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The
Squamidian Report – Sept. 17 / 22
Online Versions Of This And Past Issues (Choose the year and then the date for the online issue you want) Issue
#1060 From
Ewan
Hey There, We here in the south west coastal area of BC had lucked out for most of the summer with no forest fires near by and no forest fire smoke to deal with. Well, that all came to an end over that long weekend a couple of weeks ago. All of a sudden there were, and are, fires near Lillooet, Mission, Hope, in Manning Park, and along the US border. Most are human caused which says a lot about human intelligence. The resulting smoke has become a problem and for most of this week were have been under a ‘bad air’ advisory. We’ve had days here where we could barley see the end of the street and could not see the surrounding mountains at all. Thankfully for us, we had purchased a pair of hepa filters last year. These proved invaluable during pollen season and now are again proving invaluable for filtering out the smoke in our house. They have been working full time but it’s nice and smoke free in here. All one has to do is step outside and it smells like smoke, step back inside and you don’t smell anything. Definitely worth their weight in gold. Moving on, I had a little story about a bear that has been patrolling our street of late all ready for this week’s issue. However, given the fantastic showing from all of you for this weeks addition, I’ve shelved that story, at least for now. So, lets move on. When cousin Sus of Nova Scotia fame was out here we did some very enjoyable jamming. One of the old songs we dragged up out of the back corners of our memories was a Lightfoot song called ‘Long Way Back Home’. So, once I had the opportunity to do a video of it, I did. For what it’s worth, here it is. I’ll try to have an audio recording put together in a couple of weeks or so. doug **** From Ewan Hello Doug, all,
This letter comes far too late. After so long it is difficult to know where to begin. The summer was great. As most of the world seems to be loosening up Alison and I were able to get out and do more with Quinn. He is five now and can ride his two wheel bike fairly well without training wheels. This weekend (a week after Labour Day) Grandma, my Mom, visited and yesterday we cycled around the beach near our home in East York in Toronto. We visited the Science Centre today which was great. So far Quinn does not enjoy movies and we only lasted a few minutes in IMAX. Alison is the opposite and is at the Toronto International Film Festival right now. She sees like thirty, forty or fifty films in a few days. The only way I can imagine that is to liken it to those people who taste wine then just spit it out. I’ve never really been into wine but have had some over the years. So far I haven’t spat any out and I wouldn’t know how to spit out a film. Thus she will take me along to one or two which works out well for both of us.
In the spring we missed out on a trip to Muskoka with my Dad, Hugh, Mary, my brother James, Jessica, Jenna and her friend due to Alison and I having contracted COVID. We were careful not to give it to Quinn and it cleared up in a week or so. He had just had his second shot so we were not too stressed. It was disappointing to miss the trip. Through the summer we were able to visit family a little more, we went to Niagara Falls and to Muskoka on our own. We visited the Toronto Islands, including the amusement park and went to the Canadian National exhibition, “the Ex.” One day we enjoyed lunch at the top of the CN Tower. Now when I ask what we should have for dinner Quinn says his first choice would be to eat there. It is a worthwhile trip but a little HIGH priced for a regular habit! This summer I made it to the highland games for the first time since 2019.
On the long weekend we were able to see some family and even play a little bocce ball (bocci ball?) at my Mom’s house. It’s a good feeling to visit with friends and family, particularly in somewhat smaller gatherings or for what the heck sort of events like that. It’s good to just see people and chat a little, to see the kids running around. On one hand it is great to return to familiar, happy times. On the other we have the feeling of a new time, the page turned. The long era of Queen Elizabeth II has come to a close, and some were lost before her. For all the rest of us it is a time of bigger families, new traditions and reinvigoration of some old ones. I like it.
This fall I will return to painting, and I need to return to some sort of exercise habits. Both took a turn when I became a fiancé, home owner, landlord, father, manager and husband all for the first time and all in short order. COVID didn’t help me get out and do much either. We are no longer landlords which is nice so there is that. Also work has finally leveled off a little for the moment. My company was purchased by another company which is now trying to sell all to yet another company and they know it won’t happen unless my company is sold to yet another company. All of that is basically fine with me but it is taking a very long time for all the required approvals. That part is GREAT! While all this is in limbo it means that we have paused massive high speed progress for slow, essential work only. That means work is not completely out of control. It’s almost like a normal job, for a little while anyway. Everyone needs to catch up on years of missed vacation. So no more excuses for not being in better shape!
Our new fiscal year started September first. So happy fiscal new year to all. Quinn started senior kindergarten, which is great (although it seems like a bit of an oxymoron to me). We continue to work from home and it is easy with his school a ten minute walk away. So maybe no excuse to not get a letter or two out once in a while. Next time I will tell you about my favorite way to listen to Doug from so far away.
