I FORGOT MY PHOTO

      I took a photo for yesterday's post and then forgot to post it. 

      I took a sky shot just before 10:00 AM to show that the sun is at a very low angle. The sun is so low here that it shines in your eyes and makes driving difficult. 

WINTER SOLSTICE

         Many people look forward to this special day. They say now the days will be getting longer. But, not so fast. From Dec. 19 to Dec  22. day length stays the same unless you want to count the seconds. 

       I do find winter solstice an interesting day. It's interesting that they think ancient  people knew and predicted the winter solstice accurately. I find it interesting that in much of the world people were nomads and lived outdoors. They did not have permanent housing. Since they were outside they could spend time watching the skies. They knew about phases of the moon, stars, comets, northern lights and constellations. 

      When I was a child growing up in the 40's we played outside in the snow after supper. We did not have electricity so  the farmyard was dark. Many days  I can remember watching the skies. I know that I didn't know much about the winter solstice. Many nights were clear and you had a good view of the night skies. We particularly liked the moon as it gave some light to play out doors. 

     We would go outside after supper when Dad would take care of the animals in the barn. The  animals were fed and the cows milked. When we got to be about 8 years old we started milking cows too. 

    I have concerns about the people of today. There is too much light for us to see the skies clearly. People do not spend time outside in the evening. I fear that they will not know much about the night skies as well as the winter solstice. 

    So today, the sun rose at 8:42 AM and set at 4:24 PM for a total  of 7 hours and 41 minutes of daylight.

    It was warmer here today but not because of the solstice. We had a nice sunny plus one Celsius today. 

SCHOOL CONCERTS

     I don't know about your end of the world but here at one time the school Christmas concert was the highlight of the school year. Now I realize that in many areas, Christmas is not celebrated but here it is. There are many traditions. I'm going to tell you about one tradition. 

    When I grew up in the forties, much of western Canada was very rural. Because of methods of transportation and distances, the one room country school was the major school organization. 

    So in these country schools the school Christmas concert was the major event of the year. 

    What's a school Christmas concert? It's a concert put on by the teacher and his/her  students. In the school I went to the highest enrolment was 17. 

                           In this photo I'm the little beaner on the far right  at the bottom. I was in gr one. I have my head twisted .

       In this photo I was in Gr. 3. I'm right behind the teacher on her left. 

    With a combination of music, skits, plays, drills and recitations all students were included in the performance. For these isolated areas it was entertainment and they saw their kids perform. 

    A farmer would go to town and the lumber yard would lend him planks to make a small stage and seats. Stage curtains were made from bedsheets brought from home.

    Finally the big night came and the show went on. All the time there was great excitement as the kids knew Santa Claus would come at the end of the show. They also knew that Mom and Dad were watching as well as the rest of the district. They were nervous. The teacher gave each kid a present and students chose names and gave the kid a present . The school board gave each kid a bag of candies, nuts and an orange. 

     With some good visiting, finally everybody went home

    Many stories about these concerts went on for years. My brother and I were teamed up to do a little drill to music. We were elves and had paper costumes and shoes. During the performance my brother stepped on a tack. When he stopped the routine he said, "I stepped on a tack." Loud enough for the audience to hear. I went over and pulled out the tack and we completed our act. Mom and Dad laughed about this for years. 

    Many schools still have some form of Christmas program but it has changed. There are no small rural  schools anymore.

    So at this time of year I look back at the wonderful Christmas concerts. In my teaching we'd have all kids go to the gym and we had music and then the kids were dismissed for the holidays. So some of the exciting things like Santa Claus didn't happen. 

    Merry Christmas everybody. 

MY FIRST CAR

      I bought my first car in about 1953 in partnership with my brother. It was a 1929 model A Ford. The car was in good condition as it had been driven very little. 

    Now here is where the story starts to sound like my motorcycle story. Neither one of us had a driver's license. The car did not have a license. We did not have insurance. And yet we merrily drove around with our car. The area was remote with few people and little traffic. We avoided driving into the village as it was rumored that there was a town cop in the village. So we drove the country roads with some of our friends.

    Today's weather brought back the memory of my car. Today we had lots of snow and wind. and it was minus 20 C. On a similar day about 71 years ago we decided to go for a drive. These cars did not have heaters. There was no anti freeze so we had to put water in the radiator and hope that the water didn't freeze. There was no snow plow. In the winter everybody put their car in the garage and used their horses for transportation. Only fools decided to use a car. 

