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The
Squamidian Report – Dec. 23 / 23
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Of This And Past Issues Issue
#1126 Olivia Kyra Nova Scotia Sus Wayne Russ
Season’s Greetings…..
Well, here we are. It’s Christmas. However, it sure doesn’t look like Christmas. At least not around here. We are not just having a GREEN Christmas, we are having a VIBRANT green one. We have flowers in our flower beds, we have flowering shrubs starting to open. Even in the high country where the snow base should be measured in meters, there is bare rock and moss. The only reason I have not had one of the motorcycles out is the almost endless rain. This is of course a ‘rain forest’ area and to be fair, west coast green Christmases are normal. Our area is north and up into the mountains from Vancouver so we normally get more snow here than they do but even at that, on average we only get a white Christmas about once in every 3 years. So, aside from mild, wet, and dreary, its all pretty on par. If it were to actually dry up enough, we’d have to mow the lawn. And as a plus to all of this, as of last Thursday the days are starting to get longer again. Thats a good thing.
Have you ever noticed how busy life gets at this time of year? Even if you have absolutely nothing to do, nothing on the go, and no where to go, and no obligations at all, it just seems to be busy. The stores are busy, the roads are busy and so on. I find it best to just hide in the house and occasionally peek out the window to watch the rain. The one big exception to the nothingness is, we’ve been enjoying our morning coffee up at the gondola, sitting by the fireplace, looking out the windows at the soggy scenery, and best of all, having the place to ourselves. Between the fact that we get there just as they open and that the weather is keeping the mad masses away, we’ve become rather spoiled and almost resent when other customers start to straggle in. Like I’ve said before, its a hard life.
Our Christmas is very quiet again this year and thats ok I guess. I wish each and all of you a quiet Christmas because as we get older we tend to like it that way. So, sit back and enjoy the season and the day and your families or just the peace and quiet of your personal space. *** The following contributions are from Olivia and Kyra. Lauren recorded them at their singing recital program using her iPhone. The hall was noisy and sound was not very good but the girls did wonderfully. Most of the kids there sang very simple easy songs. The girls both picked more difficult material and they pulled it off quite well. This was Olivia’s first time ever singing solo in public. Kyra was nervous but pulled it off nicely. Follow the included links to watch each recital.
Doug ****
Olivia’s Singing Recital
My singing recital was fun… but I got scared so I messed up the end bit. I sang Sk8ter boi” by Avril Lavigne I had a great time and I got flowers, yay!
My singer teacher is Arianna Mae, and it is almost Christmas I can’t wait for my mom and my grandma’s fudge p.s you haven’t lived till you tasted the fudge!
Lol if you did not see my story about Mexico check it out now and my singing recital had to be something I had to write about. Check out my sister’s stories now like her Mexico trip have a happy holiday. Xoxo Olivia.
Olivia’s Recital
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Kyra’s Singing Recital
Hello, its Kyra and I am going to talk about my singing recital. So first it was quite fun but also quite nerve wracking I sang “Back to December “by Taylor Swift.
*And I’ll go back to December all the time! *
so that’s all, I guess. BYE!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kyra’s Recital
****
From Nova Scotia Sus
Doug I love reading about your times long ago at the Hockridge Farm. I also was very impressed with the writings of your two grand daughters. Maybe they will become regulars. A beautiful picture of them too.
Russell I wouldn't worry so much about your little lie...most kids would say the same thing.…
Wayne I loved the Puppet Theatre you made for the kindergarten class. It was amazing. I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Thanks for all the great reading.
Sus ****
From Wayne
Hi Squids. The winds and rains struck again, but worse this time. At bedtime on Monday there were just under 100,000 sites without power in the province, all of which were in the southeast section. We were included in the area but this time, our power just flickered out about a dozen times. In the morning the outages had climbed to 104,500. Colleen, Russell's granddaughter, who lives 20 minutes away was out of power until yesterday, I think.
