The Squamidian Report – June 24 / 06
Issue #212
Also in this issue:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
The Sea to Sky Expansion Project is coming along just fine. That’s what they call the widening and improving of highway 99 from Horseshoe Bay to Whistler. It is being done more for the 2010 Olympics than for the people who have to travel it daily but we do get to use it even is the Olympic committee would rather we didn’t. VOC (Vancouver Olympic Committee) has been pretty heavy handed about a lot of things. The tactics of the VOC have disillusioned a lot of what had been local support for the Olympic bid. But then the Olympics are much more about politics and big business than about sports. It’s always been that way and it is getting worse. But I digress. The province has been fixing up the Sea to Sky highway and it is coming along nicely.
Construction has been under way for a couple of years now and the construction company doing the work has been doing an impressive job. They have managed to keep traffic interruptions to a minimum while working under some pretty extreme conditions. The highway along most of the Horseshoe Bay to Squamish section is notched into the sides of the steep mountain slopes as they hang over Howe Sound. Rock cliffs have to be blasted back to widen inward. They only way to widen outward is to build a cantilevered bridge system which they have done in some locations. The blasting brings down tonnes of rock, right onto the existing road surface. The rock rubble has to be cleared and the damaged road surface has to be repaired before traffic flow can resume. Most disruptions are during the night. There will be scheduled closures that the public can work around.
Occasionally there will be unscheduled closures during the day when a blast will get away from them and the resulting debris will block the road. Other than that, most daytime delays are about 15 minutes or so.
But as the route is being opened up, the view out over the Sound is being opened up. Trees and rock outcrops are being removed, returning the sense of hanging right out on the edge as you drive along. It is quite exhilarating to drive the opened up sections if you like heights and wide open views. It probably scares the heck out of some of the tourist traffic, they tend to drive as far over from the outside edge as they can get. That’s Ok if they are heading north and are therefore on the inside lane. But if they are heading south, they are hugging and even encroaching over the yellow center line, endangering themselves and oncoming traffic as the creep around the blind curves that still exist. Most of those blind curves will be opened up but for now the ones that haven’t been improved are still pretty tight.
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Have you ever been woken up in the middle of the night by what sounds like a dozen or so sirens going off? It happens to me a lot but it is not sirens, it is a pack of coyotes that live over in the Mashiter Creek ravine. I don’t know what sets them off but once they get started it sure is loud and eerie. It usually starts off with one or two, and then the whole pack gets involved and the song builds to some preset climax and then they just all go quiet at the same time. Very strange.
doug
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Hello
Everyone!
Last
Sunday was “Father’s Day” and it’s one of my favourite special days of the
year, in fact I think it is my favourite special day. It’s always been a day
when we make sure we have breakfast together as a family. I always know that I
have to but out and let Adam and Carole run the day. Not that I am the
domineering type anyway but on this day it’s important not to be assertive and
be receptive in stead. I gotta say that I do like the pampering and having most
things done for me. I’m lucky in that Carole recognizes the fact that this is a
day that in her eyes is one that she helps to make special but is also one that
should hold a special time for Adam and I to spend together. As parents we like
to celebrate the fact that the other half of our duo has played a big part in
making me a “Dad” or Carole a “Mother” so we can enjoy being treated special on
our respective “Days” be it “Mother’s” or “Father’s” Day.
Carole
always presents me with something to celebrate the day (a card and a gift) kind
of as a thank you for my helping to make her a mom and she helping make me a
dad and I do the same to her. Of course
Adam recognizes the main “Treat – ee” of the day too. LOL! Are you all able to
follow this so far? I hope so! LOL!
Carole
and Adam prepared a terrific pemeal bacon and egg and home fries breakfast for
us and we sat for a leisurely hour and really enjoyed the meal and the
conversation. It’s always a nice time where we shut out the rest of the world
and concentrate on us. I was very happy to be the recipient of a lovely card
containing a “Heart and Stroke Foundation” lottery ticket from Carole. Adam
presented me with a card and a pair of tickets to this years Toronto Indy race
on July 7, 8 and 9. We’ve been talking about attending this race for years and
he figured it was time we stopped talking and really do it together. I can’t
wait to spend the weekend with him at this famous event.
