The
Squamidian Report – July 7 / 12
Issue #528
Including:
The Ontarion
Hi All,
Believe it or not, after months of promises, the sun has started to shine on the part of the continent that is west of the Rockies. We have been hearing this promise since mid February when ‘they’ started telling us that the turn-around in the weather was ‘just around the corner’. We never really got out of March until a few days into July. As we approached July ‘they’ started telling us that ‘the turn-around’ would happen in time for the long weekend, but once we were within a few days of the long weekend, that started to be backed off, again, as usual. The weekend ended up being pretty well a washout, with revised promise of sunshine by the beginning of the week. But each new day was low overcast, cold and damp. Then, on Wednesday, the sun actually peaked through a couple of times, still way below normal temperatures, but there really was a sun up there somewhere. Then, we had a day that dawned clear and sunny, that was Thursday. For the first time in months we had a clear, or almost clear, day. Mind you, it started off at a rather chilly 7 degrees but as the day wore on, the temperature rocketed up all the way to past 20. People were in shock, no one here knows how to deal with heat like that. A mid day temperature of 15 had been feeling pretty hot to us. And there’s more, the coming weekend is supposed to be (are you ready for this?), above normal. Like mid 20’s near the coast and possibly the low 30’s inland. Everyone is in shock!
Farm crops are in pretty bad shape all over the country. Ontario had that heat wave in March and then everything froze in April. The prairies had been having drought conditions for years, and now they have been drenched for the last couple of years. BC crops have been struggling with cold and wet for 3 years now. Last year there was a bumper crop of blueberries (on any plants that didn’t get flooded out) but there was not enough sunlight to ripen the berries. My plants are again loaded with berries, but they have just now had their first few days of sunshine. It will be interesting to see if they are able to not just turn blue (as in BLUE-berry), but able to sweeten up. Last year’s barely got past the bitter stage. Up in the hills they never ripened at all. That made for a lot of hungry bears. They had no choice but to rummage around in the valley bottoms right until they should have been hunting for a den. It also explains why there are so many along the roads and valley bottoms this ‘spring’, they are hungry.
We were out for our morning walk yesterday, oh, just after 8 or so and got about half way down the hill where we had to stand there and wait for a nice big black bear to saunter slowly and unconcernedly across the street. It wasn’t in any hurry as it came out from a side yard, up onto the street and over onto a driveway where it wandered off into the back yards on that side. Willow was sure interested. She has only seen bears from a safe distance, never right up close which is probably a good thing. She doesn’t say anything, she just stands her hair up and glares at them. We wouldn’t want her to get too close because that bum back foot of hers reduces her ability to move out of the way quickly. Once the bear was out of sight, we continues on our way.
Oh, as long as we are talking weather related stuff… there are hiking trails on top of Whistler mountain that are normally open for hiking long before this late into the ‘summer’ season. Most of those trails are still buried under 10 meters (that’s 30 FEET) of snow. Just thought you’d like to know.
Oh, one more thing totally unrelated…. remember
that Slow
Speeds Skills courses our motorcycle chapter put on a few weeks ago,
well, one
of our members videoed the event and put together a short 4-minute
video of the
event. It can be seen at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Dtd1swuAh4&feature=plcp
doug
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THE ONTARION REPORT
Hello Everyone!
We’ve had an interesting and somewhat sad past few weeks. We found out about 6 weeks ago that our little poodle Bailey is diabetic. Consequently we now have to give him an insulin shot every evening at 6pm. When we weren’t sure what was wrong with him he was showing signs of lethargy. He wasn’t lively, he wobbled when he walked and he would hardly eat anything. The other sign was that he was drinking one heck of a lot and peeing on the floor beside his doggie toilet. We were mopping up the pee every few minutes and going through paper towels roll after roll! Finally we took him to the Vet and she figured out that he is diabetic. We started him on insulin a few days later after the test results came back and from the first injection he’s been a different dog! He snapped right back to acting like a puppy and playing with his toys etc and running after his floppy pizza Frisbee! That lasted about two weeks and suddenly his eyes clouded over with cataracts and he went blind within two weeks of his start on insulin! How sad it is to see your pet suddenly loose his independence. I liken it to a human suddenly going blind but of course not as dramatic and tragic! He’s been amazing in the way he’s been able to adjust to getting around the house though. As long as we watch that he doesn’t make a wrong turn and fall down any stairs. We keep the basement door closed and that solves that problem. I have to carry him up stairs when it’s time for bed and back down in the morning of course! If we take him outside, he’s lost of course if we don’t guide him around the back yard. He knows the shape of the back lawn and seems to find his way around to his favourite pee and do-do spots alright but when he tries to find his way back to the door to go back in the house, because I’ve carried him out, he can’t do it. If I set him down at our side door where he is used to starting his back yard venture, he manages to find his way out back and can with a little guidance, find his way back to the side door when he’s finished with his business. Of course we don’t let him out on his own for anything! We stay with him all the time he’s out but in the house he’s pretty independent.
He has walked into a few walls and chairs but since he’s lost his sight, we haven’t changed any of the furniture locations. As long as we keep things the same as when he still had his sight, he’s able to find his way around well. It’s amazing how he can respond to the sound of our voices and it’s also interesting to see that he understands our words much more than when he was able to see. We’ve been saying “go left or right” and “Follow me Bailey” and “c’mon up” when we want him up on the couch with us and he’s able to find the ramp that Adam built for him to climb up to the couch. So, after almost 10 years of absolute loyalty to us it’s our turn to be here for Bailey when he really needs us! The one thing that has always stood out with this little guy has been his loyalty and companionship and he deserves to have it returned! Carole had always wanted a little dog that would follow here wherever she went without having to have him on a leash and this little guy has done that since the day Adam and I gave him to Carole for Christmas. He’s been obedient, loving, loyal from the start and we have always treated him with kindness as well. However, now that he really needs our attention and guidance, he’s going to get it for sure and I hope he’s able to understand and appreciate how much we love him back!
That’s it for this week folks!
Thanks for tuning in and I’ll be looking forward to talking to you all again next week in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now … GREG
PS: Something To Think About>
A vulture boards and airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The flight attendant looks at him and says ‘I’m sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger.’
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Have a good one..
the doug
The Fine Print!
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