The Squamidian Report – Dec. 24 / 05
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Hi All,
Christmas on the west coast isn’t that much different from Christmas in other parts of the country. While living in BC is in many ways like living in a different country, some things seem to retain coast-to-coast consistency. People run around madly shopping and getting ready for ‘the big day’. Biggest difference I can see is that for us right on the coast, we probably don’t have to brush any snow off of our car windows and we do our shopping in our shirt sleeves. Aside from that, we decorate our homes, purchase gifts, run around madly and then eat too much. There are Christmas parades, pageants and services just like everywhere else.
The local radio station, Mountain FM (mountain phlegm as it’s know around here) tends to play a mix of the worst music going. During the lead-up to Christmas it injects every tacky, commercial and putrid piece of music it can find that even remotely qualifies as ‘holiday’ music. Needless to say, we don’t listen to it very much.
The lead up to Christmas here was wet. We had a Pineapple Express all week that gave us about 4 inches of rain per day, every day. Even on days where the sun poked out, it managed to give us several inches during the nighttime. In some ways it was a good thing, It had been pretty dry for a while and we needed the water for the streams and rivers. Of course now they are raging and wild. It let us shut down at work until after the new year. It has gotten so wet out at the construction site that it is no longer safe to work. The soil has become saturated and unstable. If you even touch a pile of dirt with an excavator bucket, the pile instantly liquefies and takes off down hill. Not a good thing.
Several days off will help my arm and shoulder recuperate a bit too. It’s still kind of useless. Good thing there has been no dirt biking opportunities lately or I’d really be ticked off.
But there is one neat thing I can tell you about. I was working up on one of the new roads above Britannia early in the week while the rain was pelting down. There was a heavy overcast high above, but not high enough for the mountain tops to show. There were also clouds floating in low over the Sound and then sliding up the mountain side. They were white and thick. As one would come closer, it would hide anything inside or behind it. When one would get close enough, I could reach out with the excavator bucket and literally ‘touch’ it. The bucket would become ghostish, then me and the rest of the machine would become enveloped and I would have to sit there waiting until it passed on by, unable to see a thing.
Anyway, I’m keeping it kind of short this time so have a Merry Christmas everyone.
d
****
A month or so ago, I said I was
going to write about a trip John & I took to Nfld. aka 'land of the truly
great people'. Well, it just didn't get done and I will eventually write
and send it to you (diaries come in handy).
At the moment we are preparing
for a 'short' jaunt south to Georgia and west to Arizona...Lake Havasu City to
be exact. We haven't ever been to Arizona and don't know a soul there
...yet...but we are really looking forward to the drive beginning on Boxing
Day and to the one month stay in a rented condo and then we plan
to return to Kitchener in early February.
I'll keep another diary and then
I'll have TWO accounts to write.
In the meantime, I'd like to
wish you and Sue, Ryan & Emily, your extended family and readers,
Squamidians all, a very
Happy & Merry Christmas and the very best of the New Year.
Brenda in Kit
****
Well, I don't feel much like writing. ( I still have to send out a few more email greetings). I still have this stubborn cold which doesn't seem to be getting better. I'm a bit under the weather too. Yesterday was a stifling 36 deg, and didn't cool down till late night. Thank God it's much cooler today.
I've been baking lots of German Christmas cookies, which is tradition for me. Oops, we haven't even put up our Christmas tree yet! I was planning to do it yesterday with Jennifer, but then it was so hot, and humid, and I forgot. ( I did bake three batches of cookies however, so I'm not a total grinch)
Tonight will be our Christmas Eve. Our family is invited to Karl's sister's house. There are supposed to be about 25 - 30 people, which includes 9 kids. Should be interesting, and noisy. Usually everyone brings something, so there will be a big buffet with lots of good food (usually a buffet).
This year we have Jennifer home for Christmas, which makes it special for us, since she spent the last two Christmasses in Berlin.
Other than that I'm not really that much into the Christmas spirit. It is always such a big build-up, a lot of work, stress and expense, and then it's all over before you know it.
Then again every Christmas is different. For instance last year we opted out of the family Christmas, and decided to go out to a Chinese restaurant instead and have a quiet Christmas Eve at home. It was so easy and stress free, but a bit boring.
