JASPER FIRE

      Some of you may know that I live in Alberta, Canada.

      Some of you may know that we have a beautiful Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rockies. I live 296 km or 184 miles from the park. 

     And to connect the third dot, some of you may have heard of the huge wildfire in the Park. 

    The fire started sometime on the week end. All residents and visitors of the town of Jasper were evacuated. Jasper has a population of about 11000 and then there would be thousands of visitors. Winds and high temperatures turned the fires into raging infernos. In the mountain valleys the fires tend to race to the bottom. Wednesday the fire entered the townsite of Jasper. About a third of the town was destroyed. 

     Last night they had some rain and much lower temperatures so were able to control much of the fire. 

     It is extremely dry in western Canada so plants and trees burn easily and rapidly.

    Yesterday morning there was white ash over all my plants and the whole yard. 

    This situation has dominated our news this week. These are terrible fires.

    I live in an urban area beside a forested ravine about 700 meters across. I am worried that a fire could start in the woods some day and it could easily burn through my neighborhood. I've aske our fire department what they are doing about the situation. They have one quad with some water barrels. I do not feel safe at all. 

PICKING BERRIES

      The other day when I was looking for a noxious plant on the river bank, I discovered all kinds of Saskatoon berries (amelanchier alnifolia) that were just about ready to pick. This berry grows from parts of Alaska, throughout the Canadian prairies and into the northern states. It has many other names one of them being service berry. 

     It was a berry widely used by aboriginals in their pemmican. Settlers soon found the berry and liked it.

   My Dad loved picking Saskatoons and liked nothing better than to get some neighbors and spend the day picking Saskatoons. At that time there were very few improved roads. Saskatoon shrubs grew along the road allowance. The country was a mix of grass, shrubs and trees.

   Dad would find a place where there were berries and everybody got out of their old cars and started picking berries. Well, it didn't take Dad long to say that this place wasn't great so let's go down the road as he knew another place that he thought was better. 

    Much the same thing happened all day. 

   They had taken a lunch  and had a picnic. Sometimes pies were taken.

   So by the time Dad got home in the evening he had 5 gallons of berries and yes, a few spiders, leaves, twigs and cobwebs. They spent the rest of the evening sorting berries and washing them. One year Mom canned 96 quarts of Saskatoons. 

   However, the day was mainly Dad hurrying the group from one Saskatoon patch to another. 

   Now my Dad liked ice fishing. In fact, he was nuts about ice fishing. We were able to take the car and drive where ever we wanted on the ice which was about 2 feet thick. 

    He had a bar to punch a hole through the ice. We were little so he'd set us up first. He would then punch a hole in the ice for himself. Well, wouldn't you know it. The fish weren't biting fast enough to suit him so everything was put back in the car and he drove to another place that he thought was better. This continued all day. He wasn't a sport fisherman but wanted fish for food as he loved fish and these were perch and one of his favorite. We'd get home with about 75 fish. 

    We'd get home cold, tired and hungry. 

   So he was the same with fish as with berries.

   After supper? Guess what? We had to fillet fish. So there were two little boys who did a lot of complaining about filleting the cold fish. 

COLLEAGUES

      This fine group meets a couple of times a year for lunch. 

      We came to the same school from 1968 to 1972. Three of us stayed in the same school for more than 20 years. Three of us went into administration. 

      We were young and did not have much experience. There was an older staff member Cliff, who joined the staff at the same time we did. Cliff took a liking to us and to some extent put us under his wing. We spent many good times together socially and professionally. 

      Our fearless leader retired. A few years after he retired, he organized a lunch. We all quickly agreed. He even had us to his house and cooked the meal. We enjoyed these times together. 

     Cliff passed away and we still meet for lunches. It's always pleasant to get back together. 

     I'm the oldest at 84.  A couple of the younger ones are in their late 70's.

      

A LITTLE MORE GEOGRAPHY

       I will try this topic again and try to stay on the topic this time. 

       As I said , I went to the Red Deer River bank to check on some flowers. I began thinking of the river system and how huge it is. What's the history of one drop of water running by me? Does it make it all the way to Hudson Bay or does it get stopped in some farmer's field. 

        The Red Deer River is part of a large river system. The Red Deer River comes out of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains   and from beginning to end is 724 km (450 mi). Many little streams join together. By the time it gets to Red Deer it's a fairly large river. It ends when it joins the south Saskatchewan River at the Saskatchewan border. The South Saskatchewan river started when the Bow River and Old Man river joined to make the south Saskatchewan river. 

