The Squamidian Report – July 17 / 10
 
Issue #425 
Including:
Note from Al
Our Week from Carol
Note from Vivyan
The Ontarion
 
Note From Al
 
Hi All,
 
Doug is still on the road so we are sending out his weekly for him.  Doug called at 7:05 PM Friday from Columbus, Missouri.  There isn’t internet access at the place they are spending the night nor was there a computer in Kentucky on Thursday.  That means the Squamidian is coming to you from Kitchener without any contribution from Doug (but if he manages to send anything during the week we will pass it on to you.
 
Doug did say that in contrast to the cold at the beginning of the trip it is now sweltering hot, 100° F.  The thing is we are having the same weather here in Kitchener.  We have run the a/c consistently for 2 weeks.  Last year we had it on just twice!  I thank God every evening that I am no longer in the tire factory.  If it was still operating I’m sure Michelin would be saying a little prayer of gratitude that I wasn’t there anymore also.  Even Mellow (our cat) didn’t want to stay outside while I was barbequing.
 
I am going to Lorne’s tomorrow (Saturday) to help move the wood from a maple tree the city cut down for safety purposes.  There is wood everywhere if any of you would like to come and help split it you are more then welcome.  Lorne told me when I retired I would have no spare time, how true.  Between his place, the church (Stewards & property), condo (board of directors). Mom’s house in Wiarton and our own place I’m busy!  Still it’s good to have the health, a good woman and be able to enjoy it.  I buried two 44 year old friends (they were co-workers and ball team mates) in the last month.  It makes you stop and appreciate being alive.
 
Take care and be good to each other!
Al
****
 
A Note From Vivyan
 
Hi,
 
It was great to have Doug & Sue around for a bit last week but the time went by so fast.
 
We went with Carol to pick blueberries on Thursday.  Lorne and Carol picked into containers.  The baby and I picked into our mouths.  She soon learned the ones that were good to eat.  She is easy to take along being very well behaved and she fell asleep on the way home.
 
We have been having a real summer lately.  I enjoy the heat so I am not complaining.  We had our first fresh peas out of the garden.  They taste so good when they are picked fresh.  This year the lawns are nice and green since we have had enough rain.  The evenings are great to sit on our west deck as the leaves are big and full.  Lorne is busy working away in his garden.
 
It was great to have a phone call from Ryan this week calling from South Africa.  He has phoned us from places in Europe before.  I really hope he writes about these trips touring with Bryan Adams when he is back in Canada.
 
Enjoy the rest of your summer everyone.
 
Vivyan
****
 
Our Week
 
Doug and Sue were allegedly in the Kitchener area for 3 nights.  I know because we saw Gary who met up with them in Winnipeg and was taking off with them and the Kibblers for a few more days of Harley travel heading south.  Actually Al, the boys and I went to Niagara Falls last Sunday and came back the evening before they departed again.  This was our first trip back to the Falls since Al’s Dad’s memorial service.  Al took the opportunity to pick up his Dad’s medals which a friend from the Legion had mounted them in a frame for him.  He spent several hours at the Legion listening to friends of his father reminiscing about Don and telling him stories he hadn’t heard before.  The boys and I enjoyed a trip on “The Maid Of The Mist” which takes you as close as possible to the foot of the Falls.  All of us enjoyed the Sunday night fireworks and illumination; also we mostly had the motel pool to ourselves.  Nick tells me that since we have been to Niagara Falls so often and because it isn’t the same without Papa Duck that maybe Papa (Al) should take us to one of those resorts in someplace like Cuba in the winter or to the Grand Canyon.  I like the way he thinks, now if he could just come up with a way to pay for the trip….
 
This has certainly been a bumper year for crops, thus far.  Strawberries, raspberries, cherries, blueberries have all been early and plentiful.  Gary tells me that he and Doug even picked wild blueberries in Northern Ontario and that the first hay crop was off the fields near Owen Sound in June already.  Our tomato plants have turned our backyard into a jungle they are so overgrown.  I’m afraid that we will be lamenting over the fact Nathan will be eating our first ripe tomatoes while we are in Nova Scotia.  We have all enjoyed showing Vivvy that food comes from plants.  It started with the first blackberries growing at the homestead.  She didn’t want to try them at first but once she did there was no stopping her.  She heads to the raspberry patch when we go to Grandma & Grandpa B’s place and starts picking – into her mouth.  She had her first peas right out of the shell this week and loved them also.  The parents, Vivvy and I went blueberry picking at our favourite pick-your-own patch near Cathcart (south of Drumbo) early Thursday morning.  Vivienne loved picking blueberries.  We had to keep reminding her to pick the blue ones, not the green ones and she soon discovered that it was even easier to pick out of my pail.  There are little flags along the rows of plants to indicate where the last person finished picking.  You are supposed to start picking there and then move the flag to where you finish.  Vivvy was enjoying running up and down the row and weaving under the plants to the next row.  We weren’t worried about her because we could hear her.  Our problem was that she reappeared carrying 3 flags and we couldn’t figure out where they were to go.  She was not happy about leaving the flags behind.  On the way back to Kitchener we stopped at a farm we know near Washington (a crossroads this side of Platsville) for Dad to pick up some farm fresh double yolk eggs.  Some of them were the size of goose eggs!  I pity the poor chicken pushing those out.  We are lucky to live in an area with such easy access to farm produce and farmers’ markets.
 