Anyway, we had some damage. One of the cement-lined steel chimneys blew down, landing on the house roof. Ken (our son-in-law) went out at night in the driving wind and rain and brought the loose sections inside, the anchored section remaining tethered to the roof. We set things up again yesterday but there will need to be more supports attached before the next storm. Luckily, with the night-time temperature still around +15C, there was no fire burning at the time. Beyond that we lost some shingles. Here are a couple of pictures.
Wayne
****
From Russ
Copper vs Tinsel
A Christmas Story.....sort of.
A police officer named Russ, was on cruiser patrol in the North Ward of Kitchener. circa 1960, when he came upon a young kitten who seemed extra friendly. Bending down to pet him/her, it at once began purring and jumped upon his shoulder. Russ, who was a cat-lover walked to his cruiser, and sat down....the cat still perched upon his shoulder!
"How nice is this?" he thought. "We no longer have our two wild dogs living with us - maybe the boys would like a pet cat for a change?" So, he finished his rounds and placed the cat into his private car - intending to surprise his family with a new Christmas gift when he got home.
The young boys were happy to have a new pet, and showered it with plenty of petting, and hugging. His wife was not so 'taken' with the idea.
"Cat-pee" is not pleasant", she complained. She went on. "But if it's 'house-broken', we'll give it a try.
We will let the newcomer speak for himself:
Well, I got my way and found me a new home! They gave me a new name - "copper" because I was picked-up by one. At the other place, they called me "Smasher" - said I was always into breaking something around their place. Who, ME?
Am I happy here? you ask - you can bet your booties I am! The food's good, I have the 'run-of-the-house', sleep anywhere I want, and get plenty of attention when the boys are home. Except for the cop, I let the others pet me - but strictly on MY terms! After all - I run this household! If things don't go my way, I revert back to 'Smasher'! How else will they learn?
What's this? A fresh, green tree is brought in? Nobody asked if it was OK. I'll just sit back and see what they do with it. What do you know? They stood it upright like a living tree - this I gotta explore! Hey! Who you shoving? I got a right to look into this - after-all, I'm a 'cat' - I'm curious!
I keep my distance, watching what they're doing.... what the hell! They're hanging all kinds of junk on the nice, clean-smelling tree. When know one's looking, I'll climb up the tree and expel some of that junk. WOW! This is fun - I can make the balls swing by swatting them! Look at that! I knocked that sucker right off their Christmas tree! Now what's this long, shiny, dangling stuff? Hey! It's fun to pull it off the branches - whoops! got that tangled around my fore-paw - no problem, I'll just pull it off with my teeth. What the heck, it's in my mouth - has no taste, so I'll just swallow it.
Now that we've heard from Copper and how he treats tree decorations, we'll tell the rest of this story which takes -place in a home on King Street, South in Waterloo: The boys got an electric train for Christmas, and they were consumed with making it go round, and round, and round, until one got dizzy watching it. Copper was also watching it - his head going in motion with the train. Suddenly he jumped forward, swatting the caboose, knocking it off the track! Then, he darted out of sight, and hid somewhere - avoiding a scolding.
At the time of this story, decorative tinsel was made of lead, which is poisonous - our hands got black when we handled it, but Copper ate it, and suffered no obvious harm. In fact, he 'passed' it here, and there around the house in tight, little balls. Being frugal, we tried to unwind the balls of tinsel, in hopes of hanging it back on the tree. No luck. However, all was not lost. From time to time short pieces of tinsel protruded from the 'rear' of Copper. If we pulled gently, and Copper participated, we could extract 8 to 10 inches of the stuff which we quietly -hung back on the tree. The short pieces were laid across the electrified metal train tracks and it was fun watching the short circuit fires melt the lead.
Yup! 'twas a fire hazard, and a health hazard as the fumes are very harmful to one's health. Could be - everyone in the family of six is dead (except for the baby and the writer)
By Uncle Russ
PS I hope you all have a joyous Christmas and a safe New Year! ****
I would like to let everyone know that Greg is currently dealing with some very serious health issues. I’m sure we all wish both him and his family the best during this Christmas season and beyond. I know can speak for all of us when I say we all hope and pray for his recovery.
****
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