       Here's the Red Deer River as it flows by Red Deer. 

         The South Saskatchewan river runs 550 km (346 mi) until it joins the North Saskatchewan River 25 Km east of Prince Albert. It then becomes the Saskatchewan river which flows into the north end of Lake Winnipeg. The Nelson River then takes the Lake Winnipeg water 644km (400mi) northeast where it empties into the Hudson Bay.  

       So how long does it take that little drop of water to make all those miles?

       In the days of the fur trade, paddlers went all the way to Hudson Bay with the current and than came all the way back against the current in one summer!

      It's hard to believe the size of this system which runs across three provinces: Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. 

    

A LITTE GEOGRAPHY

      I went down to the Red Deer River today to check on some plants that are invasive species. I found them two years ago and then couldn't find them the next year.

     Today I found them again. Of course, I didn't know what they were. As soon as I turned my camera on it said my batteries were done.

    I had planned to take photos of these plants and some photos of the Red Deer River. One always needs more photos of the Red Deer River. The photo on my header is the Red Deer River.

   So I took a bloom from the plant and a couple of stems. I was right beside the Nature center so decided to ask them first before contacting my friend Tony. One of the summer students was able to make an ID for me. It's a yellow clematis but probably needs to be narrowed down.

     

   So my readers can have fun with this plant. 

  I have a major bug infestation on my black currant. I asked for help in an ID. I got two replies. They were both the same. So my daughter in law and niece made the same ID. They are very sharp cookies. 

    My thinking certainly changed from the time I wrote the caption until I got to the post. Old brains seem to wander around.

STUCK IN THE BATHTUB.

      Did you ever get stuck in your bath tub? Well it happens. Sometimes people can not get enough leverage to get themselves out of the bath tub. 

    Right now I have two of the best next door neighbors you'll ever find. They are both paramedics and make it clear that if we or other neighbors have a problem we are to call them. 

     So  a few weeks ago the 88 year old lady across the street came running for the paramedics. The paramedics thought she was saying "Tom's dead. "  So my neighbors ran to Tom's house to find that he had fallen into the bath tub. He doesn't know how it happened but he fell in a position where he couldn't grab onto anything to lift him out of the tub. He was not bathing but bumped something and fell. The paramedics had him out of the tub and on his way to emergency.

     So the paramedics laughed and said they get all kinds of calls to get people out of bathtubs. Of course yours truly had to say, "I bet you see all kinds of sights!" To which they replied, "That's what towels are for." They went on further to say that a towel is used to put around the arms and shoulders to get a person out of a tub. 

    So this was the start of many stories about getting people out of bathtubs and any other cramped space. They have many stories.

   I thought getting somebody out of  tub was simple until the Micro Manager needed help . When someone is in a tub you cannot get in a good position to lift or move the person. The person is also wet and slippery. The Micro Manager took a second try and got herself out of the tub. It was a worry when you are helpless to help someone. 

COULD IT BE?

        Could this guy be Spencer?

        For more than a year I have noticed disturbances in the soil in the flower bed underneath my living room window. Only recently I made the discovery that these disturbances were caused by a rabbit. Even more recently I have caught the culprit spending his/her time in the flowers and shrubs in front of my house. I have been walking by him/her many times and him/her has not flushed  and I didn't know that there was a beast there.  In fact, this is a very cheeky bunny. He/She gets up and moves about two meters and stops to see if I'm  going to leave the area. 

     So this bunny has chosen a prime area to spend the day safely dozing and grooming. And once in a while he/she gets up and enters my back yard. There he/she has helped himself/herself to my garden produce. To date my lettuce, peas, beans and beets have been sampled. 

      It was a blue sky day this morning. 

    So I've set up baracades to try to prevent the bunny from having a healthy lunch.

    How many of you remember the story of M McGregor and Peter Rabbit? I feel like Mr MacGregor.

LILIES

      These beauties just bloomed a few days ago. 

Lies

      It would seem to me that there are penalties for telling lies. I think we used to get our mouths washed with soap or was that for swearing. 

     For some time it seems that, in particular,  politicians tell many lies. This was brought more to my attention with the debate of the two American presidential  candidates. 

