Fade to Black

    On Feb. 3 I posted on bright sunshine and snow. On Feb. 6 I posted on a gray foggy day so I thought it would work if I went to black today...not the weather though.

     Let me back up a bit before I start. Every family has many humorous stories that are told and retold. For me I could have a whole chapter on wandering away when I was little.

    So here's one of my favorite stories about one of my kids.

     For a couple of summers when my kids were little we did not pack up the trailer and head off for two weeks or so. It was better for all concerned to stay home and take a few day trips.

     When the kids were about 4 or 5 we decided to take a day trip to a largely abandoned coal mine area. There was one mine that still operated for the winters and in the summer they ran tours through the mine. We decided to do the mine tour.

    My son was dressed a white Tee shirt and shorts for a hot day . Now don't get ahead of me on the white tee shirt in a coal mine. I'll get to that. A picnic lunch was packed.

    15 or 20 people were ready for the tour. We were all crammed into the cage and went 400 ft underground.

    The tour guy was an elderly miner and he was awesome. He was enthusiastic about coal mining and his presentation could hold everybody's interest. This man was in his 70's and worked in the mine when it was operating in the winter. He was a grandfatherly type. The kids loved him as he slanted his presentation towards kids.

    The mine was dark and not well lit. When they turned the lights off there was no light whatsoever. 

   At the end of the tour we ended up at a little rail car that hauled coal. He told the kids they could each take a piece of coal. Most kids just walked over and the first piece of coal their hand touched was the one they took. 

    Not my son. He looked at all the pieces of coal on the the edge. Then he got up on the side of the cart so he could see more coal. He still couldn't make a decision. I wondered if he was looking for a certain shaped piece of coal. Finally, he got me to lift him on top of the coal in the cart. He finally said, "Dad , I want this one." He had picked the biggest lump of coal on the cart. It was as big as the toilet bowl.  I couldn't have lifted it if I tried. So then he made the reasonable choice he should have made at the beginning and took a small piece of coal. 

    Oh yes, the little white tee shirt wasn't very white anymore.

    We've laughed about this situation many times.

    Do you have stories about your children or yourself when you were young.

   Now the white tee shirt boy never misses a post on this blog. He's the one who made my header. I wonder if he will comment?

The white tee shirt boy is on the left with a red tee shirt

    

Cloudy Days Again

     We had a brilliant sunny day on Tues. Feb. 3.  I had some photos in my last post and the new snow was brilliant. It had been cloudy and dull for some time so to see the bright sunlight was invigorating. 

     Well the sunny sky didn't last long.  Wed. Feb 4 turned cloudy. Thur Feb 5 gave us 5-6 cm of snow and fog so it was a very dull day. We had lots of running around yesterday so driving was slow and easy.

     The snow stopped this morning and you guessed it, "I shovelled."

My neighbor starts shovelling

It's really dull

Well, I'm experimenting with bird photos

More dull stuff

A Little Sunshine Makes a Big Difference

      I last posted about a 15- 20 cm(6 to 9 in) snowfall. A little more snow has come into my life. The last two mornings I've had 2 - 4 cm( 1 to 1 1/2 in) of new snow to shovel. It's been about minus 13 C(plus 10 F).  I was very comfortable as far as temperature was concerned.

     This morning by the time I finished shovelling the sun was shining. It was very pleasant after four very dull days.

     I went out at 1:00PM to take some pictures of a fine day and a little snow.

A long shadow at I:00PM

Snow piled up on a fence

I don't think the wishing well is open for business

The bird feeder roof with snow load

We're prompt with cleaning up the snow.

Take This, Farside

      Farside at Far Side of Fifty is the creator of the Minnesota snow stick. The snow stick is a yardstick that Farside carefully sets up in her yard to measure the amount of snow received. It also works to show when the last snow melts at her place.

    Now Farside has persuaded some bloggers in snow areas to set up a snow stick. I have a snow stick. Last night we got 20cm (How's it goin' eh?) 8 in (ya'll)  of snow so I decided that it was a good time to report.

    Now Farside is a bit competitive so I get to brag that I have more snow, if that's something that is worth bragging about. Now we've had lots of thawing so this is not remotely close to the total snow of the winter.

    So without further adieu, here is my snow stick.

Centimeters. Next time I'll get the printing but it says 28 cm

Since the printing is larger you can see 11 in.

    Since I had snow, I had to do some shovelling. The micro manager was a good helper this morning and notice the great snow shovelling form.

Nice shovel job

Great style!

    Sunset tonight is at 5:18 and sunrise tomorrow is at 8:18 so that gives us 9 hours of sunlight.

My back lane

Snow across my street.

