SO MANY QUESTIONS

                              Part II

     Many of the questions in this list could be talked about all night. So writing brief answers doesn't do them justice , but it does make me think about things. 

• favorite color 

                 Well again I don't have a favorite color. When I was a kid we had 7 or 8 basic colors in our box of crayons we had for school. Now there are hundreds of colors and I don't keep track of them.  

           favorite food/dish/meal?

               I have a good appetite and like food. I'll just be very direct and come out and say my favorite is everything my Mom cooked! Now I hope you don't take offense because I've eaten your food and you're a very good cook. . My Mom , your Grandma was a very good cook. We had meat , potatoes and veggies. She was the best baker in the whole world...cakes, cookies pies, bread, desserts . Oh ya. She always gave us a hunk of bread dough to play with! All this she did on a wood burning cook stove . Not only great food came off that cook stove but it was warm to cuddle up around when we were little kids. I will never forget Mom's Christmas dinners. I will never forget all the baking she did for Christmas. I would like to be able to eat it all again. 

• if you hadn't been a teacher, what else would you have wanted to do for a living?  what did you dream of being when you were a kid?

      When I was a little kid all I ever thought about was being a farmer. It's the only thing we knew about as we hadn't been exposed to anything else.  I became a teacher by accident. Close to the end of gr 12 I knew that I would "pass". I didn't get along with Dad on the farming business. He encouraged me to try something else. His suggestion was nursing.  Nursing did not interest me in the least. . So the only thing that interested me and was doable was to go to Teachers' College. Looking back. I chose the right thing. I really wanted to do something that was outdoors. Working with wildlife interested me. To this day I'm very interested in birds , animals and plants. 

• did you always want to move far from home when you were younger (and went north) or was that just a happy accident?  

              This is really two questions. I am and was an introvert. I didn't want to leave home however, staying at home and farming was not an option. The first year I was away I was very, very homesick. However , you get used to being on your own. Going north was an accident. As I little boy I was keenly interested in the north. I read many books about life in the north. The planning of Inuvik started about 1950 and they started to build in the early fifties. There were quite often items in the paper which I read. I followed developments. However, I never had any thoughts of going there. Years later I applied for a teaching position in Canada's Northland and they placed me in Inuvik.  

SO MANY QUESTIONS.

                                         PART I 

          A few posts ago I wrote about asking aging parents and seniors questions about their life. Mostly we don't ask questions because we can think of nothing to ask. 

          I challenged my daughter on the questions. I knew she'd have lots to ask. At one time she wanted to be a journalist and she would have been a good one with all the questions she can think of. 

         In a way some these questions sound like a psycho analysis. It looks like an interesting project so here goes. I think I will divide this into sections so this will be part one. 

          I will use two fonts: one for my daughter and one for me so that you can see who is speaking. 

You asked me if I had any questions for you.  Buckle up!  I have lots:

• where have you never traveled to, but wish you had, and why?

               There are many places I would like to have travelled. At heart I am a traveler. One trip I always wanted to take was the train ride across Siberia. As you may know I like the north. The great Siberian north would have been fascinating. I don't know if that train runs anymore.  Too may other things have come up in my life to make these trips. To do much travelling you have to become a full time traveler. 

• where was your favorite place that you've traveled to (or lived in) and why?

                   Going to Disneyland when you were little was a great trip. I like road trips so it was a good road trip.  I really liked Hawaii and would go back again. The west coast of Vancouver Island was great at Long Beach. I've lived in some very different and interesting places but I have to say that Red Deer is the best. We had our kids here and raised them. It's really home. 

• favorite book?

         That's a hard one. I just don't do favorites. I suppose that comes from spending most of my life in Middle School and I didn't like to play favorites with the kids.  How about the Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck? I just read Out of Africa and would like to see the movie. 

• favorite movie?

       I watch very few movies but I should. I will always remember the first movie I saw and it was at a drive in. It was a sappy movie called Old Yeller. I liked it and I think it is still being played.  

• favorite musician and/or type of music?

       I love music and as one librarian said when I was taking out CDs, "You have a very wide taste in music." Again I have trouble with favorites. I like classical, blues, jazz, rock and many more. I don't like rap and modern country. Lately I've been listening to you tube. I can dial up what I want. Some of the music I used to like doesn't seem so good any more. The last while it's been Austrian folk music. Somebody once gave me some great French CDs. 

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MY SUMMER

   This reminds me about going back to school and on the first day we were asked to write about our summer. Some kids didn't like it. some teachers read the pieces of writing and had some info to talk about with the kid. As a beginning teacher I gave this assignment but later the assignment was heavily criticized and I think it's rarely given now.

     For my summer we rarely had clouds. It was very very dry until two days ago when we got about 90 mm (3 in) of rain. For weeks in a row it was very smoky so we didn't see clouds because of the smoke.  So  few days ago when I saw a small cloud build up I took a cloud photo. 

          My sunflowers are past due time. About a week ago there were many bees on the flower. This week the Brewers blackbirds are eating the seeds. 

 

     The crows are in huge flocks preparing for fall migration. There's always a look out crow. This crow has been using this lookout tree for weeks.