   This didn't discourage us from going for a ride. We picked up 2 or 3 friends and made sure that we had some shovels and off we went. The first couple of snow banks we were able to plow through but finally we got stuck. So everybody out of the car and pushed. These cars were not very heavy. We got it out of that snow bank. We got stuck again and had to use shovels to get the car out of the snowbank. 

    Finally we turned around and went back home. I remember feeling exhausted after all the effort to get the car through the snowbanks. 

   Today I stayed in the house and kept warm. For that caper we were outside 3 or 4 hours and enjoyed ourselves. 

CATCHING UP

      A couple of my recent posts were not really complete, As a result I have people asking questions. 

     I should have had a photo of my Christmas cactus so here it is. This plant blooms in November, Christmas and Easter. So it blooms three times a year. There are a variety of colors and times of bloom. A person should really have more than one plant. 

     I have been retired for almost 28 years. I taught for 37.116 years. I did not get full pension as some of my Arctic time was not counted. 

   So this shows that I still have a difficulty with organization. I would being doing a lesson plan after school and suddenly I would see that I should have ordered a film last week. I would go down to Central Office and ask if they would please let me have the film. After a bit of a lecture and wink , wink I would get my film but I had to go down and get it and not get it in the delivery. 

CHRISTMAS CACTUS.

     I have had a Christmas cactus since about 1982. It has gone through some ages and stages. This summer I took it outside for it's annual bath and this year the micro manager insisted that it get a good haircut. So I trimmed it back as it was really overgrown. When Christmas cactus get a short haircut they usually don't bloom that year. Surprise , surprise , there are blooms. The November blooms have just finished and Christmas buds are showing. 

    So life is good. 

    When I came here in 1969, the Vice Principal had quite a few plants in his classroom. He's in the staff photo I shared in the last post. He's second from the left in the second row from the top. He retired in 1982  and guess what ? He had some plants to dispose of. I took them all. There was a very elderly Christmas cactus which didn't do well in the classroom. I kept the plant and found a large pot. When I retired I brought it home and started new plants from the old one    

      By the way, those people wondering which was me in this photo? I'm third from the left in the bottom row. This is a long time ago when I was about 40. 

    Now I'm wondering how long ago this plant was started. 

   Now today I wanted to do some research on the Christmas Cactus. I was very disappointed to find that most of the sites were about sales of Christmas Cactus plants. Commercialization!

    I make sure my cactus sits in the same light all year. They are very sensitive to light and if they are moved from place to place do not bloom very well. 

    So this old cactus is going to have some nice blooms for me at Christmas. 

45 YEARS AGO

     This was the staff I was on 45 years ago. It is hard to believe it was that long ago. 14 of these people have passed away.  When I look back it was a very talented staff. Yes, I am in this photo. 

GRIEVING FOR NOTHING.

         A few weeks ago a friend told me that Jennifer had died. Jennifer was a mutual friend. Although we did not see her much anymore, she was still a great friend. I first met her in the Arctic. 

        I was shocked to hear that Jennifer had passed away. We talked about her children and the things that Jennifer was noted for. When I got home I looked for Jennifer's obituary. I couldn't find it. I was told that her funeral would be in a certain church Nov. 30. This was odd because Jennifer did not attend church. 

      Several weeks later I was having lunch with my friend and asked him about Jennifer's funeral. He looked surprised and said, "Did I say Jennifer? I meant Joan!"

      So all this time I was wasting my time grieving for Jennifer and she was still very much alive. The person who died was one of Jennifer's good friends. So I got yo Joan's funeral and remembered a very active person. 

     It's funny how today we have friends and we don't see them very often. I don't know if it has something to do with age when we don't go out very often or if there's some other reason that we don't get out with friends very much anymore. 

WEATHER

      Weather has been a big topic for the last week. It's a major holiday week end and people want to be travelling. It's the beginning of winter and we want to see winter come as late as possible.

     Some of the weather reports this weekend are brutal. Reports of 3 ft. of snow is enough to paralyze me. Certain areas have been paralyzed. In Ontario , Canada , many people have  been without power for several days and for some people it looks like a few more days without power. 

    In some areas of the U.S. they are expecting 2 to 3 ft  of snow. How long will it take to clean that up and transportation be restored?