     I looked up lies and penalties. There are many penalties for telling lies from community service to prison terms. Why are many people , in particular politicians dealing in lies? Well it works. The lie is intended to deceive. It seems as if lies are very successful in deceiving people. So the bigger the lie the more chance of success in persuading someone to vote for a candidate. But I still wonder why liars aren't charged with a criminal offense? 

   So why aren't liars charged ? If liars were charged and convicted wouldn't others  think twice about telling lies? 

   My neighbor is one of those who thinks if he talks fast, says nothing, tells half truths, tells conspiracies and goes round and round he will prove his point. When he does quit jabbering you are so mixed up , you don't know what to challenge him on. 

    So some day, I would like to see a liar charged with a criminal offense for telling lies. I have an idea of the first guy I would like to see charged. 

HAPPY CANADA DAY

       I look forward to tomorrow when we celebrate our nation's birthday. The country was formed in 1867 and grew very much after that.

      When the country was first formed there were only Four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. In 1870 Manitoba joined the country. In 1871 British Columbia joined. In 1873 Prince Edward Island became a province. Saskatchewan and Alberta became provinces in 1905. Newfoundland joined in 1949. The maps changed greatly over the years. Quebec was made up of the southern portion along the St. Lawrence river. The remainder was included many years later. 

     There are still three territories. The North West Territories were formed in 1876. At that time it consisted of all of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The Yukon was formed in 1898 and Nunuvuut was formed in 1999. 

    So there you have a dull and boring list but you see what we're celebrating. 

    So Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians. 

MISSING IN ACTION

        I've been missing for a week. 

        Life has been active in other areas so my mind has been away from the blog. 

        First of all, two elderly people got a little mixed up in the date. We went to a lab appointment a day early. The lab was great and took us because  we were there. This mix up confused me for the rest of the week. I was always thinking a day ahead. Well, that worked itself out after a few days. 

      I had a problem with the sound on my computer. I use a speaker and sometimes ear phones. So I switch back and forth. I found that I couldn't switch back and forth unless I started the program over like messenger. My daughter kindly offered to help with the sound issue. I wanted to work with the issue and see what was wrong before I worked with my daughter. She kept pushing me to set a time. I wasn't ready to set a time. So this was another issue on my mind.

      Then 3 or 4 years ago an author contacted me about someone I taught with. The author  was writing a biography and trying to make a collection of the teacher's art and display it. The writer had lost all contact with the teacher . So last week I received a message from the writer. He had finished the first section of his story. I had totally forgotten about the writer and almost erased his message. 

    Instead I got to read part of his upcoming book and it was absolutely fascinating. It kept my attention for a few days. This time we exchanged lots of personal information. 

   It got me thinking about much more information. I have contacted other teachers who taught with the subject of the book. I even contacted a former student. 

   So my mind got carried away with other things.

   I find with the blog that I have to spend part of my time with my head on the blog. 

     However, we need a little excitement in our lives. 

SUMMER SOLSTICE

       Summer solstice is always an interesting time for me. In fact, it's exciting. You imagine the sun and earth moving together so that the sun crosses the equator. 

      Then we have the pleasure of the longest day of the year. Here the sun rose at 5:13 AM  and set at 10:00 PM for total daylight of 16 hours 47 minutes and a few seconds. 

     I wanted to get some sunset photos but we had a strange sunset. I was up at midnight and looking north over the city one could plainly see sunlight. 

    This photo was from a few years ago showing  a house about 9:45 PM. 

  This shows my street about 10:15 PM. 

   So now it's down hill  until December. 

   I know my timer on the camera needs to be reset. 

WEATHER

       Just to let you know that two nights ago June 17 it froze here!  Now for many of you this will sound unbelievable. When I woke up at 7:00 AM  there was frost on the house rooves. 

      Frost at this time of year is very rare. Cold temperatures do happen. 

     Plants that  are close to the ground do not freeze as the ground is fairly warm and so it doesn't freeze at ground level. My tomatoes are at the side of the house and air temperature has to be in the minus 2 range before they'll freeze as heat comes from the cement and keeps the plats warm. .

     This spring has been very cool. I think we've had two days with highs above 20 C.  Usually it can be very warm at this time of year. Lows are somewhere around 15 to 20 C.

     So I know it's hard for some of you to get this temperature through you head. It's hard for me too. 