Ewan **** From Karl Hi everyone glad the weekly is back just an update from me this week I went into the city at night to take photos of of the colours of the royals which is purple a lot of the buildings where lite up in purple which is a great colour I will include a few shots of Melbourne ,Spring is in the air and and decided to go walkabout last Friday and ended up walking 12k not bad for 73 year old lol there is a lot of colour about right now even my Orchids are in flower and birds are on the move birds from as far as Russia-Siberia come to the wetlands not to far from our house 15min walk what a amazing feat for such a small bird to achieve ,Thank you all for a great read last week Russ you are a fantastic writer and hope you can get your book illustrate WE have plenty of Artist in the family thank you Doug for keeping the weekly going and Greg also for the great read from Kitchener Waterloo and everyone from ALL over Canada how great is that ,well thanks again and stay safe.
Karl.
**** From Russ A Shot in the Dark "There is nothing new under the sun" Earnest Hemingway With that rather disappointing statement, readers of the Squamidian cannot expect to always read something new. This week's story is a good example. Good, true stories are worth repeating, so here goes: Her name was Laura Brown - an upright, citizen of the village of Centreville. circa 1937. Yes, 85 years ago! At the time of the "shot in the dark", Laura was a widow living alone, except for her daughter Barbara, age 8. Her son Arthur (Art), attending university in Toronto, was rarely home, he went on to become a priest - rising to bishop in the Anglican Church of Canada. While I think of it, I will mention the fact that Barbara was an excellent tap-dancer, frequently doing public performances. One such event was during Centreville's Annual Strawberry Social. They had built a raised platform for the event, and yours truly was front and centre with his chin planted squarely upon the boards of the stage. Barbara was wearing long leggings, and a short, pleated skirt. Her skinny legs looked like a pair of 'pipe-cleaners' - and were just as supple, bending in all directions as she tap-danced all over the place. I fell in love instantly! We lived not far from the Brown's, and our parents became good friends - visiting back and forth. My brother, Howard and I became fascinated with Edward (Ed) Brown (while he was still alive), as he would show us his hole (no, not that hole!), the hole in his side where a bullet from a German machine gun entered, passing through his lower abdomen, and exiting his back. Yes - that was during the First World War! Feeling lonely (and maybe a bit scared), Laura asked my parents if Howard and I could occasionally sleep-over at her place. Yup - that was OK with our parents and us. I was about 8 and Howard was 20 months older. We were billeted in Art's bedroom - two to a bed (same as at our home). It must be told - our rented, old house had no indoor plumbing - the Brown's did. It was a fairly-new, tiled, 4-piece affair - what luxury! Picture this: In the middle of the night, I had to pee - badly! The strange house was in total darkness. No street lights either. It was, as my mother-in-law used to say, "Dark as the inside of a mitt". Feeling my way along the walls, and groping for the bedroom door, I became disoriented! Panicky! My under-size bladder was about to explode! Finding a door (and hoping it was the bathroom), I let drive a shot in the dark - just enough to ease the pain - and found my way back to bed. Oh- Oh! Next morning, I learned to my horror, the door I had opened was the closet door and the garment hanging there, that took the shot, was Art's bathrobe!! The side pocket was full! It gets worse! I failed to report the accident to anybody - including poor Laura. My silence, in this case pressed upon me "Criminal Liability" (Me, who later became a cop!) Some years later, in a moment of brevity, I confessed my crime to Laura. She looked at me, said nothing for the longest time, then in her quiet, cool manner, said, "I often wondered what that sour odor was, coming from Arty's closet" Bless her soul. PS Shameful as it is - this is one of my favorite stories. Russ. **** From Nova Scotia Sus Wow the weeks go fast, here it is Thursday already and time to send in another report. I have promised myself to contribute weekly so I best get started. Yesterday we got real ambitious and decided to clean up our trails around the pond. There used to be a nice walking trail and after so many years it has grown up so much it was a difficult route. Most could be done with the whipper snipper and the chain saw had to be used to remove limbs and smaller trees that had sprouted up. Then we decided to rebuild the bridge that crossed one of the inlets to the pond. That required lumber. We always have left over stuff from all the remodeling and out- buildings we added on. We managed to scrounge up enough and finish the job. It wasn't easy to get all the materials to the site since it was a good jaunt to the creek. Somehow we managed it all and our now proud owners of an amazing bridge. Now we just have to wait until it rains enough to fill the creek. Sus **** From Wayne Hello All Squidmids: It’s about time that I reported in – sort of a ‘proof of life’ gesture. In early May, 2021, we had no idea that our lives would be turned upside down. By July 28, 2021, we crossed into New Brunswick as new citizens of that province, two days before our furniture arrived, only to learn that our contracted pre-fab house would not be started until October or November. But finished for Christmas! That night and for another eleven months, our home was a 20 foot square room that had been a home business office. Warm enough, but without running water or toilet facilities. Solution 1: Use the facilities in the main house. OK, but that wouldn’t work in the dead of winter at 2:00 am for that urgent pee in a toilet in a house that is a hundred feet away through drifting snow! Solution 2: Carry water for drinking and washing and get a ‘Johnny on the Spot’. That lasted until the November winds made us look for another way. Solution 3: Get an up-flush toilet, a holding tank and a large water tank to be filled with a garden hose weekly. The holding tank was pumped weekly, too. This lasted through the