Just want to say, thanks to all the
people who shared their stories through Doug's newsletter. Thanks to Doug,
especially for starting this weekly newsletter, and to both Doug and Greg, who
write their column faithfully every week, even when they don't feel
inspired. We, here in Aussiland, enjoy your stories from
Canada very much. Keep up the good work ! Of course a
great big thank you to all the other people who regularly write and share their
stories.
I want
to wish you and your families the very best Christmas ever, and a happy New
Year!
PS. Jennifer made us this gingerbread house modeled after the farm on Chicopee road where we used to live. Gingerbread houses!
****
I've been thinking a lot this past week about how different my Christmas will be this year. Normally we spend Christmas Eve at my grandparents, surrounded by lots of family and good food. In fact, that's how I've spent every December 24th that I can remember. I'm a little melancholy this year, knowing that I won't be seeing my family and friends during the holidays, but I remind myself that a lot has changed since last year and we're still adapting to many aspects of our new life.
I think winter will provide a steeper learning curve for us than the rosy days of summer. Winter in the country and winter in the city are two different experiences entirely. In fact, they shouldn't even qualify as the same season. Of course, there are pros and cons, but the cons seem to be top of mind right now. Let's see, so far we've had our pipes freeze in the guest house, we've had one of those pipes burst, we've woken up to -28 degrees C outside and 5 degrees C inside, and we've shoveled more snow in the past week than most people shovel in a decade.
One big winter-time adjustment from living in the city is our home heating system. In Toronto, we had a forced-air gas furnace. With our milder climate and tiny house, our heating costs weren't too much to worry about. Up here in the boonies it's a different story. We've got a wood-burning stove in the living room and electric baseboard heat everywhere else in this big, awkward shaped house. Since electricity is not the most efficient means of heating space, we've been getting by as much as possible with just the wood stove. Which is why the thermometer in the dining room read just 5 degrees above freezing one morning. Yikes! But we're starting to acclimatize to these cooler temps. I'm even feeling comfortable when we reach a balmy 12 degrees inside. At this rate, we'll be in shorts and t-shirts by the end of March. Of course, when we have guests or company, we turn the heat up. I suppose that's the nice thing about the baseboard heaters, we only heat the rooms being used. We did have guests comment in our guest book on our "toasty, warm room" so it seems to be working alright.
Happily, our cold snap has, well, snapped. The daytime temps have warmed up considerably and we're even expecting a high above freezing tomorrow. Of course, with warmer weather comes more snow. It has been snowing every day for about a week now. A few days ago was the heaviest, when we got about two inches in about an hour. It was a strange snowfall, though. It wasn't a storm--there was no wind, not even a breeze--just a zillion flakes drifting lazily from the sky. Fascinating to watch. But, as I said, a LOT to shovel. For those of you who have been up here, I'll give you a little rundown of that day: Jim shoveled the deck before breakfast, then after breakfast I shoveled the deck (again), then the pathway up to the Coop, then the driveway down to the parking lot, then the deck AGAIN (it needed it already). In the afternoon, we shoveled it all again, plus about a third of the parking lot. The snow came so fast it was too deep for Jim to clear with the ATV (he's got a blade for it). Thankfully, the chief from the fire department came over the next day with his truck to give it a good plow. Another lucky stroke: we're on a school bus route so our road is cleared and maintained regularly.
I was watching on the news the other day footage of people slogging through thick, salty, gross slush in the city....and it reminded me that winter in the country does have some advantages. We've certainly had a lot of fun as well as work lately. Even some of the "chores" that come with the snow are enjoyable, particularly the serious task of keeping a toboggan run nicely packed down on our little hill. It's not very steep but we can get some good speed going on our little red steel toboggan. We've also enjoyed testing out our new snowshoes and old cross-country skis. I know I've said it before, but our trails are sooo pretty with the snow. In the new year, we'll give dogsledding a try at a local kennel! The snowmobile trails will open soon so business will pick up, but hopefully we'll still have time to get out and enjoy this wild and wonderful season to the fullest.
On that note, I'd like to wish you all a fabulous season as well, however and wherever you spend it. May your Christmas be full of love and laughter; and your New Year full of good health, wealth and happiness!