MORE NAMES

     Comments many times make me think of other material that could be added to a post. So , with names , I realized the was much more. Most of it is not important but it's there nonetheless. Some of this has been covered in other posts.  My researcher,  statistician John, will tell me where it is. 

     So of course, I received the name Keith, at my birth. I have no idea why I was called Keith. But soon after that I was given the family nickname Grandfather. I was the oldest child and Dad called me grandfather but no one else called me Grandfather. 

    The next time I received a name was when I started high  school. We had a high school of 25-30 kids and a few days after I arrived I was called Pop. I had no idea what was going on and I found the situation stressful. Sometimes it was Pa. When I go back the guys still call me Pop. 

  My initials are K.C. so for three years I was called Casey. 

   Two colleagues gave me a name which only they used. One guy called me "Killa" Another colleague always called me Dad. It was a name that I liked as it showed his respect. 

    So you can see a bit of a thread through these names.

   This may explain the Grandfather name as I looked after my brother who is less than a year younger than I am.

    The only name that doesn't fit this is when my son called me Boy. He was about a year to two years old. I called him Dad's Big Boy and we think that's why he was using Boy. 

    I have four other names that only I use. How's this for names: incline, syncline,  recline and decline. I use these names for setting up names for some files. 

   So there you have it. I probably have forgotten a few names. I know you'll ask what the Micro Manager calls me. She has no special name for me 

SOME UPDATES.

       Many times your comments remind me of things I forgot or expressed poorly and you didn't get it. 

      I forgot to mention my all time biggest conference. I got to go to a teacher conference in Washington DC. That's pretty good for a little old guy from the prairies. Several of our teachers got to go to major conferences in the US. So this little old guy got on a plane in Calgary and went to Dallas. I changed planes and went to Washington. I took the subway from the airport to my hotel and got in the hotel about midnight. So this was an exciting day

    The conference was across the street in the hotel where Reagan was shot. 

    I got to hear some major speakers. I'd never been in a 3000 seat hall before. There were many smaller sessions.

    The area with displays was the size of a hockey rink. I chose many things to take back and give to colleagues. I had to make a presentation when I got back home.

    The name Red is an accident. When I first set up an email account it wouldn't take my name so I put in Red taken from Red Deer the city I live in. At the time I didn't realize once the name was in the system it spread through the internet world. Why didn't I use my middle initial or stick a number between my name like other people do?

     The Micro manager went with me and toured Washington while I was at the conference. I stayed an extra day for touring. 

     Western Canada, where I live is huge. You must travel or you have the meeting by yourself. Edmonton is 100 miles away as is Calgary. The national parks are about 150 miles away. 

ONE PART OF DAD

       My daughter and I sometimes talk about family and what  happened when she was growing up. She likes the thought that she was a free range kid. 

       These discussions got me thinking about what kind of Dad I was. 

       I was a teacher. I was surprised that I was away from home so much. 

      I was involved with the teacher's association at the local , district and provincial level . Of course, these were not all at the same time. They all involved meetings...many meetings. The district and provincial activities involved travel. I found this activity interesting and rewarding. 

    I was a member of a professional group and also on the executive for a few years. Again , lots of travel...Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper and Edmonton. 

    I attended the Annual Teachers Representative Assembly (ARTA) for many years. This allowed me to take my family with me until they reached the teenage years when they didn't want to go. This was a five day event. 

   Regular teaching duties took many evenings. Parent teacher interviews took a long time . I also worked a few bingos for the school and supervised dances. I liked supervising dances as the kids had a lot of fun. . 

   I didn't realize I did so many field trips. I taught some outdoor ed. so the kids were taken on field trips for hiking, snowshoeing, cross country skiing and winter camping. We usually went to the national parks like Banff or Jasper and stayed in hostels. These were at least over night .

   I also took kids on a day trip to the Calgary Herald to see how a newspaper was put together. This went along with my news paper unit. We also wanted kids to see professional theatre so each year we took the gr eights to Edmonton or Calgary to see a play.

    

                                  Did I also tell you that I was a department head?

    Then there were always those interesting workshops that just happened to be out of town. There were speakers you just had to hear. There was money to send me to these activities. More than usual as some teachers didn't bother going to professional development activities. 

    All these activities were time consuming and stressful. I didn't realize I spent so much time away from home participating in educational activities. I enjoyed it and sometimes think I was away form home too much. 