winter and spring. Drinking water was still carried. All this time, there was no activity on the house. Then, just before Christmas, we learned it might be started in February if the winter was ‘open’ but if not, then in May after the load restrictions on the roads would be lifted. AND the price was raised by $225,000 more than the estimate when the building was ordered in May, 2021!!!! That’s when we decided to renovate the 4-bay garage in which we were living. It had a large loft which was amply large but, with 9 foot ceilings and a 14” floor above that, it made a 16 step stairway, a challenge for Sylvia’s failing joints. I became the project manager, framer’s helper and “go-for”. I hired a framer who promised that he could do everything, and he almost could. We started on the first working day in January sometimes with temperatures at -25 Degrees Celsius and worked 40 hours a week until he quit on my Birthday, May 26, this year. Daily, Sylvia and I shopped the internet for supplies and I looked for tradesmen. It all came together and by my Birthday, we planned to occupy the new quarters. Well, that didn’t work, so we planned for our Wedding anniversary as the moving date. Close, but no cigar. That’s the day that the movers came to take our stuff upstairs, which was stored in the garage below. Although a bit late, 2 days later we had a full course meal prepared in our new kitchen to be enjoyed by the whole family, (living in two buildings on the same property); Sylvia, I, daughter Sonja, and husband Ken, our granddaughter Gabriella (Gabi) and Sylvia/s mother, Eva who is now Groma since Sylvia has become Oma. At this point we are still waiting for the installation of 4 skylights and the construction of a deck to be accessed from the living room making it 14 feet above the ground. The view will be wonderful, with the broad slow moving Canaan River along 450 feet of our property, the 9-hole golf course to the right and seemingly endless forest to the left. Since my framer quit in May, I have been doing the finishing, working about 6 hours a day 7 days a week ever since, but it makes me feel good to be active. Not bad for an 88year old! I have been too busy to take pictures and besides things are always changing. I will add some pictures in another publication. That’s enough of me for now. Wayne Brubacher (Russell’s younger and only surviving sibling.) **** The Ontarion Hello everyone! I’ve been sitting watching the evening news this past few days and other than the information about the death and funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, I’ve been appalled by the murder and automotive death of two Toronto area police officers! It makes one wonder just what in the world is happening to cause all the intense crimes that are happening these days? Here in Kitchener the WRP force have just arrested a second person (Woman) that is responsible for the murder of another 54 year old woman a few months ago! I guess we can attribute that to good police work in the Waterloo Region! Thank goodness our local police force is able to solve some of the more serious crimes of the past months! Recently, (over the past few years) KW has become victim to many shootings and other forms of killings and it saddens everyone when the perpetrator or perpetrators seem to get away with such horrendous crimes! The best guess by most is that the people committing these crimes are coming from the greater Toronto area, committing these shootings etc and then are able to jump in their cars and drive directly to the easiest escape route via access to the 401 and disappear! The Regional Police chief has mentioned that his best assumption is that the criminals committing these crimes are related to large Gangs from the Toronto Area! I think he’s making an educated guess for sure! With the cooperation of all the police forces along the 401 corridor and others such as the Hamilton Police force they will be able to solve more and more of these major crimes in the future! Speaking of major crimes, on tonight’s news there was a report of a large fight in the Activa housing neighbourhood of Kitchener yesterday evening where an 18 year old youth was stabbed! The fight consisted of approximately 20 young men between the ages of 16 and 20 years! Luckily the victim was not critically injured and was rushed to a local hospital for treatment! The last word is that the Police are still investigating and asking for information about the brawl! I have a feeling that if uncle Russ was still on the job as a Regional Police Detective we’d be in better hands than we happen to be at the moment! Too bad you’re past the age of policing these days Russ! If you were known to be still on the job Russ, I’m sure it would strike the fear of God into the hearts of the local criminals we are facing these days!* I spent the whole day today cleaning our MGB and getting it spic and span to have it ready for the largest British Car Show in Canada that’s going to take place this coming Sunday in Bronte Park in Oakville. I personally think that we own the most flawlessly beautiful MGB in Canada but unfortunately there are approximately 200 other MGB’s that enter the Bronte Park show each year so the competition is quite difficult to overcome! Our MGB will garner at least two “Best In Show ‘’ Votes on Sunday and they will come from myself and Adam who is going to attend the show with me on the occasion! Hopefully this year’s show won’t be Rained out and the show will go on after being delayed by Covid-19 this past three years! Hopefully all of my back breaking cleaning work of today won’t be in vane! I will be in shock if our lovely MGB happens to win an award by the end of the show given all of the competition that is usually present at Bronte! The day should be one of clear weather since the weather report and forecast for Sunday so far is for only approximately 30% possibility of slight showers! We will take our umbrellas just in case! If they change the forecast to look more like rain we’ll be leaving the MGB at home in the garage and will take either Adam’s Ram Truck or the Jeep to the show! Here’s keeping fingers crossed that it’ll be a bright sunny day this Sept 18th! That’s about all I have 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. Please
write
in and tune in again next week! **** Take
Care |