All the best to you and yours,
****
****
“Thinking Back”
It’s been
a long time since I’ve spent any time recalling any of the situations I got
involved in during my Fire Service career. I will say that winter time was the
busiest time of year for fires of any consequence. People seem to have an
attraction to candles when winter sets in. I don’t know what it is but they set
them anywhere, on the tables in the living room, on the kitchen or bathroom
counters, on bedroom surfaces and even around the bathtub. They don’t seem to
realize the danger these things pose. I’ve even seen them used to freshen up
the scent of clothes in closets. Many fires are caused by candles left
unattended. It’s usually adults that are responsible for the damage these
things create. I guess it’s easy to forget that you have a candle burning
somewhere in the house. People put them on kitchen counters under the upper
cupboards without a thought for the rising heat. This is just one of the
sources of winter fires. Now that Christmas trees are decorated with low heat
high efficiency light strings, they are much less likely to catch fire. Space
heaters are still popular and people still place them in dangerous positions.
We’ve found them next to curtains, beside and behind couches and under beds of
all places. Just where are peoples brains when it comes to stuff like this?
Beats me! Anyway, I hope this winter is one of less fires and tragedy than many
in years gone by.
*
I recall
one evening when we were sitting around the fire hall after a training session
and I was thinking that it had been a particularly quiet evening so far. Now,
evenings like that tend to stay that way as long as nobody phones or drops in
and asks “Well, have any fires so far tonight?” Shortly after such a remark,
all hell breaks loose. It seams to jinx the evening and off we go! The phone
rang and one of the guys answered it to find his wife on the other end. The
first thing she said was “Hi honey, have any calls yet?” I could tell by his
reply that this was exactly what she had said. He was off the phone about 2
minutes when the alarm rang. The dispatcher announced a report of smoke in a
house on the west side of town. We had to respond from Head Quarters because
the station in that area was busy at another call. Upon our arrival we found
the owner standing on the front lawn saying that there was nobody in the house
but he didn’t know what was burning. He told me that he had lit a fire in the
fireplace and shortly after the house was full of black smoke. I took a crew
with a hose line in the front door after setting up ventilation to properly
remove the smoke heat and gasses from the house. The only things burning were
the logs in the fireplace. We extinguished the fire and removed the remnants to
the snow of the front lawn. It was obvious that something had caused the smoke
to back up into the house rather than rise through the chimney. We laddered the
roof and proceeded to check the chimney. Many times when people burn a lot of
soft wood and don’t bother to have their chimney’s cleaned regularly the
chimneys build up so much soot on the sidewalls that they actually plug solid.
I figured this was the case here too. I suggested one of my crew shove a pike
pole down the chimney to break a hole in whatever was plugging it. We had
looked down with a flashlight but could only see a black item about 8’ down.
The firefighter lowered the pole down the flu and as he poked the blockage, we
heard a grunting sound. I said “Don’t tell me we have an animal stuck in the
flu?” By twisting the pike pole around, my partner managed to hook onto the
blockage. We both grabbed onto the pole and began to pull upwards. Noises were
still coming from whatever it was we had hooked onto. As we popped the package
out of the flu and onto the roof we were shocked to see a tiny man shake off a
layer of soot to reveal a somewhat smudged red velvet costume. We had rescued
Santa who had decided to test his chimney “fitability” a couple of weeks before
Christmas. Apparently he had put on a little weight over the Thanksgiving
holiday and wanted to make sure that come Christmas he’d be able to make it
down all those chimneys. Well, we all laughed at his predicament as he thanked
us with a hearty handshake and a Ho Ho Ho. He said he’d be sure to slim down
enough by Christmas Eve and promised to leave a special gift for each one of us
that year. We all turned to look at each other and as we looked back there was
a flash of light and the little man was gone! Poof! Nothing left but a memory
of the night we had rescued Santa Clause and saved Christmas.
HO HO HO!
And MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!
Thanks
for tuning in on this special weekend and I hope you enjoyed my Christmas tall
tale! I look forward to talking to you all again next time in The Ontarion
Report.
Bye for now and Merry Christmas to all!
Greg.
PS:
Something To Think About>
Spend the weekend with family and remember who’s birthday you’re celebrating.
****
The Family and the Squamidian sites:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/ and http://www.thedougsite.ca
Have a good one..
the
doug
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