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MURAL?

           On May 31 I wrote a post about a special mural in Stringer Hall, Inuvik. 

           Steve Steve from Shadows and Light asked a question that opened a can of worms. Steve wanted to know what happened to the mural. Many things happened before the residence was destroyed. 

          Here's the brief history.

          Around 1950 the government decided that they would build a school system to educate northern kids. Their plan was to build one huge school and bring all the kids to one place. The kids would leave their local settlements and parents and live in a huge residence called Stringer Hall. It didn't take long before the people realized that this was a terrible system. The kids  lived away from family so there was no family life. The kids lost their relationship with their own community and family

            The people also realized that their kids needed and education. . 

                    Grade  three children whose classroom was an annex

                      Boys playing dog team 

                      Boys playing hopscotch in January

                            More hopscotch

            These little guys did not get home for Christmas or Easter . They stayed the whole schoolyear. 

 There were many sad stories from this system. Children were literally taken from their parents to the big school and hostels in Inuvik. Some parents did not know where their children were. 

      A campaign grew to have kids educated in their local community. Sometime in the early 70's the big school which held a thousand kids and student residences were not being used and closed. Stringer Hall which held 300 kids remained closed for a few years and when they couldn't find a use for it, it was torn down. 

     Today no matter how small a community is, there is a school. Kids are able to complete their high school with only two or three kids in the high school. You see grad photos with only two or three kids.

      I'm not sure what happened to the mural but I hope that somehow it was saved. 

SUNNY SUNDAY AFTERNOON

      I went for a walk Sunday afternoon. I was intending to take photos of the buffalo beans and Saskatoon berry blossoms. I had a few surprises. 

     The cow moose and two calves were a big surprise. 

                          Mallard ducklings

                        Early blue violet

Buffalo beans

                      Western Canada violet

                          Saskatoon berry blossoms. 

WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT ?

     Sometimes there are issues that family's don't talk about. They are topics that are quietly left alone. Often they are things that were disagreeable and hurtful. 

     For example , when my brother and I were about 13-14 , we asked Dad if we could have a motor cycle. Dad said no. We went behind Dad's back and bought a motor cycle. Dad didn't make us sell the motor cycle but it was never talked about until dad was about 80. Then it was funny. 

    A little less than a km from my house is a heavily forested ravine. There are old growth spruce trees that are about 80 -90 ft. high. 

    Today I was talking to my daughter about a little platform I found high in a spruce tree. She said that's probably one of mine. I said, "What ? You were never out there." She told me that she spent much time climbing trees in the woods. She said, "I was a good tree climber." This was when she was about 10. My kids were free range kids so she easily could have done this. 

    What I remember most is a little kid who played endlessly with toys like blocks and Lego. She also read a lot. She also bounced. She would sit on a chesterfield and bounce back and forth for a few minutes. She would hum along with the bouncing. In the car she bounced hard enough that you could feel it when you were driving. 

    So it was surprising to hear that this quiet little girl climbed trees. 

MURAL

         A few weeks ago I showed some of our wedding photos as it was our anniversary. Everybody's wedding is extremely important. The surroundings and events are not forgotten.

         The venue for our wedding was different. The wedding was held in a place called Stinger Hall Chapel. Inuvik had a 1000 student school. Kids were brought in from up to 1000 miles away and kept in two hostels. Stringer hall was a residence that held about 300 kids. 

         The chapel was for all the kids in the residence.

         Inuvik was a special Arctic settlement planned and built after the Second World war. Construction was officially finished in 1957 but some of it still continued. Stringer Hall was finished long before the Hotel was built. Travelers stayed in the student hostel. A pilot stayed there on a regular basis. He was a bit of an artist so painted the large mural behind the alter  during his stops in Inuvik.

      The mural shows a picture of children coming to Christ. The big thing in this mural is that the children are aboriginal. 

       I'm not sure if the idea comes from a biblical quotation. Far Side will be able to cover that Chap and verse if there is one. 

     So I've always considered this an interesting mural as well as the story behind it. 

LAWNMOWER

       Recently I had to buy a new lawnmower. 

       The last lawnmower I bought was in 1971 so that means that it was 53 years old. The bumbling old handyman kept it going that long. I knew what to fix on this lawn mower but the part cost over $50.00 and then I would still have an old mower that I would still have to pull a cord to start it. 

