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The
Squamidian Report – May 9 / 26
Online
Versions
Of This And Past Issues Issue
#1250 ****
From Wayne
Hi Squids: I thought by now the new baby bull, Bean, (born of Coffee, the mother) would have a new cousin to play with, but nothing yet. Bean doesn’t seem to be able to walk, - he can only run, gallop and otherwise cavort among the adults. This past week has provided an assortment of wild life, anxious to find new grass or build nests.. Two wild turkeys are roaming close to the buildings in the first picture, pecking at things in the new grass but saving a bit of space in the tummy for desert at the manure pile.
Our usual twenty Canada Geese are back. The flock will swell to fifty when they leave in the fall. A silent, camouflaged Bittern watches and waits at the ponds while a Great Blue Heron struts casually along the still flooded river shore. Close by, two bald eagles tear at some unfortunate creature, could be a large fish, hard to tell, while a turkey vulture waits atop a nearby birch tree for left-overs. On the north side of the main house, Sonja and Kenny often watch a doe and her two fawns casually munching the new grass. Sylvia and I could rarely see them because the house blocked them from our view. But, in a show of generosity, they appeared south of our building so we could have a show, too. Below is an evening shot from our window. The deer are about 90 metres away. I am also including a picture of our sky. I don’t think it is bluer anywhere else in the world. Thousands of miles of ocean winds and rain seem to wash it clean. Wayne & Sylvia
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From Nova Scotia Sus
It's been pretty wild weather this past week with gale force winds and heavy rain. Some of our yard junk piles blew everywhere. What i mean about junk its mostly yard tools and broken buckets and a pile of stuff that needs a trip to the dump. We also had a surprise visit by a beautiful black bear. It made good use of our compost bins by knocking them over and eating what it wanted. We tried to scare it away making lots of noise but that didn't make any difference. Now we haven't seen it in 2 days so hopefully it's moved on. I warned our neighbors so they would be aware of a bear in the area. My brother Warren is here visiting until June and he has talked me into flying back with him to B.C. The plan is to then drive to see Michelle and Chris in Alberta for a family reunion. Spend a week with them and then fly home. I can't seem to get Michelle to fly to Nova Scotia for a visit so I have to go there. Sus ****
From Carol
I read an unusual take in the opinion column of the Record regarding MPs who cross over to join another political party. First I need to explain how I have always voted. The only time I haven’t voted since turning 21 was the last local election when I was in hospital. I have never voted for a political party. Each election, be it local, provincial or federal, I have researched the candidates and voted for the one that I felt would best represent me and the riding I live in, not what party they were attached to. Often the candidate I voted for didn’t win and I never voted for anyone who I felt had extreme views be they far right or far left. I have never respected a politician who puts their party above the best interests of their constituents or country. I also do not respect party leaders who kick members out of their caucus for disagreeing with them. By the way I never discuss politics and believe you have a perfect right to disagree with me, just don’t ask me to argue about this. That is not why I want to share the following opinion letter, I just want to share a point of view that reflects my way of voting to some extent. The following is the letter from Wednesday’s paper. Do not bother reading it if you are uninterested. Carol “A letter writer argues that MPs who cross the floor undermines democracy. In Canada’s parliamentary system the opposite is true. MPs are elected as individuals to represent their constituents, not to serve as permanent extensions of a party brand. Their oath is to the country, not to a leader, and their first duty is to the people in their riding. Floor crossing has been part of Westminister democracy for centuries. It exists to protect MPs independence when their party no longer reflects their constituents’ needs or their own judgment. Calling this back room dealing misunderstands how minority governments function: co-operation, negotiation and realignment are what prevents legislative gridlock.Voters are not powerless. If they disagree with an MP’s decision, they can remove that person in the next election. That accountability is the essence of democracy. What truly erodes democratic health is the belief MPs must obey party leadership at all costs. When an MP crosses the floor or works across party lines they are exercising the independence our system is designed to preserve. Democracy is not weakened when MPs think for themselves, it is weakened when they are punished for doing so.”
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From Gary Happy mother’s day weekend folks. I really miss our parents and Mother’s Day drives it home a bit more. Instead of getting forlorn I chose to have pleasant memories from years gone by. From early childhood through to the end there are in numerous memories. We each have our own. Enjoy your thoughts and memories. Wild cherry tree in full bloom. Sure is enjoyable walking along the millennium trail this time of year even if the weather isn’t cooperating. There have been a lot of night sky events so far this spring. Unfortunately they’ve always been on cloudy nights. On clear nights the Big Dipper is directly above us. When it’s that high in the sky it is quite visible low to the horizon in the Philippines. Most people there aren’t even aware of it. Enough rambling for this week. Take care and stay safe everyone.
Gary ****
From Doug
Most politicians, the slime of the earth… I think that is a statement that most of us can agree on. The ones that have currently gotten me rather agitated are our BC provincial jerks. They are in their 3rd term and had just barely squeaked through the last election by promising to fix the health system. Notice that I said ‘3rd’ term, so they had plenty of time to fix it earlier but had been letting it go down the toilet just like everywhere else across this country. One of the promises made by our illustrious leader was to build a bunch of new and badly needed care homes, including one right here in Squamish. We do have a very small one, old and out dated and totally antiquate for the local needs. The wait time to get a bed in there is several years long and rising. The BC Premier announced last week that all the proposed care homes and hospital expansions are cancelled, even the ones that are already under construction. Now here are some interesting numbers. It costs about $280 or so per day to house a patient in a care home including our local care home, Hilltop. It costs about $1300 per day to have a potential care home patient cared for in a hospital bed, and hospitals are not the right place for those patients, assuming you can find one available. There is no stimulus, no activities, nothing for them to do. So, we have a cost difference of about $1000 per day. Now back to NOT building the needed care homes… Our BC premier has stated that because it costs 1.8 million dollars per bed to build a care home, we can’t afford to do it. That sounds like “oh wow, yes, way to expensive”. But then you think about it. It means a 100 bed care home in BC (an expensive place to do anything) would cost about 180 million buck but once built those beds get to be used day after day, year after year housing patients at $280 per day instead of taking up hospital beds at $1300 per day. Now think a bit further…. The useless Fifa events are coming to Vancouver. Just the security alone is estimated to be over $150 million for a short term event and we all know what happens to ‘estimates’ put out by governments. And thats ‘just’ the security, no mention of any of the other expenses covered by the tax payer. Some town, any town, could have had a new care home paid for by that waist of money instead of a bunch of politicians and important people having sports tickets. That just makes me steam. And now, just so you don’t all start thinking I’m a bitter old man (something I don’t deny), I’ll tell you about something fun and cool coming up on the first Sunday of June. Jane and I are going to do another ‘tiny garage concert’. This one will celebrate our 1st anniversary of singing together. Yup, as of the beginning of June we will have been making music together for a whole year. My how time flies. And I must say, musically speaking, its been a wonderful adventure (and distraction). Live music at its best. And just to give you a taste of what you will be missing, here’s the link to our latest recording. Its our laid back version of the Eagles song, ‘Peaceful Easy Feeling’. Doug ****
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