Each Peak Has Its Story

     Think of the lake and highway in my Windy Point post.  A few km down the road is Whirlpool Point. Up behind the point it looks like there is a peak.

     My friend and I had been down this road many times and always looked up at the peak and wondered if we could get up to the peak. 

     One Saturday morning we set out to see what this area was like. There's a good stopping place  on both sides of the ridge. We stopped at the first parking lot all ready to go. A large bald eagle rose from it's perch and disappeared.

    We had looked on maps and couldn't see the peak on any map. We could not find a trail so started to bushwhack. We found it hard going for 300 m and then came out on a  ridge. The ridge was a pleasant walk as it was even and a gentle rise for 3 km. This was great. Clarke's nutcrackers soared up to the top of the ridge on wind currents.

    The peak became very visible when we had a km left to go. we also found that the last 300m in elevation was steep and covered in large boulders. It was scrambling time. It was each man for himself to find a route to the top. My friend

who is much younger and more experienced got the top about 10 min before I did. I did not choose a very good route.

    Many of the peaks out here have a cairn of some sort. This peak had a rather large cairn. As my friend was making his last step to the top a huge bald eagle came up the other side at the very same time. My friend was shocked and ducked. The eagle was just as shocked and took evasive action to miss my friend. 

This is the cairn from windy point Ridge

    So the eagle had been using the cairn for his perch and just happened to be coming up the opposite side so the two were unaware of each other and shocked.

   So we met the bald eagle from the beginning again.

    Now the bald eagle encounter moved me to a poetic mood.

    We also made another discovery. What we thought was a peak was really just the end of a ridge. The ridge kept going for another three km. We kept walking on the ridge . In places it was on 1.5 m wide. There was exposure on both sides. At one point I tossed an old tin can over the edge. It was quite a while before I heard the tin can hit rocks below.

    On the way back we found a very nice trail from the ditch right up to the ridge. 

    Now we took kids up this ridge 5 or 6 times. We only got kids to the top twice as it always seemed to be very windy.

The Security Card

     Canada had a general election on Oct. 19, 2015. It was a very long campaign and over  the time a number of issues had an influence. The niqab was one  major issue and had an influence of the election outcome.

     The Conservative Party of Canada's (CPC) strategy was to divide the people so that CPC and Steven Harper would win the election with very few votes. One wedge issue was security. Security is an easy card to play. You don't have to be too careful with facts or statistics. People are vulnerable when it comes to crime and security. Canada's crime rate has been slowly going down since 1980. However CPC still claimed crime and terrorism were a problem. Solution: We'll make more jails and throw the bums in jail. They came up with one "fact" that "the rate of unreported crime had gone up." How does the rate go up when it's unreported? When it comes to crime there's only so much that can be done. We'll never be without crime.

     Criticize the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is the referee when it comes to the legality of certain legislation. Bashing the court works to divide people. 

    Stoking up insecurity and tensions is an extremely negative thing to do. People are set against one another.  People separate from one another. Communication doesn't take place and they are easier prey for security fears. Energy is wasted by conflict. Groups of people begin to dislike each other and fear others. Take any group: refugees, Muslims, colors, languages. They're fair game for the security card.

    Thinking leaders should attempt to gain power from a unity standpoint. There is power in uniting. There is positivity in unity. Once elected these parties have a better chance of governing rather than continuing to stoke the security fires. Groups have to be brought together. 

    We have to learn that we must compromise. It's impossible for the complete accommodation of all points of view. The government has to work at communication to help put policies into effect that will be best for the society

    The Government elected in Canada is far from perfect. They will not solve all our problems. They will make mistakes. We have to pick the best of the bunch and run with it.

    I dislike conflict. I dislike fighting. I'm ok with good discussion.

    So let's look for politicians who will try their best to work for all of us.

The Ride Began In 1958

     I finished high school in June of 1957. Now I know many of you weren't born then but I'll tell my story anyway.

     I enrolled in a one year teacher training program right after high school. In June of 1958 at the age of 18 I had a teacher certificate which of course, allowed me to teach and get paid $2400 per year.

