The
Squamidian Report – Dec. 15 / 12
Issue #551
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
I meet with the core group of my motorcycle club a couple of times a week over coffee just to chat and socialize. Our meeting place is the Starbucks in Horseshoe Bay. None of us like the coffee there, it is down right horrible stuff. And the price for said horrible coffee is ridiculously high, but the location works well for all of us. We tend to sit outside rather than take up space inside. Mind you, if there are no other customers and its cold and wet out we don’t hesitate to occupy the back corner but we never ‘hog’ the tables if they are needed by anyone else. Sitting outside isn’t too bad on a cold wet evening as the roof overhangs the outdoor seating and there are overhead heaters which keep anyone from getting too cold. They won’t keep you warm but they will keep you from getting chilled. Its always fun to sit there and watch the ferry boats come and go, and watch the tourists do their thing. Its always funny to watch tourists or even local travelers who have wandered into the ‘village’ while waiting for a ferry and then realize that the ferry they are waiting for is getting ready to depart and has no intention of waiting for them as they make a mad dash back to the ferry terminal.
We were sitting there the other day and as usual the small birds that make a living by mooching food from anyone who is prone to being mooched from land right on the tables in hopes of being rewarded with some crumbs. The small birds have discovered that by bravely coming in very close they are more likely to be fed and are safe from the ever-present crows and seagulls who are always willing to steal anything they can get their beaks on. People sitting over in the water-front park are always in danger of being raided by the crows, ducks, geese and gulls. The small birds and the crows are regular beggars outside the coffee shops and restaurants in the Bay but the gulls normally stay over by the park and waterfront. Anyway, as we were sitting at our usual out-door tables the other day a very ‘out-going’ seagull walked over to check us out. I guess it decided we were harmless and that we had something worth going after because it walked up to my foot, climbed onto my foot, and then walked right up my leg and onto my waist where it then reached out and bit off (beaked off ?) a big chunk of my blueberry scone. It then jumped back down and looked at everyone else in hopes of spotting something worth while. When nothing else looked interesting it walked away.
Of course we all know that seagulls are nothing more than rats with wings so while it was interesting for a few minutes, it will certainly not be encouraged. In fact, if there is a ‘next time’, we will probably try to chase it away, back over to where it can steal French fries from the tourists.
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I don’t really like November or December very much. They tend to be cold and wet and dreary. It is icky out. Easy solution would be to not have it out in the first place but that wouldn’t improve the weather much at all. Wow, that’s an old one… however, the cold and wet at or near sea level is deep snow in the mountains. There has already been enough snow in the high country to put this area under an avalanche warning. There is no danger from avalanches reaching the valleys but there has been some problems for the highways through the high mountain passes. They have had to close several passes for a few hours in order to do avalanche control which basically means shooting or dropping explosives onto the upper slopes in order to trigger a slide. That beats waiting for one to come down unexpectedly and surprising anyone below as opposed to causing one to happen when everyone is out of the way and ready.
On the other hand, we have had two sunny days this week, Wednesday and Friday. Both were spectacular. When we have endured days or weeks of dark rainy weather and then the skies clear, we see a new, incredible world of snow-covered mountains and deep blue skies. The snowline is just a few hundred feet above us and the high country is heaped with unbroken pure white snow. The billowing clouds that rise from the valleys just add to the display. Like our terrain, our weather is 3-dimentional and they combine to create scenery that almost out of this world.
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Here’s something that doesn’t happen very often…. ‘The Wife’ is under the weather, so to speak. Her doctor does not know yet whether it’s a pinched nerve, of a hip or lower back problem but by early this week she couldn’t walk or even move around much due to pain. They have her on pain killers and anti-inflammatory stuff and that all makes her sleepy so that’s what she does, sleeps. That’s probably a good thing because it gives whatever is acting up a chance to heal a bit. Ain’t getting old fun !!
By the end of the week the combination of pain killers and muscle relaxants and therapy had her to the point where she could move around without being bent right over, looking like a ‘7’, and she is able to sit comfortably. Also, she no longer looks like she is a hundred years old like she had been looking for a few days. The side effects of all the meds she is on is drowsiness and the result of taking 4 different things that all warn of causing drowsiness is that she is now sleeping, a lot. That’s a good thing. She’s gone from playing Sudoku all night because she can’t sleep, to sleeping from early evening all the way to noon the next day. The dog is quite envious.
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Hey, don’t forget that next week’s Squamidian is the last issue before Christmas so if you want to write up something to be included, be sure to get it to me before Friday the 21st.
doug
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Sorry, the Ontarion is unavailable for this issue.
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Have a good one..
the doug
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