Now I'll Send You Robins

     In my last post I sent you some birds that can be a bit of a nuisance. Brewer's black birds can form huge flocks and sometimes there are two or three species in the same flock. These flocks can be a nuisance if they stay in one area.

     For a couple of weeks or more we have had robins cruising the neighborhood. The flocks keep getting bigger as birds from further north arrive. So there are now huge flocks that fly exuberantly though the neighborhood. I watched today and there would constantly be three or four robins in my back yard. They don't stay long before they suddenly buzz off and some different birds arrive.

    So in a few days this large group of robins will gradually move south. Some of them will not go too far south. A few will even stay here of the winter. Every winter I see robins and robins are always in our winter bird count.

    When I was in Inuvik in the 1960's we did not see robins. Now they have robins and robins have nested on Banks Island which is 400km (250 mi) further north and over the Beaufort Sea. When I backpacked in the Rockies one of the most common birds above the tree line was the robin. Robins will nest on the ground even  when trees are nearby. So robins inhabit a wide variety of habitat. 

    People like robins and robins behave themselves. So today I'm getting ready to send you something nice.

I'm Sending You a Big______________

     I'm sending you a big flock of Brewer's blackbirds. In the fall we get Brewer's blackbirds for a few days. They come in an enormous flock. This is what happened the other day. Every tree was loaded with birds. They were on the lawns and finding lots to eat. They came in twice on Sept.22 and once on Sept.23  They were here for one day on early Sept. I'm not sure if they were two different flocks or the same flock that came back.

These guys aren't very mannerly( The picture was taken through a window)

    Brewer's blackbirds nest in the northern U.S. and Western Canada. They have adapted to a variety of habitats and food sources. They usually stay together in flocks of about 100. In the winter they stay in the Southern states and Central America down to the Panama canal.

    So in a few more days these birds should reach their winter territories and spend their time marching around yards, parks and open areas. They will probably inundate your feeders like they've done here.

I'm Learning How to Skate

     "Whoa," you say. "You post about skating often, so you skate."

      "Well, I sort of skate."

      I skate around the arena for an hour. I can turn ...sort of.  I can stop...sort of. It's a little like my bowling. I don't know how to keep score. I throw the balls and knock down some pins, but I don't know the proper technique.

    When I was a child I skated about four or five times a year. I had second hand skates that didn't fit. As a result I didn't learn to skate properly. I skated a bit with my kids. So most of my so called skating has been with the senior's group.

    I have asked two or three people to give me pointers on skating but they usually say, "You're doing all right."

    So in the back of my mind I thought of asking Bud for some tips. Bud has been a hockey coach and teacher. So the other day I asked Bud. Absolutely , he would work with me.

    "So," he said, "There are two things you have to learn: turning and putting the whole skate blade on the ice." This suggestion surprised me but once I got going it made sense.

    I had to consciously think about putting the whole skate blade on the ice. Once I did that many other things took place. First the constant tension in my legs disappeared. Second, I became much more stable and balance was not much of an issue. Third, it took much less effort to skate.  So one little change made a huge difference.

    Now turning takes technique and coordination. If you're turning left, you cross the right skate over the left skate. Now that sounds simple. If you've never done it it takes time. Once I learned to glide with the left skate while crossing the right skate over it became easier. Now I've got a long way to go but it's a step in the right direction.

   Now it took me a long time to ask Bud to show me some things about skating. So, adults are very hesitant about asking for help. I was a teacher and was used to giving out help rather than receiving help. So now I wish I had asked for some skating tips a long time ago. I'm improving my skating and it does wonders to one's self image. Why didn't I do this a long time ago?

When is Enough, Enough?

   In my last post I told how my careless maintenance of my bike lead to a serious challenge to my riding. I had begun to question my physical condition.

I'm so keen to ride I get my bike out when there's still snow.

    Last week I phoned my friend , David, to tell him I would help him take down a couple of trees for neighbors. David just loves his chain saw. However , David informed me that regrettably he was not going to take down the trees. David told me that his manager had laid down the law and that if he was going to live in her house he had to quit the chain saw and a few other risky activities. David heats his house with wood so he likes to t the wood from various trees he takes down. He also does lathe work and makes wooden bowls.

Some of David's bowls

    So there was another incident that would cause me to think about my activities. I am 74 and I cycle, cross country ski, skate and climb ladders. Now there's some risk in all of these for all people. For a senior the risk of injury is much higher. 

When I look at this I can hardly wait for snow!

Off to skate again

    Now you just can't stop everything because there's risk. Life has to carry on. However, if one has to stop these activities and a few others , it's not the end of the world. There's still lots to do physically. One just has to find something that is a little safer. Swimming would be fine! Step up the walking routine. This is what David did. He now walks 2 hours every morning. 

    I know that some of the bloggers I follow have discussions with themselves about the proper level of activities they should follow.

    I know I'm proud and that I have always been healthy and active. Some day I will have to take a very practical look at my situation and make some adjustments.