    What do people do? For most people everything depends on power. Very few people are off grid. Very few people have their own power supply. Very few people have another source of heat like wood. 

    If the power was off at my place for 4 or 5 days we would have trouble surviving. 

    We've had a very cold week. Our lows have been in the minus 17 to 19C degree. This isn't that bad. We are easily able to get around. We look after our needs in the usual  way.

   It is forecast to warm up here in the next few days. Here's my one hope. I hope it doesn't get too warm. If it gets above freezing we get ice. Roads become slippery and walking is risky. So warm up but not too warm.

   Far all of you with severe winter conditions I hope you stay safe and as comfortable as possible. 

RELICS

      In 2010 a friend took me out to his old family farm. To me it was picturesque

     M's father had come to Canada after the first world war with the intention of farming. He got a job on railway maintenance and it took a long time before he got a farm. 

    M received the farm from his Dad but did not farm it. The family went out in the summer and spent time there. It was a pleasant place to spend a summer as a stream ran through the property and there were other wetlands.

   Years went by and the farmstead was not kept up. M's father obtained many things from the railroad :wire, steel gates and numerous little building that could be used on a farm. He also built a log barn that you will see. It was like two 30' by 30' buildings put together.

   So  I spent time getting some interesting photos. 

This little building was known as a summer kitchen. Since much cooking was done in the hot summer , they had a small building used for cooking so that the house would not heat up. 

SNOW !

     Today we are having our first big dump of snow. One of these strange "bomb" weather patterns have reached the prairies of western Canada and the northwestern states. 

    So today, right after breakfast I was out shoveling about 5 in of snow. An hour later I was out cleaning up about 1 1/2  in of snow. Then I got lucky. the neighbors adult grandson was at Grandpa's cleaning the snow from the driveway and sidewalk. Later on I noticed my security light come on. When I looked out "said grandson" was cleaning my driveway. I checked and he'd done the neighbors. I checked further and he had also done the long side walk at the side of my house.

    I certainly appreciated the grandson's efforts. 

    So with the new snow, everything looks clean , white and fresh. 

ANOTHER TUQUE

      This is the photo I wanted when I posted the last photo. There's the tuque and the heavy fur trimmed mitts. 

     This is late September when we were on the Mackenzie river moving to the shores of the Beaufort sea. We had a fast open boat and water was splashing over the windshield. I don't look very happy as it was miserable and we were tenting over night.

    We went back the next day and the river was low so we couldn't find a deep enough channel to get through. It got dark so we slept on the boat. The next morning (Monday) with daylight we easily found a channel and got home around noon. The vice principal was with us so we didn't get into any trouble for being away. 

OKAY, THE REAL TUQUE

     Debby, from Life's Funny Like That asked (dared) me to find the real tuques and post a photo. 

    Well , that's not really a dare. The hardest part was to find a photo. Now along with the dare she's going to get a story. 

   The photo is when I was attempting to ice fish on Dolomite lake(Airport Lake)  about Nov. of 1965. Airport lake is just below the runway of the Inuvik airport. Now I don't remember catching any fish while ice fishing but I did catch lots of fish in the summer. We probably didn't put enough time in to catch fish in the winter. 

     The ice was about one ft thick by that time of year. You used a special bar to punch through the ice until you hit the water. The hole would be about 6 in. in diameter. There were quite a few species of fish in the lake and a good population. 

   These tuques had a habit of shrinking as they were washed. They were of thick heavy wool and very warm. The head is the first part of the body to cool off. Keep your head warm and your whole body stays warm. 

MY NEW TOUQUE

    John from John's Island dared me to display a photo of my Winner's Edge tuque which I said I wouldn't wear . So here it is. My point is that it's tacky as it has a commercial logo. 

    So here's the terrible photo. Terrible angular background. Too much orange color. But then I didn't take the photo. The photographer will remain nameless. 

     Besides, this is not a real tuque. Real tuques are round have layers of red and white to the top where there is a tassel. 

    So I've always worn a tuque in the winter . There are tuques in the house that I've forgotten about. 

    The seal skin background is a genuine seal skin that we bought from the Inuit hunter for $5.00. It was never tanned . 

SMALL THINGS KEEP YOU BUSY

      I've been busy lately. Busy with small things that drive you crazy because of lack of knowledge. 

