LONG WEEKEND IN MAY

       My last post was about a long weekend here and how I enjoyed the quiet.

       One of my favorite long weekends is a weekend I took to get married. Many teachers choose a long weekend to get married because of their work schedules. 

       The weekend of our first anniversary is one that stands out in my mind. It was the long weekend in May and we decided to spend it camping at Grieg Lake, Saskatchewan. Grieg Lake is a small lake in northern Saskatchewan. It's 1.5 km long and .5 km wide. 

      We were surprised when we got there because we were the only campers. It was perfect weather. The lake is beautiful with clear shallow water.

     We rented a canoe and spent most of the day paddling. Fish were hiding under the lily pads. If you pulled into the lily pads there were many fish trying to find another lily pad to hide under. 

     We were not fishing so spent the day paddling around the small lake. We had taken a lunch 

     There was a clean sandy  beach so we spent one day relaxing on the beach. We were the only people on the small beach.

    And of course, we headed for home on the third day,

    This is a weekend we talk about many times and how we enjoyed the quiet of a northern lake on our first anniversary. 

HERITAGE DAY

        In Canada, most provinces celebrate Heritage Day on the first weekend of August. This weekend is in a very pleasant time of the summer. People can enjoy an pleasant weekend camping. "We don't get snow around Aug 1."

        So this weekend in town has been very quiet. Some people are away. Other people don't have to go to work so traffic is cut down. My neighbor beside me is away, the guy across the street is away. 

       I enjoy this quiet time. At one time I went along with everyone else and travelled. I had a travel trailer so went to many different places. 

      So a very short wish to people and I hope you enjoyed Heritage Day. 

A MONTH'S DIFFERENCE

      I posted a 10:00 Pm photo on June 30 to show how much sunlight we were getting at that time. Someone suggested that I post another photo on July 30. A suggestion like that was too good to miss. 

   So here is my photo from June 30.

Here's my photo from July 30 of the same street as above. It's light but not enough light to show color. 

      Looking north and a bit west from my back steps at 10:00 PM rather than what it says on the photo. 

MORE NEW PEOPLE

       Some comments that were made on my last post about immigrants and temporary status got me thinking about the broader issue. 

      I'll go at this in order. Well, from when people first came to North America. Aboriginals came across the Bering Strait and spread across North America. They were here first so have first rights. 

     Thousands of years later, Europeans showed up in America. At first it was very few. For hundreds of years there were no governments so no recognition of immigrant status. I believe most of the immigration occurred in the 1800. It wasn't long before they began fighting with each other.

     Millions of immigrants came to North America. My family were immigrants. Mennonites who came later suffered extreme violence. Most of them lost everything. Mennonites here found them and paid to get them to Canada.  They were here for economic reasons and to enjoy peace and freedom. 

    Now there are many many people around the world who find themselves in economic conditions where they cannot survive. Others do not have peace and freedom. They come to Europe in small leaky boats. Many of them perish. They leave family behind. The pressure is on them to support their families back home. Europeans are unhappy about the migrants. Europeans were in the same situation many times. After the second war many immigrants came here and it was with permanent status. They had nothing left back in Europe. 

     Globalization has made it easier for people to move around the world. 

     So here we are again with people who just want security, peace and freedom. 

    

NEW PEOPLE

       Here, is like many other places where Ukrainians have come for a time to live during the war. 

     I have met many different Ukrainians. They have all been hard working and willing to learn about us and fit in. 

    One 20 year old showed up here about 2 years ago. She took a waitressing job at the Casino. We were there the night she started. Her English was very limited. The first night was nerve wracking for her and she dropped all her money on the floor. She worked hard at her English and became proficient with the language. She's here for a set time and then she has to go back. She's hoping her time will be extended. 

    So I got it in my head that we should do more to support and mix with these people in our country. I asked her the other day how to say hello in Ukrainian. You should have seen her eyes light up.  She wondered if my question was for real. So now I know one word in Ukrainian. So in Ukrainian hello is pryvit. 

     I'm going to ask the Ukrainian neighbors how to say thank you and then I can say thankyou to Karina at the restaurant. 

    I know that many people work to support some of the Ukrainians. I received satisfaction by seeing the obvious joy one little question brought.   

   So I will not be learning Ukrainian, but I will learn a few words. 

WEATHER

      The weather has been crazy this summer. Some places have been suffering from a heat wave . Other places have received excess rain. And then some places are cold. 

     This week we are cold in Central Alberta. . Today's high was 11 C. Last night it went down to plus 6 C. The furnace cut in. We are having extremes.

