IT'S COLD

       We have been having a cold spell lately. It's not breaking any records but it's cold. We've had lows of minus 30 C or minus 20 F. They're not records but it's a very uncomfortable time. We've had some snow and I don't like getting out to shovel. 

      Now those who have followed my blog will say, "What are you talking about? You have been bragging about how tough you are when it gets cold. When you were a little kid you played outside all winter. "

      Well that was then . This is now. I'm about 80 years older. I am also not dressing as well as I used to. I am not wearing my heavy winter under wear and that makes a lot of difference. 

    My Dad passed away 16 years ago yesterday. We had the funeral and burial about 5 days later. It was and extremely cold day when he was interred. It was so cold the preacher kept his tuque on. We did not stay long in the cemetery. Some people did not get out of their cars.

      My Mother died in late November of 1973. She was buried the day after the funeral about 100 miles away. Only  the immediate family was there for interment. Her four sons carried the casket through deep snow and you guessed it. It was cold.

      My sister died in Feb of 1953. So we went to the same cemetery and you guessed it in very cold weather. 

     So at this time of year we get the coldest weather of the year. We are used to it and if we're smart we'll dress appropriately. 

GROUND HOG DAY

      Well, tomorrow is ground hog day when we get some very important information. We'll see what happens.

      When I was a little  beaner (kid) Ground hog day was always talked about in school. We probably had an art class or something on Groundhog day. We did go out and check the weather and discuss whether it was clear or cloudy. 

     However, in my little mind I could never make sense of ground hog day. First, out in the middle of Saskatchewan , there were no ground hogs and I knew that. How could a ground hog in Pennsylvania USA know what was going to happen? This ground hog was 2000 miles away. For that matter how in the world could a groundhog know about weather and make a forecast? So I spent ground hog day pondering these questions rather than having fun. 

     So where I am in Alberta, Canada, we have Balzac Billie who will tell us what's going on.   Balzac is just north of Calgary. 

     Well, now there are no groundhogs in Alberta so I'm not sure how the deed will get done. The odd ground hog has been seen in Alberta but there are no native animals. Ground hogs have been seen moving through the province. I thought I saw a ground hog one time but it turned out to be a beaver. 

     The custom of predicting when spring will come by using animals has a very long tradition. It's noted in various areas of Europe. Other animals were used as in some areas a bear was used to make the forecast. It seems that German speaking areas celebrated ground hog day more than other groups. 

     So where ever you are tomorrow enjoy your day.

DISHWASHER BLUES

       Anybody who's had a dishwasher has probably had some sort of problem. So I'm not the only person with a dishwasher story. The soap dispenser lid has been sticking so that the soap is not released. This has happened before but I clean it out and it runs for a while.

     This time the dishwasher ran for less than two weeks after cleaning so I got tired of that. You have to take all the dishes out and wash them by hand. So I went to Mr You tube and found the perfect site that showed me exactly what to do. So I hope this cures the problem.

     Then I started thinking about my Mom. She never had a dishwasher and washed all dishes by hand. She didn't have running water either. About half the time there were extra people at the table. Once in a while she employed her little sons to wash dishes but I'm afraid that they were more of a nuisance than help. But we did wash quite a few dishes. 

     An elderly man lived about half a mile from our place. Very often he ate at our place. He was a good visitor. One time I was staying with my Dad and the "old man" dropped in. We had him stay for supper. I remember washing dishes with the old man while Dad did his chores with the animals. After that we hooked up the horses and took the old man home to his shack. 

     So my problem with the dishwasher wasn't that much compared to many years ago. Of course, they didn't have the problem of a dishwasher that wouldn't work. 

GIFTS THAT KEEP GIVING

        Many of  my 2116 posts begin with "I was a teacher". Many times I am surprised to meet a former student after many years. It is a great gift to be able to meet someone that I taught many years ago and have a good visit. 

       A surprising and thrilling meeting took place Thur. evening when I was at a naturalists meeting. The meeting was over and I was ready to leave when a woman came up and introduced herself. 

     She was a former student and had become a teacher and gone into school administration. She had come back to the school district she grew up in and taught with some of her former teachers. And she just retired recently!

