The
Squamidian Report – June 19 / 10
Issue
#421
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Ok, first off I need to share my ‘bottle trick’ with any of you how
might find yourself flying at some point in the future. I came across
it by accident but it works quite well. You know how annoying it is
when you are stuck in some cramped passenger plane seat and the jerk in
front of you ram’s their seat back to it’s reclined position… sending
what ever is on your tray flying and jamming your tray into your rib
cage, well, the bottle trick nicely reduces how far that seat can come
back. All you need is to purchase a bottle of water or pop in the
standard 591ml plastic bottle size and then place it on your tray, in
that small cup holder circle. When the seat in front of you starts to
come back the edge of the plastic section of seat (at least a Westjet
seat) that holds the tiny TV screen jams onto the top of the bottle and
the seat can not come any further. It is about 1/3 reclined but that’s
it, no further and that my friends sure beats having it shoved right
into your face.
And speaking of flying where my bottle trick again proved very useful,
we made it home safe and sound. My flight out of KW required going
through YKF’s Mickey Mouse security system that takes so long to
process people that the plane was held up for half an hour. They plod
along so slow and check every single item so closely that passengers
would have to start arriving the day before in order to get everyone
though on time. Anyway, we took off and flew out to the west at a
wonderfully low altitude. I’d guess we stayed below ten thousand feet
all the way to Lake Huron. As a one-time pilot, that was a real treat
to me. Must have been conflicting traffic above. Once we were out over
the lake we climbed to the usual forty thousand feet. We were over
solid cloud and I did not see the ground again until the cloud broke
just as we crossed the Red River at the top end of the boundary between
Minnesota and North Dakota. We crossed into Manitoba shortly after that
and then it was off and on again viewing all the way to Calgary. The
flight from Calgary was over broken cloud that had cleared out
completely by the time we reached the coast.
Sue’s flight came in half an hour after mine but they all had to sit on
the plane in frustration for another hour as the gate that moves to the
plane so people can walk off malfunctioned and would not work. Had I
been stuck in that plane I’d have gone ballistic. Ryan met us at the
airport and once Sue had finally disembarked we headed for home. Got
here about 2am and that would be about 5am back in good old
Ontariariario.
*
Now on to the 65th anniversary, that was one great party. And it
should be seeing as how it was 65 years in the making. It took all the
right turns and twists of history and fate for it all to come together
and converge on that single point in time. And just as incredible is
the fact that there were several people at the anniversary that were
also present at the originating wedding whether they want to admit it
or not. After all, it was 65 years ago and not even the guests of honor
want to admit to being old enough to have been there. And face it, they
don’t look it. Aside from them, Evelyn had been there and so had Sandra
(Vivyan’s niece). I assume Russ and Wayne were there as well but I
don’t know that for a fact. And look at how the world has changed over
those 65 years. It was the end of the Second World War. The world was
tired but hopeful for the future. About the only technology to speak of
by modern terms was war technology such as advances in aviation and
weaponry. Few had a telephone, or central heating let alone central
air. Very few of the medicines we now take for granted existed. Cars
were still fun and horses were delivering milk. And now it is NOW and
we have all sorts of THINGS, whether we need them or not. But after all
those 65 years we still have Lorne and Vivyan and that is two things we
have always needed.
And what more appropriate place could there have been to celebrate
those years than out at the Homestead. The house is not quite as old as
the property but it has been there long enough to seem so. The property
has been there from the beginning. Together they are the homestead. If
there are ways to measure the life of a house they must surely be by
the conversations, the lives that interacted there and the music that
filled the rooms.
The conversations over the years have been on every conceivable level
and topic from the ludicrous to the serious. From the “do your
homework” to the “how are you feeling” to the “best funny story you can
thing of”. Conversations have filled every room, every deck area, every
convenient outdoor location. The years of conversations have wrapped
the homestead in a temporal cloak. Their house must be happy.
Look at the lives that have interacted there. Infants have learned to
crawl. Children have learned to invent games and create their own
entertainment. Young adults have introduced their special someone to
the family. Members of the extended family have learned that they were
as welcome and at home as anyone who grew up there. Older ones have sat
on the porch or deck and watched the sun go down or wondered what star
or planet they were looking at. Or watched Westjet fly low overhead as
they landed or took off from YKF. That house must be happy.
And so deeply important to the very feel of the Homestead, the music
that has happened over the years. Some very structured, some very crude
but no less genuine. I can’t speak much about the structured music as I
was not involved in it except to say that I’ve heard the ring of
barbershop chords emanate from that living room many times. I can speak
about the home grown play-by-ear guitar picking and self taught
harmonies of my generation as we sat around so many bonfires, or in a
circle in the living room once we were to old to enjoy the mosquitoes
in the humidity laden summer night air. The homestead was always the
Saturday evening destination when we were teens and everyone was
invited. There were motorcycles and beat up old cars but it was the
crackle of the wood fire just out from the driveway and the strum of
those old guitars that kept bringing us and our friends back time after
time. There was always a place to sleep when a ride ‘back into town’
was not available. And yes, back in our teens ‘town’ was still a ways
away.
