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The
Squamidian Report – May 8 / 21
Online
Versions
Of This And Past Issues Issue
#989 From BC Sue From Russ From
The Shores Of Lake Huron A Message From Greg
Hi All, Finally, after waiting a month, my new little scoot has come. Well, mostly. The bike is still waiting for the saddlebags that are on back-order, as well as for a tiny LED light that is for illuminating the license plate. Turns out the stock tail/brake light couldn’t be used because the turn signals had to be relocated to make room for the bags. None of this was mentioned when I bought the bike, go figure. But, thats all their problem, not mine. Anyway, I picked up the bike on Tuesday. Ryan rode in from Maple Ridge on his Sportster to ‘escort’ me back up to Squamish. His is the ‘09 Nightster 1200 version, with some modifications like a beefed up engine, loud pipes and so on. Mine is a totally stock ‘21 Sportster Iron 1200 with the bolt on extras such as windshield, passenger backrest and seat, but no modifications. Mine has the ‘Harley’ sound but is quite quiet and thats how I want it to stay. Sue had driven me to the dealer in Vancouver and so we had a convoy of her car and our two bikes for the drive back. Getting out of the dealer is aways a challenge as traffic is always congested, in a hurry, and basically the pits. The highway (#1) tends to have about 50% more vehicles on it than it was intended to hold. It stays bumper to bumper until you’ve crossed the Second Narrows Bridge and gone up The Cut. After that, traffic thins a bit as you pass through North Van but doesn’t let up until you round the bend above Horses Shoe Bay and head north on the Sea to Sky. From that point on the ride was enjoyable, I found myself smiling under my helmet. Once home we relaxed, did a short local ride and admired the bikes. I put on about 100 km between riding home and the toot around town. Both bikes have those small, peanut shaped gas tanks that don’t give much range so we figured we’d used just under half a tank. We filled up and that 100 k used up 5L of gas. That works out to about 50 mpg which is not bad at all on a brand new engine, and it will do much better once there are a few miles on the engine. Ryan spent the night here and I escorted him back as far as The Bay, a round trip of another 100 clicks for me. I must say, this new bike feels so very small and light that it’s going to take some getting used to but thats what I needed. I could no longer handle the very heavy, very big, old bike. This bike is going to be a lot of fun once I get used to ‘the feel’. The old Electra Glide was comfortable, the new bike is not meant to be. The old bike was like a limo, the new one is like a sports car. And so on. Here’s a few pics of the bike for anyone interested.
 
* And now for a commercial break: I’m going to blatantly push a book that was written by a very good friend of ours. She’s someone my dad and Cindy and Gale have met. Mary Jane Stein joined our bike club several years ago as a ‘new again’ rider. We took her under our collective wings and taught her how to ride the highways safely, and how to get home safely. She had her motorcycle license but was in need of and open to our help. Mary, now retired, was a kindergarten school teacher, and a very strong and forceful woman who drums to her own beat. She decided to do a road trip on her Harley Sportster across the continent to the east coast, and back, taking the whole summer to do the ride. She did it on her own and mostly by herself. The book is her daily diary, smoothed out and put into book form. The book is called ‘Ruby’s Dance’, because her bike’s name is Ruby and when Ruby and Mary get out on the open road, they dance together, a form of side to side weaving that most bikes understand. The book can be ordered through Amazon, comes to about $20 including shipping, and is a nice easy read that takes you along on the journey as well as giving an in-site into her mind and her adventures. Do yourself a favor and treat yourself to a copy. * How
about
another Ian Tyson number for this week’s musical
cultural enlightenment? This song, called ‘Alberta’s
Child’, is about cowboys, their forwardness, their
dislike of doing chores when its bitter cold out and so
on. Theres a line in the song that I’ve always liked
that goes, “and he may go to Hell, or even
Vancouver, but he’ll always be Albertas’ child”. Hard to
say which the composer figures would be worse, Hell, or
Vancouver. I guess it depends on one’s perspective.
