and by putting pictures of two men kissing out there on every newspaper is
going too far. Reporters are only
trying to sell stories, they don’t really care what the story is about as long
as it gets attention. Too many articles
are too explicit and should be toned down, in my opinion. For some reason our area has attracted a
fair number of gay people. It could be
because they want to get out of the big cities and back to the land where they
only have to deal with nature and peace and quiet. Mind you, with a small population base, they really stand out and
it’s been quite an adjustment for the old-timers around here.
The other day one of our young customers came in with bunches of
lily of the valley (flowers) to sell. She
had them tied in groups of twelve with a ribbon in a beautiful basket with a
sign that said; $2.00 and of course she brought her piggy bank. Her idea was to sell as many as she could
and put the money towards the purchase of a horse. Well my clients couldn’t resist and they poured money into the
little piggy bank, some without taking a flower. Nobody can resist a helping a young entrepreneur with her dream.
It’s been a great week of sailing with high winds and salt
spray. Peter has been out everyday
training our crew. Then on Friday was
the last big inspection from the Department of Transportation. All went well. Even he (inspector) didn’t want to do the ‘man overboard drill’
since the water is still too cold but he passed Peter anyway and will come back
later on to do that test. So we are now
open for business. Peter has been
roaming the area passing out brochures to every bed and breakfast, restaurant
and tourist site ever since. There
still aren’t the droves of tourists yet but we want to be ready. I’ll keep you informed.
I must make this short today as it has been extremely busy at
work…weddings, proms, graduations….. everyone must look good!!!
Until next time,
****
THE ONTARION REPORT
June 12, 2003
First on the
agenda is a hearty thank you to all who were including Carole in their prayers.
It certainly helped. The Dr was in to see her Wednesday morning and said she is
doing amazingly well and one more checkup Thursday morning and if all is well
at that time, he’ll allow her to come home. The nurses said that they can’t
believe the progress she’s made in 3 days. Usually any chest surgery requires a
minimum of a weeks stay in hospital even nowadays when they are booting your
butt out the door as soon as you’re awake! We’ll be happy to have her home
where she belongs and I know she’ll be glad of it too. We’ve had tremendous
support over the past week. Adam and I certainly would never have starved while
Carole was away. Carole made about a dozen lasagna, casserole, potato salad,
and macaroni dishes. Not to mention the stash of steaks, sausage, hot dogs,
veggie burgers and hamburgers that she made sure were stocked up in the
freezer. I guess she figured that if she didn’t make sure there was enough to
eat in the house, we’d just be pigging out on Pizza and junk food. She’s right!
LOL! To top it all off, yesterday I got a phone call from Clyde, my buddy! He
asked if he could drop in for a short visit and I said “sure, c’mon down”! He
showed up about 10 am with a big pan of lasagna that he had made with his
culinary expertise. He said he didn’t want to see us go hungry while Carole was
away. What a guy! Well, it looks like Carole will be eating well along with us
if she’s home as of Thursday morning. She always says that the meals she cooks would
taste a lot better to her if she didn’t have to eat them 5 minutes after
spending 2 hrs cooking them! She’ll probably feel like someone else has
prepared them for her now that all she has to do is let me heat them up and
serve her her meal. I know that meals cooked for you always taste better than
the one’s you cook yourself. My hotdogs never taste the same as the ones at the
vender’s carts! LOL!
I see by the
letters regarding the content of the Weekly Reports from last week that I’m not
the only rock lover in the bunch. Sus from Nova Scotia and Rosemary from Ottawa
both have an attraction to nice rocks. Sus said that she herself is the rock
hound of their family but I think in Rosemary’s case it’s her hubby that is
into bringing home boulders to make a fence around their property. I guess the
kind of rocks that Rosemary likes are the kind that sparkle on her finger! Who
can blame her, they’re much lighter to carry and have a great deal more value.
