Fall Equinox

    Sometime in the next few hours the sun will be shining directly on the equator for a few brief moments before it crosses to shine more directly on the southern hemisphere. That means we get the last day of summer and first day of fall. So it's the beginning of a darker colder season for us. In the southern hemisphere they are looking forward to increasing light and warmth. 

A huge aspen in brilliant color although the left side is still hanging on to the green.

Contrast with green and yellow on the same tree.

     So the equinox is a day with some significance. Ancient peoples knew that the day and night were equal. They also had a pretty accurately established the time. They had more fun than us because the equinox was celebrated in some fashion according to the different cultures. 

A green ash  in fine color.

Some maple behind caragana which hasn't turned color.

     So here we go enjoying colorful foliage and reaping our crops. I have harvested most of my vegetable garden. I'm waiting for a few good frosts before I take out carrots,  turnips and parsnips. My few carrots may be finished before we get the good hard frost. 

     So to the southerners enjoy your spring and summer. For us northerners we will have to make some changes to survive comfortably and find different things to do outdoors for fun.

A Senior Ripoff

      Yesterday while I was having breakfast, I discovered a ripoff the affects mainly seniors.

      I had two boxes of the same cereal on the table as one was just about empty so I had  a full one so I could have the usual cereal serving. I happened to notice that the weight of the old box was 1.45 kg. (Sorry, I don't know what this is in the English system.)   The weight on the new box was 1.24 kg. So the new box weighed 210 gm less or .21 kg less. So this is almost 15% less. And you guessed it the price was the same for both boxes. 

     Today when I did my shopping the price on the 1.24 kg box was $7.49. That's almost a twenty percent percent increase from $5.99.  Now that's a real big kick in the pants. How low can some big food companies go so that they can squeeze out more money from little old age pensioners ?

    So why is this mostly for seniors? Well, many young people don't eat breakfast. Raisin bran is consumed mostly by seniors as it keeps them in great condition. Would kids eat raisin bran? I think not. So this company hits hard on seniors.

    So therefore I have made the accusation that seniors are being ripped off. 

    Now I could include pictures of the boxes of cereal to provide evidence of this scam but I would have to take off the name of a very big cereal company or I may be liable for slander just because I inform seniors 
that they are being ripped off.

     I think I'm going to have to find some hot cereal that is far less expensive than the cold cereal. That'll teach them for ripping me off.

Summer Cycling Goal Met

    Regular followers have seen a post like this before. They know that I set out to ride 1000km (625 mi)  each summer. Today I turned the 1000km for this summer!

And here he comes down the trail!

    Each summer is different. This year until early July we had cold, cool and wet weather.  AS a result I had not done much riding by mid July. What got my butt moving was  when a fried accused me of being a "fair weather cycler." That did it . I go out when it was windy and cool. As a result the kms quickly built up. 

 Photos from 2008 when I was speedier

    What was different this summer is that I felt I was always pushing. It was hard to ride. I felt like I was weak. I oiled my bike. I tuned my bike. I checked the break adjustment. Something wasn't just right. Was it me or the bike. Was age catching up to me? I didn't feel that it was age or my physical condition. I gradually began to suspicion something. It took me a while to get around to testing out my theory. 

    Finally , one day I got around to changing the seat. That did it. Immediately I could feel that the legs were different and that there was lots of power left in my legs. So it was  both me and the bike that were at fault. I was using a big wide seat and it was putting pressure on the inner thighs and somehow a nerve must have been pinched so that leg power was reduced.

    I felt much relieved when I made that discovery. there's still lots of time left to ride. I'll keep going as hard as ever and see how much I can do for the summer.

Child Security

     My last post covered an aspect of seeing that our children are safe. It was a somewhat tongue in cheek post.

     Our children are the most important part of our lives. You hear many people say, "I don't know what I would do if I lost a child." Many people have lost children through disease, accident or crime and it's a horrendous experience for them. My parents lost an eleven year old daughter from illness. It was an extremely painful part of their lives and it stayed with them and altered their lives forever. The last time my Dad talked about the loss of his daughter he was 94 and it was still painful for him to talk about it. He never went back to the city she died in.

     Therefore the security of our children is of utmost importance. We want to do everything we can to see that they are healthy, safe and secure from any risk that would harm them.

    There are many workshops and programs to assist parents to raise their children in a safe manner. There are organizations such as block parent which tries to set up  community programs. 

   After my last post and the experience I went through as a teacher I have reflected on the security issue. I have thought about this issue since it's beginning. I'm of two minds. We must be prudent and err on the side of caution when it comes to security.

    However,  there are some side effects which concern me. Parents fall into a trap and begin micro managing their children. Some micro managed children do not learn to think for themselves and lose a very important skill. Some children who are closely supervised do no learn and practise the necessary social skills to get along with their peers. Their self confidence just doesn't get developed. These children tend to spend more time indoors and watching television or playing electronic games. 

     As a middle school teacher I saw some kids who had difficulty coping at that level. They had been walked to school for five years by a parent. When they started walking on their own, they weren't prepared for all the challenges. What's a worse situation is when kids are driven to school . Then they move in complete isolation.


     Many times we get caught in the trap of saying when I was a child. Those memories can be very selective and  only the good things are remembered. My daughter who is forty, likes to talk about her experiences. She reminisces about being out in the neighborhood from preschool and that many times her parents only vaguely knew where she was. Later she had free range over the subdivision. She talks about activities they participated in and I didn't know about it. These were not bad things . It was just children playing. We didn't worry about bad guys or bad kids harming our children. 

