The Squamidian Report – Mar. 11 / 06
Issue #197
Also in this issue:
Hi All,
I guess it’s time for some silly stuff. So here goes. Have you ever turned around only to see that a spider has descended from the ceiling and is looking you straight in the face? Seems to happen quite regularly for me, making one wonder what its thinking about. It is usually just a little wee tiny one so it must have some pretty big aspirations if it thinks it’s going to capture you. But why else would it purposely drop in like that. Makes me think of that old ‘Farside’ cartoon where a couple of little spiders have build a web over the bottom end of a child’s playground slide and one spider is saying to the other---“if we pull this off we will eat like kings for the rest of our lives”. Well, maybe you had to be there but it struck me as funny. On the other hand, maybe they just want to have a friendly visit. If you talk to them for a few moments, they tend to observe and then scoot back up to where they dropped in from.
And just what end of the rainbow is that proverbial pot of gold supposed to be at? We were driving back from a run into Vancouver and along the way there was a rainbow rising right out of the highway pavement ahead of us and aching out over the Sound. There was no pot of gold there on the road, nothing, just black pavement. But there was also no way of telling if this was the end or the beginning of the rainbow. So I guess that’s the catch. The whole thing is rigged so you can’t win.
I was back in the shmoo again this week. We are working on the development of the new section of the Squamish Business Park where several big stores and outlets will go. The sanitary and storm lines have to go in before the roads can be finished. Because this is valley bottom, these lines get laid way down in the shmoo level. That stuff has to be dug out and trucked away. It’s being sent over to a section of the dyke along the river where it is spread out over the side of the bank to widen the dyke. Not strengthen it, the dyke is built of rock and gravel that will hold up to running water. The shmoo will simply widen it and this is about the only place to put it. I’ve been given the job of spreading the stuff out over the side. Problem is, you can even drive an excavator on tracks over the stuff. It’s pure jelly. When it comes dumping out of the back of a dump truck, it looks more like what comes out of the back end of a cow than what should come out of a truck. And all one of those trucks has to do is back up a bit too far and I have to pull them out. Makes for a fun day. To spread the stuff I simply use the bucket like a big spatula and kind of gorp it around.
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As you may recall, we had some winter out here just as I returned home from visiting Ontario. Warren sent in some pictures they took of clearing the snow from their yard. They give a good indication of how snowfalls here can be and what it is like up at his place, nestled in the mountains. Winter Snow.
And while we were having sunshine the last couple of days, they had some snow flurries and even some accumulation in parts of the Vancouver area. They thought that they were having a blizzard, heck, some areas got a couple of inches of the stuff. The whole city went into panic mode and shut itself down.
doug
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Hi Everyone,
I'm doing the MS Society's Supercities Walk to raise money for MS. I can be sponsored online, if anyone is interested.
To sponsor me go to http://www.mssociety.ca/en/=20
Then to ' Supercities Walk for MS '
Then to 'Pledge a Walker'
Then enter my name, Beth Lowry, in the search box and click 'search'
Beside my name click on 'click here'
Then 'make a donation now'
Then fill out the form
Also, if someone doesn't want to sponsor me online, they can send me a cheque addressed to the MS Society Supercities Walk.
Thanks so much!
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I'm sitting here on a Sunday morning feeling a bit melancholy. Ya see, the local auto recycler has come to take my old '88 Chevy half ton away and with it goes a lot of old, fond memories.
I bought her brand spankin' new in the fall of 1987. It was the ' new look ' for Chevy trucks. I remember the salesman literally rolling out the red carpet as he assured me, " she'll take anything you can dish out." Did he know who he was talking to ?? !! My first haul with her was to the Cape Breton coal mines for some blacksmithing coal. Can you imagine me pulling into that black sooty yard with my shiny, candy - apple red half ton! Before I could even get out of the truck, I had a crowd of grubby, curious coal miners bombarding me with envious comments about her style. My brother Ward had helped me customize her for hauling long logs. I could chain bind three 28 foot long logs with no problems in transporting, short of grinding off six inches or so. In those days we lived a homesteaders style of life and the 4X4 was a welcome addition to the workhorse.
Then there was the 1990 trip west from coast to coast. I spent many a night sleeping on her bed, dreaming of a new life to come, in B.C. I traveled the Caribou and Coastal Mountain regions in search of an ideal place to re-settle my family. On the West Coast she took on a new image from 'Tall Timber Log Homes' to 'Coastal Cedar Creations'. I added medallion style logos to her doors and a 'wildwood headache rack' to her box with a new, Cumberland green paint job. This gave her both an artistic and official look that dared any authority. " Back off !"
There wasn't as single day that the 'old girl' wasn't used for something.
