The Squamidian Report – Aug. 13 / 05
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Hi All,
Peanut chased a deer. Hard to believe but she did and she is quite proud of the fact. If you remember, Peanut is the little tiny white fluff ball of a dog that rides around in the tractor loader on the job site over in Britannia. Anyway, there are deer in this area and they tend to wander out of the bush to check things out. Peanut was out of the machine at the time one of them came by and went running to check it out. Probably wanted to see what it was. The deer saw her coming and being naturally skittish and timid, it ran off. The little dog, being a whole 5 inches tall, took that as a sign of her hunting prowess and gave chase.
She didn’t chase for long as the deer was out of sight in no time. But she returned as proud and happy as a tiny dog can be. Strutting her stuff for all the world to see.
On to some other silly stuff. Vancouver holds the ‘symphony of fire’ in the summer, where countries from all over the world come and compete in fireworks displays. Each country has a different night. They setup their equipment and materials on a barge that is moored out in English Bay and then on their night they do their thing. This draws spectators from all over who congregate along the sea wall and on the beaches. They come hours early so they can stake out a desirable viewpoint. The beaches end up packed with people who have been waiting for hours for it to get dark. Here’s where the silly part comes in. Sometimes, as the beaches are being claimed and occupied, the tide is out making for wide sandy areas. However, by the time the fireworks get underway the tide may be coming back in and all of a sudden the beaches start to shrink. All those people get forced back into the already packed crowds behind them. Who says Nature doesn’t have a sense of humor.
And then there is the issue about washing my truck! I’ve never been good at that kind of thing, don’t enjoy it and generally don’t bother. I let the rain do it for me. It’s been pretty dusty these past few weeks out at the construction site so the little truck was pretty dirty. I spotted a group of Native young adults down at the gas station putting on a car wash. So I figured here was a chance to get it washed and do a good thing at the same time. They were trying to raise money for a canoe so I handed them 20 bucks (which turned out to be way more than other schnooks were giving them) and had them wash it. They did such an unbelievably bad job of it that I had to head straight over to a real car wash and re-do it myself. So much for charity car washes, learned my lesson. I’ll do it myself from now on or more likely just not bother at all.
And lastly, my modest little blueberry crop is over for another year. It did pretty well this season with more than enough berries for having with ice cream every evening for several weeks. Even the small new plants that I planted a couple of years ago are now producing berries. Gotta love it.
d
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In view of all that controversy we went through a few weeks ago, Wayne sent this magazine clip from Housekeeping Monthly dated May 1955 to put everything into prospective. Hey, don’t shoot the messenger!
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b2/advice.htm
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Summers are always busy and pass by all too quickly. We spent the Canada Day weekend in Charlottetown and as usual they put on the best festival with bands performing, buskers and fireworks from out of this world. Our view from the marina was incredible. A barge floated out into the harbour exploded with colours and shooting stars. When that seemed to have calmed down a huge crane supporting a trapeze artist, fireworks and booming vibrations lit up the sky. The artist threw herself over and under a swing while fireworks went off above and below her. It made us dizzy just watching her spin. Then as a grand finale they sent fireworks off the top and then down the side of the Prince Edward Hotel. At first we thought it was on fire. I have never seen anything like it. For such a little province they sure go big. July 1st was also Peter’s 50th birthday so there was a lot of celebrating going on with all our sailor friends.
Peter’s sailing business is taking off in its third year. Almost everyday he has a cruise. He even had a 93 year old women on board one day. We advertise a sunset cruise that is very popular and luckily the weather has cooperated with lots of beautiful sunsets. Zane has been hired as Peter’s crew for this year. He’s an accomplished sailor at 15 years old and takes his job very seriously. Big Brother, Big Sisters organization asked us to write a story about our experience with Zane. They are putting together a book from stories like ours. I thought you might like to read what Peter wrote:
Yesterday was Sunday and like almost every Sunday for the last 5 years we spent the greater (both meanings of the word apply here) part of the day with our little brother. He’s not that little anymore, 5 foot six and with a stocky build, he is a far cry from the short 10 year old we were matched with. In the early days of our match Zane was concerned that after a year we would not see him as often as once a week. This week we were together on Monday doing harbour cruises on my sailboat where Zane work as the crew, the best crew I’ve ever had. On Thursday we sailed to Caribou Harbour and back to Pictou, tried some fishing along the way. On Saturday and Sunday we gave sailing instructions and then returned home for supper. We feel more than a small amount of pride when we see this young man standing at the mast putting in a reef or tying on new sheets to do a jib change. Zane also likes to participate in any mechanical maintenance, from rebuilding the engine to adjusting the stays or just cleaning and scrubbing the deck. He has always been fun and a pleasure to be around. After years of fishing, swimming biking, the occasional museum visits, (Rodin did not go over well) when we drop Zane off at his house in the evenings, the last thing he says every time is “Thank you.”
Probably the best way to some up our experience with big brothers, for the fun, the memories, the friendship, is to simply say the same thing. Thank you.