     This reminds me of an extreme I experienced one time. It might cool you off.

     I've said at least 1000 times that I spent 5 years in the Arctic.

     I was single and so were most of the bush pilots. I could ask to go along for a ride and if there was room I got to go with them.

     So one Saturday morning It was arranged that I would go to Ft Macpherson with them. I walked the mile down to the airplane. I was there before the pilot. When the pilot got there they had to cover the engine with a tarp and light a fire pot to warm up the engine. Finally the engine started. I had been standing outside all this time and it was minus 40 F. 

    Off we go but the airplane is just as cold inside as the outside. The flight was about 55 minutes. By the time we got to Ft.Macpherson the cabin had started to warm up. So we landed and picked up a mechanic and dumped off some mail. All the time the doors of the plane were open so it was once more as cold inside the cabin as outside. 

   We had a 35 minute flight to Aklavik. After a while the pilot was looking out the window . According to his watch he should have been at Aklavik. He was on the right path to Aklavik but we were against a strong head wind and it caused a slower air speed. We threw off mail bags and headed for home in another 40 minutes.

   So what I thought would be a very pleasant flight turned out to be very unpleasant. The whole trip was miserably cold. Then I had to walk the one mile back to my residence.

   So If your suffering a heat wave, I hope this cools you off a bit. 

    

NOBODY WANTED US

     Every couple of weeks I call my brothers. The agenda for the call goes first; How are you doing; second what are you doing and then it wanders on to what happened in the family a long time ago.

     A lot did happen in our family. My brother and I were Irish twins. Irish twins are when there are two births within the same year. My brother was born on the 6th of the month and I did not turn one until the 21st of the month

    Twins get a bum rap for being able to get into mischief. We've all heard ,"What one can't think of the other one will." 

    However, I think Irish twins can get into mischief by just standing there. 

    When my brother and I were 3 and 4 we were sent up to our paternal grand parents in the middle of the winter. I'm not sure how long we stayed with them but I remember grandma had the big feather comforter that was about 12 " thick. 

   We then went to our uncle Fred's. We got into our aunt's cupboard and found her dried apples which she used for making pies. Fortunately we were caught before we managed to eat the whole package. 

   Then we went to Uncle Albert's . Here, we found a package of playing cards that we hid so that we could play with them but we didn't know any card games. 

   Then we went to Uncle Friske's, who had a large three story house. This was a great place to run around. The teacher boarded there and took us to school the next day. Some of the bigger kids supervised us. The teacher later became our Aunt.

    At some time our family was rescued from us. The hostage exchange was made in the village.

    Why were we away from home in the winter?  We think we were sent away when our brother was born. You can see why they wouldn't want us in the house during a birth. 

    So did nobody want us and kept sending us to different families or did they all want us and took turns looking after us?

    Memories of children is suspect. One of us will remember one thing but not another. How accurate is our memory as young children? The other factor is that now we are in our mid eighties. That's about 80 years ago the this happened. 

    For us it's pleasant to look back.

THE BEAVER

           The last post described a visit that was on the bridge for  good beaver watching. This year a beaver dam has gone in about 60m from the walking bridge over the creek. It's a popular place for people to meet. Most of the time people are there watching for the two beavers. This is where I met the Ukrainian couple and last night I visited with  man from New Zealand. 

         A large dam has been constructed. I think now they are storing food. On a stream like this they tunnel into the bank to make their lodge. So I thought, why not do a post on beavers? 

       

                                        I walk this path almost everyday

Around a bend and you see a foot bridge.

And a little closer and you find a fine bridge. The bridge makes for a great  viewing stand. You look down about 3 m to the water surface. 

And what do you know, Mr Beaver comes along.

This is by far the largest beaver I have ever seen.

                                  The water backs up 400 to 500 m.

                               

                       And every fine outing has to end so I'm on my way back home. 

A GOOD WALK

      A long time ago, a blogger I followed said, "A good walk is an excellent opportunity for photos." That has worked for me many times. Now I rarely carry my camera. 

     I try to go for a walk every evening. My walk is usually in the 4000 to 5000 step category.

   I meet quite a few people and their dogs. Most nights I have one or two good visits. 

   My walk today was special. I met a Ukrainian couple who are doing quite well here but still struggling with things. They are both computer programmers. He had just lost his job but is hopeful he will find another job. 

   After a slow start to the conversation, it picked up. They were practicing their English with me. They found that as an older person I spoke slowly and was easy to understand. For them, younger people speak too fast and use more slang.

     They like the beautiful area here. We were standing on a foot bridge watching a beaver go back and forth under us. 

