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The
Squamidian Report – Sept. 9 / 23
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#1111 Nova Scotia Sus Russ Rosemary Greg
Well now….. I for one am SO happy that the long weekends of summer are over with. We live in an area that’s considered to be a resort town and the only highway through it leads to Whistler which is definitely a resort town. Long weekends for us simply means we get inundated with with people and traffic. The highway gets clogged up to the point where it becomes a very long parking lot. Add to that the average mentality of the average person and it all becomes a nightmare. We have a friend who works at one of the local grocery stores. She hates the long weekends as well, so much so that at times you’d think she was going to explode with frustration. The stories she can tell about the tourist type ‘customers’ who come through the store make you shake you head in disbelief. The abuse she takes at times from these entitled morons is beyond description. Many of us just hunker down and hide. This last long weekend is over, may they all go home and stay there. But not so fast, this weekend also inflicts pain and suffering on us poor residents of this area. Our one and only highway that leads from Vancouver up to Whistler gets shut down again, this time for a bicycle race of all the stupid things. Starting about ten years ago the bicycle lobby somehow got away with closing the highway in order to let the bicyclists have it to themselves as they ride from down town Vancouver all the way up to whistler. That cuts Squamish right in half. No one in town can get in or out. No one in town could get to our little hospital if their life depended on it (which it could and therefor would). The bicycle people love it, the rest of us wish it would go away. Now here’s a question, if THEY can do it, how come the power’s that be won’t let the sports car groups do it, or the road rocket motorcycle riders do it, or the dirt bikers do it? It’s all politics, the riders of bicycles can do no wrong and get what they want, all other users of the roadways are dirt, simple as that. End of rant. Another audio recording, just for the fun of it….. Here’s a song that I shouldn’t do because I can’t really do it. I’ve been working away at it for months with little luck but decided to try to finish it this past week, which I did. I don’t have the range or the proper voice and the original is not even my style of music. However, I like the song, and like the voice of the original singer. It was put out years ago by the Irish folk/rock group called ‘The Cranberries’. Now you know why it’s not a song I can actually do. As I was laying down the vocal tracks I couldn't help but think that we have several people in the group that would be able to add some rather incredible harmonies to it in place of my old voice that always sounds like me. (Stop by some time and we’ll re-do the whole song). And having said all of that, I’d like to dedicate it to my wife of 50 years because the lyrics fit quite nicely. So, give it a listen and hopefully you’ll enjoy it.
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From Nova Scotia Sus
It took us awhile....we finally made a day trip to New Brunswick to visit Wayne, Sylvia, Sonja, Kenny and Gabriella. Also it was wonderful to see Sylvia's mother. We were greeted with open arms. It was a beautiful day and they gave us the grand tour of their property and homes and how they have settled in so well. We brought with us 3 laying hens to add to their flock. The chickens seemed to enjoy the 3 hour ride and were quiet for most of the trip. We actually have more chickens than we need so it's good to find some homes for them. We are also selling off some of our log piles that are everywhere on our property. We had a big truck in here yesterday loading and then taking logs to a mill. We weren't so sure there would be a market for them since so many properties lost trees. Good to open up more of our land. Every year in the fall we buy an oyster fishing license. The rules are very strict and there are big fines. They also don't tell you everything so they can catch you. Like no Sunday fishing. There was nothing in the rule book about that and of course we were fined. Funny thing is tourist's with no license pick up oysters on the beach and never seem to get caught.
Sus ****
From Russ
"Little Robin red-breast, sitting on a pole, wibble-wabble went his tail, 'poop!' went his hole" ( Author, Bobbie Dick age three) They arrived early in March this year when the ground was still covered with snow, they would have nothing to eat, and had to shelter-in-place to escape the tail-end of winter. Robins are a welcome sight each spring, and one must "stamp" the first one seen. (You folk my age know what I mean by stamp.) For you youngsters I'll quickly explain how this is done. The moment you see your first Robin, you must drop everything and lick the tip of your finger, touch the back of your other hand with your moistened finger, then gently tap the back of said hand with your other hand. Got it? (Here, I'll demonstrate ........got it? Good, you learn quickly) The bird-bath in my back yard is always kept clean and filled with fresh water. In late August I noticed there was no evidence of the bath being used. No bird-poop in the bath, none on the hand-rails of the deck - and hey! No sign of a Robin anywhere! Isn't this extra-early for them to migrate south? Do they know something we don't? Birds and other animals are better at forecasting weather than the Weather Chanel people. Even stupid chickens know when a storm is brewing, or an earthquake is about to occur! Was the behavior of the Robins indicative of an early Winter? There are other signs indicating a long, hard winter this time; certain trees over-laden with cones, seeds, and Tent Caterpillars. Particularly aggressive Wasps, Squirrels frantically collecting food and hiding more of the stuff they'll ever find. A Black Sq. came to my back door asking for nuts!! I was a teacher for over a quarter Century, and have a naturally inquisitive mind - that's why I did some research on Robins, referencing Wikipedia. If you'd rather do the research yourself please