The Squamidian Report – Feb. 28 / 09
Issue #353
Including:
‘Two Wolves’ from Russ & Barb
From The Shores Of Lake Huron
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Something Warren and Janice have been enjoying this winter is getting out on their ATV and exploring the logging roads and trails in the backcountry. One reason is, they can… they have a top-of-the-line machine that takes them almost where ever they want to go. A couple of winters ago we were traveling these same areas on our dirt bikes. The difference is, the snow line level. We have been having the same beautiful clear days throughout January and February that we had then, but the temperature has been about 10 degrees colder. So all that snow that came down over New Years has stayed in place in the valley bottoms and not melted away. When we were out biking we had free range of the mountains right up to the 4500 ft level. This year the logging mains through the valley bottoms are still plugged, not at all rideable on bikes.
However, because the snowmobiles have packed the snow on the trails into a nice hard surface, they can go scooting along just fine so long as they don’t need to climb back up some steep slope after the sun has had a chance to soften the surface. Warren has a solution for that condition in the works and hopefully he will tell you all about it. In the mean time, I’ll tell you about a quad ride I went on with him that took us up into the Garibaldi area to just below Brohm Ridge.
We off-loaded at the highway near Cat Lake just like we would have with the dirt bikes. Their quad is quite comfortable for two-up riding. Away we went. As I’ve said, the snowmobiles have the trails packed down nicely and the quad floats along over the hard snow quite well on its soft tires. As the trail climbed, the air became noticeably cooler but we were warmly bundled up. There were steep climbs where all 4 wheels were digging a bit but as long as we stayed on the packed snow the machine just kept on going. I’d hate to see what would happen if it got off into the soft stuff. Probably take a bit of digging to get her back out. It was interesting going up there in the winter, into areas that I’ve been to in the summer. It looked both the same and very different. Snow tends to soften the terrain and hide all the rocks and downed logs giving the mountainside a softened look.
We couldn’t get all the way to Brohm because we would have needed to descend a very steep grade that would have been impossible to drive back up. We parked and dawned snowshoes so we could wander around a bit through the trees. They carry along a couple of pairs of those really cool high-tech snowshoes that are much easier to use than the old big heavy wooden ones of bygone days. There are snowmobile tracks all over the place up on the mountains. Those guys seem to try riding anywhere that there is snow, like straight up the sides of snow-covered scree slopes to as high as they can get before they have to swing back down to avoid going over backward. I took some pictures and you can see them at this link if you are interested.
http://www.thedougsite.net/Brohm%20Ridge/quading1.htm
*
Just when the west coast was starting to think that spring had arrived, winter smacked us right across the head. All of a sudden there was an Arctic Front colliding with some moist Pacific air and the resultant weather left a mess of snow and ice. Along the Trans Canada highway through the Frazer Valley they had blizzard conditions. Every mile of highway had about a dozen cars and or trucks in the ditch, many on their roofs. Everything had turned to ice. Some parts of Vancouver Island received a foot and a half of snow, other parts almost nothing. Vancouver just got a dusting. Whistler got a foot or so. They are the ones who need it.
Normally, when it snows around here it turns to rain before the storm is over and washes itself away. This time it started as rain and then turned to snow. Then it flash froze. Here in Squamish we only got about an inch or so even though we were forecast to get over a foot. When it froze, everything turned to ice. The Highlands where we live were cut off from the valley for a short while when the salt truck could not get up the hills. He had to go back and put his tire chains on before the truck could make it. I even had to cut my morning walk short the next day. Even though the streets had finally been sanded and salted, it was just too slippery to be out on foot. I’m way too old to chance a slip and fall. Ever notice that once you are ‘middle aged’, you no longer bounce when you fall, you just splat like a watermelon.
doug
****
Two Wolves
One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on
inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two
"wolves" inside us all.
One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance,
self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and
ego.
The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness,
benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather:
"Which wolf wins?"
The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."
****
From The Shores Of Lake Huron
Greetings Everyone.
It's a frosty cold morning here in Port Elgin according to my thermometer it's minus 18 C. Just yesterday we had upwards of plus 8 to 10 C. It makes you wonder if winter is ever going to end. Last Sat. morning we put away the egg trays at the hatchery until next fall. There were about 6 guys there helping so it only took about and hour to clean and put them away. I was also asked to maybe learn how to weigh the fish and calculate the amount of food required as needed. There are only two guys right now who do this so I said I would gladly do that aspect of the hatchery too.
It is a very interesting process and when I get to know a little more about it I will enlighten everyone on the process as I have only had one chance to help so far. I help out again tomorrow so that will likely give all that I need to maybe start doing the process. Anyway I have a lot to do today so I will sign off for now and catch you all later.
****
Hello
everyone!