Smart lady! I say let your hubby have his rocks as long as he doesn’t mind you
having yours! Actually, I’m just kidding, I have no idea what kind of rocks
Rosemary likes but I think most women appreciate a nice sized diamond. I do
know that Carole likes both types! Well, speaking of rocks, I guess I won’t have
time to finish the pond before Carole gets home! No matter, I’m sure she’ll be
happy to supervise the placement of the lovely rocks that we’ve collected for
that purpose. Looks like we’ll have to make one or maybe two more runs to the
rock source before we’ll have enough to finish. No problem with that, I like
the adventure of exploring for the rocks. We do have the ring of rocks
completed around the edge of the pond.
I just need
about a dozen small ones of the same kind to place under the edge of the main
top rocks. This will make the transition from the large rocks to the lawn a
nicer looking finish. We really do want this pond to look good once it’s
finished. So far so good but I think we’ll be changing the waterfalls from the
flat flagstones to flat rocks of the same type as the rest of the structure.
The flagstones just look too different than the surrounding ones. It won’t be
difficult to do this, I think we’ll be able to place the new rocks on top of
the flagstones and leave the rest of the structure alone. I’ll let you know how
it works. I actually wasn’t too sure I’d enjoy this project but since I’ve
gotten into it, it’s become quite appealing. The main satisfaction will come
when I see that Carole is completely happy with the end result. I know she will
be because so far she’s been amazed at how good it’s looking. I guess like anything, a little patience
goes a long way. I was going to include a picture of the project so far as it
is but I think I’ll hold off on any pics of the rock structure until it’s
completed. I will however include a picture of the base structure and the
“cutest” supervisor any of you will ever see. I’m sure you’ll agree with me
once you see this picture. I’ll ask that Doug kindly make the picture available
on his website so you can all have a look. I’ve worked for supervisors that
were a tad demanding in my life but this one seems to really get off on barking
out orders. I think I’ll sign off at this point. It’s 2:40 am Thursday and I
should get some sleep so I’m able to get out of bed in the morning in time to
pick Carole up at the Hospital. I don’t blame her for preferring not to spend
any more time in that place than necessary. They’ve been very good to her but
enough is enough. I’ll stay in touch and once again, thanks to all for your
support. Talk to you next week.
Bless you all! GREG.
PS: Something To Think About>
Planning: Don’t get wrapped up in small details and
lose sight of the big picture.
****
G'day everyone !
I started to write this last Monday, thinking I might take advantage of the house being quiet.
Meanwhile it is Saturday, almost noon. Soon I will have to start cooking up a big meal for the 7 dinnerguests who are coming over this evening. It's the usual crowd: Karl's sisters Jutta, Maggy and Eva, and their respective husbands, plus Dennis.
The kids will probably join us too, so we are going to have 11 people.
That's a lot of people for a small house like ours, but we'll manage to squeeze them in somewhere. It would help if it wasn't so cold, then we could eat outside. But not today, it is cold and windy (yes it gets blustery here too).
Well, it's not much, but thought I would write a few words anyway...so read on...
Monday, 9 June, ( Queen's birthday)
Well, it is a gorgeous June day. I have been outside digging around in the garden. The petunias have started to die off, so I ripped them all out. I'm not sure if it's normal for this time of year for the petunias to die off. I'm still never quite sure about the climate and what's in season, or what to plant. I do have a lot of books about Gardening in Australia, but the climate varies from region to region, so there is a lot to remember. It gets a bit complicated for me. Sometimes I just whack something in the garden and hope for the best.
This is definitely not the season for planting, but I planted three daisy bushes anyway since I didn't want to look at a bare garden all winter. I hope they will still grow and flower, in spite of the colder weather. I also read somewhere that now is a good time to plant camellias. That's something to think about.
There are a few hardy plants which are in full flower this time of year. There are a lot of flowers which brighten up the winter gardens. Right now the hibiscus are in bloom everywhere, and so are the protea, which are amazing flowers. I will send a long a picture, since they have to be seen.