     So I get to learn about some of their culture. I try and tell them that my ancestors, although they were German, came from the Ukraine. I'm not sure that they understand that. All my ancestors spoke German and Russian when they came here and some spoke Ukrainian. 

    So it was a quiet pleasant evening for a good walk. 

WORLD CHOCOLATE DAY

       Today is a day I really like. Or in other words , I like chocolate. World Chocolate day is thought to celebrate the introduction of chocolate into Europe in 1550.

     There are several other days celebrating chocolate. 

     National chocolate day is a U.S. date celebrated Oct 28. 

    Candy makers have a day designated to celebrate chocolate. 

    So I like chocolate but there's no chocolate in the house to celebrate with. 

    I hope you will find some chocolate to celebrate World chocolate day. 

PEACEFUL SUMMER EVENING

       I've commented many times on how much I love the long daylight hours we have here. 

      There's more to it than that. We get to be outside and enjoy long evenings. Now each evening has it's own characteristics. Many times the wind doesn't go down until just before sunset. We get to see some interesting sunsets. 

     What I really like are those very calm evenings. It seems that people follow a schedule throughout the year and they are not out in the evening. So it's quiet. No people on the street! Very few cars. So with the coming of sunset the day seems to quietly wind down. 

    So on June 30 I decided to go out just before 10 PM and see if I could catch the peaceful evening. When I looked at the photos, it surprised me at how light it was. 

    So here there's little activity in the evenings even if it's light. However, in the Arctic it as different. We had sun up for 24 hours a day. People were active at any time of the day. I met some of my students out at 4 AM. Inuit got up to hunt at any time to take advantage of the tide to go out of the bay. One teacher got mixed up with time and came to school just before 9 Pm. She got teased for a long time. 

HAPPY CANADA DAY

      I have never gone out and attended a Canada Day celebration. Yes, I know I'm bad. I have attended the fireworks in the evening. I would take my family to a good vantage point and watch fireworks. It was fun when the kids were little.

     So, today I was doing my regular grocery shopping. Yes, that's me . Grocery shopping on Canada Day.   

     I met an Asian woman with three little kids doing her shopping. 

      She had a three year old who was bouncing with great abandon. That kid had energy. 

    I noticed out of the corner of my eye that the seven year old had a tiny Canadian flag and he was holding it up. I realized that he was saying Happy Canada Day. I wished him Happy Canada Day and I got the politest  "Thankyou" I've ever received. 

     The five year old girl had a pink birthday hat on. I asked her if it was her birthday and she said it was. I wished her happy birthday and also received a very sincere thankyou.

     This really made my Canada Day. 

    It was better than fire works. 

A FEW AMENDMENTS

       Some of your comments showed  that I had not fully given necessary information.

       We had lots of supervision. Three of us taught out door ed. Two  of the three of us usually went on the trip. We  had no problem getting male supervisors. Some of them came with us a few times when their kids were in the program. Getting female supervisors was a challenge. There were very few Moms who wanted to do an overnight field trip. Once we went without a female supervisor but that was the last time for that. 

      Kids on field trips were always well behaved. They were noisy but good. In fact they stuck to you like glue. They also knew the rules and why we had those rules. 

      In the early fall we would do a hike. Before Christmas we would do a cross country trip and sometimes it was a snow shoe trip. In one grade we would do a winter camp. In other words in a tent with snow and below freezing temperature. For this one I threw in all the covers I had to cover my garden when it froze. The blankets were all used and appreciated. 

   So the point I wish to make is that this was a group effort and other than noise they were well behaved and learned many things. . But then middle school kids are great noise makers.  For many of these kids it was their first exposure to the natural world. 

        These blurry photos were from an area that we went to many times. 

   

ANOTHER BUS EPISODE

      Ticks were not the only excitement on outdoor ed. trips. I taught outdoor ed. for a few years. We would pack the bus with kids and supplies and head for the Rocky mountains for field trips. We would overnight in youth hostels, rustic youth hostels. These youth hostels were meant for ten to twelve people. We would crowd in 15 or so boys and 2 or 3 adults. The boys had to cook for themselves. Sometimes there were other travelers there as well. We would reserve the hostels. We never had as many girls so the lady's hostel  was never so crowded. I remember 10 or so boys sleeping on the floor. Supervisors didn't get much sleep. 

    Sometimes a little guy would be rolling and bouncing around. If you could see who it was, it was easy to settle him down. Just tell him to go out and pee. 

   Those nights in the youth hostel were magical as we would go out in the moon light in the Rocky's. The bright snow and moonlight gave a beautiful view. 