     My ear bud issue has been on the back burner because other things took priority. I finally got to the ear buds and ran a trouble shoot program and they said I was good to go and they meant it. I now have my new ear buds functioning. 

    I got the SD card issue solved. You were right to say don't buy a store warranty. The SD card cost $14.00 and they wanted $5.00 for a two year warranty. I hope they go broke trying to sell that one. 

    Now I thought I'd find out how dumb I am when comes to computers. I picked up a book in the library called Windows 10 for Seniors. Guess what. Half of the printing is so small that I can't read it. I have my new magnifying glass out and some of it I still can't read because not only is it small but pastele colors are used. 

    However , I'm still learning things. Next time I go to the library, I'll look for a better book on windows 10. 

    Did I tell you that I got a new super duper magnifying glass. Yes, I got a nice magnifying glass form the Casino in a goody bag. There were several other items. I don't think I'll wear the touque  with Winners Edge on it!

COMPLICATIONS

      Finding out that my SD card was not working was easy. The second step in checking showed me the SD card was not working. To check if the card was faulty I put in an old card. The old card worked perfectly.

      So off to the store (Staples) to buy a  new SD card. Oh wait! I checked the package and the non functioning card had a ten year warranty. I bought the card three years ago. So I felt better already.

     When I got to the store , they explained that the 10 year warranty was the company's warranty and not the stores. The proper way to process this warranty was to check the company. Oh! Oh! But they said they could work something out for me. This is where it got complicated. the store would give me my money on a gift card. I could use the gift card to buy an new SD card or anything else in the store. So  I bought a new card. I still had $1.05 left over. The new card had a one year company warranty. 

     Then they wanted to know if I wanted to purchase a store warranty on the new SD card. The store warranty was $5.00 for 2 years. The new card cost 11.99. So do these boys know how to make money. 

    So is anybody still following me on this deal? It took me a while to get this through my head and if I did this again it would be a different choice. 

   

SNOW

      Three or four days ago we received 3 or 4 cm. of snow. It was gentle and fresh.

      There was lots of snow to shovel and it was pleasant to be outside. What was extra special were the flocks of geese flying south. 

      At this time of year we have many local geese flying out to the fields to feed. The ponds have many geese. But these geese meant business. They were fairly high up and flying directly south. These are northern geese. The ice has frozen solid where they have been hanging around. They will fly south until they find bodies of water that are ice free and empty of other geese that they might have to compete with. 

    Only very small ponds are frozen over here.  Anything bigger than my yard is clear of ice. 

    Now it was pleasant to see these geese fly over , but I know that there are millions more hanging around. The big migration happens when we get the first deep freeze. Temperatures about the minus 20 C will persuade most geese to move south where they will find food and open water. I remember one boxing day when the flights of geese were almost continuous.

    We do not have cold temperatures in the forecast so geese will be here for a while. Some geese stay here all winter using spots in the river that don't freeze over. 

   Sorry! No photos! I have replaced the card in my camera and ready to take photos.  

FIFTY YEARS

     Today I received a pin in the mail from the University of Saskatchewan acknowledging my graduation fifty years ago. It seems like yesterday that I was still taking courses.

     Most of my university courses were taken in summer school. Teachers would spend their summer taking a course and then teach to make a living. 

    I had to take one year on campus in order to graduate. I took my one year and did not participate in any University activities. For many students , they were heavily involved in university activities. 

    So today when I got my pin acknowledging 50 years I do not have the great memories other students had as they participated in many activities. 

    Now I finished another  degree in 1968 . No celebration for that degree. I did attend the convocation for my 1968 degree. I skipped the convocation for the 1974 degree. 

    So the pin does bring back some memories. 

    No photos as I thought I had fixed my camera. I discovered that the card was not working so I'll have to get another card. 

    

BAD LUCK

      Well, I ran into a little bad luck this week. I only had two issues of bad luck so I'm waiting for the third bad luck happening.

       I decide to change the ceru disks on my hearing aids. These disks are meant to trap the ear wax before it gets in the hearing aid. I've always had trouble with this procedure. You are given a device which is to take out the old disk and put in a new one. I tried and I couldn't get it and finally gave up. When I put the hearing aids back on the right one didn't work! The stress level went out the roof. Hearing aids are costly and I was much afraid that I had broken something. 