     I knew that she was an administrator in the district but I never bumped into her.

     We had a great visit reminiscing about our lives and school experiences. By the time we were finished there were very few people left in the hall. 

    The bonus was that her Dad was the curriculum supervisor in my area. So I caught up with what her Dad had been doing. I had not seen her Dad since 1997 as far as I can remember.

     Meeting up with former students is a treat. Meeting up with former students is a gift that keeps on giving. You never know who you're going to meet next. 

COMPLAINING

       The beginning of this week was great for complaining about politics. So I was looking for something interesting to complain about. Well, why not complain about the weather!

      I don't do much complaining about weather because I've been outside for a good part of my life.

     However , we did have a storm blow through here last night and it dropped about 5 cm of snow. There was a very high wind and snow drifted. We rarely see any snow drifts here so it was different. Today was sunny and a high of minus 2 or 3.

    What I am looking at is how much longer the days are getting. 

    Dec. 20 the sun rose at 8:42 AM and set at 4:24 Pm for daylight of 7: 41.

    Jan 20 the sun rose at 8:31AM and set at 5:01Pm for daylight of 8:29. So the day has increased by 48 minutes.

    Who is it that's waiting for spring and counting the minutes?  

MAGA

     MAGA is a great slogan and Trump got a lot of mileage out of it. Three words are very specific and one word is vague enough to cover anything. 

    Great is a word that can mean many different things to various people. Now that's why the slogan works so well. It can slither around to any position that's needed at the time. 

    So the word great in this slogan. What can it mean?

    A great nation can be many positive things. A great nation is peaceful and gets along with neighbors and supports them. A great nation has good laws, respects them and obeys them. 

    Great nations are respected by other nations. 

    A great nation seeks to have equality for it's citizens. Citizens have equal opportunity and what they do with the equal opportunity is up to them. 

    Groups of people are not marginalized. Room in society has to be made for all groups. 

    Is it difficult to be a great nation? Of course. The effort to have a great nation is well worth the effort. We are much stronger and happier if we work together. Picking fights is a waste of effort. 

    One could go on with many more characteristics of a good nation. I've given enough suggestions to illustrate my point. 

    I have not mentioned wealth. Certainly wealth is important. A nation creates it's own wealth. It doesn't depend on others to get a free ride. In the past many nations have used slaves for a free ride. Wealth is important but it should not overshadow other characteristics. 

   Well, this may sound self righteous. However, we have to look at things as they are to have a great nation. 

GRANDPA CLIMATE

     The other day the radio was on in the house and I heard, "Grandpa Climate." I thought for a minute about this and then it hit me. They're talking about me!

     I'm a Grandpa and I'm 85 years old. So what was the climate back at the beginning of my time.

    Then I thought of my Dad who was born in 1912? Oh , there's my Grandpa who was born in 1864 ? And then I thought back to my Great Grandpa who was born in 1840. 

    What was the climate like when these men were living? 180 years ago the common folks probably didn't have a thermometer. Information on climate was anecdotal. There would be some information about climate but it wouldn't be scientific. Both my grandparents could read. They used the Russian Cyrillic script. I'm not sure how much they could write. So information on climate at that time would be limited. I don't know if there is any of Grandpa or Grandma's writing left. 

    I have often told you about my time as a child and the great outdoors. It was very, very different than today. About 50% of the land was not developed. When I was a kid in the late 40's Canada's population was less than 10 000 000 .  This meant that much less carbon was produced. Global warming was probably not taking place. It seemed as if when winter came it stayed winter until spring. I remember getting what we called mild spells, but I don't remember snow thawing in the winter time like it does now. . 

    So I hope the term Grandpa climate makes people think about how much our climate has changed and that people will start to contribute to not letting the earth's temperature increase. 

   If you're a grandma or grandpa, what do you remember about climate?

PEASANT DAYS

      In my Jan. 10 post I happened to mention my grandparents without electricity or water. Some people  made comments to indicate that they had no experience with out services. 