Anyway, enjoy. doug ****
From BC Sue Our adopted dogs: Doug and I enjoy going for a walk around the block every morning and evening as we get to meet and chat with a number of neighbours and their dogs. As you know, we have had dogs over years, but we could not bear to loose another old dog so we live vicariously thru the dogs we meet every day. We provide a treat(s) to about 11 dogs that we know by name, that also walk at the same time daily. I buy freeze-dried beef liver from a local store and Doug carries it in a plastic bag in his jacket pocket. Every dog recognizes Doug immediately on sight and they come running with the owners dragged along. Some of these dogs are rescues that usually are very skittish around people but they are glad to get petted and given a treat by Doug. We do have to be sure to bring the dog treats along where ever we go as we get recognized by all the dogs and they do not understand when they don’t get the expected treat. We even get barked at from dogs the are in their houses and see us walk by. Sue **** From Russ Weeds. Over the years I’ve had eight different people cutting my grass (not all at the same time). This spring I can’t seem to interest anybody in cutting my weeds. Yes, that is what is growing, and blooming in my yard as I type this Column for the Squamidian. I’ve counted at least five different coloured blooms and am attempting to identify them: Yellow > Dandelion. Red/yellow > unknown. Blue > Forget-me-not. Purple > Wild Orchid. White > White Violet. Have you ever used Dandelions in a salad, or as a cooked green? My wife used to make Dandelion salad on occasion – I found the leaves to be something like Spinach, but more bitter. Have you ever made Dandelion wine? My Mother-in-law used to make Dandelion wine. It was quite pleasant to drink – she used to store it under her bed; of all places! Seems she bottled a batch while still fermenting – when the corks began ‘popping’ she and husband, Fred jumped out of bed – startled by the corks hitting the under-side of their mattress. Made quite a mess as well! Later, she stored another batch of freshly bottled wine under the cellar steps, and completely forgot about it! When her parents passed on, we purchased their house, and during the emptying of their stuff, we found the ‘stash’ of Dandelion wine. It must have been a dozen years old by this time, as it had lost all its amber colour, and – all of its ‘strength’ as well! It was a nice, tame drink, but one would never get a “buzz” from drinking even a whole bottle. We tried.
The weed that I’m unable to identify has either a red or yellow blossom. It is kind of pretty, but can take-over a garden or lawn if not controlled. When the blooms are done, a sort of ‘bulb’ is formed. Squeezing this pouch releases a dust-like product. Could it be like mushrooms which spread by releasing “spor”? I’m in no rush to have my ‘weeded’ lawn cut. I think it’s pretty!
Did you know there is a weed called “Ovary”? The plant is equivalent of a womb. Fertilized ova develop in the ovary and become embryonic seeds. The swollen ovary is called a ‘fruit’.
And, I’ll leave you with this: “She may be a ‘wall-flower’ at a dance, but she’s a dandelion in bed”!!
Uncle Russ. **** From the Shores of Lake Huron – Port Elgin
Greetings everyone hope you all are doing fine. By the way I must say Doug that is a nice looking bike you have now. I am going to put mine up for sale in the next few weeks as I haven’t ridden it in 2 years. Between the new knees and the price of flipping insurance i can not get that enthusiastic about riding any more. Is that a sign that I might be losing my young man feelings or I am just getting old. Nah the amount of accidents this year already mind boggling and its not bike drivers its the other morons that just drive like hell and don’t look. It is terrible up in this area, the Bruce Power workers in the morning and afternoon going and coming to and from work are completely mindless at driving.
In fact we call Highway 21 between here and the hydro plant the Hydro 500. Up until the covid hit I was driving shuttle bus morning and afternoon from Port Elgin and these nuts would pass the bus on a hill, or at bends in the road, even as much as coming from Kincardine on one of the side roads off of the main road going from 21 down to the plant they would come up to the stop sign barely slow down go thru it into the on coming lane and force their way into the traffic line-up in the proper lane. Ok enough ranting.
Here has not been great weather wise we should be having double digit temperatures but its not happening. Between winds which have been prominent a lot haven’t been able to get out fishing much. I have about 4 different sites on the wind and waves for the area and 90 percent of the time none are the same forecast. Checked yesterday and finally a day we could get out. So up bright and early hooked up the boat and down to the lake I went it was just perfect so out we went. In the last 3 weeks the water has only warmed up by 1.5 degrees it is now at a balmy 41.9 degrees F far from balmy . so after 6 hours of covering a lot of water we finally boated 1 lake trout when we were clearing the lines to come in. But that is why they call it fishing and not catching. Oh that’s a bad one ha-ha. last week Greg you ask what type of fish we catch and I replied from my phone only to discover it never went out to you. Modern technology attempted by a dinosaur.
We catch mostly Chinook salmon, Lake Trout, Rainbow trout , brown trout and the occasional pickerel. Hopefully the water soon warms up and fish start hitting again. They get very lazy in cold water. Well everyone have a great week and stay safe. Brian **** From Greg Although it’s been anything but, I want to say thanks to the Squid members that wished me a speedy recovery! If all goes well I should be back in the Ontarion saddle for next week! I’m looking forward to being back to normal once again! It’s been a long and difficult grind and I want also to thank Carole and Adam for all the hard work they’ve both put into caring for me over the past three weeks and more, they’ve both been here for me in a very big way! Lots of love to both of them! Take care and stay safe and I’ll see you all again next week! Greg **** Take
Care
And Be Safe |