    Well, in no time I had a teaching position. There was a great shortage of teachers so jobs were a dime a dozen. I was hired to teach in  one room country school with and enrolment of ten students. There I was at 18 years old where I was the teacher and completely independent. I turned 19 in October. Now think about it . I was a teenager not unlike any other teenager. But I was a teacher responsible for ten students and the school itself. I had 3 grade ones, 2 grade twos, a grade three, a grade four, a grade five, a grade seven and a grade nine.

     Well, I went to work with great energy as I was going to teach those kids for all I was worth.  These kids  previously had a series of very ineffective teachers. Their background was a little weak but they worked hard. I really enjoyed teaching the grade ones. You could see how much they progressed in one year.

     The year ended quickly. I wanted to find out if I would like teaching. I found out what I wanted to know. I thoroughly enjoyed teaching and decided to enter a Bachelor of Education program. the district wanted me to stay another year. The community was very supportive and really encouraged a very insecure 19 year old. The whole community supported me. I had never experienced this before but I recognized what they thought of me.

    Now when I was doing pictures this winter. I found photos of my students from Louisville school. I hadn't looked at them for years. I can hardly believe that the grade ones are turning 65 this year!

     The ride finished in 1997 when I retired. From 1958 to 1997 I managed to teach for 37.1119 years. I was very fortunate to be involved in a very rewarding occupation.

March 1: Lion or Lamb

       Well, my March definitely came in like a lamb. I was up at 1:00 AM and it was clear, calm and minus 11 C (14 F). You have to check this as close to midnight as possible to be accurate. So I guess I can look for some nasty weather at the end of March which wouldn't be a surprise.

     Now I'm always interested in the origin of proverbs like In like a lamb out like a lion. It seems you have lots to chose from when it comes to origins of the proverb. I found a couple of explanations today which are interesting.

    One example is from a time when people believed in spirits and they didn't want to offend the spirits because the spirits could change the weather. They wanted the weather to be balanced. They wanted pleasant weather. Another uses the stars for an explanation. Leo is a rising sign of the horoscope in March. Aries (goat or kid) is rising in April. Kid didn't sound so good so they used lamb. So that's where lion and lamb come from.

     So take your pick. If you don't like these , check the internet and you'll find lots of explanations.

     Now the reason I was up at 1:00AM is that I was awakened by bright flashing lights. No I wasn't sick. When I looked out there were three police cars in my intersection! That got my attention. They had the dog unit and were obviously looking for someone. Now I rarely see a police car in my neighborhood. They don't even drive through to take a look. Crime is rare.

    So I did what I usually do...go right back to bed. Now the Micro Manager just had to watch what was going on. After half an hour she came back to bed and was none the wiser.

    So maybe my March didn't come in like a lamb because of all the police action.

Back into My Archives Again

     This post is not seasonal or on my usual variety of topics. 

     This post will be historical and biographical. And I can hear people saying , "Oh here goes for another story again!"

     I was a middle school teacher who taught 37 years between 1958 and 1997. For  a number of years I was assigned an outdoor education class. This meant teaching about weather, clothing, foods, safety, maps... Of course, we would do a couple of field trips to put things into practice.

     Now my teaching partner and I liked to find good places for a trip. We'd driven by Windy Point Ridge for a few years and always looked up at it. So one weekend we decided to go up Windy Point Ridge and check it out.  So these photos are from our first trip up the ridge to the peak. Now here's the history. These photos are from 1992. And yes, the area is still as beautiful as ever.

    Going up the side of the bare rock ridge is steep. 75% of the time you can walk but at other times it's scrambling. (using hands)

    The ridge is made up of three peaks and a couple of buckles joining the peaks.

     To gain the highest peak we had to go around the back of it and it was an easy walk to the top. The cliff face was about 500 ft.

Crossing a buckle

Keep on moving

The top of the cliff is the orange rock in the front of the photo

Will this guy ever get to the top?

Going behind the peak to get to the top

My turn to be on the peak

Down below is Windy point and the highway. 

My partner on the edge of the cliff we could see on the way up.

Scrambling Can you see the road beside the water?

There's a small cairn at the top

Well, after all that effort we decided that this was not a very good place to take middle school kids but we had a lot of fun climbing up the ridge..