   We also took summer field trips. The highway up to High Wood pass is closed until sometime in the late spring. From where the highway is closed to the top of the pass is 19 Km. We had the kids ride up the pass on bicycles. All of them made it. The ride down was dangerous as it was hard to persuade them that they would go too fast down the hill.

     Well, every field trip has to come to an end. We had routines that everybody had to follow. One time we had all the kids on the bus and equipment and supplies loaded. We were making one last check to make sure the area was left as it should be. All of a sudden kids were yelling and screaming. Somebody had seen a squirrel get in the bus. Well, that meant everybody had to get off the bus. It also meant that this old guy has to check the bus to make sure the squirrel was not on the bus. I had to check under the seats to see if the critter was hiding. The all clear sign was given and the kids got on the bus gain.

    Now we've talked about this incident a few times. We're not sure  a squirrel actually got on the bus or if someone's imagination got carried away or if the critter left very quickly and the kids didn't see it leave. 

    Field trips were always a great adventure. 

TICKS

       This morning I listened to an item on ticks on my favorite radio program on CBC. Ticks have been in the news lately as they have become more abundant. They were noted for passing on Lyme disease but now they pass on other diseases. They are annoying because they are sneaky little beggars that attach themselves and are on your body before you know it.

       The expert being interviewed suggested that ticks were moving about 50 km further north every year and that this was due to climate change.

     People remember when they've had a tick or when a pet has had a tick. One I remember is when I had a tick on my throat just below the edge of my beard. Luckily, my brother saw it and took it off before any harm was done. 

    I taught outdoor ed for a number of years. We took the students on 3 field trips a year. When you're taking out 35 kids for two nights and 3 days very strict  routines have to be set up. One of the routines was for each student to have a buddy to check for ticks. 

    One time we had  a couple of extra hours so we took them on a trail on the side of a mountain.. This was in late March and on a south facing slope where the snow had disappeared. So ticks were already active. 

     We got o the bus and one of the students found a tick. There was excitement and pandemonium and all the kids got off the bus. The checking was done and no more ticks were found. We loaded the bus and headed for home with an interesting event to tell about. 

     Whenever I go by I still look up on the mountainside and remember the tick episode 

A CONFESSION

       I just noticed that I had the wrong photos on my last post. When I was replying to comments I suddenly saw that what I posted was a south east photo at the wrong time of the year. I picked the photos by appearance rather thin by dates. 

    So here are Solstice photos from 2018. I went for a bike ride about 9:30 PM and the photos were taken from about 9:45 to 10:15. 

SUMMER SOLSTICE

       The summer solstice is one of my favorite days of the year. We have the excitement of the longest day and then the beginning of shorter days. 

      Here the sun rose at 5:13 AM and sets at 10:00 PM for a total of 16 hours and 47 minutes of sun up. 

     If we watch we can see twilight  at mid night. When I was in the Arctic the midnight sun was always a special event. 

       I took these photos in 2019 in my yard  around 10PM . It was still very pleasant in the evening.

      Our garden plants start to develop very quickly with the long days. 

I WON...AGAIN

   I eat at the casino 2 or 3 times a week. It's good food and a good price.

   Every Wednesday is senior day. Your meal is $10.00. They have one western dish and one Chinese dish you get to choose from. 

   Business on Wednesday is great as the seniors like the food and price. 

   On Wednesday there is always a draw for $500.00. I have won this draw 3 times in the last 7 years. 

   Today they phoned me and I had won the Father's day draw which is a variety of things worth $500.00. Now one thing is a golf package and I don't golf. 

    So a phone call like this just made my day. 

WESTERN JUMPING MOUSE.

      A few years ago I was seated on my favorite viewing platform quietly watching a patch of wetland. I was watching for ducks and geese and other wetland birds. 

     There were many reeds around the platform. It was a quiet calm day. All if a sudden I noticed a reed waving back and forth. Something was at the bottom of the reed where I could not see it. After much more shaking, I noticed a small mouse climbing up the reed. 

    And then, the reed broke off sending the mouse into the water below with a loud plop!. So I thought, "Good bye mousy." No sooner did that thought come into my head when I saw another reed shaking and after a while a mouse climbing up the stem. Well the mouse fell in again and went some where else as obviously it could swim. 

    So this was my first encounter with a western jumping mouse. They quite often are found in wetlands. Their most common predator is the northern pike!

    I had never heard of a jumping mouse before and I have spent lots of time outdoors in natural areas. I haven't seen a western jumping mouse since. 