We still make our music out at the Homestead every chance we get. Beth
represents the next generation and her music fits very well with our
music. Beth, Nova Scotia Sus, Tim and I jammed to our hearts content
during the 65th event. Sus and I played and sang together for a couple
of hours on the Sunday evening, in that living room that has breathed
in so much music over the years. It’s all so very good. And so sad on
some levels as it slips into the past so incredibly fast.
The Homestead is the kind of place where 65th anniversaries happen,
perhaps it even helps then happen for it is all tied together. The
people are tied to the place and the place is tied to the people. There
will be future celebrations there and attendants will continue to come
from all across the country to attend. They will bring their
conversations and their humor and their music. There will be food and
drink. And everyone will be amazed at how history and fate continue to
converge on that small piece of space and time. I’m sure that house is
very happy.
*
No visit back home would be complete without hanging out with
Greg. We managed to find time to do our traditional tour of the local
bike shops and other points of interest. I always enjoy being
chauffeured around the area. It has changed so much over the years that
it is almost unrecognizable, so Greg drives while I just sit back and
watch the scenery go by. And then his wife Carole toped it off with one
of her great dinners. Thanks both of you.
And thanks Paul and Sherry as well. They put us up in their quiet rural
home out in the rolling hills near Maryhill. It was good to have a
place we could go to just get away from it all and relax.
Took some pics of Lorne’s nice new Massey Ferguson tractor:
http://www.thedougsite.net/Pictures/Visit10/tractor.htm
Took some pics around the Homestead:
http://www.thedougsite.net/Pictures/Visit10/65th.htm
doug
****
THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
Right off the bat, I want to thank the Brubacher family for including
Carole and I in the 2010 family reunion. Although Carole was under the
weather she was still grateful to have been invited. The weekend
weather wasn’t the greatest but the rain held off well enough for the
most part. The gathering to celebrate Vivyan and Lorne’s 65th
anniversary on Friday evening was a success and the happy couple held
up pretty well considering they seemed to be in the middle of a cattle
drive all night! People stomping in and out and right through the house
for hours and hours was not an unusual sight at the “homestead” but I’m
sure it’s tiring for the hosts nonetheless. As usual, the food was
plentiful as were the deserts. Just what a diabetic loves to see, a
table filled with sweets! Mm Mmmm……. I must say however that Carol was
kind enough to make sure that there were deserts there for special
needs diets too and I appreciated that. However, that didn’t stop me
from tasting most everything on the desert table. Just had to put up
with the buzz in my head for a couple of days afterwards. Once again
the music was plentiful and loads of fun to both listen to and to sing
along with. I’ll have to learn a few more of the words to the jamb
session list of songs so next time I’ll be able to contribute more
vocally. It sure was fun though and I look forward to the next
gathering!
Getting to spend some time about once a year with Doug and Sue is nice
too. We don’t see much of them although Doug and I do stay in touch
quite regularly on the computer. At least at our age we can count on
recognizing each other when we do get together. LOL! Old farts don’t
change much in looks I guess they just grow more cantankerous every
year but it’s fun!
*
Speaking of fun, we had a nest of Robins in a small decorative
“watering “ can on a shelf on the wall of the house facing the back
patio. We could sit at the table and watch the mother and father fly in
and out and feed the babies. This watering can is only about 5” in
diameter and bout 5” high but these big Robins manage to build a nest
in it every year and lay and hatch 3 or 4 babies over a three-week
stretch. They were back this year and we couldn’t believe they were
able to fit 4 babies into that can. This year the mom and pop were not
as trusting as other years. They would dive bomb us when we were on the
patio so we’d get lost and let them feed their young. Other years they
would fly right in for a landing while we sat there and watched. I just
commented on the size of the 4 babies yesterday and said I wondered how
much longer they’d be able to stay in that nest. Well, they were still
there this afternoon when Carole was taking out some wash and about an
hour later we both went out back to plant a new vine that Carole picked
up and I noticed that they were all gone! The mom was still hanging
around in one of our garden trees but she wasn’t as grumpy as she had
been. I guess the babies were out somewhere stretching their wings and
learning how to feed themselves. We usually would see the babies
hopping around the front or back lawn pecking worms out of the grass
but not this year. Maybe we’ll see them tomorrow but who knows, they
could be gone for good this time. Anyway, it’s amazing to watch this
process every year and more amazing yet that they remember to make a
nest in such an unusual place. Maybe they like the smell and warmth of
the BBQ just off to the side of their nest. They were very clean this
year, not even one poop on the area below the nest. Makes me wonder
what they do with it all? Just as long as they don’t drop it on my
precious BBQ I’ll leave them alone for another year! LOL!
Well, that’s it for this week folks!
Thanks for tuning in and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again
next week in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now…. GREG
PS: Something To Think About>
Don’t compare your life to others, you have no idea what theirs is all
about!
****
Have a good one..
the doug
http://www.thedougsite.net
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