The Squamidian Report – Feb. 24 / 07
Issue #248
Also in this issue:
A Word From Lorne
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Occasionally a person will find himself, or herself, in need of a specialized tool. When that happens, you can try to do without and end up screwing up what you are trying to do, or you can borrow or rent the tool. One other option is to purchase the tool. That way, if you ever have need for it again, you already have it. This has happened to me many times throughout the years and whenever possible, I have simple purchased what I needed. That’s how you end up with a garage full of stuff. That’s why I have a table saw and a compound miter saw and a reciprocating saw and numerous cordless tools and a garage floor creeper and a rotor tiller and a leaf shredder and so on.
One of my tools is also a chainsaw. Just a small 18-inch Echo that I picked up at Home Depot about 7 or 8 years ago. At that time we had a big old double trunked catalpa tree that was close beside the old house on Hidden Valley and gave out right at ground level. One trunk section leaned into the chestnut tree, the other fell along the house wall. It didn’t make sense to borrow or rent a saw, as I was sure I could always use one again at some point in the future. So I bought the chainsaw and dismantled the tree. The saw didn’t get much use after that but when it was needed it was always handy and ready to go to work.
Until last weekend the saw had only been used once since we moved here 5 years ago. I now needed to take down a scrubby pine bush that was crowding out part of the front flowerbed so out came the saw. I needed to pick up some gas for it and mix in some 2-stroke oil that I bummed from Warren, but after a couple of pulls away it went. After all these years of sitting in its storage box it still starts and runs like a charm. It proved my notion that if you need something, get one of half decent quality and it will be there ready to work when you are. Just thought you’d like to know.
*
So I picked up Lorne and Vivyan and Cindy at YVR on Wednesday. I got to the airport early as I had factored extra time into the drive. With all the construction along the highway and then city traffic, extra time is just a fact of life. But there were no holdups at all and I only hit about 2 red traffic lights along the way so I made it with oodles of time to spare. Their flight was running a bit late but that was fine. Its always fun to stroll the length of the terminal building watching the people come and go.
Once we collected their luggage we headed for home. On the way we tried to stop at Sue’s branch but there was no parking available so we continued on. We stopped at the restaurant across form Shannon Falls for a late lunch and then finished the drive and pulled into our garage about 3pm our time. The visitors had been up since before 4am Ontario time so it had been a long day of travel for them and all they really wanted was a quiet relaxed evening. Because they are on Ontario time, they were ready to get up about 3am our time Thursday morning but they managed to behave themselves and let us finish sleeping. The highlight of Thursday morning for them was watching the garbage truck go by. Our trucks here use a self-loading system and it is kind of interesting to watch, once.
However, I couldn’t amuse them all week by watching the garbage trucks, so I took the time they are here off work so I could find other things for them to do.
doug
****
Our trip to Squamidian was OK but tiring, having left ¾ hours late out of Hamilton, changing aircraft at Calgary then hopping across the mountains to Vancouver. Doug met us at the airport and we headed north on the Sea to Sky highway to Squamish.
Next day, Thursday, Doug took us along the Spit, a long narrow strip of land extending south out into Howe Sound, separating the salt water of the Sound and the fresh water of the Squamish River. Then north along the river basin Eagle watching until we ran out of passable road. A fresh snowfall left us here with about 3cm at this elevation while down town probably had some rain and as we followed the river up stream we encountered more snow again. This afternoon he attempted to drive us up to Garibaldi Park lookout and as we climbed we came though more snow. The grader had been through, but the road became less navigable until we could no longer climb. We couldn’t turn around on the single track lane so had to back down 2 plus kilometers until we found a place to turn around. There is about 1 ft of fresh snow up there.
Now we are safely back ‘home’ making plans to eat breakfast Friday morning in Whistler.
To be continued….
PS.. Regarding the journey up to Garibaldi Lookout, the road is cut into the side of the rock most of the way and become poorer and narrower with an increasing amount of snow as we climb. There are no guard rails and drops are perhaps as much as 1000 ft but trees would stop a car somewhere on the way down.
Because we had to back down the first part, Doug put the car into neutral and applied the brakes for control. That was Thursday and today (Friday) we did go to Whistler for brunch then walked around the shops.
This evening we attended a performance downtown by the Brubacher cousins, Doug and Warren. Was nice to hear those familiar ‘down east’ songs.
To be continued…
****
Hello
everyone!