       So my lawnmower info goes back to the 1970's. So what to buy. There are so many different lawnmowers for sale. Then there are electric cordless machines. With the micro Manager help we researched different machines. we also had to learn about cordless electric machines. We finally decided on an electric cordless mower. This old boy didn't want to pull cords anymore.

     Then the fun started. There are three owners manuals. One for the machine. One for the charger and one for the battery. I would get the manuals mixed up. I'd be looking in the charge manual for something about the battery. It was confusing.

    Finally, we had crossed all the T's and dotted all the i's and were ready to go outside and start the machine and test out the mower.

    So I did what I thought I as supposed to do. There was utter silence. I'm sure the look on my face would have said volumes. I checked connections. I checked instructions. Everything looked okay.

   So nothing for it to go back in the house and look in the manual. So first I went to the start section. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a small word that I had missed. There's a start button. It says press and HOLD. I had missed the word hold. 

   So I went out and followed instructions again and it started. 

   I find directions for new appliance to be a challenge!

   Do I like my new mower? You bet I do. 

   

THE MYSTERY IS SOLVED

         I have a one meter wide strip going across the front of my house. I have a few shrubs and many perennials in that strip. The shrubs are mugo pine and juniper. The strip with plants is fairly dense. I keep it clean of weeds and the soil is soft and easy to keep.

       However, for the last 2 or 3 years some animal has been leaving indistinct tracks and moving soil. I suspicioned a cat but I very seldom found cat feces. There was quite a bit of soil disturbance . I would smooth out the soil trying to find out what was in the shrubbery. No damage was ever done.  

     This morning I went around the corner to the strip. A jack rabbit popped out from under a mugo pine! Mystery solved. Jack rabbits have been hiding in the shrubs. 

     The jack rabbit moved about 3 meters and then stopped. He/she stared at me as if to say, "Get out of here so I can go back under your shrubs."

     I never thought that this might be a jack rabbit. 

    This strip is right below my front room window. The plants are dense enough so that I didn't notice them from the window. 

    I will be checking that strip from now on.

   Was this Spencer? I have no idea. 

58

       Fifty eight years ago today I put on my new suit and tie and walked across the road to the Stringer Hall Chapel and strolled down the aisle to the waiting minister. I stood facing the minister. People were coughing, shifting in their seats, dropping things. You hear much more when it's quiet. A float plane roared off the river. The Minister said, "She's left town!" Soon after , the crowd was asked to stand and there were flashbulbs popping and a shuffle up the aisle. Mrs Holman who couldn't play the organ, volunteered to play the music. Yes, the bride made it. Somebody gave the "woman" away and the veil was removed.

     Yes, today is our 58th anniversary. 

     We got together with friends and said our I do's. 

    It was a different wedding as we were married in Inuvik, NWT so didn't have relatives, just the friends.

    There are so many good things we remember about the day of our wedding. People volunteered to help us make a wonderful day. Mrs Holman was the assistant hostel administrator and took us under here wing. She played the organ and got a girl's choir to sing.

THE BISHOP

       A former student of mine has made some awesome achievements.

       After high school she entered and completed a theology program. The next challenge was to be ordained in the Anglican church. Now at that time the Anglican church's official policy was that they would not ordain women . However, there was a loop hole. Some churches chose to ordain women. This was against official church policy. She was ordained. 

       I'm not sure how the next part of the story goes. I'm not sure what positions she had in the church. 

      However, she was a very gutsy lady to push and be ordained. 

      Yesterday, I heard that she is now a bishop! Her father was in the same residence as my friend and reported that his daughter is a bishop.

     These are the type of people I like. She challenged the status quo and won. 

     She opened doors for many women coming after her. 

     She is now the Bishop of the Archdiocese of Kootenay. 

I NEED A TOPIC MACHINE !

      Lately blogging has been a struggle. It's been hard to think of interesting things to say. I have not been out with the camera. Now that I've said that, I know what I'll do tomorrow. I'll get out and get some spring photos so that you can compare your spring to mine.

     I want to whine and make excuses about not posting but that would not be very honest. Yes, I've been busy in my mind, but others would disagree with me. 

     What I've found out is that if you're not very active, topics are are to come by. Spring weather has been variable and not really nice . We haven't had warm weather so every time we have a nice day I'm working in my yard. Some of those precious nice days are occupied with appointments of one kind or another. We've had lots of smoke on some days.