I was out
for a drive to run some errands today and I spotted three motorcycles cruising
down Victoria St. It was kind of like spotting the first Robin of spring. It
boosted my spirit instantly! Funny how something like that can change your mood
so quickly. Needless to say I’m looking forward to spring and the riding season
more than ever now. I have a set of knobby tires off my old Suzuki DR650 in my
garage. I had placed an ad to sell the tires about a year ago after I traded
that bike in on my new one. The ad was in Kijiji, an internet site for selling
odds and ends. Kijiji I think is right across Canada. I had forgotten about
placing the ad and don’t recall renewing it. However, I received an e-mail the
other day that simply read “How about $90.00 for those knobby tires?” It took a
minute after I read the e-mail to sink in as to what tires it was relating to.
When I realized where it had come from (my Kijiji ad) I sat down and replied to
the sender. I had asked $150.00 for the pair but had pretty well resigned
myself to the fact that I’d be stuck with the tires since I hadn’t had even one
inquiry about them. I told him that if he was willing to come here and pick the
tires up, he could have them for the $90.00 he offered. He wrote back telling
me he’d phone me this weekend and make arrangements to come get them. So I
guess now all I can do is sit and wait for his call. It would be nice to have
them out of my garage and back in the hands of someone that can make use of
them. Plus, it would give me a little more room to store more STUFF in my
garage. Maybe this spring will be the time to start recycling some more of my
“collectables”! LOL!
I know I
say this every spring but somewhere along the line one has to purge themselves
of the hordes of collected STUFF that looms in the shadows of their basement
and garage. Maybe this year will be the year!
I am
looking forward to getting out in the garage when the weather warms up and back
to tinkering with my motorcycle. I have a lovely new set of engine guards that
Carole gave me for Christmas for my motorcycle and that’s my first spring
project to install them on the bike. I can hardly wait to see how they look.
They will also accommodate the mounting of a set of “highway” foot pegs so I
can stretch my legs forward when on a long ride. I’m really looking forward to
having them as an alternative resting place for my feet this year. It should
make for a more relaxing position when riding long distances. The original
position is ok for an hour or two but then it’ll be nice to have a choice.
Changing positions of one’s legs when on a longer ride helps to get the kinks
out just like being able to move your legs around when riding in a car. I’m
looking forward to the change!
*
Speaking
of change, Ontario has enacted a change in atmosphere for children that finally
makes a lot of sense. They have made it illegal for anyone to smoke in their
vehicle when they have children under the age of 18 riding along with them.
This is a concerted effort to prevent children from being exposed to second
hand smoke. What a leap forward this is for the future health of our children!
I remember back when we were kids, my parents were both smokers. My dad always
had a Buick of one model or another and it didn’t take long for he and my mum
to light up a smoke when we were going anywhere as a family. He of course was
the owner of the vehicle and the driver so only when he said it was ok to do so
could we open a window. Most times the only window that was open in the car was
one of the little “no drafts” on either one of the front doors. This wasn’t
enough ventilation to clear the smoke out of the cabin because we usually
weren’t going fast enough to create a breeze. We hated the smoke we were forced
to breathe when we were kids but had no say in the matter. It’s unthinkable to
have anyone smoke in our car and always has been. When I see people with their
kids locked up and riding in a cloud of smoke in the family car it brings back
memories of my childhood smoky car days. I’m happy to see that the gov’t has
made a law against this foul habit for the benefit of children in Ontario. I
hope it becomes law nation wide real soon! Sheesh, when I think about it,
living with two smoking parents that had a “non filter” Export or Player’s
cigarette hanging out of their lips most waking hours of every day I find it
hard to believe all three of us kids have lived this long. Our exposure to
second hand smoke was one of the most severe cases I can think of and looking
back on those days we must have smelled like walking ashtrays when we were
kids. What a disgusting thought! I know how I feel when I pass someone in a
store or somewhere that smells of smoke. It makes me literally gag when I catch
a whiff of them walking by. I am a real critic of smoking and will not stop my
criticism for anyone’s sake until smoking is banned altogether.
There are
still so many instances where we are still exposed to others second hand smoke
and the only way to stop it is to make smoking illegal everywhere! I hate
walking out the door of any store and walking into a mouthful of smoke that
someone has just exhaled. Even the mere thought of that makes me puke! Hell,
there have been many times when we are driving on a highway at 100km/hr and
some jerk 5 cars ahead of us opens his window and blows his smoke out just
timed perfectly to have it blow back in my driver’s window and into my face!
Hard to believe but entirely true and just as disgusting and having the smoker
sitting next to me in a restaurant in the old “smoking section” days.
Let’s
keep our fingers crossed that smoking will become less and less popular until
it’s a thing of the past! Our health care bills would most certainly be cut by
a large percentage if we could do away with this unhealthy habit for good. I
congratulate our provincial government for taking a big step toward better
health for our children with the enactment of this new law. I look forward to
the day when we are smoke free completely. I doubt however I will see that come
to reality in my time! However, I applaud even the “one step at a time” process
that’s taking place in our society and can only hope for many more steps in the
near future.
That’s it
for this week folks!
Thanks
for tuning in and I look forward to talking to you all again next week in The
Ontarion Report!
Bye for now.. Greg.
PS:
Something To Think About>
Sometimes
I think if it weren’t for stress, I’d have no energy at all!
****
Have a good one..
the doug
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