The Squamidian Report – Jan. 15 / 05
Also in this issue:
Fern Glen Update
The Ontarion
Hi All,
I had an interesting conversation with an environmental officer. Turns out there are fish in many of the small mountain streams around here. The streams I’m referring to are the ones that have high waterfalls on them making it impossible for fish to swim up from the ocean. The fish are a member of the trout family.
We needed to do a stream diversion at Britannia Beech. The small creek runs year round and tumbles down the mountainside. There is simply no way anything could swim up into the stream due to the numerous falls just before it empties into Howe Sound and the stream is way too small for anyone to have bothered stocking it. The section we needed to divert is about a thousand feet long. Once we had turned the water flow into the new temporary channel the environment guy walked the old channel and used an electric prod to shock each little water pool. Up would pop a little fish, the largest only about six inches long. Life in these streams is hard and the fish stay small for they have to make their living in whatever hole they can stake out.
So I asked him how the fish got there, where they came from. Turns out they have probably always been there, meaning their ancestors populated the stream thousands of years ago when the Sound was a massive ice shelf and the terrain was not the same as it is today. There is also the chance that birds have dropped live fish into the stream over the centuries. It would take expensive DNA testing to determine the most likely origin. But chances are there are elusive fish populations in many mountain streams where it just does not seem possible. I do wonder though how a closed population can sustain it’s self for long at the genetic level.
The environment guy rescued all he could find for relocation away from our destructive work. He was not impressed when I suggested we fry them up for lunch. Go figure!
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And as long as I’m on the topic of working, most of you know that I have a very low opinion of the guy I work for. It is great for my piece of mind to know that I’ve already made arraignments to jump ship come spring time, over to a much smaller and more relaxed company. Anyway, to give you an idea of how my jerk boss does things, he had most of the crews work all last weekend. No surprise there. Only problem was, they knew they would run out of material (water main pipes, pre-cast catch basins etc) and layout. So now pretty well everyone has nothing to do until an overdue shipment of material can be delivered and the engineers can lay out the next section. Kind of makes me chuckle.
Nothing to do a work means I’m poking around at home most of this week, which is fine with me. We had a dusting of snow, just enough to turn the green to white. Then the sun came out and wow, the mountains are gleaming, the eagles are soaring over the valley and sitting in the trees along the river. In fact, we stood on our front balcony and counted somewhere between 50 and 60 eagles soaring over the high ridge just to the east of us. Then we looked out from the deck to the west and counted several dozen more. West coast Coastal Range living at it’s best. The only way it could get any better would be by heading into the backcountry on the dirt bikes.
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Much to my surprise and delight, Lorne’s brother Wayne Brubacher has sent in a bit of Brubacher history, covering the years from 1685 to 1879. In many ways it is more than just a piece of history for one family name, it is part of Waterloo County’s history. The document would take about 18 pages to print so I have posted it to my web site under the following link.
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/Brubacher1.htm
Welcome to our little newsletter Wayne and thanks for the article.
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I want to thank Greg for his amazing
creativity and stick-to-it-ness. This is his 100th addition of the
Ontarion and that is no mean task. It takes determination and dedication, but
most importantly, it takes enjoyment in what he is doing. Keep it up Greg.
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Fern
Glen Update
Well folks, a lot has happened since my last update on our bed and breakfast venture. Unfortunately, not much has happened with the actual reconstruction of the building. The contractors have been delayed by frigid temperatures, freezing rain, and the unfortunate heart attack and subsequent demise of the electrician.
Jim has been up to check on progress and to take care of business details twice in the past two weeks. It's a good thing too, as the project manager forgot we requested duct work to be added while they're at it, and he forgot we want the porch extended, and the carpenter doesn't know where to put the utility room. We have no idea when to expect completion of the work, but it certainly won't be January 31st as originally forecast. Interestingly, we already have our first booking: 2 rooms (4 guests) for three nights beginning February 18th. Of course, we may not have a kitchen or a dining room by then. The current owner, Lynda, accepted the booking on our behalf and assures us that we'll be fine; we'll just have to charge less if we end up cooking breakfast on a hotplate and serving it in one of the bedrooms. The guests are apparently all men that are coming up to do some ice fishing, so I'll assume they won't be too concerned about atmosphere and gourmet fare.