Peter Latulippe
Susan Brubacher
August has been wedding month this year with a wedding or two every Saturday at my salon. I have to make notes to keep on top of all the arrangements. We have so many packages to offer and everyone’s wedding needs are different. The shop has just been buzzing. I almost hired another hairdresser this week but then decided to wait. I want to make sure there would be enough work for 3 stylists. Decisions, decisions.
We are very excited to have visitors coming from Switzerland on the 20th of August. My niece, Michelle and her 11 month old baby Emilie will be staying with us for 3 weeks. It will be different having a baby in the house. I am madly borrowing baby stuff such as a high chair, stroller, crib and car seat. Also child proofing my house is challenging. I don’t have much in knick-knacks but everything here is made of log, stone or iron. Not much cushion anywhere for an unsteady child. Maybe I’ll just put a helmut on her head to protect her. Michelle’s father, Gilbert, will be here as well.
Tonight Peter is starting on a new venture…..star gazing with tourists. Our local resort Stonehame Lodge and Chalets have hired Peter to come to their mountain top spot with his telescope and his knowledge of the night sky. Their guests often remark on being so close to the stars with no street lights or pollution to block their view. So the idea was created and Peter is on his way to a new career. Who new?
Well I have brought you up to date now on what’s happening here this summer. I always enjoy reading the Squamidian and wouldn’t miss it for anything. Keep up the good work. Thanks Jackie for recommending Pictou and sailing as a destination for your guests at Fern Glen. Maybe we can work together somehow? Greg, what a traumatic week you had. It was an experience just reading your article. I hope you never have to go through that again. Doug as always your stories are so interesting and make me want to see the west again. By the way I found the words to “Katie Dear”. I’ll send them on to you. I like Lorne’s idea of a yearly musical gathering.
Take care everyone,
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Hello
everyone!
We’ll as
you all can well imagine, it’s been one heck of a week.
You all
heard the total boring story last time and I apologize if I sounded like a
babbling old sickie but you can only imagine how that experience feels if
you’ve gone through it yourself. There seems to be a compulsion to blab every
detail of the experience for the first couple of weeks after it’s all over.
It’s strange but I now understand why people who’ve had a life threatening
health experience tend to go on and on when simply asked “So how are you
feeling?” after it’s all over. I’ve gotten it all out of my system I think and
look to the future from this point on. Thank you all for letting me unload last
week, it felt good and cathartic!
*
Unfortunately,
I’ve been told by the Cardiologist that I can’t take the trip west or any trip
for 3 months. She wants me to give my heart a chance to adjust to the addition
of the stent in the artery. SO I’ve written to Doug and Sue and explained the
situation and Carole and I will reschedule for next spring or whenever we can
sort it out again.
Carole
said to me that she thought I should treat myself to a new toy since I will not
be able to enjoy the mountain trails on dirt bikes with Doug next month. The
little sweetheart told me to buy myself a motorcycle as a well deserved
retirement toy. What a HONEY Eh! SO,
Adam and I spent the past 5 days looking all over the region and checking the
Bike Trader books for a 250 to 650cc Dual Purpose Street/Trail bike. I found a
Suzuki DR650 beauty at a dealer in Waterloo. It’s a 1999 and only has 9,000 kms
on it. It’s like a new bike and I was able to make a deal for about half the
list price of a new one. I picked up the bike today at 5pm. At least I’ll be
able to hone my skills well before Carole and I venture west when next we plan.
Adam and I spent about an hour taking turns riding it around the neighbourhood
after supper and we both are very happy with my choice of bike.
I’ve sent
Doug a picture of
my new toy and I’ll ask him here to please add it to his website so anyone of
you that takes an urge can have a look at my new toy. Even Carole has some
experience riding a motorcycle. She and I had twin Honda 650 Custom street
bikes back in 1981. We haven’t ridden much since those days but I’m sure she
could still hold her own on a bike. I told her she can ride the new one anytime
but she said she prefers the comfort of the Jeep. LOL! I guess she’s spoiled by
the air conditioning that is absent from a motorcycle. Oh well, I don’t blame
her there, we’ve had one heck of a hot summer so far and it is definitely
cooler inside a vehicle than on top of one! Hahahaaaa…! I’ll finish here but at
least I can now banter back and forth with Doug trading bike stories. I’m sure
you’ll all be thrilled with that news! LOL! Hahahahahahaaaaa….! Ya Right!
I’ll try
to keep the Ontarion interesting for both sexes, I promise!
Anyway,
I’ll talk to you all again next time in the Ontarion Report!
Bye for now….. GREG.
PS: Something To Think About>
I was in love with a blonde once, she drove
me to drink!
It’s the one thing I’m truly indebted to her
for!
WC Fields
The picture of Greg’s bike!
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/Greg/suzuki.htm
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The Family and the Squamidian sites:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/ and http://www.thedougsite.ca
Have a good one..
the
doug
The Fine Print!
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