Carol
****
 
THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!

Well, I got a phone call at 9pm Sunday July 11 and it was Doug. He was calling just to let me know that they had arrived in Maryhill at approximately 7pm. They had decided to ride around the top of Georgian Bay instead of taking the “Che Che Man”.  I picked Doug up out at Paul and Sherry’s house on Monday morning at 9am and we went out for our usual breakfast gabfest at where else, The Country Boy restaurant on Manitou Dr. We like the food and the atmosphere there and the place has become a habit for us! LOL! After yakking for an hour or more we took a drive around the city. I know that Doug hasn’t seen much of this place for a while so it’s always nice to take a little tour. We stopped in at Zdeno’s Cycle shop out on Victoria St but it was closed. I guess they close on Mondays for the summer. From there we went up to a couple of bike shops in Waterloo and looked at bikes and accessories. This is our usual thing to do when he’s in town. Guys never seem to get tired of looking at bikes when they’re of interest. The weather was a tad wet otherwise we’d probably have been out on the motorcycles instead of my Jeep.  After a bit of a tour and another stop for coffee and a snack I drove Doug back out to Paul’s place and we spent another half hour talking bikes out in Paul’s garage with Paul.  Then we sat on Paul’s deck overlooking the lovely countryside behind their house and talking for another hour.  Finally Doug mentioned that he wanted to ride over to the Brubacher homestead and visit his mum and dad.  So, he hopped on his bike and I followed him back into town in my Jeep.  I managed to take a few pictures of him riding “Big Blue” his new Harley and I’ll send them to him once he’s back home in Squamish so he can post them for you all to see.  For some reason he seems to fit just right on that Harley.  I guess it’s that fuzzy chinned “Biker” look he sports that makes him seem right at home on a Hog!  Hahahaa. I never figured him for a Harley rider but now that he’s got one it suits him to a T!  When we reached the intersection of Ottawa and Lackner Blvd we separated and that was the last I saw of he and “Big Blue”. I managed to phone him on Tuesday morning around 9am just before he and Sue and the Kibbler’s mounted up for their ride south into the states.  They were going to ride south together for a while and then go their separate ways.  I think Paul and Sherry wanted to head toward the east coast and of course Doug and Sue would head west for home.  I sure hope they had better weather than they had experienced on the way to KW from BC.  According to Doug they were just on the leading edge of thunder storms all the way from BC to Ontario.  That’s not a nice feeling when you’re on a bike. It would of course be much more enjoyable to have clear sunny weather when on a ride of such length but that’s just something you have no control over.  From what I’ve seen watching the national weather on TV for the past night or so, they seem to be heading into better weather in the north central States, at least for a few days yet.  I hope they manage to dodge any heavy rain and thunderstorms on the way home.  It’s kind of discouraging when you have to drive in mainly wet weather.  I guess it’s to be expected when on a bike trip that it may rain a day or two out of your holiday but when the threat is there every day it’s not fun!
I guess we’ll know when we read Doug’s column this weekend!
I sure hope things are going well for them so Sue can enjoy the view from the rear! I hope they’re taking lots of pictures to share with us in future Squamidians!
Well, 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>
Junk is something you’ve kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it!
 
PPS: Oh yeh, I almost forgot. I mentioned last week that you should move your vehicles to a safe distance when you’re about to “Whipper Snip” your driveway. The reason I say that is because our Jeep was the recipient of a stone thrown from a weed eater while Adam was whipper snipping his driveway last week. It managed to turn my driver’s door window into a mound of crunchy green crystals on the driveway in about a millisecond! So for sure, the next time I am weed eating I’ll be sure to remember to move the vehicles out of range! It was a quick way to relieve the bank account of $200.00 and most certainly was avoidable!
Oh well, live and learn I always say!
****
 
Have a good one..
the doug
http://www.thedougsite.net
The Fine Print!
The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them and should be respected as such.