I've been unable to join Jim on his recent trips up there due to a hectic time at work. I returned from the Christmas break to learn that my company (I'm in advertising) is losing a big account, which we expected. Fortunately for our egos, it is not about our performance, but about the client restructuring internally. Just before Christmas this client laid off 240 people, many from their marketing department, which was a clear sign that they were going to change the way they approach advertising. This means that a significant number of my staff will be out of work soon, and so will I. This is wonderful news for me, because now I'll have a bit of a cushion as I focus on building the B&B business fulltime, however it's not so good for a number of great people who will find themselves in the unpleasant role of job-seeker.
So the past two weeks have been exhausting and draining as I've had to choose who in my department gets to keep a job and who has to go, and then give out notices of termination (with kleenex box on hand). I'm doing what I can to help the ones that are leaving to line up another job--giving them contacts in the industry, writing letters of recommendation, critiquing their resumés and portfolios. Most of my staff are just getting notice and no severance package so timing is an issue for them, although we all have jobs until the end of February. The same thing is happening in other departments and it's quite sad to see the play of emotions on people's faces: fear, panic, resignation, sadness, and guilt for some people who are staying, even though it's not their fault. There are a few like me who see this as a great opportunity to reinvent themselves, to use this as a catalyst to a better future. I've never experienced a big layoff before so I find it an interesting study of character. Since I am an eternal optimist, I can't help but believe that all things happen for a reason, and that all of my colleagues--whether they're keeping a job or losing a job--can be happier than they were before if they choose to make the most of their situation. Which brings to mind one of my favourite quotes...
"You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call 'failure' is not the falling down, but the staying down." - Mary Pickford
Have a great week folks,
Jackie
PS: if you'd like to check out the existing website for the inn (we'll be revamping it), the address is www.ferngleninn.on.ca
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THE ONTARION REPORT
#100
Hi everyone and welcome to the 100th edition of The Ontarion Report. It seems like such a short time that we’ve been doing this weekly composition and yet I guess 100 weeks is no one night stand is it. Doug and Sue have been out west for more than two years and now with Ryan and Emily there with them, their family is complete once again. I know that they are very happy with their move and wouldn’t change it for the world. From what I’ve read in Doug’s “Squamidian” just their environmental surroundings make it an ideal choice if anyone else were to decide to give up this Ontarion “Paradise” and move away. If I weren’t so settled and had a modicum of wanderlust in my soul, I’d consider a move to BC too. I know that Carole would move to a place by the sea in the blink of an eye. She grew up in Belfast Northern Ireland where the city was directly on the sea. She said there is something magical about living near big water. I guess I’ll never fully understand the attraction.
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For as far back as I can remember, we’ve been bombarded with the lure of the tropics through the magic of Hollywood. As kids in the 60’s especially, we were intrigued by the “surfing” movies and beach music of the Beach Boys from California. Not to mention Jan and Dean, Dwayne Eddie and so many other “surfin” bands. Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicelo were carefree kids that supposedly had no money and no jobs yet they managed to live a life of fun and frolic on the sands of sunny California and romantic beaches of Hawaii. Of course for the most part, we knew it was just a fantasy and they too would have to return to school come September. Besides, one would have to be independently wealthy to be able to live that life without a job of some sort. Around here, most of the kids either worked at Zehr’s (grocery stores) or Busy Bee food mart in Waterloo. Heck, we hardly had enough variety on TV to do even a little “channel surfing” let alone real surfing! Hahahaaaa…! Oh well, there always seemed to be lots to do for entertainment on weekends and during the summer as well. There was mini golf, roller skating, drive in movies, theatre movies and of course hanging out at the local drive in hot spots. I know that my crowd used to hang around a place called Sonny’s Drive In on Weber St in Waterloo. It was a hamburger joint right next to the Glenbriar Roller Rink. The Kitchener Auditorium and Bingeman Park were two other roller rinks. The Kitchener kids also had The Frost Top drive in on Old King St. We also had The Twins Drive In on Victoria St N, The Dairy Queen on Lancaster St, The A&W on King St N in Waterloo, the Dairy Queen on Ottawa St N and so many others to choose from. There was one place out on Hwy #8 half way to Preston called The Pioneer Bar B Q. It’s still there but I haven’t been in it in 35 years or more. Where did all of you guys hang around in those days? It would be interesting to hear your stories of the 60’s high school days some time. If any of you have a good one to tell, c’mon and send it in. I saw a notice a couple of weeks ago advertising the upcoming 150th Reunion of KCI. It’s being held in April of this coming spring. I doubt I’ll ever have another chance to attend such an event and I may just make a point of attending this one. Although it’s been 37 years since I last attended KCI I’m sure there would be some faces I’d recognize at an event like that. Anyway, I’ll wait until closer to the date before I make any decision regarding my attendance.