      The next morning I was looking in a drawer and found something that I was not familiar with. At first I couldn't even open it. When I did get it open I was surprised to find a different gismo to change the disks. I tried it and it worked like a charm. So the stress evaporated instantly. I forgot that I had been given this device as it would be better than the old one.

      Yesterday was a fine day so I decided to walk and take some photos. When I tried to take the first photo the camera didn't work. Lights came on and an image was in the view finder but the camera would not click and take the photo. This blew my stress level up as I thought the camera was finished. 

      When I got home I decided to check the batteries. What had happened was not like dead batteries. For dead batteries the camera turns off no warning. 

     Well, I changed the batteries and guess what? Problem solved. 

    Stress is over. So I didn't get photos for this post.

    So I'm anxious again. Isn't bad like supposed to come in threes?

I MADE A MISTAKE

     I pulled my camera out the other day to go hunting geese. Well, you saw the photos of the geese.

    But I heard a click when I was getting the camera ready. I had accidentally squeezed the button.

    When I was checking photos later , I looked at one photo and couldn't make out what happened. It took a while before it made sense. There were dark shadows. There was bright light and other things that were not recognizable.

    I will say the photo is interesting but that's all. 

GOLD RUSH

      Spoiler alert. This is a teacher story.

      In education there are many different philosophies  that come and go. Anybody remember the open class concept? Remember the pods? Pods were supposed to limit the number of different teachers kids were exposed to. 

     Well, our school was organized into pods and it worked quite well. The pod I was in had four gr seven classes. I had an assignment of three language arts classes and one math and some options.

    We got the idea that we would take all 120 kids out for an all day field trip. We decided to take them to Fort Normandeau which is a nearby heritage site on the Red Deer River. . This  was where the first white people came to the area. At that area you could ford the Red Deer River. You could walk across, ride your pony across or drive your horses and wagon across. 

     Today there has be development on the site so that there is a credible museum of western history, theater, replica of the old fort and stopping house. 

    We divided the kids into groups and assigned them activities to take part in. Of course , being teachers we made them record what they learned and thought. 

    One of our caretakers had the hobby of gold panning. Small amounts of gold have always been found on the Red Deer river. Glayde got gold pans from the club and showed kids how to pan for gold. Kids did find the odd fleck of gold or bit of gold dust. I can still see their faces today when Glayde showed them that they had a tiny piece of gold. Of course, we had not prepared the kids to take small bits of gold back home so there was some stress until we found some envelopes.  . 

    Of course , we had a big hot dog lunch and in the afternoon we took four bus loads of very tired and dirty kids back to the school. 

    This is just one part of the complex. This is a replica of the original fort and trading post. 

A GOOSE FIX TODAY

     Today was a beautiful warm fall day. It's the first time all summer that I've had a chance to get out to one of my favorite places. The geese were there to put on a show for me. About thirty geese were gathered in front of a bench. They stayed and chattered. I think they were commenting about me not giving them a handout. All summer people would sit at this spot and feed the geese.

     Since they clustered around the bench I took some photos. I always have to get a few photos of Canada geese. 

ON TURNING 85

      Recently I had my 85th birthday. So as usual for my birthday some reflection happens. I'm not sure if to laugh or cry! It's a time of some mixed emotions.

     I look back at some old photos and one would not get that the two photos are of the same person!

    Well, the good thing is that I'm still here. Not only am I still here but in reasonably good health. I don't have any medications that are crucial to keep me going except the seizure medication. When I went to emergency with my nose bleed, I was asked over and over if I was in blood thinners. I'm fortunate to have a blood pressure of 120 over something!

     I am also fortunate to be very physically active. I look after my own yard. But I do not do the handyman thing anymore. I'm not allowed to climb ladders anymore. Yesterday I walked 6 kilometers. 

    I still enjoy natural history activities. 

    I'm fortunate to have three wonderful younger brothers. I'm fortunate to have a Micro Manager who looks after things. I also have a son and daughter who I care about. It's very pleasant to look back at life with my family.

    So all in all, it's not bad being 85. Everybody should have the chance to be 85. 

I'VE HAD ENOUGH POLITICS

      This week the CBC has started "in depth" coverage of the American election. Now I had over kill a couple of months ago with the American election. No offense intended about the election.

     Now CBC is our national station and presents much different programming than commercial stations. I listen to it all the time.

    So teams of broadcasters have been set up all over the main areas of the US to "give us the background" on what they think are key areas and  policies.