She would have given me 19 years of rugged, steadfast service come this fall. There's hardly a single logging road ( including semi-deactivated ) that she hasn't low ranged her way up within the Squamish Forest District. Many of those roads today are impassable due to Forestry re-slope stabilization, allowing nature to reclaim any access to these areas. I would have to say her 'glory years' were the 90's. Since the millennium it has been a costly struggle to keep her roadworthy. I figure I must have spent as much money rebuilding her in these last 5 years as I originally paid for her brand new. What is it that made me decide to finally let her go? ** Was it the look on Doug's face as he headed for cover whenever I approached him with 'old faithful?' ** Or the loud, groaning voice that would bellow out of her when diagonally crossing a ditch? ** Or could it be the feeling that the rear half-of-her might dislodge when climbing steep terrain? As a matter of fact, one day, tired of listening to her belly-ache, I pulled the fan belt shroud out and reshaped it with the chain saw to provide more clearance for the fan blades. That quieted her down for awhile but only made me work her harder again. So yesterday I laid out a tarp in the drive by the shop, drove her onto its centre and began stripping her of any parts that might vaguely fit my new 1998 GMC pickup that I recently purchased from a Whistler Municipal auction. I wish her final resting place, rather than a crusher, could have been on one of those permanently deactivated logging roads where vandals could not reach her......... where she could sit proudly amid old growth forests and snow capped mountains for all eternity. There........I've said my 'peace.'
.....on with the new.
The article including pictures!
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Hello
everyone!
Man are
these weeks flying by! It seems like only yesterday the groundhog was all over
the news and was predicting an early spring. Well, if the weather continues to
be as wet and mild as it’s been this week, the groundhog’s prediction seems
like a winner. I like the thought of having nice warm weather early this year.
Although we’ve had a pretty bearable winter, it’s still nice to be putting it
behind us quickly. I’ve had a lot of fun watching the difference between
Ontario and BC weather and cheering every time the temperature in KW is warmer
than in Squamish! YAY!!!!
Take
that!!!!! Doug! LOL! Our rainy days are few and far between compared to those
of BC. As Doug has mentioned that province “almost” set a record for continuous
days of rainfall this year. What a shame they didn’t quite achieve that goal.
Well, maybe they’ll get lucky and it’ll rain them into a record over the summer
months, who knows! LOL! I really don’t wish that on them since I know how much
Doug, Ryan and Warren enjoy getting out on the motorcycles and exploring that wonderful
mountain range that’s in their back yards. They especially have a great summer
to look forward to this year as they embark on their new hobby of panning for
GOLD in “Them thar hills”! I’ll keep my fingers crossed that they find enough
flakes to make all the effort worthwhile. They certainly have the environment
to support such a past time. Do I sound like I’m jealous? Hmmmmmmm well maybe
just a tad. After all, we’ve got lots to be excited about right here in our own
back yards. Here in Ontario we actually have a choice of roads and highways on
which to drive our cars or ride our motorcycles. We don’t have to resort to
taking to washed out logging roads to find some variety. Here in Ontario there
are actually side roads that run in any direction, crisscrossing throughout the
province. Now I’m not knocking BC because it certainly sounds like a beautiful
province but I’ve spoken to other acquaintances that have either traveled or
lived out there and they all seem to be of the same opinion that BC created
feelings for them of claustrophobia due to the lack of choices of roads to take
to get anywhere. Even Doug has said that very same thing. Although he is quite
happy with the travel choices offered once he’s on his dirt bike. It seems to
me that when one has to shell out $50.00 for a one way trip on a Fairy every
time one runs out of road because they’ve run into a large body of water, one
would tire of driving in that province very quickly. Not to mention that after
taking the fairy to get somewhere, you have to take it again to return home.
This could turn into a very expensive trip every time you go anywhere. I think
I prefer the freedom of rural and urban Ontario after all. I’m a guy that loves
to drive anywhere he feels without having to fork over cash for fairy rides or
pay tolls for the privilege doing so. I don’t think I could handle being as
confined or restricted as the BC highway system would make me feel. I didn’t
mean to turn this into a “Bash BC” write up so I hope Doug will forgive me for
bringing up this one negative aspect of life out there.
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Doug
mentioned when he was here two weeks Ago that Vancouver is way ahead of us when
it comes to spring. He said they have buds and blossoms bursting out all over
the place out there. I’ve even seen pictures of that very happening on the
National news with Lloyd Robertson so it must be true! I got an e-mail from my
cousin who has a friend out in Saanich on Vancouver Island and it included a
picture that his friend had taken this past Monday in Victoria BC. The picture
was of downtown Victoria and included huge trees filled with pink blossoms by
the ton. Also in the picture was a harbor filled with dozens of sailboats with
people working on them getting ready for an afternoon sail. I guess that’s
proof enough that west coasters are enjoying spring long before we here in
central Canada. Of course, it could have been taken last May and I’d never know
the difference. Somehow I think it’s a recent photo and I’m maybe just grasping
at any reason not to be jealous of their early spring! LOL! Since we have our
own first hand witness to the weather and season cycles out west, I guess I’ll
just disregard any thoughts of being tricked by a doctored photo and trust Doug
to tell us the truth. I sure hope he doesn’t feel too guilty enjoying all that
nice spring weather while we’re still waiting for it happen here in Ontario.
Enough
for this week!
Thanks
once again for tuning in. I look forward to talking to you all again next time
in The Ontarion Report.
Bye for now.. GREG.
PS:
Something To Think About>
Autumn
arrives in the early morning, but Spring at the close of a Winter day.
Elizabeth
Bowen
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Editor’s Rebuttal: With highways as scenic as they are in BC, no one needs an endless crisscross of dull, uninspired roads such as the ones Greg likes to drive along. I would also like to point out that while some out here in Lotus Land may indeed like to ride on the occasional fairy, most prefer to ride on the ferry.
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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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