     My paternal grandparents and great grand parents came from Russia in the early 1900's. They had lived in Russia for about 100 years. They were peasants. They made use of available materials for housing and food. So in Russia, they had clay houses. The roof was probably thatched. Here they could afford to get lumber for the roof of a clay house.

     My Dad was born in 1912 in a clay house with a dirt floor.  People liked their clay houses. They said they were cool in the summer and warm in the winter. 

    So many of the German people who came here to homestead had a clay house. Other people built sod houses which were equally functional. 

   Of course, there were other things that had to be developed to live with such a lack of conveniences.

   To keep warm in the winter they had layers of clothing long before outdoor enthusiasts came up with the idea. We had felt boots. These were boots that were made of felt. I can tell you that they were warm. There was an overshoe that kept your boot dry. We had combination fleece lined under wear. We had two layers of pants. They were warm. 

     Sometimes the houses were banked up with snow or straw. The floors in the wood houses were cold. They was no heat in the cellar. Since the heat source was coal and wood the pipes wood sometimes catch on fire. Most people let the fires go out before they went to bed for safety reasons. .

   So houses without electricity worked just fine. 

   People became accustomed to those conditions and thrived. 

   I am old enough to have lived with out electricity and no central heating. Our first house was a dilapidated board structure . I know that there is a photo of this old house but I'm not sure who has it. I remember Dad getting up in the morning and lighting the fire. We would bring our clothes into the main room and get dressed in front of the heater.

    I do not look back at these days as a hardship. We were prepared and were comfortable and enjoyed life with no electricity. . 

I MADE A MISTAKE

      I made a deduction on my last post and it was wrong. I assumed that the population of Esk was zero  as when I visited Esk in 2001 there were only two houses occupied. 

      My sister in law lives about three miles from Esk and she pointed out that I was wrong. She thinks that 2 people live in Esk and maybe more. My niece also pointed out that I was wrong. 

      Where would I be if I didn't have a good sister in law and niece. Thanks for  correcting me. 

CURIOUS AND CURIOSITY

          Mr. Pudding, from Yorkshire Pudding, likes to take a look at things that are very different like, my home village. He finds these odd places and lets his imagine run. 

         My home village is Esk, Saskatchewan. Well it was my home village. Today it is a ghost town with a population of 0.

       At it's largest it had a population of about 50.

     My grandparents retired to Esk in the late 40's. They had no electricity and water. They had a wood cook stove and wood heater for winter heat which was not great. Grandma had some chickens. 

    They bought flour, sugar, salt ,  coffee and a few more items at the local store. . They bought the few clothes in the next town which had a dry goods store. 

    Now there is an abandoned church which interests Mr Pudding. Did I go to Sunday school in that church etc. You can watch a 6 minute video to see what an abandoned village is like. The abandoned church is featured. 

    Our family did not attend that church but my brother was married in it in 1967 and it was closed shortly after that and the building was sold. Somebody bought it with the view of developing it as a house. It never happened. It would have made a very good house. The guy lived in a house trailer in the church yard and later moved away . The video is probably from 20 years ago and I'm not sure if the church is still there. 

    As children we were brought to the church and were given inoculations.(Not on Sundays)The late  1940's saw the immunization for communicable diseases.  You got a series of shots for each disease so we attended the church often for health reasons. 

    Now at one time this village of 50 people had 3 churches. All were Christian denominations. Why they had to be 3 separate denominations I'll never know? There was Lutheran, Baptist and United Evangelical Brethern. They did get along in the community. 

    I realize that it may be very difficult for people from almost any part of the world to understand what I have described. There are many differences in this world and this little village had it's differences. 

NUMBERS THAT IMPRESS.

       I have a friend who lives in a senior residence. He was 93 in Sept. I phone him 3  or 4 nights a week. He's quite lonely and enjoys a chat. He's one of the brighter people I ever met so he's interesting to visit with. The photo below is for his 93rd birthday. 

 

            The photos of old buildings  belonged to Mike. The farm first belonged to his parents and Mike farmed until he went broke according to him. 

     In each phone call he has something very interesting to talk about. He likes politics and science. He was an engineer.