This book Surprised Me

     I like to read a book that really surprises me by how good it turns out to be. A book was lent to me by a friend why highly recommended it. It was one of those local history biography stories with narrow interest and a small number that were published. I'm interested in local history but it has to have some relation to me or important  events in the history of the area.

      Jack Kates wrote the story of his life while growing up in a small Saskatchewan village during the thirties and forties. The setting makes this story fairly precise. Most people won't have heard of Saskatchewan.

      Well, Jack Kates pulled this off. He wrote a fascinating tale of growing up and the fun he had along the way. This experience shaped him to become a successful man in his field.

       In the early 1900's many Jewish people ran small general stores. Half of the villages had a business owned by Jewish people.

     Jack's family had a small general store in Sheho Saskatchewan. This was a miserable way to make a living. The business was small and credit was given to the customers. Payment of suppliers was difficult. They had a cow, some chickens and grew a vegetable garden. They also picked wild fruit. They survived the many hardships. Things improved for the family during the forties.

      Jack's childhood activities are many. His teenage years and worries are like any other teenager.

     Jack's Jewish faith played an important part in his life and that's what made the book for me. Jack describes his daily life following Jewish religious traditions. They ate kosher food. They celebrated all the Jewish holy times. He describes his bar mitzvah.  the family struggled to maintain contact with the few Jewish people scattered over a wide area.I was familiar with the Jewish faith as I'd read many other books which has Jewish characters. This description was a humorous and laid back and easy to understand..

     And there was a small connection to me in Jack's story. His cousin had a store next to my home town and directed a very competent community band. Jack had also been a friend of one of the best dentists I ever had.

     My wife also read this book. We read in bed and she has the annoying habit of laughing out loud at funny things in a story. She did a lot a of laughing when she read this story.

    Now I won't go out on a limb and recommend that everybody read this book. It's focus is just too narrow for many people to get a feeling of the setting and lifestyle. I just want you to know that this book surprised me and that I really liked it.

Troubling Trump

       First of all a caveat. I'm a Canadian. I feel making comments on Trump is not really my business. But here goes.

       In Canada , we've just finished 10 years with Stephen Harper. It was ten years of mean, nasty, ignorant bumbling. Harper reduced taxes, cut the budget, laid off staff, cut programs. These things were not successful in improving the Canadian economy. We had large deficits for nine years until just before he lost the election.

     Harper insisted on meddling with justice. He wanted longer sentences and fuller jails. In fact, he overcrowded prisons which leads to more problems. Many of his laws were not upheld by the supreme court. Harper did not meet with premiers or any other group such as indigenous groups. Harper passed a law to retroactively protect the RCMP from being charged with a criminal offense. Many government staff and departments were barred from speaking about their work. Our scientists were muzzled and Harper did not believe in science based evidence.

     On foreign matters Harper was cheap and did not aid those who needed it. Harper liked to take his cap gun and stand with American forces somehow thinking that this would make him look big. Harper took us out of the Kyoto Accord...the only country in the world to do so. The world wondered what had happened to Canadians.

     Harper told the American President that the  pipeline decision was a no brainer. What a way to insult someone.

     These are all bozo moves. It was embarrassing.

     Now for Donald  S. Trump. Trump is a train wreck about to happen. If his ranting is any indication, the world is not going to like what he may do. Fences? Are there not a 100 different solutions to the problem of illegal migrants? Does a fence correct all the different problems with illegal migrants. 

     Trump's understanding of world religions is completely lacking except when it comes to going after voters. The guy claims to be a born again Christian and that's alright. It's his choice and conviction. With his understanding of world religions, I wonder if he understands Christianity? 

     With all the bombast of the campaign it seems that all countries will be treated with utter disrespect when the mood hits him. The guy's erratic. 

     The comment, "I could shoot people and they'd still vote for me" is scary. It sends a cold, threatening  message to Trump's neighbors.

     There seems to be very little offered about the nitty gritty daily operation of a country. Smart assed comments and instant reactionary rants don't get things done.

     We've just gone through 10 years of buffoonery. I wouldn't want anybody to go through what we've just finished with.