     One day I did not reply to comments and I feel that if someone goes to the effort of making a comment they deserve a reply. I have read all the comments. Once again I think that comments are an interesting and important part of blogging.

    So my tomatoes are on the south side of the house. My radish and lettuce are seeded. I should say my radish that never develop to and edible stage. Radishes don't like me!

     Today I went to a stress test. You feel pretty awful from the preparations. No coffee for 24 hours. No breakfast. And with all that I do not sleep well so I feel fairly woosy at test time. Tomorrow I find out if I passed. I must be glowing as they use a tremendous amount of nuclear stuff. It was an interesting process. The new technology used is amazing. 

MOTHER'S DAY

       I wished my wife a happy mother's day ...yesterday. I got ahead of myself. 

       for days like Mother's day and other days marking special occasions or people, I like to think of their origin and how it was celebrated when I was young. Yes , they were all celebrated when I was young and in many parts of the world . Mny of the origins are similar. 

      My Father felt that special days were rather artificial so he did not give them much importance. So very little notice of mother's day was noted in our home. Our mother deserved recognition as she worked very hard with limited resources. She was a farmer's wife and had very few conveniences. Rural areas thought of these days as related to urban people. 

      So I looked up the origins of Mother's day to see where it originated and when it began to be celebrated. As with most of these special days , the origin goes far back in history. 

      As I said before, my mother was hard working but not only that a very caring person. My Mother died when she was 59. I often think of her and how her life was shortened by cancer. The older I get the more I see what a strong caring person she was. I also see that many of my strong points come from her either by teaching or inheritance. 

     I was looking for another photo of Mom when she was older. So this will have to do when she was younger and spending most of her time looking after me.

BOTTLES AND CANS

     I have been known in the past to think that Alberta is the best place you can be. I've been know to think that everybody is the same as us . 

     Well the comments on  The Money Machine was Empty, jerked my head up about these assumptions. By the way the comments were awesome and made me rethink the issue. 

    Many of you wondered about the idea of being paid for return of bottles and cans and other containers. Reading between the lines some of you are going, "What's going on here?" We always had a program of payment for return of bottles and cans. As a child I would walk along the ditches picking out bottles and cans. I got one or two cents for each container. 

    Okay you can see the first idea coming here. Paying for return of containers gets the garbage picked up. It also gathers material to be made into something else. 

    It also gets sillier. When we buy certain products that we can return we are charged a environmental fee. So when I return bottles and cans it's money that I've already paid. 

    Some groups have fund raisers by picking up containers from road allowances. 

    The homeless get some cash.

     So for the countries where people are wise enough to not throw things out the car window ao just drop something on the street. Great! That's the way it should be . We should all take responsibility for keeping the environment clean and tidy. 

CHAIRS

         In many public places chairs are a one size fits all. In restaurants after you get too big for a high chair all the chairs are the same size. 

         First, kids have to endure the big chair. No wonder you see kids swirling back and forth on their bum because the chair doesn't fit. I'm sure that there are are many messes because the chair doesn't fit.

         When it comes to adults some people are too small for the chair and some people overwhelm the poor chair. 

        I know a number of people whose feet do not touch the floor. Getting on and off a chair could be hazardous. Then there are the huge people whose bodies completely hide the chair.

       We have a brand new  casino with a large restaurant. All chairs and tables are exactly the same. The flooring is carpet and the chair legs are metal and do not slide. So try to move your chair closer to the table or further from the table. It's a challenge to move. And then the table legs have very little room for your feet. It's a crowded situation. 

        So I ask again, why can't there be a variation in size of chairs to accommodate large and small people as well as average sized people?

THE MONEY MACHINE WAS EMPTY

      I take my cans, bottles etc. to a large bottle depot. Sometimes you wait 30 minutes to drive through. 

      Once you get to a wicket your junk is quickly counted. It's high tech so a plastic card is issued. You take your card inside and tap the machine where it says tap. The machine spits out the amount of cash which was on the plastic card.

       Well, today the guy in front of me had a big surprise when the machine said that it had run out of cash? What? 

         There is an attendant nearby and she came quickly and found a supply of cash to pay us. 

        I don't know when they'll fill up the money machine.

        It's sort of like getting stuck in and elevator.

         On a happier note my friends are celebrating a 61st anniversary! Happy anniversary to B and A. 