I think the many varieties of Camellias also flower in winter. They are just amazing. They come in a variety of colours and shapes. The flowers are huge. I went out one day last year with my digital camera and took close-ups of them in people's gardens. They are very striking, large flowers. I wonder if they have camellias growing in Canada...
I haven't been out walking very much lately. I really should get out and check out the gardens to see what 's growing. We did drive down to Williamstown yesterday, and noticed that it had a feeling of Fall, with many of the trees turning yellow and losing their leaves for the winter. Williamstown has that very old European feel to it. There are a lot of beautiful old houses, most of them heritage homes.
It also has wide streets lined with large non - native trees. I am supposing they are imported varieties, as they are more like European and American trees, losing their leaves over winter.
Apparently ski season is off to a good start in the Victorian Alps. Or is that at Mount Bulla.
I'll have to research that a little. I haven't seen snow in 10 years. I can't say I miss it all that much, but when I see a snowy scene (on TV or in the movies), I always feel a bit nostalgic and homesick. I do have some fond memories of the lovely white stuff.
Did I mention I am trying to get over a cold right now. That's another sign it is winter here. (cold and flu season)
Hence I decided to miss out on the Melbourne food and wine festival today. Karl really wanted to go, so I told him to go ahead with his sister and bro-in-law. I hated to miss out, but on the other hand I am glad I didn't have to go.
(Today is the Queen's birthday, so it's another long weekend. )
Well, I don't really have much else to talk about other than the same old stuff. I'm sending along an article from The Age, which you all might find it interesting. It's about sex, so you will defenitely find it interesting....
Just want to add a quick thanks for sharing
all those great stories from last week's report.
Doug, your computer knowledge impresses me. Also, I am very jealous about
your climate. It sounds like it is nearly perfect there. I know what you
mean about dry heat, it is much more pleasant than the humid heat.
Sus, thanks for sharing about life in your little town. It must be nice to live that kind of life, where there is still that old fashioned kind of community spirit. I know there are small towns here in Australia, which are similar. You would find Melbourne to be quite the opposite. On the other hand Melbourne is not as big and impersonal as some bigger cities in the US and Canada.
Greg, I found it quite interesting and amusing to read about your pond project. Your quest for rocks reminded me of my visit to Canada. My sister, Lore, was quite obsessed with trying to find rocks for her garden. It became quite an adventure for her, going out with a friend one time, and loading up the trunk of her car with rocks from some pile along the road. (I am assuming she didn't steal them).
Also, thanks for sharing your story about Carole's surgery. I found that quite interesting. It is good to share stories like that, because we can all learn something from it. (by now we know that Carole has come through the surgery OK, so naturally we are very happy to hear that, and wish her all the best).
Hope you all have a happy Father's day and a great week ! By the way, Australia celebrates Father's day in September, which was a bit embarrassing when I first moved here, because I used to forget about father's day in Canada. These days with Internet I can read the news in Canada, and there are plenty of items from America, which bring it to my attention.
Cheers!
PS. Thought I'd include an article which shocked me somewhat. I didn't know that the sex industry is thriving in such a big way...I never realized I live in Sin city...
Click on the link below if you want to read about the sex trade in Melbourne.
Sex in our City? Plenty apparently...
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/06/07/1054700442113.html
If you are curious about skiing
in Australia, you can check out
****
Ok, I’ve added Greg’s pond picture to his section on my web site. I’ll add more as he forwards them. I apologize for reducing the picture quality a bit but I do that to accommodate the readers that are on dial up connections. (Bin there, know what it’s like).
Just go to http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/ and enter my site. Click on the ‘Gregs Pics’ link at the bottom left and then on the ‘Inspector Dog’ link.
Karin also sent along some pictures, they have been added to her page on my site.
Wow, we sure heated up the Email again this week. Communication at its best.
Have a good one..
the
doug