      Now if someone could tell me what the tall floppy yellow flower is I would be happy. I've looked at it for fifty years so it's time I knew it's name. 

     So that's my summer!

ALBERT LEE

     I discovered you tube about five years ago. I'm not musical but I like music. 

     On you tube I found it fascinating to watch the music being played. I know that some musical performances were on television but since I don't watch television I didn't see performances. I soon found some great shows that I had missed. I always listened to Neil Diamond , but to see him in a show is at another level. 

      I've always like Eric Clapton. 

      When I started watching Eric Clapton there was a little guitarist  out front with Clapton. I watched quite a bit of Clapton and this guitarist was always there. Then I noticed that this guy was a master on the guitar. 

       I noticed this guy playing in other bands.

     Finally one day I said, "I have to find out who this guy is."

     Well I found him and he is Albert Lee. Albert Lee has a fantastic biography. He's from a Roma family and started paying piano and then branched off into the guitar. Lee has played in many bands and has done much session work. 

     He developed a way to play very rapidly.

     So how many of you have heard of albert Lee? How many of you have enjoyed his music?

     When Albert goes into one of his solos, he becomes very intense . When his solo is over and he's playing with the band the big smile comes back. 

     Look for Albert Lee and listen to him and I'm sure you'll like him. 

THE TABLES WERE TURNED

      I few weeks ago when I had problems with my blog I enlisted my daughter's assistance. My daughter is good with computers. If you remember I couldn't open anybody's post and read it. 

     I asked for help. Many people gave me hints and advice. Thanks to all who tried to help me. None of it worked. My daughter ended up giving the same hints...nothing new. 

    I put my daughter on my blog as an author. Then she could check my settings and change them if they need to be changed. Before she got  a chance to dig around in the settings the problem suddenly solved itself.

     Now there was another reason for getting my daughter on my blog as an author. I wanted her to do some writing on my blog. 

    So the other day I made the big pitch to her. I suggested that she write about her Dad. I gave her a few topics. 

     I talked about not asking my Dad questions before he died. So I suggested to her that she write a post asking me questions. Okay she said, "You can ask me questions." She can turn things around in a hurry. So I got a writing assignment too.

     Now I got thinking about the situation. We don't know what to ask our parents because we don't know enough about them. I could tell by the blank in her voice that she had no idea what to ask me. 

     Then I thought about asking my daughter questions. I couldn't really think of anything. I know everything about my daughter ( I think) as I have lived with her all my life even though she lives far away. 

     When my daughter was in her early twenties she suddenly bought a small condo. She did not ask for advice. She just bought the thing and made the deal by herself...no help from Dad. So I've always wondered how she put things together to make the deal. 

    How about you? What would you ask your parents? what would you ask your kids? 

CLIMATE CHANGE

      We have been hearing about climate change for a very long time. Measurements have been taken and accurate predictions made . Industry, governments and citizens either totally ignore this information or make promises and do nothing to reach the goals. 

    Recently a report was issued by 100 scientists ahead of the Climate Change conference. 

     In 2021 enough years have gone by where climate predictions have been made that we can measure the damage and provide evidence that a change is occurring.

    This year we have had many examples of weird and wacky weather that is evidence of climate change. We have been abnormally hot and dry. Other areas have had major flooding. I will not be surprised if we have flooding some day. 

    I'm sure that people who spend much of their time outdoors can see evidence of climate change.

    There are some very frightening predictions. I live in Alberta, Canada east of the Rocky Mountains. Our water supply depends on the melting of the glaciers. Predictions are being made as to when these glaciers will have melted. What do we do with out water. We have many acres irrigated to produce more food. 

     Since I live close to the Rockies I have spent much time hiking in the mountains. In the 1930's a rough road was pushed through from Jasper to Banff. Up until that time the pass the road goes through had been covered by a glacier. Today there is very little left of that glacier. Travel between Banff and Jasper had been by horse and the used Jonas Pass,  the next pass to the east to make the trip.

        Looking down on some of the front ranges that don't have glaciers.

    Jonas Pass July 7 1989. It's too bad this is so dull. 

    So with less precipitation and higher temperatures the glaciers in the Rockies will disappear. 

     So the earth is not being looked after by a very irresponsible population. 

     Will this conference on climate change bring about any results. 

THE HANDIMAN RETIRES

      I have done almost all my home and yard maintenance for close to 50 years. 

      I've done lots of plumbing.  I put in stop valves on all sinks and tubs. I have replaced and added sinks. 

     I wired half of my basement and added various outlets around the house,  

     Yes, I fixed the odd bike!

     My lawn mower is still running since 1970. 

     I did some of the simple stuff on cars. 

     Reluctantly I have  decided to retire from my handyman's occupation. My eye sight is not cooperating. In many places it's difficult to be able to look through the correct lens. It's also difficult to get into some locations. So my body tells me that it's time to retire. 

    And then some errors are being made. I started replacing a shut off valve and turned off the wrong water. I was lucky. No great flood. 

    So I will have to hire some one to do the job I always did. Am I sad? No. I can find other things to do.