The Squamidian Report – Dec. 11 / 04
Also in this issue:
Submitted by Lorne
The South Etobican
The Ontarion
Hi All,
We stopped by the eagle-viewing place the other day. There were about 30 eagles along the riverbank and in the trees. There were also eagles soaring high above the valley. They have returned from their summer homes along the north coast. The Squamish River Valley and the tributary valleys are where they winter. There will be thousands of them by the end of the month. The 30 we saw only represent a small fraction of birds that are here. But I’ve never quite figured out who is viewing whom. After all, they are birds of prey.
Had an almost pretty neat snowstorm. We were supposed to get over half a meter of snow in midweek. There was a very wet series of fronts pumping in from the ocean. A cold front was supposed to meet the wet air at the coast. However, after dumping about 6 inches of snow the cold front pulled back and it all turned to rain. Those 6 inches of snow became heavy soaked slush. You can barely shovel that stuff. Greg’s snow blower would not be of much use either. It would be like trying to blow cookie doe or porridge. That is often how our snow happens here. Comes down heavy and deep then is washed away within a few days.
Things seem to be slowing down a bit at work, due more to disorganization, confusion and mismanagement than weather conditions. That’s given me a bit of time off which is good. We are having all of our house windows replaced as well as the three sliding door systems in the house replaced with French doors. I needed to be here when they were delivered. This house, like many houses of the same age in this area have cheap aluminum window frames which transfer heat like a son-of-a-gun and continually weep condensation. The double pane glass seems to have no insulative value either. So out with the old, in with the new. The new windows are extruded vinyl framed with low-E coated glass and argon gas between the panes. Same type of glass in the doors but they have steel frames for mechanical reasons.
So three French door systems and sixteen windows are sitting in the garage, ready to be installed this coming week. Kind of takes up a lot of room so for now we have to park outside. Bummer. It’s nice to be able to avoid walking out into the rain or snow when leaving or returning home. Mind you, there is still lots of room for the motorcycles in there so they can stay dry.
And then on Friday the Pineapple Express hit the west coast. That is a very VERY wet air mass that moves up from the south Pacific. It poured non-stop as only it can out here. The Upper Levels highway in West Van was closed due to a mudslide. The highway just north of Whistler is closed as I write this due to a mudslide and the Trans Canada is closed in several places in the interior due to slides. And we won, according to the Weather Network, Squamish had the most rain on Friday of any place in Canada. Yes, we’re number one, we’re number one.
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Submitted by Lorne
The following article was
written by Lorne, Evelyn, Judy and Rosemary’s great-uncle in 1939. It was published in the New Hamburg paper at
that time. Robert Haufschild came to
Canada in 1884 as a child of 4 with his parents and siblings (one of which
became the father of Lorne, Judy and Rosemary’s mothers). Lorne thought the Squamidean readers might
enjoy reading it all these years later.
The story of Christmas is an old story but as each year draws to a close, this story again becomes new. We all look forward to seeing the evergreen Christmas tree, sparkling with brilliant lights, laden with many gifts, the homecoming of all the members of the family and many other things that make this festive season a time of good cheer.
The story of the origin of the use of the spruce tree as a Christmas tree is an interesting one. At the beginning this evergreen tree was not used for the purpose of bearing gifts, but to illustrate the better and higher things in life. History tells us that early in the year 1800 a small group of Russian exiles were sent to Scandinavia by the Czar to work for the big landowners, to harvest their crops. The majority of these exiles were Christians. They now were without a home and without a church. Having no one to guide and direct them in their religious affairs, many of them became greatly discouraged and extremely lonely, especially when the Christmas season drew nigh. To overcome this loneliness and to find some inspiration and encouragement, a small number gathered together to decide if something could be done. After some discussion it was decided to ask every family to put a spruce evergreen in their home, not for the purpose of holding gifts – these people had no money to think of buying even the smallest gift – but to them this tree held high ideals and could teach them many lessons.
For example, they considered its colour, Ever Green, the same colour the year round, never changing, but growing higher and stronger, taught them to strive for the best and highest things in life. Amid the changing scenes of their hard experience they received strength to remain steadfast and true.
During heavy snow storms we oft times see the branches of the spruce tree bent to the ground, laden with ice and snow, ready to snap off at any moment, yet when the storm is over and the sun breaks forth with its bright rays, these branches gradually rise again to their natural shape, showing us they are able to carry the heaviest burdens, and ready to smile when the darkest clouds have passed.
The spruce tree in its natural state is perfect, very straight and appears the same from all angles. This teaches us a very fine lesson. It also provides shelter for humanity, shade and protection to animals, teaching us to be helpful whenever we can. In the northern sections of our country when the snowfall is so heavy, one often wonders how the trees survive when completely covered in snow. This teaches us to stand firm and remain faithful until the end.