feel free to do so, you won't offend me. (LOL) "The Robin> a migratory bird - widely distributed throughout North America, wintering from southern Canada to Central Mexico and along the Pacific Coast. It is the state bird of Connecticut, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Most abundant land-bird in North America (with 370,000,000 individuals)" Who counted them? "Diet > beetle grubs, earthworms, and caterpillars, also some fruits and berries." I've seen them trying to eat the seeds of the (?) bush in winter when there is nothing else available! "Early birds > Earliest bird species to lay eggs, beginning to breed shortly after returning to its summer range. The mating season runs from April to July - 2 to 3 broods per mating season - 3 to 5 eggs each time." No wonder there are millions of Robins! Did you know why they nest close to human habitation? They do so for protection. This can be a nuisance, as they build their nests within 14 feet of the ground, often upon electric light fixtures, and security motion detectors. I know this from personal experience. What unusual locations have Robins chosen for their nests around your home? The nests can be a source of aggravation, as you tear them down - they rebuild overnight! Generations of Robins will build their nests in the same location each season. And who builds the nests? Not the 'old man', the nests are built entirely by the female, using long, course grass, twigs, paper, and feathers - and is smeared with mud and cushioned with grass or other soft materials" Do Robins wake you too early with their chirping? Here again, they are the earliest birds to sing at dawn, or last at dusk. Have you ever noticed its song consists of several discrete units that are repeated? And repeated, and repeated!!! "Predators > The adult Robin's main predator is the domestic cat; other predators include hawks and snakes. The cowbird lay their eggs in Robin nests, but the Robin usually rejects the egg(s)" By the way, the "pooping Robin" rhyme above was reportedly spoken by my wife as a child living in Owen Sound at the time - she was a" cracker", and influenced by older neighborhood boys. She couldn't say her real name, Barbara Dickson and called herself Bobbie Dick (The Bobbie nickname stuck for life)
By Uncle Russ. ****
From Rosemary
I received Russell's latest book in the mail yesterday. Holy cow! What a comprehensive, fascinating piece of work. I was especially interested in hearing about Rye, in Parry Sound, where the four Haufschild sisters (Irene, Emma, Mabel & Edna) were born. If you google Rye, it is now referred to as a ghost town. And if you have, or are getting, Russell's book, look at the photos of the cabin that grandpa Haufschild built. I was surprised to see that when Emma was married, she looked so much like my mom, Edna. Check out the photo on page 33. This book is joining another one of Russell's as an historical document in the Region of Waterloo Museum. Well done, Russell.
Rosemary ****
The Ontarion
Hello everyone I hope you are all doing well and keeping healthy these days! It looks like we are in for a lovely fall this year. I sure hope it stays warm and fairly dry this season. We’re looking forward to taking fall colour drives in the MG if it stays nice out! Doug’s Englebert Humperdink song last week reminded me of a situation I was in back in 1971 that connected me with a like for Englebert! I was asked to go golfing with my supervisor and two more executives from Zehr’s Markets head office on Ottawa St in Kitchener. At that time I was working as a Refrigeration Mechanic for the Zehr’s stores. We were out on a course between Kitchener and Guelph and enjoyed the day playing in a tournament sponsored by Sears Store of Kitchener. I was not the best golfer by any means that day but after the golfing part of the day we had a lovely meal in the club house of the course and once that was completed and enjoyed, they doled out the prizes. We pretty much all got something for spending the day in the tournament for Sears. My prize for the day was the latest Englebert Humperdink album! Until then, I had not been much of a Humperdink fan but after listening to the album, I quickly became one. His ballads were and still are very heart warming indeed! Since then which as you know was many years ago I still dig out his old album once in a while and give it a good listening to! The song that Doug did last week is one that is actually on the album that I took home after the tournament that day so it brought back many good memories! Thanks again Doug! This summer has been a very productive one for Carole and her gardening work. She purchased 5 Potato planting bags. In case you don’t know what they are, they are large green plastic bags that you fill with a layer of good growing soil then place a few potatoes in and then once they begin to sprout, you place another layer of soil over them and so on and so on until the bag is full. They stand about 22” tall and have a few drain holes around the bottom of the bag. Once they are full they are left sitting outside and are watered daily as the potatoes sprout through the top layer and the sprouts grow to their full extent which is about two feet tall. These plants take the remainder of the summer and into the fall until they wilt and droop and die off. Then the bags can be emptied to show their crop of potatoes! It’s a unique way to garden Potatoes and we are quite anxious to see the results of Carole’s hard work on this project in the next week or two! They should be finished growing in a short while and we’ll see how many potatoes she has been able to produce with this method of gardening! Carole also had planted garlic the past two years and is about to plant a larger garden plot of Garlic again this fall. It should be quite productive with the larger plot for the garlic this year. I think if Carole had it to do over again, she’d spend her life working as a farmer, since she loves it so much! Well, that’s about all I have for this week! Thanks for tuning in and I’ll look forward to talking to you all again next time in The Ontarion Report!
Bye for now….. Greg
Take care of yourselves and be kind to others! ****
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