The Squamidian Report – Jan. 24 / 04
Also in this
issue:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Well, my week visiting in Kitchener is pretty well over. Nothing has really changed all that much and at the same time every thing has changed. The city has certainly continued to grow, there are all sorts of big monster homes out where we used to live. The highway into town in unrecognizable. Everyone is a year older, some look it, some don't.
The years we lived here seem more like a past life than a previous part of my life. Maybe even some kind of parallel universe. I feel like I am part of it and belong but at the same time I feel like I don't quite belong, a stranger. Interesting sensation. If this were Star Trek I'd be scanning for some type of temporal emissions.
It's interesting how my eyes have become used to vertical scenery. The Kitchener area is very hilly with rolling land and a wide horizon. But my eyes now see it as flat. My brain interprets it different from when it took it for granted.
Great party last Saturday. I was probably the only one there that wasn't invited. We are most likely the only extended family around that can gather that many people under one roof at the same time and not end up with a big fight or argument. Maybe we should hold a Squamidian reunion every year, each time at a different person’s place. I vote we hold next year’s gathering at Karin’s. She wasn’t here this year to say we couldn’t.
I spent part of Monday riding around with Greg, looking for a good used car to replace Ryan’s old, failing Tercell. The old car was only meant to last long enough to see him through school, it has lasted several years past that requirement. Ryan has Tuesdays off so we spent most of that day at the car lots looking at vehicles. New cars are out of the question due to their cost so we were interested in the almost new units. Prices, equipment, condition and ‘feel’ are different in each car we looked at. He ended up most interested in 2002 Corolla. That dealer was even willing to take the old Tercell off our hands which meant we would not have to abandon it in a back ally some where.
So anyway, we took the car home for the evening. That works out well for the dealer because they then know that the customer is interested. We did the paperwork when we brought it back. He got possession on Friday evening so I guess I’ll ride back to the airport in style.
I’ve also spent some time hanging out in the music store where Ryan works. They have a store policy that states you can try out any of the instruments you like. So I tuned up a couple of mandolins and retired to a little sound room. That worked great until someone had the same idea and took an electric base into a sound room. There was a very big amplifier in there for him to use. That was kind of loud and took the fun out of my mandolining.
I enjoyed that good old fashion snowstorm. It reminded me of my days in land surveying way back when. We used to work in some pretty brutal conditions but we were young and it felt great. It didn’t help that we were too stupid to say ‘no’. Clyde can probably remember some of those situations and probably still questions our old boss’s sanity.
I did walk over to the homestead from Ryan’s apartment during the wildest part of the storm. There were times I had to stop walking and just stand off the side of the road because it was blowing so hard I couldn’t see where I was going. That was pretty neat, reminded me of something we used to do as kids but I won’t go into that right now.
Clyde, Greg and I managed to spend part of an afternoon together. That was a good time. I think I wore out my laughing muscles.
A big welcome to two new members of the Squamidian list. Ed Mansz, and Sharon Something-or-other have both decided to get in on the fun.
Well, I fly out Sunday morning. It was nice to see friends and family, it is always great to get back to the old homestead. But it’s good to be heading ‘home’, back out to the mountains and clean clear air. Sue will probably be ready to relinquish dog-sitting duties. I don’t think Yogi care’s who is there as long as he gets lots of car rides and treats.
Sue will be back this way in the end of February, attending some bank thing in Toronto and visiting Kitchener. That’s about all I know about that.
Next Saturday should find us all back where we belong and everything back to normal. It will be Monday or so before I can post any pictures onto my web sites as well as posting these last two Squamidians.
****
THE ONTARION REPORT
Hi everyone!
Before I say anything else, I’d like to say how much Carole and I enjoyed meeting all of you at the Brubacher Homestead last Saturday. There were only a few of the Squamidian’s missing and I’m sure we’ll get around to meeting them someday. What a great time we had at the get together that Carol and Al arranged for Doug’s “Homecoming”. The moment we walked in the door we were made to feel like part of the family. Thanks so much for that everyone! Vivian and Lorne are wonderful people and we felt like we’d know them for many years. I took pictures of the event and have given a CD to Doug containing the results. I’m sure he’ll be dropping a few of them into his web sight and you can all take a look at them there. I hope you enjoy them when you see them. As I’ve told Doug and Carol, the way that you all seem to get along and support each other is to be admired. We have such a small family and have never experienced the togetherness that we observed first hand with your large family last weekend. Both Carole’s and my parents have been gone for many years (late 70’s early 80’s) so it’s great to see that Vivian and Lorne are still around and enjoying their family. Also their family still enjoying Vivian and Lorne. We wish you many more happy years together.