    They are interesting little characters and can make tremendous leap. They can jump about 6 feet horizontally and 2 ft high. They move like lightening and before you get a good look at them they are gone. 

    So on the day of my sighting, I stopped at the nature center to report my siting. They were familiar with the jumping mouse. 

BRIAN WILSON

      Brian Wilson passed away a few days ago after a very productive music career and a life full of struggles. 

     Brian Wilson and his two brothers started the Beach Boys about50 years ago.

     I'm always far behind when it comes to music. I knew who the Beach Boys were and some of their music.  With the coming of the internet and You Tube I became familiar with the Beach Boys. I liked their vocals and harmonies. I was amazed at how many instruments were used to make their sound. 

    With all the ups and downs with personal problems, Brian Wilson left us with some great music and influenced other musicians. 

    He will be remembered. 

A CLOSE CALL

    We all have close  calls from time to time. Sometimes it could be very serious . Other times not that serious if the close call had happened.

    I had a close call yesterday that was serious. 

    I was going through a traffic circle. Now I can hear people saying, "I hate those things." If you are used to them it works. One problem is that the traffic people keep swinging back and forth. Sometimes we get traffic circles and then for a few years traffic circles are torn up. 

    All right, getting back to the traffic circle. As you come up to a traffic circle there's a lane that allows you to go right without entering the traffic circle. There's another arrow that lets  you through to an exit that  takes you in the same direction. You stay in the outside lane. The third arrow takes you 3/4 or the way around. Which allows you to proceed left.

    Yesterday as I approached the traffic circle there was no traffic so I could enter the outside lane. I was entering and all of a sudden there was a blue blur crossing in front of me at high speed.

   I thought I was a goner . Between his excessive speed and my breaking we did not collide. 

   However, my heart was beating rapidly

   This traffic circle has shrubbery in the middle to make things look pretty. If everybody plays by the rules it's attractive. One idiot going through at high speed makes it a hazard.

    I am an elderly driver so I don't need any close calls. 

A BAD DAY

       I guess we all have to have a bad day or two once in a while. 

      So, here's my story.

     We have been trying to downsize for many years. One of us thinks that not much progress is made and the the other one thinks that we are getting rid of some "stuff" 

    So the neighbor across the corner was having a garage sale today. The micro manager thought that this would be a good opportunity for us to put things out and people may visit our garage sale while going to the other. 

    It was a very nasty day. Wind gusts were well into the 60 km range. It was plus 12 C. Now those two things are enough to tell me that it will be a very nasty day. I said we shouldn't have a sale with such poor weather. The Micro manager thought that it was a great opportunity for a garage sale. Words were said. Strong words were said. Finally I gave in and we rounded up stuff to put out. 

   Now a few things about garage sales. There's more to it than just putting things out. People like to see a sale with  much stuff displayed. They look at a sale with only a few things and they don't stop. You need an attractive sign. Your sign must be clear. It was so windy today that the sign was blown across the yard. Put things out so that they are attractively displayed. 

    Finally about 3 PM the micro manager gave in and said let's quit.  The neighbor next door wanted some of these articles so we invited Darcy for a visit. Darcy took about 75% of the stuff. What was left, we took to bibles for missions.

   Did we learn anything? Probably not. 

THE WEATHER IS IN CONTROL

       At this time of year I would like to have my garden planted. I try and have seeds planted around the twenty first of May. It's possible to vary the time of seeding as it takes a few days for seeds to germinate . By that time I hope there's no danger of frost.

     Plants that have a long growing period and are started in the house or a green house is another issue. If there was frost they would be damaged.

    So last night the low forecast was plus 6. I left my tomatoes and corn outside. At 7 AM this morning there was frost on the roof! 

    Now there are a few things to know about frost. At this time the ground  is warm enough that is will not freeze at ground level. So unless it gets very cold plants at ground level should not freeze. Also, if I have my plants beside the house foundation, there's warmth from the foundation to keep the frost away.

    So today I just said, "I'm going to plant my tomatoes now matter what." So this afternoon , I planted my tomatoes. There is still risk of frost at this time but you take the risk. 

   So here we go for delicious tomatoes. 

WEATHER COMPARISONS

      I enjoy your comments about the climate, weather and plants I live with. Of course, the pleasure is mutual. I find it most interesting when in some areas in January there are not only blooms but blossoms.

     So this is my report. My blue bells finished blooming a little more than a month ago. The plants are quickly going into a dormant state. My bleeding hearts are past their peak and the blooms are rapidly coming to an end. Peonies, irises and tiger lilies are budding out. 