    With that, many of the usual programs are cancelled. 

    What I find particularly offensive is the handling of the truth by the political parties. Parties have always skillfully used slant to make their policies appealing. Now they just plain out lie about things. 

    I saw a picture of an interesting cap that said Make lying wrong again. Wouldn't that be great.

   However in a short time all the shenanigans of the last year will be over and the fight will begin as to who won. So apparently counting of votes doesn't show who wins. Some people think that people can't count and for sure machines can't count. 

   Machine counting is very easy and accurate. You take the ballots and records  to head quarters. There are a few checks and balances and then the ballots are put in the machine and the count is spit out. 

   So I will have to enjoy some more election time. 

READING

           I don't think I would have much disagreement if I say that reading is a skill that all must have.  I taught at the middle school level and many think that the time to learn to read is long past. At that age each student has a different reading level. They have certain skills that are strong and missing or weak in other skills. 

        I learned how to administer one reading test. Mostly I tested the strategies kids. The strategies group activities  taught reading and the teacher wanted to know what areas needed work. 

       I think that all teachers and subject areas should make an effort to teach reading skills. 

      The odd kid in my school was a very avid reader and when the teacher wasn't looking they would read. I thought that for language arts if you let a kid read they would learn what was on the course of studies. Now the math teachers didn't like kids reading in their math class and it's true that kids wouldn't learn much math by reading. However , if I ask most adults today to divide fractions they are not able to do it. If I asked most adults to factor trinomials , they would look at me as if they had never heard about them. If I asked about grammar they would have very little idea. 

      So I'm getting to my point. I had one or two of those kids who wanted to read all the time. I let them. 

     Now one of these parents with a kid who always read came in for an interview. They were very concerned about this kid reading all the time. Other teachers had complained. I gave them my opinion that the kid would learn just as much from reading as following the class. It so happens that the Dad as our local MLA  (Member of the legislature) The Dad bought into this idea. But one look at Mom's face told me that she did not agree. A compromise was reached and I would make sure the kid followed the lesson. 

    For people who are avid readers life long learning happens for their  whole life. 

THE VISIT

      For my last three years of teaching I had 37 students plus or minus two or three in my classes. I had only 34 desks as the room was too full with 37 desks. 

     Quite often, for the last period of the week I would have a 42 minute reading period and sometimes we did cross word puzzles. We did one puzzle as a class and the second puzzle they could find a partner and do the puzzle with someone. The crossword puzzles as a class were fun. I would say one across and someone would shout out an answer. This continued and then some little guy would get behind in filling in the answers and I would repeat the answers which added to the mayhem. 

   When all students were present I had to improvise for space. So kids could always sit on the back counter. They liked sitting at my desk. And sometimes kids would sit on the floor. I didn't use the desk during class time. I had a stool and lectern at the front of the room. 

    One day the principal came in the room. This was quite common. This time there were six or seven people who followed the principal. The Education minister was in town and requested a school tour.   The minister and his assistants were brought to our school. The Principal obliged and took them on a little school tour. Nothing was preplanned. They just went all over the place including my classroom. 

    So the kids were quiet and reading. One little guy was on the floor. Who did the minister decide to interact with but the little guy on the floor. The minister knelt down beside the kid and began to talk to the kid about his book. 

    The whole group breezed around the classroom for five or ten minutes and left. 

    The superintendent was the last to leave and quietly said to me, "He  didn't notice how crowded your classroom was."

KILLING FROST

     Two nights ago we had a frost which I thought was about minus 2 C. However, as the day went on there did not appear to be any plant damage. In fact. two little volunteer tomatoes were healthy.

    At this time of year there can be warmth from the ground so freezing does not occur close to the ground. 

    So a killing frost is one that severely damages annuals and perennials. Many annuals and perennials have ceased activity but with a killing frost damage is done to plant vessels and activity in the plant stops. 

   Now there are some perennials that are very hardy. Today , I did my last yard clean up. The plants were finished. The peonies were not active. The grass would be active if we had moisture. Irises and lilies have been dormant for a while.

    However, tonight we get a low of minus 5 C. That should cook everything. About 50% of leaves are on the trees so a heavy frost and the leaves drop very quickly.

    So gardening for 2024 is over. We just have some clean up left. 

    

BIG NUMBERS

     So the big number here is about age. I mentioned my brother's age and it's very senior although he might disagree with me.

