The
Squamidian Report – Apr. 9/ 11
Issue #463
Including:
From Carol
The Ontarion
Hi All,
We’ve run into a rather strange and frustrating situation that has taken me a bit by surprise. As dog owners, we walk our dog every day, often several times. During the winter we abandoned the streets and sidewalks because they were icy, salty, and usually unshovelled and slippery making the walking difficult and dangerous for us and the dog. There are a lot of very nice scenic local public trail throughout the area where many people walk their dogs and so we started using these trails. There is an access point just around the corner from us so getting onto the trail system is easy and convenient. We’ve had problems with the Lab bread of dogs being aggressive toward our dog Willow. What is happening is that most of those dogs tend to be afraid of her and react by being aggressive. Any fearful dog is unpredictable and will go on the offensive but it would not be a problem if those animals were under control. However, the owners all see their pet as cute, gentle and harmless. Everyone sees ‘their’ dog that way which is why so many people get bit by those yappy little bug-eyed alien looking dogs. Willow tends to simply ignore them unless they get ‘in her face’ growling and with teeth bared. She would like to play with any and every dog given the opportunity but when threatened, she will defend herself, rather successfully.
There was an incident a while ago where ‘The Wife’ was walking with Willow down the one trail. Willow was on her leash and walking at ‘The Wife’s’ side. An unleashed and not under control young Lab confronted them and ‘The Wife’ and Willow were backed into the bushes at the side of the trail where they had no choice but to take a stand. Needless to say, Willow was not going to let another dog get the best of her or harm her person. There was a brief skirmish before the owner pulled the Lab away. We figured that was the end of it until a few days later when the owner of the Lab informed us that our dog had taken a chunk out of the back end of his dog and that his dog had needed to be stitched up. ‘The Wife’ had not seen any damage to his dog at the time and while we felt bad for his dog being hurt, we are not sure our dog did the damage. Even if she had, it was his dog that was off leash, out of control and doing the attacking so, as the people who run the local dog pound put it after ‘The Wife’ explained the situation to them, our dog was on a leash and under control, the other dog was off leash and not controlled, even if our dog had shredded their dog to ribbons, it would be their problem, not ours.
Now it gets more frustrating… the owner of that Lab has been telling other people on the trails that we have a vicious, out of control Pit Bull that attacks other dogs. We are now running into people who we never had a problem with before that are telling us we must get our dog under control and are insinuating that we are not welcome on ‘their’ trails.
Willow reacts with and plays quite happily with the numerous dogs on our street, including a Lab that had been fearful of her but has now come to realize that she is just another dog. Willow’s only crime is that she has a tendency to steal other dog’s balls (the bouncy round kind, not the hang down tissue kind).
So we are back to walking on the streets and sidewalks. Its simply easier to avoid and ignore the people on the trails. As an interesting sidebar, the people at the bound have been told by some dog owners that there is a terrible, awful Pit Bull living up in the top end of the Highlands and that they now avoid that area for fear of what that dog might do to them or their dogs. What all these jerks don’t realize is, the people at the pound know Willow very well, know ‘The Wife’ very well and know full well what the real situation is. And just to clarify, there are lots of dog walkers on those trails that know us and Willow and do not have any problems at all but it’s the few who do not leash their out-of-control dogs that are making things frustrating.
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And yes, I did get the Harley out, finally. But not for long the first time, only about an hour last Saturday evening and then the cold wet weather closed back in. By the next morning it was winter from about Alice Lake on up into the mountains. That short ride sure felt good. Big Blue wanted to get out and go somewhere but we were hemmed in on all sides by the big black overcast clouds.
That was it until Thursday when ‘The Wife’ and I were able to do a nice sunny ride in to Horseshoe Bay. The afternoon sun was warm and the Sound was blue and the mountains were snow-covered and scenic. The ride was great, we just cruised along and enjoyed it.
Then on Friday Ryan and I did a run down to Abbotsford, and back of course. It was very cold as we headed out along the Sound but once we turned away from the water it warmed up nicely. The ride back was very nice. Its about 150 kilometers from here to Abbotsford and some of that is through the heavy construction and backed up traffic of the Port Mann project. That’s where they are replacing the Port Mann bridge and widening the highway all the way out to Langley. From Langley on down to Abbotsford there are incredible views of Mt Baker in Washington State. She stands twice as high as any of the mountains around and pretty well fills the horizon. Had a great day of riding and made it home before the next wave of cold wet weather moved in. And yes, the bikes are running great.