    So I have questions when it comes to the security practices we use today to protect our children. Some where there has to be a security system that protects and still allows children to learn to become independent when it's the proper time to learn. There are times to learn something and if that time is missed it's very difficult to learn later.

I Was Eyeballed Yesterday

      Yesterday I was eyeballed. Not once but three times. It's gone to my head! My head is two sizes bigger!

       My friend Tom believes that children should walk to school. My place is between his place and the school. Since I've known the kids from the start. He asked if I wouldn't mind if the kids could use my house in case they had any difficulties. The kids haven't had any difficulties and they've not had to call at my house. But I have had many awesome visits with them. If I'm out in the yard and they are coming up the street , I get a wave and that means a visit. Since they are both great talkers that means a rather long pleasant visit. They are both bright and the topics they talk about are quite advanced. They are still kids and very enjoyable.

      This year April 's brother goes to Middle School and can't walk with her. April has a good friend Philip to walk with. So yesterday I got the wave and met them for a chat. I had not met Philip before but it only took him about thirty seconds to warm up. I learned that obsidian also has a green form. I thought obsidian was only black. That's the kind of kids they are. We had our visit and off they went.

     Now I talked to Tom and he told me that his neighbor had seen April talking to a strange man on the street. Tom's neighbor drove around the block so she could check again. April seemed to be comfortable and happy talking to the strange man. Another trip around the block and the man was keeping a proper distance away from April and Philip. So the neighbor concluded that everything was alright.

     So I was eyeballed and didn't know it!

    So I'm happy that a neighbor knew these kids and was caring enough to keep her eye on them. I'm happy that she reported to April's Dad.

   A picture of these two kids would have been awesome. Would I post a picture of them? No. Pictures on the Internet and blogger are not secure. I wouldn't want pictures of children to get into the wrong hands. The only thing I can do is not post their pictures.

I'm Finally Allowed to Wash Windows!

     This is the first house we ever owned. Soon after we moved in we noticed that the windows were pretty messy. I never remember seeing my mother wash windows although I'm sure she did. I think my wife suffered the same window washing mentor ship.

     So one fine day my wife asked me to take the garden hose and swish off the windows. Of course all of you know what happens. You get a terrible mess. So my wife thought she could do a better job and she tried the garden hose. No better results.

     So my wife did some research and found that there were products available for window washing. Over the years she developed a rigid routine for window washing. We have the cleanest windows in town. First, she would take a dry cloth and wipe off the windows first and then the wood around the window. Second, she would wash the window with clear water and then the wood around the window. Last she would use windex with a wash and polish.

    Now the last couple of years I have been allowed to wash the higher windows as she said , "I'm getting too short to reach the top." I had a little difficulty with the rigid routine. I almost had to write it down to remember to do things in the correct order. 

The final polish.  Notice the reflections in this super clean window.

     This year my wife said, "I'm seventy five and I'm not getting on step ladders anymore."

Ah finished!  Again the vivid reflections.

     So after 42 years I am finally allowed to wash windows! What an awesome thrill!

Sometimes Adventure Gives You a Surprise

       I was 23 years old in 1963 and at loose ends in my life. I had taught four years and had decided to leave the position I had. If I was going to stay teaching I had to get back to University and finish a degree. I wasn't ready for that. I was half heartedly looking for another position. I really didn't know what I wanted to do.

     Then I saw an ad in the paper "Teach in Canada's North land." I thought , "This sounds interesting." I applied . I got an interview and a week later they offered me a position. I thought, "What do I have to lose?" The position was 1650 km (1000miles) further north of what I had been thinking. 

     I thought this would be great adventure hunting, fishing, airplanes, boats and new people. Off I went. I found even more than what I imagined. Bonus! There were lots of girls who were unattached. They were adventure seekers too. What fun! One of them latched on to me for some reason and she wouldn't let go. 

    After three years I was ready to go back and finish my degree.

    I wasn't finished with adventure and neither was my wife. We found a position in a small isolated settlement. Again lots of the outdoor stuff. There were 180 Inuit and 12 others. Our transportation was by small bush plane only. There was a six week break in service in spring and fall for changing from skis to floats or floats to skis. So six weeks with out mail.

    Things went well until one Sunday morning when there was a knock on the door. My wife was the nurse and we were used to calls at any hour of the day or night. One of the elders was there and in his very limited English asked my wife to come. Pita said, " Alisi's baby not good." My wife asked him , "Was the baby sick?". He just said ,"Not good."

    My wife went down and found that the toddler was dead. From my wife's nursing back ground she had some experience with people dieing but she wasn't prepared for what she saw. The toddler had been murdered in a brutal way. 

     My wife came back to the house and then we conferenced with the provincial administrator. We called the police 450km (300 miles) away on a short wave radio with very poor transmission. The police told us the airplanes had gone south five days ago but he would try to find an airplane to get to our settlement. He also told us what to do. We were to pick up the body and put it in a cardboard box and keep it in the storage shed. We were to write up a description of the injuries and write a statement as  to what we found at the site.Fortunately it was early Oct. and cool.

    This was one thing that I hadn't thought about when I was seeking adventure. It was a sobering experience.

     The police came in five days later and took the body and the mother. It was a very stressful ten days in my adventure.