     What sets this off at such a late date is the length of our days. Today the sun rose at 5:19 Am and sets at 9:47 PM for a total of 16 hours and 28 minutes of daylight. This much light causes our plants to develop rapidly. 

     Our weather is still variable. Yesterday we had a high of 30 C. It went down to 4 C by 4 AM. My furnace cut in this morning. 

    This afternoon I worked in my yard in windy conditions with  a temperature of 16 C. 

     All too soon I will be crying about very short days!

MEETING

       Some of your comments made me think about how and why I started talking to the homeless guys. I had to think about it for a minute and then I remembered what I did.

       They both had scooters. One was a very nice scooter. As I walked by I said that I always wanted to try a scooter but it was too late now. So that got them talking about scooters. From there the conversation just went on like any normal conversation.

     A few years ago the same thing happened with skate boarders. Skate boarders seem to be a rough bunch who don't seem to care about anything or anybody. I had seen these kids on my regular walk. One day as I went by they were stopped. 

    I just told them that I admired their skill. That gave them an opportunity. They wanted to talk about skate boards. I heard about the length and shape of skate boards. I heard about the proper place to put your foot for a certain maneuver. 

   I was very surprised at how technical skate boarding was. So I learned a few things about skate boarding but most of it went over my head. 

   I also learned about a group of people and some of them were not like I thought they were. 

   There are some groups of people who get some bad press. One of those groups is the elderly.

HOMELESS

      I walk every evening when the weather is suitable and I don't have obligations. I'm a bit obsessed as I take the same route 90% of the time. It's a pleasant walk of 3 to 4 km through a heavily forested area. There are many other walkers so from time to time you meet someone who likes to visit. So I've got to know some people quite well. 

     As with any forested urban area, there can be undesirables in the area. This area is quite well known for homeless camps. It's right across from a large shopping mall. It's usually you leave me alone and I'll leave you alone. 

     Occasionally you will meet a homeless person who makes sense. Last night I met one of those people who made sense so I had a good visit. There were actually two people and the other guy wasn't homeless. 

    We talked in general about homeless needing support. The one guy was 57 and the other guy around 40. Somehow we got onto schools, and teachers. They knew many of my buddies so we had a good laugh about that. They seemed to have had a positive time in school. 

    The one guy had much hearing loss so he was showing me the hi tech hearing aides he had. My biggest problem with hearing aides is that I sometimes hear more noise than voice. 

    So it was difficult to continue my walk as we kept finding interesting things to talk about. 

    These two guys were approachable and interesting to talk too. Some of them you just know that you're better to stay away. 

   So having a positive interaction with a homeless person makes me think that some things could be done to help homeless people. 

59

     What do you say when it's your 59th wedding anniversary? 

     We were married in Inuvik Northwest Territories in the stringer hall chapel. the chapel has since been torn down. 

    Anyway, life is good.

PAST TV

      I started thinking about television today. I don't know how those thoughts got started as I don't watch TV. I don't watch one minute of TV all year.

     I was thinking about the first TV I saw. We were 80 miles from the TV station. We put a 40 ft. antennae on top of the house. We got one station and it was snowy. Sometimes you didn't get any picture at all.  It was black and white. You had to get up and go to the TV to turn it off or on. (Actually I was thinking about remotes that started me thinking about old television.)

    TV reception improved a little. Then we got cable or something and brought in 3 or 4 channels. You still had to get up and go to the TV to turn it off or on or change stations. It still wasn't color.

    I don't remember when we got color TV. 

    I don't know when remote controls came in but that saved us a lot of effort as we didn't have to get up to change channels. Now we have many channels so sometimes there is a lot of channel changing. 

   Color came and it was not that clear. 

   Now we have so many channels that we don't know what to watch.

   Well, you could be like me and not watch TV. 

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

      This morning, my favorite radio program, the Current, on CBC , had a section on Artificial Intelligence. 

     Now I've been trying very hard to ignore the AI issue. I think that I'll not be using a computer when AI  becomes common. Or AI has nothing for me. Nothing that I would use. You hear some controversial issues around AI. AI can be used for negative things. So I have not given AI much thought.

    Today that changed. I started writing the history of my family starting from my parents. I have many stories about my parents and many photos. 

    I started the story using a blog format. The blog format is the only one I know. So before long I realized that the blog format wouldn't work very well. So Keith did the only thing he can do. He stopped writing and working on the project.

    The occasional idea crossed my mind. My new niece knows everything about computers so I'll ask her. I talked to some family members but they thought my project was OK but a little too challenging. 

    So today I was listening the the radio show and people were phoning in when one caller caught my attention. He was writing a family history and had found that AI was  very useful tool. I was busy and didn't listen to all he had to say.