I PUT MY SNOW SHOVEL AWAY

     Yesterday, I put my snow shovel away for the summer.

     What does it do today? You guessed it. It is snowing. There won' be any snow shoveling as the snow melts when it hits the ground.

JACK RABBIT REPRODUCTION.

      We  sometimes hear the expression breed like rabbits. Jack rabbits can had two or three litters a year. They can start in March or April. I have seen a young litter in September. 

      Today part of the breeding process was taking place in my front yard.

       We usually think of the rabbit as being a quiet gentle animal. Not so when it comes to breeding. First of all you see a number of rabbits chasing up and down the street at great speed. They are looking for the female who is coming near the time when she is ready for breeding. 

     Finally two to four bucks will find her and keep close to her so that she will not get away or other bucks take possession. If the female moves the bucks become instantly alert . The bucks compete with each other. They punch one another and scream very loudly. It's an interesting process. I have not observed behavior past the pushing shoving and screaming. 

     Usually I notice them at the punching and screaming stage. 

    Finally the deed is done and after a 42 day gestation period the little guys are born. They are hidden in plant growth. The female comes back at night to feed them. One time four little guys were placed in my tomato patch. They didn't like it when I watered my tomatoes but they stayed in place. 

    So today the two bucks and female left my yard so I did not get to see the serious pushing and shoving. I also did not get photos as I would frighten them if I went in the yard or tried to take a photo out of the window. 

SLOW COOKING

      My Mother always told me that if I was smart I shouldn't say that I disliked something. However, I cannot resist saying that I don't like slow cooking. 

      Now I know that I have already touched a nerve with those people who like slow cooking. Slow cooking is popular and is used to prepare food for busy people. 

      I like a good strong meat flavor. I don't like the meat flavor covered up with spices. 

      I liked the way my mother cooked. She had limited resources. So she could roast, fry or boil. She didn't have fancy dancy herbs and spices. She probably had some bacon fat. Do I remember great turkey dinners put on by Mom? You bet! Turkey dinners were common. 

     So most slow cooker recipes are heavy on the spices. Whatever combination of spices you use gives you a special flavor but I don't know what it is.

    As I said , I like the meat flavor.

    One time I shot a caribou with some aboriginals. The butchering began by removing the tongue and rinsing it in water. The tongue was cut into narrow strips. Willow sticks were cut and the strips of tongue put on the sticks over the camp fire. Butchering continued. The heart was prepared the same way as the tongue. By this time the tongue was ready to eat. This was the best tongue I had ever eaten. I will remember it for the rest of my lie. Most people don't like tongue. The same thing happened with the heart. We just kept butchering and eating. 

    And lastly slow cooking makes a mess of the crock container. I don't like cleaning it. 

    Now I probably need some education about slow cooking and I'm sure I'll get what I've asked for. 

A MIXED UP DAY

             I decided to sell my hiking boots since it was spring and hiking season would begin. 

            I advertised them on Kijiji. At one time I had good luck on Kijiji , but not lately. I was also advertising the boots on Market place. Now I'm not that familiar with market place and find it confusing.

         Since I only have the computer , I look at things maybe 2 or 3 times a day. 

        Someone answered and said they would be coming to town on Friday and could they see the boots. Well, by the time I saw this, the guy had sent me 5 different messages. Then I checked on Kijiji and the same guy had several messages.

       I gave him my phone number  and since he was on instant time , he phoned. His name on Kijiji was Ken Hofer. The name given on the phone was Tony Dehofer? This mixed me up more and more. I didn't know how many people I was dealing with. I was struggling with market place, a guy was sending messages on two sites and at a rapid rate. Then a woman emailed and I thought she was with the same guy.

      The Micro Manager started to get worried. I knew from the name that I was dealing with a Hutterite. The Micro Manager is not familiar with Hutterites and was on level 10 anxiety. I couldn't tell her that Hutterites were nice people. 

      So the morning he was supposed to come we had a call from the guy's sister that they would be coming and what was the address. 15 minutes later the woman phoned again and said they were on the way. 

     So finally a time was set for the guy to come to my place. I really didn't know who was coming or how many. 

    So at the appointed time a Hutterite arrived and quietly bought my hikers. The Micro Manager was amazed and said, "He was a nice guy!"

    And I don't know how many messages and phone calls I had. Obviously I had enough calls to sell my boots.