A Frustrating Cycling Problem

     As most followers know I set a minimum goal to cycle 1000 km ( 625 mi) a summer. It's not a high goal and most years I get far beyond 1000 km.

    I've ridden close to 30000 km ( 8000 mi) over the last 27 years. If your fitness level is adequate, cycling is easy and the  distance rolls off easily.

Note the blinding speed

    This year was different. In the spring we had cold, wet, windy, weather. Not to worry. The weather will turn nice and I'll easily make up the time. 

    I found riding hard this summer. I was forcing things. I would ride up a steep slope and had to  press so hard that my calves burned when I got to the top. On the level I usually do 20 km/h. This summer I could hardly do 15 km/h on the level and I was really struggling. Riding against the wind was almost impossible. I worried. Was I that far out of shape? Had age taken it's toll? Did I have some kind of physical problem? I worked hard and hoped my fitness level would come up. I still had to push it and riding was not fun. It crossed my mind that serious cycling was over for me.

A steep part of the trail that just killed me this summer

   I oiled and cleaned my chain several times. There was a slight improvement. I changed the seat.

Cleaning the chain again

   So a few weeks ago  I did another maintenance chore. I thought I better check the tire pressure. To my horror I found out the tire pressure was 12 lbs! 

   I pumped the tires to the proper pressure and tried the bike. Wow! I had lots of jump! I was back to the regular form. Cycling was very easy once again. 

Back to the blinding speed

   So all the worry and doubt was brought on by my own negligence in checking tire pressure. I'll remember this lesson for a while.

My Grocery Shopping Dilemma

    Every Wednesday afternoon here is the grocery run. I'm involved as the taxi driver and as my manager says, "You eat here too." So that means that I participate in grocery shopping and I don't really have a problem with that. We do the one shopping trip and don't make little trips every time we run out of something.

    At our place we eat three meals a day at almost fixed times. Our breakfast is a cereal, toast, coffee, juice type of breakfast.  Lunch is some combination of soup and?or sandwiches . We also have raw veggies and fruit.

    Dinner is a cooked meal. This meal usually lasts for a couple more days.

    We eat well.
    
     So if you eat like this you have to have the groceries on hand. 

    Now here's where things fall part. My manager looks through all the grocery fliers for the week and picks out all the specials and that's what's on the grocery list. So we get to the store. Oops, we can find the first special. After a while we find a staff member to ask about the product and wow, it didn't come in this week! The next item we look for and find that there's nothing on the shelf as they have run out of it. The next item we look for is not in this store but another store. Some more oops. The next product on special doesn't look too good so we won't buy it. So the manager gets about half the things on her list. 

   Then we look for the basics like bread, milk and fresh produce. Much the same thing happens here, but there's more to choose from.

   I realize that there's more than one way to shop for groceries. I dislike my manager's method and every once in a while I whine about it. So I'm challenged  by the comment, "Well, how would you do it?"

   Well, this is my proposal. I would make a menu for the week. I would make a list of what is needed to produce this menu. There are some regulars like bread , milk and fresh produce. I would find these products and that's my shopping trip. Yes, I would have to pay attention to specials. Cold cereal is sometimes on sale and I can eat anything when it's cold cereal. There's usually some kind of jam on sale. My favorite soup goes on sale from time to time.

    My key point is that the menu is where you should start your shopping trip rather than the grocery fliers that come in the paper.

    Oh yes, I admit that I don't like shopping.

    What do you think about grocery shopping? What method works for you? 

    

A Valued Mentor

     Every summer a half dozen of us meet to have lunch with Cliff. For all of us the feeling is the same that Cliff was a very important mentor in our careers.

Listen to what that other guy is talking about!

    Cliff is about 15 years older than the group. We young guys who came from Saskatchewan to teach in Alberta and needed some support. So Cliff also being from Sask. took us under his wing. Cliff was in his mid forties and had just finished his Education degree and with his experience had lots of good advice for us. We were starting families so he gave more than educational advice but advice in our family life as well. Sometimes there were those small loans of five or ten bucks so that we could survive to the next paycheck.

    Any difficulties we had at school or home could be taken to Cliff.

    Most of us went on to participate in other educational areas. One became a Principal of two very large high schools. One had a long career as an assistant principal. One developed a very successful art program. One was a dept. head for a long time. I became involved in professional activities with the Teachers' association. Cliff would ask if I'd like to go on a committee and recommend it. He could make this committee sound very interesting.This lead to becoming more involved.

    Cliff's influence was quiet but gave one the confidence to move on and take the challenge.

    All this happened in the late sixties and early seventies before mentor ship was thought of by educators. Now mentor ship is a common tool in the development of good teachers. Cliff had the mentor ship idea down to a T long before mentor ship was formally used.

   So we enjoy a lunch and a good visit. We don't dwell on old times but talk about current times.

    So here's to many more good lunches with Cliff.