The
Squamidian Report – Oct. 15 / 11
Issue #490
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Oops, I almost forgot to do a Squamidian this week. Kind of lost track of time as we waited out several long cold wet days where it just kept on pouring and pouring. The rivers are up and the snowline is down. Actually, its been several long cold wet months. Actually, actually, its been a long cold wet year. With the exception of a few not wet and barely warm weeks in what would have been the late summer according to the calendar, this years has pretty well been a write-off. I was telling Greg that we are so used to it being cold that when the sun comes out and the temperature rockets all the way up to +14, we roll down the car windows, open up the house windows and walk around in T-shirts. We don’t even bother with jackets until it drops down to about 5 or 6 degrees, and then it’s just light, unlined jackets.
Of course I also told him that the only way I could do any amount of riding this year was to purchase a full face helmet. I haven’t needed or used one of those in 30 years. Well, I needed one this year. When you know it will be cold or wet, or cold and wet, you need to be able to keep your face and head warm and dry. At least warm and dry enough that you can see without your eyes filling with rain or running because of the cold wind hitting them.
We went into this riding season with plans for warm evening rides to Whistler or Horseshoe Bay. That never happened once. Well, we did the rides but they were not even remotely warm. They were down right cold. We never put away our cold weather winterish riding gear. We never got out our nice light warm weather riding gear. Another thing that simply never happened this year was sitting on the back deck or around a crackling fire strumming the old guitars. Again, way too cold to play outside. We tried a couple of times but within minutes our fingers were stiff and our guitars out of tune. It just never warmed up enough for that kind of thing. We tried to grow tomatoes. Couldn’t even get them into the ground until well into July. They would have drowned or died from cold any sooner than that. So, needless to say, they didn’t do much. There were a few blossoms by mid August and even some small green attempts at fruit but there was no growing season and even less sunshine and by mid September the endless November rains were hammering down and the tomato plants got all icky and turned black. So much for that.
But like I said, every once in a while the sun does come out. It came out yesterday and could last until tomorrow. We won’t know that for sure until tomorrow actually comes and we look out the window and see the sun. One thing about when the sun comes out is we can see the mountain tops and upper slopes. We can also see all the fresh snow and how far down the mountains it has advanced. I should probably takes Greg’s advice and get the snow blower out of the lower shed and tuned up and ready. You just never known when it will be needed.
Despite the weather, I have managed to rack up a few miles on the Harley. About 20,000 kilometers to be exact. A good number of those were related to my CMC chapter events and meet-ups. With the chapter based in Vancouver, and me living in Squamish, everything I do ends up putting at least 150 clicks on the bike. The chapter has kept me quite busy this year which is probably a good thing because as long as I’m busy, I keep out of trouble. I’m not sure what that ‘trouble’ would have been, but I’d have probably come up with something to get into. Like fishing or mowing the lawn or taking the dog for an extra walk or two. The possibilities are endless.
doug
****
****
THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
Well, it’s flu time once again and for the first time in years, Carole seems to have picked it up this year. I managed to avoid getting it while she suffered for the past week but yesterday I finally felt the beginnings of ….. THE FLU! Oh well, like they say, stuff happens! I called in and booked an appointment with our doctor for 5:30 pm today and he took us both at the same time. After a quick examination and a few questions, he gave us both antibiotics and sent us on our way. He didn’t say it was the flu but what the heck else would it be? Sore throat, cough, aching heads and bodies and so on, sounds like the flu to me! If it is, we caught it early since the flu shots don’t start until October 29th. We have been taking the flu shot for years now and neither of us has had the flu in all those years! I think we started taking the shot when the fire dept decided it was a good idea to inoculate all the firefighters against it because of all the medical calls we were attending. That was in the early 80’s so it’s been 30 years I guess. I don’t know if the previous years shot lingers over to the next year but so far I don’t seem to be as bad as I used to be with the flu. You’d think that now that I’m an old bugger, the flu would hit me harder than back when I was in my 30’s! Oh well, I guess I should be grateful for small favours!
*
Here’s a little bit of news that should make Doug smile, our weather here in “Onterrible” has taken a turn for the worse after a couple of weeks of simply lovely fall sunshine and warmth! It had to happen for sure, nothing lasts forever! I’m sure we’ll still get some nice weather before the snow sets in. Hopefully well have good weather for Halloween this year. I hate it and so do the kids when it’s raining and cold on that occasion. It always puts a damper on mugging the other little kids for their stash! LOL! Just kidding! I hope they have a warm and safe Halloween this year for sure!
Environment Canada is predicting a long warmer than usual fall but a reversion back to winters such as we had in the 60’s. I’m sure many of you can remember back to those days of very snowy conditions and extremely cold temperatures. The thing that sticks in my mind is having so much snow piled on the sides of our street that we could stand on top of the piles and touch the telephone wires with a shovel. I’m sure they were telephone and not hydro wires or I wouldn’t be sitting here typing about it! Or, maybe I was just lucky! LOL!
Anyway, I’m looking forward to this coming winter if it’s going to be a reminder of those days. I hear that Doug and Sue are in for a very “Onterrible Like” winter this year as well! Environment Canada is predicting a dandy of a winter for the west coast so I hope Doug gets his snow blower tuned up in plenty of time and that Warren does the same for all his winter equipment! Do it now guys while it’s still warm out there! Or IS IT?
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>
Might be a good time to dump that “Blackberry” and purchase yourself an amazing and RELIABLE iPhone!
****
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.