    Coming to this age, there should be some very important decisions made. I can't make those decisions. 

    We've looked at five senior residences. There's a wide variety of accommodations and prices. We know the one we would chose and have given them our name. These are two bedroom with small living room and a few kitchen facilities but not enough to live there and do your own cooking. You eat at the facility. So for around $4000.00 a month you have your accommodation and food. There also could be some care.

     So what's my problem. I like my house and yard! I get pleasure out of growing a garden and watching other plants develop.

     Well, I have a second problem which is bigger than the first. We have a lot of "stuff". Some one is finding it very hard to part with the stuff. Over the years we've got rid of big stuff and lots of little stuff too but there's still an amazing amount here. So the longer we wait, the more likely the decision will be forced upon us. 

    So I'm not looking for advice. I know what to do but I have put some roadblocks in the way. 

    Meanwhile, life is good. 

IRISH TWINS

       Many times at this time of year I have commented that I'm an Irish twin. That means that my mother had 2 children within one year. So my brother was born 11 months and 2 weeks after I was born. Also my sister was born a year and three months after my brother. So my mom had three children and the oldest was two years and three months old. 

      So today is my brother' 84th birthday and I am still 84 but turning 85 in a couple of weeks. 

     It's my opinion, that Irish twins are more active and twin like than actual twins. We were very active and full of mischief. Since there were three of us , I think my brother and I had to learn to take care of ourselves and each other when we were very young. 

                                          I'm looking after Merce

First day of school for gr one and two.

                                   The three of two years and 3 months apart. 

     When my brother was young he was commonly called Merce. There are still a couple of people today who call him Merce . Where did that name come from? His brother (me) couldn't say Myrven. The closest I got was Merce and Merce stuck. 

     Our house was very small. The bedroom we had wasn't much bigger than the bed. We didn't have separate beds until we were 13 or 14. 

     Anyway this is a way to say happy brother to my Irish twin.

MORE GOLDEN FALL

      I looked out this morning and there were some bright fall colors. We've had high winds but the leaves didn't let go. 

OCTOBER SONGS

      Well it's beautiful day and it's the first of October. I read Denise's blog An English Girl Rambles from 2016.... and she had poems and photos about how great fall is. She also had a good poem or two about October.

      So she got me thinking. Are there any songs about October. I thought very hard but I could not come up  with and October song. 

     So what to do? Well google. To my surprise there are many, many songs about October. 

     I found  site with songs  about October. Most of them were modern tunes performed by some well known modern singers. 

    1. October song - Amy Winehouse

    2. October U-2

    3 October - Alessia Cara

    4 We fell in love in October Girlin Rea

    5 October Sun - Matt Berry

     So there , I didn't know much but I know a few things now. 

    Now there are also some important people with October birthdays but that will have to come later. 

 

FALL COLORS

       There have been a number of excellent photos on leaves recently. It's very appropriate because of the fall season.

        These photos reminded me of some school activities about 75 years ago.

        I had an excellent teacher for grades 3,4 and 5. She was far ahead of her time when it came to excellent learning projects. One of them was on leaves. 

       The whole class of 17 from gr one to nine would spend an hour or two wondering around off the schoolyard collecting leaves for a project. So in this little field trip we observed many different plants. She didn't know the names but we observed plants. 

      I think my technique for this has weakened but I hope you can see the outline of a leaf. 

      When we got back to the classroom we chose leaves to make a tracing with our pencils. Of course, we had to arrange the leaves in an interesting manner. Then she displayed our works. We did not have a bulletin board and I don't think scotch tape had been invented yet. Thumb tacks were used to attach our work to the wall. 

      So my teacher evaluation hat says that she could teach many things with just one item. Every moment to her was a teachable moment. 

MY STREET THIS WEEK

      

 

THE COMING OF FALL

     The coming of fall is a mixed experience for me. There are some good things and some bad things all in due time. We had very warm weather and then in two days it turned cold and we had light frosts. 

     I have anxiety when fall is on the way. Fall means freezing. Freezing of plants. We talk about a killing frost. That means that most plant activity is over. I worry about that first frost. I always have plants that I want another week or 10 days out of. 

    Once that killing frost is over , the anxiety is gone. I can now enjoy fall with all it's color and wonderful smells. 

    The sun is paler as it moves deeper south. 