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I had a busy week! My 56th Birthday was on the 11th and I had a nice day. Carole and Adam presented me with gifts in the morning after making me a great breakfast. Adam gave me a much needed new watch. He and Carole collaborated on several other gifts as well. Around 4:30pm they asked me to sit in the back seat of the Jeep and they blindfolded me. They indicated that they were taking me somewhere to join a lot of people to celebrate my birthday. I figured they were taking me to my favourite beef rib restaurant in Cambridge for a “surprise” party. We drove and drove until I was completely lost. When Adam finally got me out of the car and removed my blindfold, I was facing a concrete block building about the size of a single car garage. It had a sign on the door that said “Danger Keep Out”. What the heck??? He and Carole were laughing their cheeks off and I was dumbfounded until I looked over my shoulder and realized they had me facing the maintenance building of the Mohawk Casino. They said at that point, “We did say there would be lots of people, but we didn’t say that you’d know them all”! They had decided that I’d enjoy an evening at my favourite night spot, playing the slots. It was a fun evening for sure. Carole picked up a fast $300.00 and Adam and I spent about $200.00 between us and won nothing. At least one of us came out ahead on that venture. Carole gave me a large framed picture of the entire staff that I worked with at the Waterloo Fire Dept. It’s a copy of the one hanging in the Head Quarter’s station. It’s dated 1999 so it has every one of the people I worked with for so many years. What a nice memento to have for the wall in our home office. I’ve been able to turn the office into a tribute to my years as a Firefighter with the help of Carole and Adam. I have many of my Firefighting certificates from the years that I studied at The Ontario Fire College in Gravenhurst framed and hanging on the walls. I also have a painting that Adam did for me of two Dalmation puppies lying on top of a pile of fire hose framed above the desk. He painted it for me as a birthday gift in 1993 and it’s one of my most prized possessions. The walls also have a few of my fire helmets and pictures of my crew. There are a couple of pictures of my last crew that are still to be printed from disk that I’ll have to find room for in the near future to complete the collection. My office is the place that I like to spend time in remembering and looking back on that phase of my life. It not only has reminders of my career but holds memories of the many contributions that Carole and Adam made to my working life as well. My family is what has made all the effort I put into a sometimes dangerous yet much rewarding career worthwhile. When all is said and done, it’s nice to have what that famed comedian George Carlin called “A place for my stuff”, my office!
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I know that this weeks Ontarion is a mixed bag of ramblings but sometimes you just have to let your mind wander. This edition is one of those times when it’s worth paying a little attention to so many things that have made life worthwhile for me and I’m so happy to be able to share my thoughts with my “Squamidian” friends.
Thank you all so much for being here every week and allowing me to be a part of your extended family.
I’ll sign off for now and I look forward to talking to you all again next week in The Ontarion Report.
Bye for now and stay safe!
Best wishes…..GREG.
PS: Something to Think About>
Sometimes one has to look back to see the future!
GP
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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