doug
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From Carol
I really love Skype. I was talking to Doug the other day on it and I was able to, quite literally, point out Vivvy & Mellow's (our cat) favourite plaything. It is Vivvy's "house". Now we have a lot of toys for Vivvy from her play kitchen to dolls to cars & a garage to art supplies (another of her favourite things to do) to computer games but she and the cat will spend hours with the house. It is a large cardboard box. When we purchased a new toilet about a month ago she laid claim to the box before we could cut it up for recycling. She had fun painting it on the outside and uses chalk every day to colour the inside - and since chalk wipes off she can colour and colour and colour. She sticks her fingers through the "windows" and our cat jumps up to grab at the fingers, leaving her laughing away. The cat sits on the top of the box when Vivvy isn't here to play with her. Now she also has a large box at home where she entices her older brothers to climb in and play with her. She also has a smaller box that is her "car" These she has also decorated with paint. Isn't it amazing that with all the hi-teck and expensive toys out there that a child can still enjoy letting free her imagination with a cardboard box?
So how many of you played with boxes as a child? There was a nice hill for tobogganing at our grade school when I was young. Because you didn't have to drag it back and forth from home a piece of cardboard was the preferred sled. With the use of a little imagination a cardboard box could be anything from a spaceship to a doll house and you could put them together to make forts - the ideas were limitless. My children and grandson also played with boxes when little. I believe cardboard boxes have been around for at least a century so I'm guessing that my parents and grandparents may also have played with them. Too many of the toys and expensive electronics around today are are used by harried caregivers to occupy the child without developing their curiosity and imaginations - I love what a simple box is doing for our granddaughter.
Rosemary is back from her daughter's wedding in Punta Cana. She sent some great pictures and information to us & Judy but doesn't think any other reader would be interested because they haven't met her daughter. Now even if I didn't know Rosemary I would have found the story of a destination wedding interesting so if you feel the same respond to this week's Squid and invite Rosy to submit the story for next week.
Carol
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello Everyone!
I’m not sure what the weather will be over the weekend but the computer site says it’ll be sunny for Saturday and then turn to rain and thunder-storms for the next three days. I guess that’s the way it’s going to be for the month of April. You know, April showers…..!
There have been quite a few motorcycles spotted around KW but for me it’s still too cool and too sandy on the roads. I’d rather wait until the weather can be counted on to be warm and consistent before bringing my bike out for the season. I’ve been getting lots of e-mails from the various “Motorcycle Shows” that go on every year about this time but they never seem to change much. The most interesting ones for me are the ones that display NEW models of bikes for the season. I don’t like paying to see the same old gathering of the same old motorcycles every year. I prefer to see what’s new on the market.
Way back when our son was just 16, we bought him a Pontiac Fiero as his birthday gift. That spring I was thinking of building a “Kit Car” of some sort and was reading up on them in several magazines that are published on the subject. I found out that there is an annual Kit Car show in Carlisle Pa and thought it would be a fun adventure to drive down to that show with Adam in his Fiero. We took the weekend and headed Friday morning to Pa. We made it to Carlisle in around 8 hours, found a motel and settled in for the night. In the morning we drove a few miles to the fairgrounds where the car show was being held and found a parking spot. This was one huge car show, which surprised us because we didn’t think there were that many people into Kit Cars! We walked for hours and didn’t see the same car twice. Of course there were lots of models of the same Kit car but every one of them was built and painted to the custom specs of their individual owner. It was a treat to see so many great works of art and listen to the stories of the different owners and how they came up with their paint and design ideas for the vehicles. It truly was one of the most interesting car shows I’ve ever attended. The other day Adam mentioned that we should maybe take a bike ride somewhere this spring or summer since we’ve had bikes for a few years now and have never taken a planned trip together on the motorcycles. He suggested we take a motorcycle trip down to that same Carlisle Pa Kit Car show. I checked it on the internet and they are still holding the Kit Car show. I no longer have the desire to build a Kit Car but I know it would be fun to attend that show once again. After all, it’s been 19 years since that first adventure and I can’t imagine all the different it Cars that must be on the market since then! I’ll have to mention that idea to Adam again and let him know that that same show is still being held in Pa. If things work out and we do take the ride down to see it I’ll be sure to have some interesting material for use in my Ontarion Reports.
I hope it works out that we go!
I’ll report all about the trip when we get back. I think it’s sometime in May or June that the show is held so it’ll be a while yet before you’ll hear any more about the subject.
Until then, I’ll just have to keep digging in the old memory vault for something to write about. I hope you’ll all hang in with me every Saturday and I’ll do my best to make it interesting for you!
That’s it for this week folks!
Thanks for tuning in and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next time in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now… GREG
PS: Something To Think About>
Never be too open minded, your brains may fall out!
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Have a good one..
the doug
The Fine Print!
The articles in these issues are the sole property of the persons writing them and should be respected as such.