After breakfast,
he asked what I’d like to do together that day. He suggested we take a
motorcycle ride together and Carole agreed that we should head out for a while.
We decided to take a ride over to highway #24 on the other side of Guelph to
check out an “Eagle’s” nest that we had seen about a year ago and see if the
birds were there again this year. We hadn’t taken the time to stop and really
look the other year so figured it would be a good time to do so. We hopped on
the bikes and packed Adam’s Canon camera equipment into my carry all on the
back. The drive was a pleasant one from Kitchener to Guelph. As we approached
the area where the Bald Eagle’s nest is situated we were surprised to see that
it was occupied. We parked our bikes on the side of the highway and walked back
to the hydro pole upon which the nest sits. The Ministry of Natural Resources
noted that the nest was not as secure as it should be last year so they waited
until it was unoccupied and built a platform under it and moved it about 300m
west of it’s original location. The nest is on top of a hydro pole that is
beside the highway where it passes the Guelph Lake. I guess the eagles were
attracted to this local due to the fish in the lake. There was a fairly large
eagle sitting on the nest in an upright position as if tending to a young one
in the nest. Adam has a digital Canon camera with the interchangeable lenses.
Using his zoom lens he was able to get about 60 good shots of the bird. As we
walked up to the base of the pole, the bird took flight. She ( not sure if it’s
a she or a he but) lifted off the nest and hovered over us for about a minute.
The wind was very strong that day and it looked like she was having trouble
landing again. She flew across the field next to the highway and quickly returned
to see what we were up to. All the while she was flying, she was squawking at
us and showing her discontent with our presence. We stayed long enough for Adam
to get a good share of pictures of her and the nest and then decided that maybe
we should leave and let her settle down again. She looked like a young bird so
when we got home, we looked her up on the net. We found the description of
exactly the bird we’d photographed and as it turns out, she’s likely a female
between the ages of 2 and 4 years. She doesn’t have a white head yet but in the
pics we can see the feathers under her chin and on the back of her neck
starting to turn white. I figure she’s 2 to 3 because her beak and legs have
not yet started to turn yellow. The article on the net said that they start to
turn yellow at approximately 3.5 years of age. She appeared to have about a 4
to 5 foot wingspan and stood about 2 feet tall. It was hard to judge this from
standing on the ground but that’s a good guess. I’ve attached a few pictures of
her to this Ontarion and ask Doug if he could kindly place them where you can
all take a look at them
if you so desire. It’s nice to see that such magnificent birds exist all across
Canada and not just on the west coast. In fact I found out that Bald Eagles
have made a very successful comeback in Ontario after having been almost wiped
out by pollution about 20 years ago. We have them all along the Grand River as
well now. I guess that’s partially due to the fact that the river has been
cleaned up and the fishing in it is now very good again. It’s nice to see that
Ontario’s conservation efforts are starting to pay off.
After
leaving the eagle behind, we rode north to Elora and stopped for a Timmy’s. The
wind was so strong that we both had trouble keeping our motorcycles on the
road. We decided to head for home. From Elora we rode through Conestogo and
Waterloo and were home about an hour later. The ride could have been a little
more enjoyable had the wind not been so strong. However, we still had a good
day both on the bikes and off and I will look back with fondness on the
experience for a long time to come. I hope all the Fathers in the Squamidian
group enjoyed their special day as much as I did.
Thanks
for tuning in this week. I look forward to talking to you all again next time
in The Ontarion Report.
Bye for now.. GREG.
PS:
Something To Think About>
A father
is someone who walks in front of you when you need footsteps to follow,
behind
you when you need encouragement and beside you when you need a friend.
Greg’s
eagle pictures:
http://members.shaw.ca/doug_b/Greg/eagles.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
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