The custom of the use of the Christmas tree spread from Scandinavia to Germany in the first quarter of the 19th century. When Queen Victoria of England married Prince Albert, the German prince in 1840 they introduced the Christmas tree into English life. It was not until 1870 that the custom spread into France, where it was largely introduced by the German prisoners in France, receiving small Christmas trees as gifts from their friends in Germany. Since that time the custom has spread throughout the Christian world, until today it has become well nigh universal.
What I have related above, I learned during my school days. I thought it was worthwhile to pass it on to you readers, with all wishes for a Very Happy Christmas.
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The South Etobican
Well folks, I won't be able to write you a note from South Etobicoke for much longer. Jim and I have sold our house here in our little corner of the Big Smoke. Instead, we are following our dreams north--we've bought a bed and breakfast on 120.5 acres just north of Huntsville!
Fernglen Inn B&B is a legal inn with 5 guest rooms, all with ensuite bathrooms (four with clawfoot tubs!). Four of the rooms are in a separate "Coach House" building. There are trails through the property for skiing, snowmobiling, hiking and mountain biking. We're also right on a main provincially-maintained snowmobile trail. It's a beautiful area which we've always loved and it's still sinking in that it will be our new home.
We've talked about something like this for a number of years, but never actively pursued the idea. I actually stumbled across the "for sale" listing on the internet while trolling for investment properties. But I was intrigued enough to go take a look at the property back in August, as a little detour when I was up to Dorothy's cottage in Parry Sound. I loved it, so Jim came up to see it with me two weeks later. We spent the next month doing our due diligence and put the offer in at the end of September. It's taken this long to work through the conditions and to sell our house. Talk about stress!
The past two months have been crazy...keeping the house in showing conditions, living in limbo wondering if our house would sell (we cut it pretty close), keeping it all quiet from people at work, and a little wrinkle in the form of a fire(!) up at the B&B. As it is, most people think we're crazy to voluntarily uproot our entire lives with a radically different and financially challenging lifestyle (and in fairness, they're probably right); but people think we're even crazier to still want to buy the place after the fire. But like all things in this universe, there is a bright side.
The current owner's insurance company covers replacing and rebuilding everything. We get a mostly new house for the price of an old one. The fire started as a result of human error (stupidity) when Lynda, the owner, cleaned out the woodstove and put the ashes in a cardboard box on the deck off the kitchen. She thought the ashes were dead. They weren't. The fire damage didn't look all that extensive to me when I went to look at it, but apparently it was. And of course the smoke damage affected areas the fire never even reached. As it turns out, all but two rooms in the entire house are being completely replaced: new drywall, new wainscotting, new floors, new roof, new insulation, new stairs, new kitchen cupboards, new fridge, new plumbing, new wiring, new everything everywhere except the living room and office. And we get to choose the new stuff and make the decisions--within budget, of course. We drove up to meet with the contractor today and to see the house in it's gutted state. Wow.
We're slated to move in at the end of January, same time the construction is due to be completed. We won't hold our breath on that. We can always spend a couple weeks in the Coach House if it comes to it. In the mean time, we have a lot of work to do over the next seven weeks to prepare. I've recently cut my hours down at work to four days per week and I plan to keep my job initially and commute weekends. Jim will be up there on his own from Monday to Thursday. We keep cracking jokes about The Shining. :) Right now we're excited, petrified, relieved, overwhelmed, elated...I guess that's what we can expect when we go chasing a dream! I'll keep you posted on our progress. I hope to see many of you for a visit once we're open for business!
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THE ONTARION REPORT
DECEMBER 11, 2004
Hi everyone! Well, there’s been a lot of interesting stuff in the news lately. Such as the Arson based house fire that occurred on Cameron St here in Kitchener. It was reported that there were three separate fires set in Kitchener last night. The first was set in the Frederick St Mall. Someone lit a store display rack of hats on fire. This fire was extinguished by the store employees and caused about a thousand dollars damage. The second was set about an hour later on Frederick St at a house that contained a beauty salon. The fire was discovered by a passerby and the fire dept was able to extinguish it with a minimum of damage to the outside of the building. The third was a fire that was lit on the front porch of an older house on Cameron St. The family of 5 was sleeping on 3 different levels of the house when the fire was lit. The mother was sleeping on the 3rd or attic level. The daughter and her 2-year-old child were on the second level and the father and his son were sleeping in the basement. The daughter got up around 2am to go to the washroom and looked down the stairs to see the flames growing on the front porch. By the time she raised the alarm by screaming to everyone in the house, the living room window had burst and the fire progressed to the interior of the house. The father and son managed to get out of the basement. The young mother grabbed her daughter in a blanket and the grandmother called 911 before coming down to the second floor. She and her daughter and the baby tried to get down the stairs but could not, due to the heat and smoke. They decided to go out onto the second floor balcony at the rear of the house. The door was locked and the grandmother had to go back up to the attic and get the key. Luckily she managed to open the door and the three of them were helped down a ladder by the two police officers that arrived on the scene. What a miracle that all five of these people escaped without injury. They were taken to hospital and treated for smoke inhalation. It was reported that the police managed to arrest the 18-year-old male that started the fire. My first reaction to this situation was thanking God that they are all ok.