    Well, that got me thinking! I will have to think about my project again. If somebody else can do their story , so can I. 

    So I will be checking friends and relatives to see if they can help me with AI. 

   I guess I'll have to learn about AI after  all. 

A DIFFERENT GARDEN SYSTEM

     I've been reading an interesting book by Suzanne Simard called Finding the Mother Tree. Suzanne was taking forestry and wanted to find a better way to plant trees on a clear cut. Suzanne's premise was that trees communicate and support one another. She created dozens of experiments and tests to show that trees do share and that nutrients pass from tree to tree. Therefore, certain trees and shrubs should be left to support the new seedlings. In other words foresters should not weed or spray other species. Foresters want trees that will grow and mature in a short time. 

    Foresters were not interested in Suzanne's new idea so she had a difficult time promoting her ideas. 

    She found that some trees need less nutrients at a certain time while others need more. She was able to prove that what was in one tree was later found in another tree. Some plants with deep roots spend the night bringing up water to the surface where other plants use the water in the day time. . 

    What really caught my eye is when she wandered off and used her forestry ideas to plant her vegetable garden. She made plate sized mounds and planted 5 or six different varieties of seeds in each mound thinking that the different varieties would support each other. Her garden was a series of small hills with a number of plants sown in each hill. Her garden thrived. 

   We can also go back to aboriginal gardens and find that they planted an number of seeds together in a hill.

    It's good that we have people like Suzanne who are willing to work hard and show us new ideas, 

WILDFIRES

      With climate change and population increase wild fires have become more common and much more dangerous.  People live in areas that were once uninhabited. Access to wild areas is much easier as roads have been built into remote areas.

      In Alberta, we all remember the destruction of much of Fort MacMurray. A wild fire rapidly approached Fort MacMurray and much of the city was destroyed. Most of the population had to evacuate. They had to stay away from the community as much of the infrastructure was destroyed. Many homes were destroyed. 

   I have told you that I live less than a kilometer from a forested area. A heavily treed ravine is less than a km from my house. Underbrush is thick. Many trees are old. There are also grassy areas. So it's an area that could easily catch fire and spread and burn rapidly. Right now it is extremely dry here.

   This week it happened. There were two wild fires set. One fire burned about an acre. If the fire hadn't been spotted, it could have spread very quickly into the subdivision. It was difficult for the fire crew to get at the fire as it was across a creak where there were steep embankments. 

   So once again I'm reminded of the risks of wild fire here. 

   This time we were protected by fire fighters. Next time we may not be quite so lucky. 

MUSIC

      I enjoy listening to music. I'm not at all musical. I don't play an instrument or sing. However , I do appreciate listening to music. 

     Because I like listening to music is the reason why I was somewhat distressed when I couldn't find out how to fix my ear buds. I learned that you have to look at all volume buttons. 

    I listen to a lot of Austrian folk music. Most of their music has vocals. They play a mixture of accordion, saxophone, tuba and any horn . Sometimes there's a guitar. Some of it seems like the friends got together and just have fun. Sometimes it's family groups. 

   Then I accidentally discovered South African folk music. The instrument I like to listen to is the concertina. You very seldom hear the concertina. After that their music is basically guitar. It's the standard band with rhythm, bass and lead guitar. Quite often the have a banjo. There is very little vocal in their music. My doctor is South African so every time I see him we talk about music. 

    This music comes on you tube and you have an account made by you tube from examples of music I listen to. 

   Who knows where I'll go next. I like harpsicord . I may find some harpsicord music. 

   I also found two brothers (twins) who play the baritone sax. They're awesome. 

   In the car , I have the radio tuned to a classical music station.

   I just don't have enough time in a day to listen to all the music I would like to hear . 

LONGER DAYS AND SHORTER NIGHTS

     Every year about this time I write a similar post. I tell about our longer days and how it influences plant growth. I've been reading posts for about three months telling about blooms and seeing all kinds of plants that are flowering.

     So now it's my turn to tell about growth and development of plants here. 

     First, daylight yesterday was 14 hours and 58 minutes. The sun rose at 6:01  and set at 9:03. When we get the longer hours of sunlight plants grow and develop very rapidly. The leaves on native plants are ready to come out. That's just in time for songbirds to nest. The leaves provide protection and food. 

   Today I planted corn but in pots in case it freezes. I have transplanted tomatoes into bigger pots. I won't put the tomatoes in the garden until June 8. The bluebells have bloomed and are now shutting down as they go dormant about Aug.1. Some of my friends have planted lettuce and radish as they are regarded as cold crops. 

