The Squamidian Report – Sept. 29 / 07
Issue #279
Also in this issue:
From
the Shores Of Lake Huron
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Well now, we got up last Saturday morning and it wasn’t raining. The weather forecast even said it wouldn’t rain on Sunday either, so Sue and I climbed aboard the Harley and took off. We didn’t have a destination or really any plans at all. We just wanted to do some riding. We did bring sweaters and our warm touring jackets and our toothbrushes. We scooted down the highway to Horseshoe Bay where we figured we would take whichever ferry was leaving next. The ferry for Langdale and Gibson’s had just pulled out so the next one would be heading for Nanaimo and Vancouver Island. The Island is one of my favorite places. While mountainous, it is very different from mainland coastal BC. Parts of the Island were formed somewhere in the south Pacific millions of years ago and migrated northeast until they crashed into the continent. While here on the mainland the predominant rock is granite and lava, much of the Island is limestone and sedimentary type rock. The ‘flavor’ is different; the ‘feel’ is different.
Now, if we were traveling in a car we would have had to wait for the next sailing as this one was full even before the ship got there. However, they don’t make bikes wait. They wave you right to the front of the line. Because they can fit a dozen or more bikes into the nose, they always have room for them. And, they charge just half of what they charge for a car.
We hadn’t been in any particular hurry to get away from Squamish so it was the 12:55 sailing we were on. That put us into Departure Bay at 2:30. There were some dark looking clouds to the south, so we decided to head north, up-island. At highway 4 we turned west. By the time we reached Cathedral Grove it had become a bit chilly so we pulled into the tourist parking area so we could put on our riding chaps. As we were doing that, someone called out my name. I looked up and there was Heather, Nova Scotia Sus’s long lost niece, the woman we met last summer down east. Fancy that, small world. They then took off in their direction, we took off in ours. We continued heading west, climbing over the Alberni pass. It got quite chilly as we went, then warmed as we dropped down the other side. Neat thing, at every river and stream we crossed we could smell the spawning salmon. We didn’t even have to see the stream to know it was there.
In Port Alberni we found a place to stop for dinner, right down on the waterfront. After eating we needed to decide whether to continue on west, out to the west side of the Island, or find somewhere there to spend the night, or ride back over to the east side. It was only 6 PM and there was some heave clouds off to the west, so we did the easy hour ride back over the pass to the east side. We pulled into Qualicum Beach where we found a nice motel on the waterfront with balconies overlooking the Straight of Georgia.
When we got up on Sunday morning, it was bright and sunny, but only 6 degrees. We bundled up and headed on up-island. We stayed on the old Island Highway, 19a as it follows the coast and passes through the small towns and villages. It is slower riding, which is nice when it’s a bit cold out. At Courtenay we stopped for some breakfast. Then we continued north, up to Campbell River. After poking around there for a little while, we jumped onto the new, inland Island Highway and cruised back down to Nanaimo in time for the 2:55 sailing. Again, they were staging cars out onto the roadway where they would have to wait for the next sailing. Again, being on a bike we were waved right to the front of the line. There were already 3 bikes waiting, by the time we were loading there was a dozen bikes. It was like a big biker party, really cool. All the bikes roared onto the ferry together, right to the front. At Horseshoe Bay we all roared off together, right at the front.
An hour later we were home. I just wish we could have kept going. It was really great time and I didn’t want it to end. Oh well, next time we might just keep on going.
I mentioned smelling the salmon. That kind of points out the difference between traveling by bike compared to car. In a car you are enclosed in a metal cocoon, insulated from the surroundings. The scenery goes by outside the windows, you don’t feel or smell the air. The destination tends to be the most important part of the trip. On the other hand, on a bike you are part of the world you are riding through. You feel and smell the air, you are surrounded by the scenery and feel connected to it. On a bike you don’t care about the destination, it just isn’t important. It is the journey that matters. It’s a state of mind, whether you are touring around on a big cruiser, or exploring some backcountry trail on a dirt bike.
doug
****
Greetings everyone.
Well I have sort of been very busy the last couple of weeks building a deck on the rear area of my house. The two-tiered deck is approximately 500 square feet, not directly attached to the house but on sonotube concrete piers. It took about 35 hours to complete I just have the two sets of steps to complete which should happen this week end. I am not in favor of large nail heads or screw heads showing so I nail down the boards with 3 1/2" finishing nails about 47 pounds of them all done with a standard hammer. I then set the heads below the surface and after a rain they all but disappear making the deck very pleasing to the eye. Being it not over 24" off the ground I don't have to put on railings which suits me fine because standard height railing always end up a you eye level when sitting thus blocking the view.
