The
Squamidian Report – Oct. 22 / 11
Issue #491
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Hey, I’m a bachelor again! Well, for the next couple of weeks or so. The Wife is back home visiting so that leaves me and the dog to hold down the fort. I’m certainly ok with her going away for a while. She needs to check up on her parents once in a while and hang out with her sister. However, the dog’s not to happy about it. Willow is pretty tightly bonded to The Wife and does not understand when her number one person disappears. So of course Willow sticks to me like glue when her first choice is away. Its like having a round-the-clock shadow.
I got out for what could well be my last real ride of the season the other day. Like most places in this country, when you get a nice fall day, it is really nice. The sky tends to be more blue, the lakes tend to be mirror still and the ocean tends to appear blue instead of green. Yes, our normal ocean summer colour around here is green, a grey, green blue mix that is the result of snow and ice melt. But come this time of year, the melting has stopped so the water flowing into the ocean is clear instead of coloured. And contrary to popular opinion, we do have fall colours on the west coast. Admittedly, the predominant fall colour is green, green is the ‘main’ colour all year here, no matter how much snow there might be in the winter or how dry it might be in the summer. This summer was anything but dry and so the greens were very, very green. Everything was green. The only difference is the shade of green, it tends to change as the conditions change. But there are other colours as well.
As I rode along I could see the bright yellows and gold’s from the alders and other poplar type trees. They tend to spring up very quickly on the un-used logging roads that criss-cross the hillsides. So, everywhere you look there are bright slashes of yellow. Down in the valley bottoms there are the huge, moss and fern covered soft maples with their giant yellow leaves. While yellow seems to be the predominant colour for our local big trees, we get a full spectrum of colour from our undergrowth shrubs and bushes. Blueberries covering high open areas turn red, or any one of the many shades there of. Other low growing plants turn red or yellow or gold or orange. We don’t get the spectacular colours that the hardwood trees back east get but we do get colours non the less. Then there is the moss, most of it stays bright green all year round. The lichens that cover so much of the exposed rock turn a nice silvery shade, and of course the rocks they cover also have interesting colours.
So a pleasant cruise along a mountain highway is quite rewarding. The problem is, it does not last long enough. At some point you have to head for home and park the bike, hoping that it was not the last ride of the season. My riding season will end regardless of the weather on the first of November because that’s when I timed the bike insurance to expire. However, long range forecasts (which are usually wrong) show a couple of nice days next week. Cold, but nice. With any luck the local mountains will echo to the thundering rumble of my big old Harley at least once more before she is tucked away for the off-season. A very solemn occasion in deed. Several of my riding friends in the city leave their bikes insured all year round. The difference between here and the city is that when the sun comes out on any day during winter in the city, the temp will climb to the mid teens, the roads will be clean and dry and they can ride comfortably during the middle of the day. We are only an hour away up here in Squamish but we are IN the mountains and our winter is much more wintery. When the sun comes out for us, our roads are still covered with salt and sand, there are snow banks and ice patches. That just does not make for safe or enjoyable riding.
In the mean time, I’ve got the house to myself so I might as well enjoy it. I can flip through all the TV channels as often and as long as I want. I can have a nap without disruption, I can have cereal for dinner. Wow, I can do all sorts of things that guys like to do. Cool.
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello everyone!
I hope you’re enjoying the fall weather, rain and all!
Never fear, I’m sure we’re in for some nice warm stuff yet. The weatherman is calling for a warm weekend and then more rain for the coming week. I guess a mixed bag is to be expected this time of year so hang on to your hats!
I was watching the Kitchener council meeting a couple of weeks ago and they announced that they have approved the dredging of the sludge from the Victoria Park Lake in Kitchener. I sure hope all the money they intend to spend on this project will be worth it! It’s going to cost somewhere in the area of 22 million bucks to do this clean up and there’s no guarantee that it’ll stay clean once it’s back up and running. I didn’t hear anything in the discussion about making improvements on the source water that feeds the lake so I’m wondering if it’ll just turn into the same old cesspool it’s been for the past 50 years. It would be very cool to take a metal detector to the tons of sludge they haul from the lake after they spread it on some farm field! I’m sure there must be a hoard of treasure encased in the slime at the bottom of the lake. After all the thousands and thousands of people that swam, canoed and skated on and in this water over the past century surely it contains a myriad of lost items and valuables. The city would be wise to pass the muck through a series of screen filters before they spread it wherever they plan! The only problem will be the odour that emanates from the muck once it’s exposed to the open air.
There must be a huge percentage of duck and goose droppings in the lake bottom as well as all that treasure! In fact, upon thinking about this dumping problem, there might be a huge cash profit to be made by converting the lake sludge into fertilizer for gardeners to spread on their lawns next spring and summer. I can just imagine the plant growth properties contained in the mixture of the guck they’ll be hauling away! I’m sure it would make a very rich fertilizer once it was dried and bagged in a granular form. Now there’s an opportunity for some enterprising person to take advantage of and I wouldn’t doubt at all that it would be worth the effort and investment! Hmmmmm……. I wonder if anybody else has thought of this possibility? Maybe somebody like Rothsay Concentrates would be interested in purchasing the sludge from the city? I might just make a call to my councilor and present this idea. Why wouldn’t the city take advantage of an opportunity to recoup some of the money it’s going to cost the taxpayers to do this job? If there’s money to be made by both the city and some enterprising business-person in this project, why not? I’ll have to take a look on the Internet and see if there’s an existing process for turning this sludge into fertilizer! Surely someone before has done it and if so, it just might be worth a look!
Speaking of dredging the lake, I managed to dismantle our pond pumping system the other day and pack it away for the coming winter. I took advantage of the last warm sunny day last week instead of waiting till the snow was threatening to fall. I’m glad I did because the weather forecast for the next week or so isn’t real appealing! Now the next warm day we get I’ll be packing all the summer furniture etc away as well. I guess this means I’ll have to move the snow blower out of the shed and find a place for it in the garage. One day ought to be enough to finish all this seasonal packing and make sure whatever needs to be wrapped for the winter is done as well. Then it’s just a matter of waiting a few more weeks until it’s time to bring out the Christmas decorations! What the heck, it’s not too early to be thinking of such things! After all, COSTCO has had their Christmas stuff on display for about a month now! I’m surprised we haven’t been seeing Santa in all the TV ads already! It won’t be long I’m sure!
What the heck, might as well get a good jump on things and put the tree up before anyone else in the neighbourhood beats me to it! Hahahahaa……..!
Now this would be a record for early Christmas Tree erection indeed! We’ve been early most years but I don’t think we’ve ever put our tree up before Halloween! LOL!
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 Ontario Report!
Bye for now… Greg
PS: Something To Think About>
There’s no Betty Rubble in the “Flintstones Chewables” Vitamines!
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Have a good one..
the doug
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