SUMMER WALK

        This week I decided to take a walk and find some of my favorite flowers. It was hotter than I thought so the walk was slower than I thought. Part of the trail consists of about 150 steps where you go up or down the escarpment. The steps have never been a problem before but this week I had to take a few breaks. 

      This small city has many trails. There are about 100 km of upgraded paved trails for easy walking and cycling. There are trails improved with shale or grave. And then thee are unimproved trails.

     So I enjoyed my walk. I found the wild flowers I was looking for but there were many butterflies around. 

THE RELLIES

       I knew that many of my family read my blog. My blog comes up on Face book and many are Face Book friends so read the blog. So thanks to all my relatives who read my blog. 

      Many people in town read me. In fact, I'm always surprised when someone says  "I read your blog." Why am I surprised. They read and leave no trace because they do not have a blog. They are also not aware that they can leave comment. Many other people read from time to time and do not leave comments.

     So if you want to leave a comment , go to the bottom of the blog post and click on anonymous. Write your comment. I rarely publish anonymous comments so leave some kind of clue as to who you are. For example leave your town and name. You can mix these up so that the bad guys won't come around. You can make up some name that I will recognize. 

    So I hope I've made it easier for non bloggers to make a comment from time to time. 

    This doesn't work for all blogs as some blogs are on a different platform. Some bloggers have not set up the anonymous option. 

MORE UNCLE ANGUS

       Two former colleagues gave me their stories on Angus. 

        Bob, the art teacher, had a huge mounted bull elk head in his room for a looong time. I was surprised to find that it came from Angus. Bob moved to another school and when he retired returned the elk head to Angus. Angus would have been at an auction sale and the head may have been very cheap or else Angus just wanted to have something very different. 

     Rob, a French teacher had a clipping about something Angus bought. Angus found some metal with reverse writing. At first Angus wondered what it was . Then he wondered why someone would write backwards and then he wondered how someone could even write backwards. It was explained to Angus that this was a printing plate used in presses. The Art teacher had a little press and they printed a page. It was of a wedding invitation from 1910. Then Angus wanted to find the family whose ancestors were involved with the wedding invitation. 

    Things like that made Angus curious.

    For the odd day in the summer I would go to the school to do some work in my classroom. I would take my two kids when they were preschoolers. Angus always had a package of life savers in his pocket and gave them a life saver. They always wanted to go to school and find Angus. 

    Now I left out some information on the last post. the guy standing beside a pile was me on the last day of school. I don't have a photo of Angus. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA

 Happy 155th birthday Canada!

UNCLE ANGUS

       Well, it's the end of June. I didn't need to tell you that. The year is half over. You don't need to know that. 

     Since I was a teacher the end of June was a very important time of the year. The kids had been " finished" for about two weeks. They were just waiting for the year to be over. However, where I taught we had to teach in the last school day of June. 

    Now to add to the mix the caretaking staff were getting ready for their summer work. Some painting would be done. Repairs could be made to plumbing, electrical systems , wood work and floors. Much material was being delivered to the school. The caretakers were ready for the kids to leave so that they could get on with their work.

    I always think of one care taker in particular for the end of year. Angus was a character. He was a great story teller. He liked to have an audience so the school was his audience. There was always somebody around to talk to. 

    Angus was not always a school caretaker. He was a farm hand in his younger days and the stories just flowed from that part of his life. 

    Angus finally settled down and had an acreage and small house. Angus liked farm auction sales and knew a bargain when he saw one. So Angus had acquired a large number of odds and ends that he would freely loan to any teacher who wanted something. All his possessions where in good order. He knew what he had and where to find it. 

    So a number of the young teachers who were getting established did lots of work on their houses and yard. Where did you go for special tools? Angus. He loved to let you have his equipment for you to use. 

   So some of us started calling him Uncle Angus because he took an interest in helping us. 

    So at the end of June I think about the smell of wax  and Uncle Angus. 

     

THE WAY BACK MACHINE

      This is my parents wedding photo. they were married in Feb. 1938. They were still in the depression but they decided to make a life together. It was a wild ride of ups and downs. 

A GOOD SITE FOR ART

   We have an excellent park system. The park runs along both sides of the Red Deer River. Sometimes the strip of land along the river is very narrow and sometimes it opens to parcels of several hundred acres. There's Heritage ranch at one end and Gaetz Lake Sanctuary at the opposite end. 

      I have volunteered with this system in a couple of capacities. Several years ago heavy gauge steel silhouette art was placed in three different places. Now I judge myself to be somewhat open minded when it comes to art but these I don't like for several reasons.

    I don't think that they are in the right place. One set of figures shows a man and wife who are pioneers. The sanctuary is for flora and fauna. Species get some protection and people can be taught about some of the species. Another set of figures depicts the North West Rebellion. The opposite end of the park has some relationship to the rebellion but not the sanctuary. Then there's a weird little "Jeep" thing which makes no sense at all but may refer to a WW II army base that was nearby. 

      Only one piece makes sense and that's a large moose adjacent to a small entry road to the sanctuary. There are many moose in the area. It is also a great reminders to drivers to watch for moose. The figure is very eye catching as you enter the sanctuary. 

    So what's your opinion of these pieces? 

     Okay, I've got the first photo. It looks like the Gaetz's who originally owned the land for the Gaetz Lake Sanctuary.