I’m sure that I’m not alone in feeling badly for this family having lost everything especially this close to Christmas. They did however escape with their lives and have insurance on the house and it’s contents. Tonight, Adam and I were out doing some errands and discussing this situation as we drove around. After we got home, I had to go back out to the grocery store to pick up a couple of items and happened to bump into an acquaintance of mine from the British Car Club. He told me that his wife’s sister and her husband were the couple that owned the house that was torched. He said that the whole family was staying with he and his wife until they can get somewhere more permanent to spend the next couple of months. He described the scene to me as he recalled it, one that I have personally seen many times during my career on the fire dept. I asked him how the police managed to arrest a suspect on such short notice. He told me that they stopped a young man passing the scene of the fire and asked what he was doing out at that hour and he admitted lighting the fire. He also admitted lighting the other two fires that happened earlier in the evening. He has been charged with 5 counts of willfully endangering human life and I believe 2 counts of arson as well. It’s not uncommon for an arsonist to hang around the scene of a fire to watch the excitement. We used to have a designated fire dept member that would observe the spectators at each major fire. In fact we had that person carry a camera for years and eventually we progressed to having him carry a video camera. It helped us to catch many a perpetrator of arson related events.
It’s wonderful that the police were able to catch this jerk and have him in the jug right now. However, he’s 18 and if our local judges run true to form, they will probably give him a slap on the wrist and let him serve 6 months house arrest for his deeds. I’m having a real hard time with the penalties that some of the judges are handing out for major crimes these days. We’ve had case after case of major drug labs and marijuana grow houses busted by the police that are treated like a minor case of shoplifting. Have our judges no sense of how serious these crimes are? It seems they are afraid of being criticized for being too tough on young offenders, immigrants and minorities these days. This is a time of “Political Correctness” and human rights protection. The problem is that the rights being protected are those of the criminal rather than the victims or the general public. It’s so obvious that the tail is wagging the dog that it makes me sick! What the heck kind of deterrent is house arrest anyway? I say it’s time the judges started sentencing these criminals to the maximum penalty allowable by law! To hell with whether they are from another background and maybe don’t understand how things are done here in Canada. To hell with worrying about some young man having to go through life with a criminal record. If he has committed a crime worthy of criminal recognition, he deserves to bare the burden of having his actions on public record! I can’t count the number of life threatening situations I was involved in along with my fellow fire fighters and a good many of them situations that were willfully caused by criminal acts. The people that were in that house on Cameron St were certainly at risk of losing their lives but so were the members of the fire and police departments that responded to handle this emergency. The young man that is responsible for this fire should also be charged with endangering the lives of all of the emergency workers that had to handle the situation. Any one of these people could have lost their life that night and why, because some thoughtless SOB decided to have a little excitement with a book of matches. I say make an example of this FOOL and lock him up! Hell, what am I saying, what punishment is it when they are sent to a modern facility with year round climate control, warm comfortable beds, 3 square meals a day, a library, pool tables, gymnasium and fitness equipment, televisions in each cell, the opportunity to take classes and further their education, spend time out in the community without supervision on day passes to visit their families, not to mention the fact that they can learn a trade while in these institutions. I sometimes think the Americans have the right idea with their “chain gangs” and work parties cleaning highways etc. Somehow, Canadian justice seems a tad too soft. The “do gooders” are far too plentiful in the country if you ask me. It’s time for some strong and hard jail time for our criminals. As far as I’m concerned, when someone commits a major crime, they deserve to go to jail and once in jail, their common rights should be revoked until their debt is paid. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t advocate cruel and unusual punishment but I do advocate incarceration with a minimum of comfort. How else will these criminals learn a lesson? I understand that most major prisons are pretty bleak but we hear so much of soft sentences that I feel it’s time to get back to basics with our lawbreakers.
Whew!!!!!! I guess I can get on the soapbox once in a while after all! Especially where fire related crimes are concerned I have some insight and when you have been exposed to the dark side of these situations you have very little mercy for persons who commit arson. Hopefully in this case justice will be hard and swift and it will deter others from committing this crime. Once again, thank God this family is safe!
Thanks again for tuning in and letting me spout off. I look forward to seeing you all again next week in The Ontarion Report.
Bye for now……GREG.
PS: Something to Think About>
If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime!
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The family site:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/
The Squamidian Site:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b2/
Have a good one..
the
doug