    Last night he told me that his former high school had contacted him about his 75 th anniversary from finishing high school. That number just about blew me over. They were contacting as many former students and teachers as they could find. And guess what? They found one of his teachers still living   at 105.  Mike was pretty happy about this information. I thought it was a big number to finish high school 75 years ago. I finished high school 67 years ago. My numbers don't compare with his. 

    At  the present time Mike doesn't have plans to attend the reunion as they don't have dates or anything else arranged at this time.

    None of my former teachers are living. 

KISSING!

      I rarely look back at old posts. Somehow today I landed on a post from Fri July 6, 2012. What was the topic? International Kissing Day!

     So, who am I to write about kissing? But you can go back to the post and see what I wrote, in my ignorance.

     The thing that shocked me was the list of commenters I had. I had completely forgotten most of the people who made comments on that post. There are only three people from that time who still follow my blog and make comments. So of the seventeen people who commented , 14 of them have disappeared. 

    The three bloggers who remain from that time are Far Side of Fifty, Eye on the Edge and Crumbly acres.  

    Some of them had excellent blogs but somehow ceased blogging. Some were lurkers who only made comments. 

    One  blog that had over a thousand followers ceased. That was Tex Wise girl. She posted every day. Do any of you remember her? 

     Maybe I should look back at more old posts and could be surprised at some of the topics. Of course, in 2012, I was 12 years younger, so just a young guy!

WEATHER REPORT

         Since I have nothing to write about , I will give you the weather report. I don't need to say that it's winter here and it can get very severe. 

        Our recent weather has been on the cold side. Today our high was minus 15 C and there was some wind. It was clear and sunny. I don't know what the wind chill would have been but it made for an uncomfortable day. 

      So these are typical winter days. We can get cold spells which are much colder than today. When a cold spell sets in it can last from a few days to several weeks.

     And oh yes, the days are getting longer. On Winter solstice we had 7 hours and 14 minutes of sun. Today we had 7 hours and 53 minutes of sun. Today got longer by one minute and 14 seconds. 

     My interest in weather goes back a long way. As I've said many times, as a child I played outdoors summer and winter. I went to the Arctic in the 60's and you had to be aware of the weather. There was a weather station where I lived and I got to know some of the weather people and talked about weather very often. There were no roads so traffic was by air. Weather was extremely important. 

    When I was in the eastern arctic, we were asked for weather reports many times. I had a radio at my house and was contacted when they were planning a flight. There were weather hazards that pilots had to watch for. 

    The only time I had a bad flight was because of weather. The airplane began to ice up. This was the end of September. As more ice built up the airplane became heavier and more power was given. I would have landed on a small lake before getting to our destination. The pilot wanted to get to the settlement. It was a bad landing. The pilot pulled the throttle back and the airplane sank like a rock. He quickly pulled the throttle back and we made a very rough landing. We more or les just plopped heavily into the  water. 

    So  I find weather interesting and it is important.

RESOLUTIONS

       Every new year there is talk about "New Year's Resolutions." The chatter is the same. Many resolutions are made but not kept. And there are a pile of reasons why resolutions aren't kept.

      Then the counsellors get in there and explain how to keep a resolution so it makes it more difficult to abandon your resolution. I have never officially made a New Year's resolution. I have thought about some things that need attention. I know that my organizational skills are poor or is it that I just don't care much. But as you can see I have not done anything to improve my organization and orderliness. 

     New years is also a time to look back and reflect. Reflection seems to be a moving target. Our memories are not precise. When I talk to my brothers we all seem to have some variation in the memories. 

    One thing I know is that I have definitely had 85 New Years. The first few don't count as we don't seem to keep any memories.

    For example, today would have been my sister's 83 birthday. However, she only got to celebrate eleven birthdays. Since I was only two when she was born, I don't remember her birth. Then I started to think about how many new years I actually remember. As it turns out , not very many. I remember the first time I took the Micro Manager out it was New Year's Eve 1965. I remember that as a child the church had a special program for kids on Jan 1. The Sunday School performed all it's stuff and then were given a bag with candies, nuts and an orange so that's why it was called a Sunday school treat. 

    So once again we mark a January first with a mixture of happiness, resolve and memories. 

   I wish all of you a very happy and successful 2025.