System Failure

    Eleven days ago an RCMP officer, David Wynn, was brutally gunned down in St. Albert, Alberta. The officer and a partner were responding to a stolen vehicle report and had located the suspect in the nearby casino. As they were arresting him the suspect quickly shot the officer in the head. The suspect , Shawn Rehn, was later found dead of self inflicted wounds.

   My sympathy goes out the the officer's wife and family and the larger family of RCMP.

   These two officers had no idea of who they were arresting. The dispatcher had no idea who they were asking these officers to find.

   Who was the suspect? He was Shawn Rehn and his criminal record was horrendous.
     
     Shawn Rehn had a record of 57 convictions...assault, assault with a weapon, drug possession, possession of prohibited firearms, obstruction of a peace officer, escape lawful custody, drive while disqualified, break and enter, theft and possession of stolen property. At the time of Shawn Rehn's death he was facing 30 outstanding charges. I would also have to think about how many offenses he had committed and had not been charged.
   
    Shawn Rehn had served about 7 years at various times.

   My question is , "Why was Shawn Rehn allowed the be free on the street?"

    Shawn Rehn was given parole which he blatantly violated.

   The situation is that this creep was on the street and there were many reasons for him not to be free. The system completely failed to adequately look after such a criminal. Obviously the justice system failed along the way to cooperate and share information that would have kept Rehn incarcerated. Our laws give all kinds of support and guidance in looking after a such a career criminal. The whole system failed.

   As a result an RCMP lost his life. What a waste.

   

Sometimes You Win When You Lose

     When it comes to being at a certain place at a certain time, there are two kinds of people...those who are early and those who are late. My wife and I are the perfect example of each. I will be sitting in the church 15 minutes before church starts. My wife will scurry in behind the choir. I would rather not go to something if we're going to be late. My wife is completely oblivious to the time. If something is at nine, she seems to think that nine is the time to leave the house.

     At school we had Dan, who was a character, with a terrible late problem. As you know schools don't take tardiness lightly. 

     Dan's lates started gradually. He filled in late slips and dutifully reported to study hall for his detention. Well, unfortunately schools up the ante as the lates continue. Schools even phone home about lates. After a phone call Dan would be on time for a few days or a week and then the whole scenario started over again. So then Dan's very supportive  parents were called in. There was improvement for a short time. The parents made sure that Dan left the house to be at school on time but he was still late. The parents drove Dan to school for a while to get him there on time. 

    One day the vice principal caught Dan sitting on a swing at an elementary school. The vice principal picked Dan up and brought him to school. By this time Dan and the vice principal were good friends even though the Vice principal had laid it on pretty heavy.

    It slowly began to sink into our thick skulls that there was something else at play here and not just tardiness. What could it be?

    The vice principal had his suspicions for a while. Dan was being harassed by kids on his way to school. By coming ten or fifteen minutes late Dan avoided his tormenters.  By having to stay after school he again missed his tormenters.

   So it was finally agreed that Dan would be excused for coming late. He was given some chores to do after school. Dan was satisfied with this arrangement and so were we. We lost the truancy battle but saved ourselves from failing over and over again.

    Are you someone who has to be somewhere 15 minutes before or are you somebody who crawls in just after something starts?

The Hooky Player Who Got a Big Surprise.

      A person I used to skate with reminded me of how I caught her daughter playing hooky and how I handled to situation. I'd forgotten all about this incident but Mom hadn't forgotten. Mom was still somewhat apologetic for her daughter's behavior even though her daughter now has two children who have finished high school.

      Patti was a very nice, quiet, well behaved little girl. She did her work conscientiously.  She was the kind of kid you liked to have in your class.

    One day I had suspicions that Patti and her friend might skip the afternoon. I forget if I overheard something or if kids told me or if I found a note. Sure enough after lunch , Patti and her friend were not there. 

    The usual thing was to immediately send a note to the office and they would take care of it.

    I didn't want this to go through the office as the kid had never been in trouble before. What should I do? Finally , I thought, "I'll phone her Mom and say that Patti wasn't in school and if she knew where Patti was. " Mom was sure Patti was to be in school and was very concerned when she knew Patti wasn't there. Now it was on Moms' shoulders to find her daughter and deal with the skipping of class. 

    I received a phone call later from Mom that she had found her daughter. Mom wanted to know what she should do as far as the school was concerned. Mom knew that there were consequences for skipping school. I knew that there would be consequences in Patti's home for her skipping class.

    Well, I said, "If Patti apologizes to me we'll call it settled." It was a deal and Patti saw me the next day and apologized.

    I'm sure Patti received the proper treatment at home and she never skipped again. I'm sure that this family now has this incident as one of their family stories. 

    So did you ever get caught and suffered an unusual conclusion?