The Squamidian Report – March 24 / 07
Issue # 252
Also in this issue:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Winter may be over, but there are still lots of eagles around. I guess these ones are the resident birds, the ones that stay all year round. One morning this week I happened to look up toward the west side of the valley and saw dozens of them soaring higher and higher. They seem to like to circle in a big group as they climb. They continue to circle as they move north up the valley and off to where ever it is they go during the day. They tend to roost along the river at night, over by the eagle-viewing place, which is kind of handy when you think about it.
But not all of them head up the valley. A few tend to stay and circle high over the town. Perhaps they are the ones that have developed a taste for domestic pets instead of wild dead fish. Can’t blame ‘em. A little poodle or a house cat would be easy pickin’s. Little ‘Sparky’ wouldn’t stand a chance against those long sharp talons as they swooped down from above.
And yes, winter may be over on the calendar but it is sure hard to tell. This has been one of the wettest and dullest winters (make that ‘rainy seasons’) on record. And March hasn’t really seen any improvement at all. We are closing in on a March rain record and a March ‘lack of sunshine’ record. Keeps the dust down but that’s about the only positive thing to say about the weather. Every once in a long while we get a nice day and it will be incredibly nice. The mountains will glow, the ocean will sparkle and the birds of all kind will be chirping and squawking and honking and making themselves heard.
This winter has been one of the wettest and darkest on record. Pretty well every month since the beginning of November has set a new record for rain, or consecutive days of rain, or lack of sunshine. March is turning out to be another record setter. Somewhere out in the southern western Pacific there must be a big hole where the moisture is all coming from because so much keeps coming that it can’t possibly all flow back in time to re-fill the hole.
The poor little dirt bikes have sat un-used for several months now. Bummer! There just haven’t been any nice weekends at all. By the time the rains finally stop it may well be street biking season and then the dirt bikes will really feel left out. But surely there will be a change and the sky will clear and out we will go, off on some more riding adventures. Lets hope so, before we forget how.
*
Woe is me, I’ve just finished eating the last of the pies my mother made when she was here. It was a raisin pie and it was memorable. And it is gone now, gone forever but never forgotten. Now I have to start plotting and come up with some reason or method of getting her back out here so she can bake some more and re-stock my freezer. I ate most of it myself, savoring it over several days. Both Sue and Ryan had some as well, but it was mostly me. Warren didn’t’ get any of it! But that’s his own fault, he didn’t invite himself.
doug
****
****
Hello
everyone!
It’s
happening, the snow is melting and it looks like we’re heading into spring in a
gentle way. I’m really looking forward to the warm weather this year as I’m
sure most of you are as well. This time of year used to be particularly fun
when we were kids. Walking to and from school as well as just playing outside
was always a fun time. As long as it wasn’t raining out we could play in the
puddles and roadside streams. We called them streams even though they were just
six inch wide one inch deep flows of melting snow running along the gutters at
the roads edges. The best “boat” one could have was the lowly Popsicle Stick.
They would bob and weave through the chunks of ice that dotted the bottom of
the roadside streams and stay pointing in the direction of travel. The biggest
problem was stopping them from dropping into the drain at the corner of the
street. It’s nice to think back to the days when that was the worst thing we
had to worry about. These days with the age of information upon us the kids
know as much about what’s going on (trouble wise) in the world as the adults
do. Experts say this is causing undue mental stress on our children and is not
healthy. I say give a kid a couple of Popsicle sticks and a mild spring day and
they’ll forget all the nasty stressful stuff they see on TV or the internet.
Getting back to basic playthings just might improve the frame of mind of our
kids and lessen the stress they are facing these days. The more they do in the
form of outdoor activities the less they are confronted with the problems of
the grownup world. I say let’s get the kids out playing in the parks and
playgrounds this summer. Getting back to playing with rubber balls, Pogo
sticks, Hula Hoops, skipping ropes, bicycles, roller blades (in my day they
were roller skates) and of all things, stilts just might give the kids a “new”
outlook on life. It’s definitely time to take the pressure off our kids and let
them enjoy their childhood years. Although it may be difficult to convince them
to give up their video game systems I’m sure that once they are exposed to the
playthings that dominated our childhood they’ll at least get some fresh air and
maybe even like participating in the activities of yesteryear. I haven’t been
to a toy store in years but I’m sure these items still exist. It might be
interesting to visit a Toys R Us and check the availability of such toys. I
remember a toy we had as kids that when we were first married was the number
one gift to give new parents for their baby. It was a perfect gift for their
kids first birthday. It was called a “Hammer Toy”. It was in the shape of a
small workbench with round wooden pegs that fit fairly tightly into about a
dozen holes. The idea was to use the wooden hammer that came with it to hammer
these pegs through the workbench top until they were flush with the top. Then
the child would turn the workbench over and hammer the pegs back in the other
direction. It was a never ending process and a lot of fun for the kid. The
problem was that after a few minutes of this, the parents were pulling their
hair out wondering when the kid would tire of this noisy toy. Hahahaaaa….. it
was a wonderful gift to leave with friends. The best part of it was that we
could go home thereby escaping that annoying hammering while leaving the
parents to deal with the screaming brat that wanted to play some more with his
new toy. LOL! The icing on the cake would come when we would meet the same
couple the following weekend at the mall. They’d be pushing their little
darling along in the stroller dressed in his/her nice clean outfit when all of
a sudden “Uncle Greg” would hand the kid a great big double scoop chocolate ice
cream cone. Mmmmmmmm… mmmm……. What a delightful treat that was! What the heck,
there are plenty of stain removers on the market and ….. after all a kid is
only a kid once! Let them enjoy their childhood years making noise and getting
dirty!
Time to
go!
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>
Man who
drive like Hell, bound to get there!
****
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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