I’d like
to extend a special hello to Lorne, Vivyan and Cindy who are out in BC at Doug
and Sue’s place for a visit. I hope you guys are having fun out there in the
wilds of western Canada! I just got a note from Doug on Friday telling me that
he had to wheel out his snow blower in the morning to clear the show from the
driveway so he could get the car out to take their guests out for breakfast. If
they wanted to be trudging their way through snow, they might as well have
stayed here in Ontario! LOL! At least out there, they’ll be able to walk in
clear warm sunshine within 24 hours of Fridays snowfall if all goes according
to Hoyle. Doug says they have snow one day and warm sunny breezes the next. I
guess no matter where you are in Canada, you can expect the unexpected when it
comes to weather. I’m sure that no matter what the weather is like while
they’re out west, they’ll have a wonderful time visiting. I look forward to
Vivyan writing to The Squamidian about their trip after they get home. I know
Doug will probably do some writing about the experience but to hear it from
Vivyan will give us a different perspective. Anyway, Vivyan, Lorne and Cindy….
Have a fun trip and tell us all about it when you get back!
*
With our
winter having been as short as it was I still look forward to the coming of
spring. For some reason with all the hooplaw on the news and in the papers
about the climate changes across Canada and the rest of the world, I want more
than ever for the warm weather to arrive this year. I guess it’ll just seem
like things are back to normal once the sunshine is back and everything’s green
again. Besides, there’s more stuff one can do outdoors when you don’t have to
wear tons of clothes or haul special equipment around. Nothing wrong with
skiing or any other outdoor winter activity, it’s just that they’re not my cup
‘o tea!
*
As I sat
down about 15 minutes ago to start writing this weeks report, I suddenly heard
Adam call me to “Get down here quick Dad”! I jumped from my chair at the
keyboard thinking something was wrong or on fire or whatever else normally pops
in to ones mind when one hears those words! I raced down the stairs to find
Adam at the desk in the hallway hurriedly putting his lens on his camera. As I
passed him, he said Shhhhhhhhhhhh……don’t make a noise but go look out the
kitchen window at the new bird feeder I just put out back. As I approached the
window to join Carole who was already looking out she explained that there was
a huge hawk sitting on the snow bank next to the feeder. I guess he spotted an
ideal place to sit and wait for his dinner to arrive. Adam had just finished
putting a new multi level feeder together and had mounted it on one of those
large black garden hooks made for such a purpose. We had had a small feeder
there but it was in sad repair and so he replaced it with the new one. Seconds
after he came back in the house, the birds were flitting around the seed filled
feeder. Carole and Adam were both shocked to see moments later, a large hawk
swoop in from over the neighbour’s fence. It scared all the birds away for the
moment but he had enough patience to sit still until another unsuspecting
sparrow tried to land for a meal. I arrived just as the sparrow dropped into
the scene. The little guy suddenly realized that the large brown feathered
creature sitting on the snow wasn’t one of those fake owls and he headed for
the relative safety of the lilac tree a few feet away. The tree is trimmed in
the shape of about a 3’ diameter ball with no leaves on it of course. It stands
about 6’ tall. The hawk could see the little guy in there but was unable to
reach him through the tightly spaced branches. When he had a chance, the
sparrow darted out of the tree and over the fence into the neighbour’s yard with the hawk in hot pursuit. That was
the last we saw of either of the birds and it all happened so quickly that Adam
didn’t have a chance to take any pictures. I think he’s still sitting in his
“Duck Blind” (kitchen) awaiting the return of the Hawk for another chance at
supper. None of us had ever seen or even imagined something like this happening
before. We were all shocked to see such a large bird being that bold. Adam said
that he could just imagine all the buzz that was going on among the flocks of
little birds out back on the Hydro right of way after this happened. They’d be
saying such things as “Hey did you hear about Tweety almost getting eaten by
that pesky Hawk in the back yard of the corner house?” “Ya, stay the hell away
from house number 223 if you don’t want to be lunch for that damned Red Tail!”
“I think I’m gonna go hang around the fish and chip joint up at the plaza and
wait for some sloppy human to toss out the remains of his junk food!” Well, who
knows what the birds really say to each other? We can only imagine what they
actually think of say to each other but it’s for sure that they do communicate
in a hurry when there’s danger in the air, or on the feeder whichever the case
may be. I think that Hawk will be dining on whatever mice he can find along the
Hydro right of way. The birds are too well informed to let him have another
chance at eating one of them for tonight!
*
Doug and
I were talking last week about different ways of coming up with a topic to
write about every week. We both agreed that it is sometimes difficult to do so
week after week but there’s always something that tweaks our interest. I told
him that I rarely plan in advance what I’m going to write about each week. I
said I just sit at the keyboard and write about whatever pops into my head at
the time. I guess I got lucky this week. It might have been a little more
exciting had the Hawk managed to snag one of those speedy little sparrows. Oh
well, at least my story didn’t turn into a “Murder of the Week” column. It was
more of an “Adventure” with a happy ending and everybody loves a happy ending
don’t they?!!!
*
That’s it
for this week!
Thanks
for tuning in and I look forward to talking to you all again next time in The
Ontarion Report.
Bye for now… Greg.
PS:
Something To Think About>
It
doesn’t matter how big your pecker is but how fast you are if you want to use
it!
****
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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