    I like fall activities. I like cleaning up my yard with all the plants that need to be taken care of. Regular summer gardening activities are over.

    Fall is a beautiful season with awesome color. 

    I liked fall on the farm. I liked harvesting , running combines and  hauling grain. Harvesting took a long time as there had to be dry conditions. I liked running the tractor doing the fall field work. I also got to stay out of school for about 6 weeks.

     I phoned my 83 year old brother about 10 days ago and he was out running a combine for one of his sons. I phoned him first and there was no answer. He knew I was calling but he couldn't see in the dark to  press the right buttons. 

e SUPERVISION OF CHILDREN

     My favorite CBC morning show had a segment about supervising your children electronically. I knew that development in this field was on going so it shouldn't have surprised me at how highly developed supervising children by internet has come. 

     So your kid has a phone and daddy has the supervisory program and away we go. You know where the kid is at all times and if he/she is not where they're supposed to be then all hell breaks loose. 

     So with this program you know where the kid is in the school. You know if he/she is in the right classroom. You know if he/she is at  Freddie's house and not George's house. You know if the child is walking home and exactly where he/she is. 

    So the question is , is this much supervision necessary? Is this much supervision good for the child? Does this take away the good old discussion with parents about responsibility? Does this give kids a chance to learn to be independent? When do you stop following little Johnny? 

     There must be some way around this rigid supervision and trust me kids will find it. So you've given the kid an opportunity to practice being devious. 

     My kids grew up in the seventies and were free range kids. They look back at the fun they had and the responsibilities they learned. 

      I grew up in the 40's on a farm  with very little supervision. We were active all day and had many learning experiences. 

     I'll admit that I was a devious little fellow. That characteristic in me is whirling around to see how I could beat the system. 

     When my brother and I were growing up on the farm we quite often roved around the country in some Dad's car. Dad got tired of us coming home late. One day he said, " If your not home by ten PM, I'll put a knife in the door and you can't get in the house." We'd lost the key to the house door so a knife was used. 

      My brother carefully left his bedroom window open above the garage roof. Easy , peasy. He got in the house. I just went to the door and found that it was not locked. 

     So there is much more to think about with electronic supervision and raising children.

MY FAVORITE RANT

       I have ranted before about call centers and their poor service. It seems like the wait time for your call answer gets longer and longer.

      Today the micro manager was waiting for an hour and 20minutes.

      That did it. Something has to be done. We can't spend that much of our lives waiting for call centers to answer.

      So here's my suggestion. Call centers have to be hit in the pocket book so that it hurts.

     My suggestion is that regulations should be made governing call centers. Give them 5 minutes to answer a call. If it takes them longer than 5 to answer then they pay for every minute past 5. So charge them so much a minute for time past 5 minutes.  A dollar a minute ? It would have cost them $75.00 for being slow this afternoon. As you can see there are several different options for a scheme like this. 

     We  all complain about call centers but do nothing about it. So lets get loud and suggest some solutions. 

TIME AWAY

      I've been away for a few days. I admit that I have not read blogs or commented. 

       I had the mother of all nose bleeds on Thursday  morning. I was off to the bathroom about 1 AM and felt a drip fall from my nose. When I got to the bathroom and got the light on my hand had lots of blood on it. I tried to stop it and saw that the bleeding was continuing very rapidly. I called the Micro Manager for help. We quickly decided we had to call the ambulance.

    The paramedic tried pinching the nostril and using a gauze plug. Nothing helped. 

    They decided it was emergency for me. So out I went out  to the drive way in sock feet and boxers. The paramedic pinched my nose all the way to the hospital and while I was waiting for a bed. Then they put a clamp on my nose which stopped the bleeding but didn't cure things. 

     About 4 AM they inserted an inflatable plug. It wasn't nice but stopped the blood flow. 

    I was released  about 10AM. I didn't have glasses or hearing aids. I didn't have shoes. The micro manager sent up a shirt, pants and jacket. I couldn't get the shirt over my head. So I was on my way home with no shoes or shirt. 

    So it was a long sleepless confusing night.

    I went back Sat AM  and got the packing out and fortunately the bleeding had stopped. It was a treat that a  former student was in the ER and looked after me.

    So it was a miserable time with lack of sleep, worry, loss of blood and a darn hard hospital bed to lie on for 10 hours. 

   Aren't you lucky that I'm not showing icky photos?