We’ve had a pretty busy week here. Fortunately I was able to get together with Doug for Monday morning and do some visiting and car shopping. We also spent a few hours Wednesday afternoon visiting with Clyde Gilmour at his house in Beechwood Waterloo. I’m sure you have all seen the picture of the 3 of us that Clyde speedily sent to everyone. I’m the handsome one on the left, Doug is the distinguished one on the right and Clyde……..well Clyde is the ….um …Guy in the middle. Shall I say “the one with the engaging smile”? LOL! He tells me it’s taken him many years to perfect that winning grin and he’s proud of his lovely, realistic, gleaming white dentures. Clyde was a gracious host and we had a lot of laughs during our visit. It’s funny how in our lives we have managed to experience so many things in common only to meet and become friends much later in our years. I’m sure we’ll stay in touch for many years to come and continue to enjoy our new found friendships.
The
last 3 days of the week have been busy for Carole and I as well. Her brother
Norm found out a few months ago that he had a cancerous malignancy in his right
eye. I have taken him from Kitchener to London and on to Toronto and Finally
back to London to have his problem taken care of. London last September,
Toronto 3 weeks ago and this week back to London again. Yesterday he had to be
in London at 1pm for a “Pre admit” check up. This leading up to Surgery today
to remove the right eye which they decided was the only way to rid him of the
cancer for sure. Yesterday he and I set out for London the back way through
Stratford only to find when we got to the southern outskirts of the city that
the OPP had closed the highway due to blowing and drifting snow. I drove around
the posted sign and decided to try to make it through in my Jeep. I figured the
4 wheel drive would get us through. I met up with an OPP officer about ½ km
into the drive. She told us that she couldn’t give us permission to try the
trip but if we went ahead on our own she wouldn’t prevent us after I explained
the nature of our mission. It was quite a hectic trip to say the least but we
managed to get there after 2 hrs. We came home the same route and found her
still at the Stratford end of the highway at 5pm. We stopped and told her that
we made the trip safely and thanked her for allowing us through. She was really
quite gracious about it. Today Norm had to be at St Joseph’s Hospital by 6am to
get ready for the surgery at 8am. We left home in Kitchener at 2:30 am with
blowing snow in mind. I decided to take the 401 and wanted to leave plenty of
time for the trip. Wouldn’t you know it, the weather and the 401 were as clear
as a bell. We took our time and arrived at the hospital at 5:20 am. We had to
search the hospital for 10 minutes before finding someone to admit Norm. After
waiting for 2 hrs, they finally took Norm into surgery. They told us that he
would be out of surgery by 10 am and out of recovery by 11. We headed out to
Tim Horton’s and had a coffee returning by 11:15 am, just in time to find him
being wheeled into his room. The operation went very well. Now all we have to
do is wait for his phone call Saturday morning to say we can pick him up. It’s
hard to imagine that they would send him home only 24 hrs after removing his
eye. I guess there’s no reason to keep him longer. He has to return to London
next week to have his prosthesis sized and fitted. It’s not the most desirable
situation but at least the removal of the eye saved his life!
From this point on, it’s just a matter of how he accepts the change and realizes that it was the right thing to do. I’m sure he’ll be just fine.
Well, I’ve been up now for 20 hours and will probably be on the road by 9am Saturday so I should say good night and head for the sack.
Once again, I thank everyone that was at the Brubacher BASH last Saturday for being so nice to Carole and I and hope to see you all again soon. I’m not so sure how I’ll feel when I write the Ontarion from now on. It just may have been easier to put my thoughts down knowing they would be read by names without faces! Not to mention names that only knew me by name as well! LOL! Ah what the heck, I guess it’s no big deal. As long as I don’t insult anyone that they can now hunt me down and smack me one because they now know what I look like! Hahahahaaa! I wouldn’t do that anyway. Well, maybe just to Clyde! I like insulting him he’s so easy to pick on! Right Clyde?
My ramblings are starting to make less and less sense so I’m going to go for this week. I’ll be back next week with more charming stories. Until then, take care and thanks for tuning in!
Bye for now….Greg.
PS: Something to Think About>
A man has to live with himself and he should see to it that he always has good company!
****
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Have a good one..
the doug
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