WILD FIRES

      At the present time there are many wildfires in British Columbia, the province to the west of us. At one time they said there were 176 fires burning. It's been hot, dry and windy... so perfect  conditions for wildfires.

      About 40000 people have been ordered out of their homes and 15000 more are on standby. Some homes and property have been burned.

      The area ranges from heavy bush to open range land and then there are farming areas in the river valleys. 

      So it's challenging for firefighter and residents. There's no relief in sight at the present time.

      Now I live about  600 km from the fires. We've had westerly winds so the smoke has blown into Alberta. Air quality rates from 3 -10. Now the smoke is quite high.

      I live midway between Edmonton and Calgary.






     I took these photos from my yard just a few minutes before 7:00 PM. The sky is not cloudy. The dullness is caused by smoke. I was just lucky to get the sun in my photo as you couldn't see it on the viewfinder.

WHAT I DIDN'T SEE

         An English Girl Rambles has just done a tour of Washington DC. She reminded me of my tour of Washington in 1992.

         I had gone to a conference in Washington and my wife came along to do the sightseeing.  The first morning she was ready to go. It was an easy walk from our hotel to the mall. In those days the micro manager was adventurous and somewhat naive. I met her for dinner and she was over the moon. She had seen things that wowed her and wanted to take me back after dinner to see some things. She thought things stayed open until 8 or 9 o'clock.

        My wife was absolutely blown away be the Washington Monument. She was there early and did not have to line up. She insisted that she had to take me to the Washington Monument.

        Off we go after dinner. The homeless guys were starting to gather in the 5 square things. I noticed that we got some strange looks. Three blocks before the White House there was no one on the street. We went on past the White house. Now there was not one person in sight and it was very poorly lighted. All of a sudden I said , "We should not be here. "No no , " she says , "we're almost there."

       I won the argument and we started back. Returning was eerier as we realized what we had done. By the time we got back to the hotel we were both very relieved.

     Well, the micro manager said, " We can make time and go on the last day.

    During the week my wife noticed that there were always huge line ups. We decided that we had to skip the Washington Monument and see as many other things as possible.

    I had a free afternoon on the last day so rush, rush, rush. I did see many things in the little time I had.

    My little tourist side kick saw most of the tourist things and it's a trip she always remembers.

    So what I didn't see was one of the main attractions.

JULY FLOWERS

     There are many bloggers who post about their gardens and blooms. Some are very specialized gardeners and their hobby and life is gardening. Their blogs are interesting, informative and colorful. Other bloggers report from time to time to show how things are progressing.

    Some bloggers I follow start posting in February. I have to wait until June before I show any blooms.

     I am a gardener but not a keener. I look after things well in my yard. I maintain what I have and don't add anything. I'm a safe gardener. Don't take any chances. Do what works.

     However, once things get going here we do have some colorful blooms. So here are a couple of things from my yard.

     Now tiger lilies are one of my favorites ...more so if they are native plants.

CAPS!

      I used to wear baseball type caps all the time. I had quite a selection of caps but over time they have been  discarded. Now I seldom wear a  cap as they don't seem comfortable.

     From time to time I received comments or questions about a cap I was wearing. One cap always drew a puzzled look and a question. The question was , "Where did you get that cap?" I'm not sure why people are puzzled or why they ask. I was never confident enough to ask, "Why do you look at this cap with a puzzled look. 

    It's a sport's cap. I'm not sure who the Florida Marlins are or were. I don't follow sports. I don't know if this is baseball, basketball, hockey or football!

    So how did I come by these caps?

     In the 1980's I was a middle school teacher. Our school was a no hat school. That means you didn't wear your cap in class.

     Very few kids sat down in class with their cap on. Usually a discrete nod or motion and the kid would take the cap off. When somebody resisted they had to put their cap in top of the filing cabinet and pick it up at the end of the class. Sometimes caps were left and picked up the next day. Sometimes caps were never picked up. The caps went in a filing cabinet drawer. Again some were picked up. But some caps were never claimed.

    When I retired I couldn't throw perfectly good caps away. So the caps were brought home and washed and guess who wore them?

LATE GREETINGS

     I have been away from Hiawatha House for a week. I usually like to post more often but I have a good excuse.

     The DRK (dirty rotten kid) from Chicago and her DRH (you get the drift) came for a visit. So for such an important occasion I've been busy! We did much eating and visiting. We made a day trip to Calgary and visited the Glenbow Museum. It was the day before the Calgary Stampede started so the partying had begun.

     So what I really wanted to happen was to  wish two Americans in my house being wished  a great Fourth Of July! It would have been the first time I had two Americans in my house. The greeting would have had too be late on July 5. 

    However, the problem was getting time to post the greeting! So here it is. I had the pleasure of wishing Happy Fourth of July . So the late greetings!

   Now somehow or other  serious giggling broke out. The kind of giggling where glasses come off and Kleenex come out.

     All  too soon the visitors had to pack up and head for home.

WHEN YOUR SON USES THE TERM "THIRTY YEARS AGO"

     A few days ago my son used the term 30 years ago as it applied to him. It shocked me for a second or two. I

t was hard to believe what he had experienced was thirty years ago.

     He said , "Thirty years ago I took my basic army training!" It sounded surprising to him.

     Now it brought back all kinds of memories from that time.

     He came home the day high school was finished and swaggered into the house with his buddies and gleefully said. "I joined the army." This bowled me over. We had worked with him to enroll in a quota program at University. Now he's going to throw all that away and join the army!

    Well, after some devilish laughter he explained that he had enrolled in a summer program for the reserve armed  forces. What it meant to him was a well paying summer job with some excellent experience. Of course, he was in with his two best buds.

    The 10 week basic training program was a good experience for him and he decided to stay enrolled in the reserve forces. He also gained some life long friends. This would give him some money throughout the year as they trained weekly.

    That year he was accepted for officer training and spent the summer in Camp Gagetown. It was a good paying summer job with good experience and advancement.

    The third year he spent the summer in communications training again. The fourth year he was Officer in charge of the original basic training program he took. So he learned much about leadership and communication.

    I enjoyed watching some of the ceremonies they participated in.

    Now when he said 30 years ago I found it hard to believe but it brought back many good memories.