The OHL hockey season began the season last week and last Friday and this Friday the Kitchener Rangers had their first two home games. I have had seasons ticket for around eight years now and enjoy that level of hockey over the high paid NHL players but I must remember these guy are trying to get to that level of the game in the future to. This year Kitchener hosts the Memorial cup, which is great for the team and the city. I have my tickets purchased for those games also.
This past Wednesday there were a lot of temperature records broke as most of southern Ontario reached between 28 and 32 degrees. It was so humid if you got a handful of air you could almost wring it out. Even a motorcycle ride was not cooling or refreshing. This coming Tuesday the fishing club starts to collect our quota of salmon eggs so begins the life cycle of our stocking salmon, in the hatchery for another winter. Well folks it's now 12:38 am and I will sign off for another week so everyone have a safe and happy week.
****
Hello
everyone!
Well,
it’s been an interesting and exciting couple of weeks around the Payne
household. With the fall setting in, the rodents of the nearby fields are
starting to look for a place to spend their winter. Unfortunately mice don’t
have the option of wintering in Palm Beach Florida. Consequently they are
making their invasion effort into our nooks and crannies. Carole noticed about
a week and a half ago that there were a couple of pieces of mouse poop on the
end table of our couch in the family room. Immediately I set out a few traps
loaded with peanut butter to stop these little buggers before they get a chance
to triple in population. The traps were set for three different nights and each
morning I would find them licked clean and still in the loaded position. The
sneaky creatures were able to clean them off without setting them off. So, off
to the Home Depot I went to try to find a “better” mouse trap. I purchased a
couple of two packs of “Sticky” traps that are already baited and when the
mouse steps on them they are stuck to the trap for good! I placed them
strategically around the house and watched them for another 4 days. After all
that time, NOTHING! Just more poop! Adam mentioned that this type of trap was a
tad cruel. The little guys would only starve to death stuck in the good by
their feet. I said “So what!” they’re only mice! However after thinking it
over, I decided he was right. At least with the spring type traps they are
finished off quickly and permanently. So once more, off I went to HD to try
again. With a little more searching of their rodent management section, I found
a set of traps that catch the stinkers live and then you can release them in
the wild or do whatever you see fit to expel them from your home. I bought two
of these devices and loaded them with a tiny smear of peanut butter as per the
instructions on the wrapper. They are about 4” long and are about 1”x1” square.
One end is open with a trap door that falls shut when the mouse ventures inside
and walks to the back end of the box to eat the peanut butter. The traps have a
ridge across the center of the bottom that makes them sit up off the floor at
the back end. Once the mouse walks to the back of the trap, it tilts back like
a teeter totter and the door at the entrance drops shut and locks. You simply
pick the trap up and take the whole thing outside and let the rodent go or
(stomp on the little bastards head!) whichever you see fit! So far, we’ve
managed to catch 5 of the intruders in the past 3 nights since we first placed
the traps out. We have no way of knowing how many are living in the house but
hopefully we’ll get ‘em all soon. Peanut butter is cheap and easy to use so
I’ll just keep on setting the traps until we go mouse free for a reasonable
period of time. In fact, I wouldn’t hurt to just have them set all year long
just in case! That’s probably what we’ll do. I figure maybe I’ll go to HD and
pick up another couple traps for the basement area. I’m sure they don’t
restrict their movements to only one floor of the house. We’ve been releasing these
guys (or gals) across the hydro right of way next to a small grove of pine
trees. I hope they stay over there and start their colony away from our place.
I’m sure they’ll find lots to eat among the pine needles to hold them over for
the winter. If not, at least they’ll be a lot closer to that nice back split
across the way. I’m sure they’ll find a way in through that guy’s garage since
I’ve noticed the rubber seal on the bottom of his door is half torn away. Good
luck to both he and the mice! LOL! I
wonder how we’d go about attracting a nice little hawk to inhabit the half acre
of bush and small trees that’s in the center of the Hydro right of way out
back? They would certainly have enough to eat with all those mice out there. Guess I’ll just have to leave that up to
Mother Nature. For now we’ll just keep trapping them and movin’ them out to
parts over yonder and of course spend this Saturday sealing up any and all
holes in the house that might be giving them access. No point in leaving the
door open!
Gotta go
for now!
Thanks
for tuning in and I look forward to talking to you all again next week in The
Ontario Report.
Bye for now… Greg.
PS:
Something To Think About>
Mice can
produce litters of 5 to 10 young every 21 days. That makes one mother capable
of amassing a family of up to 175 babies per year. WOW!
****
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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