    As a young person we could play baseball until 10:00 PM. As an Arctic person we could be active 24 hours a day and a lot of us tried it. 

   So I will enjoy the short, vigorous growing season we have.

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN FOR SENIORS

      I heard a very interesting interview on the CBC the Current this morning.

      A woman had been working on industrial design. She began to see that many of the things that were designed were far from senior friendly. She tried to influence fellow designers to put seniors on the agenda. Other designers were not interested.

   She decided to learn more about design and seniors so that she could influence her fellow designers.

    She had herself made into and 85 year old woman. The face took 3 hours to prepare. She had plugs in her ears for poor hearing. She had contacts that were partly opaque so that he vision was limited. I forget what they did to her legs to make her walking difficult. Style of clothing was considered. 

   Then she tried to live her life. It was difficult and challenging. Mobility is a great problem for seniors. On the streets people were impatient to get around her. People complained about her holding up traffic in the airport. People pushed and shoved to get her out of the way. Stairs, sidewalks and railings were a problem. Signs were a challenge. 

    So donning this costume over a series of years she learned more about what experiences seniors had. She also had more ammunition to try and persuade other designers to keep seniors in mind. 

    The world still isn't senior friendly but it has improved.

   This project reminds me of a book I read many years ago. BLACK LIKE ME  I enjoyed the book and got an idea of what some challenges might be  for black people.

   The book was severely criticized but I think it did open up some eyes. 

END OF THE ELECTION

     The Canadian election is over. Most of the commentators and analysers have gone home by now. I don't spend much time listening to all the paid wise men making comments. 

     So sometime in the evening I get to know a few of the broad issues and that's enough for me whether I like the results or not. 

    The Liberal party won the most seats but not a majority of seats so they cannot freely pass legislation unless a smaller party votes with them. The PC party came in second. Their leader lost his parliamentary seat . I did not like the PC leader and I think many Canadians did not like him. I thought he would be divisive for the country. 

    The liberal party spoke of unity for the country. I hope they can achieve some of it. If a few people want to take their ball and go home that's fine. We are allowed to express our own opinions

    So now the government has to get down to work.

    We have to look at elections as a whole. There are good things and bad things that happen. And then people have their individual opinions about things. Sometimes there are periods where they don't get much done and make political maneuvers to prevent legislation from passing. 

    Many people may not be familiar with a parliamentary system. The party with the most seats forms the government and presents legislation which the whole parliament debates. At the end of discussion a vote is held. If the governing party has  majority the legislation is passed. The Prime minister is the leader of the majority party. The leaders of the parties are chosen by the party. The only time people get to vote for the prime minister is in his own district. 

CANADIAN ELECTION

      Tomorrow is the federal election in Canada. 

      It's been an interesting story compared to many elections here. Our elections tend to be  little boring.   We have three main parties and a number of small parties to make things interesting. We usually have the liberal party govern for a few years and then we change to the Conservative Party of Canada. 

     This time we've had the liberal party for about 8 years. The leader became shop worn and was not liked by the public or his party. The CP's went up in the polls. If an election was held in January, the CP's would have won by a landslide.

      Suddenly the unpopular Liberal leader resigned and in a few weeks the liberal party went up in the polls. Cp party disappeared in the polling and the liberal party regained it's status as the leader. The Cp party is in the same situation as the liberals a few months ago. they have a leader who is not very popular. 

     So tomorrow we will find out who gets to lead our government. 

     What I've found is that there is a tremendous amount of misinformation spread around. One does not know what is close to the truth.

AGING II

     I have mentioned a series of radio programs that deal with the elderly. I've found them interesting and informative.

    They are on CBC ,the Canadian broadcasting corporation. The program is the current. The next issue is Monday morning.

   Heads up. the next program is on gray divorce . Divorce rates have gone down in every age group in Canada except  seniors. 

   I will be listening.

   As an aside 90% of divorce over 80 is caused by obsession compulsion. 90% of senior murders are a result of obsessive compulsion. 

APRIL SNOW

      Every year I post about April snow. Yesterday was that April snow day.

      It started in the morning as a little rain. Through out the day there were odd times that there were  few snowflakes. Sometimes huge flakes which I call snow balls. About 7 PM it started to snow heavily. Snow very quickly stayed on the ground and didn't melt. It snowed until some time after midnight. 

     This morning we had about 10 cm (4 in)  of new snow and visibility was very poor. 

    The good thing about this snow was that there was very little wind. We can get a blizzard in April with high winds. 

    Here are a few views from this morning.