A BAD DAY

       I guess we all have to have a bad day or two once in a while. 

      So, here's my story.

     We have been trying to downsize for many years. One of us thinks that not much progress is made and the the other one thinks that we are getting rid of some "stuff" 

    So the neighbor across the corner was having a garage sale today. The micro manager thought that this would be a good opportunity for us to put things out and people may visit our garage sale while going to the other. 

    It was a very nasty day. Wind gusts were well into the 60 km range. It was plus 12 C. Now those two things are enough to tell me that it will be a very nasty day. I said we shouldn't have a sale with such poor weather. The Micro manager thought that it was a great opportunity for a garage sale. Words were said. Strong words were said. Finally I gave in and we rounded up stuff to put out. 

   Now a few things about garage sales. There's more to it than just putting things out. People like to see a sale with  much stuff displayed. They look at a sale with only a few things and they don't stop. You need an attractive sign. Your sign must be clear. It was so windy today that the sign was blown across the yard. Put things out so that they are attractively displayed. 

    Finally about 3 PM the micro manager gave in and said let's quit.  The neighbor next door wanted some of these articles so we invited Darcy for a visit. Darcy took about 75% of the stuff. What was left, we took to bibles for missions.

   Did we learn anything? Probably not. 

THE WEATHER IS IN CONTROL

       At this time of year I would like to have my garden planted. I try and have seeds planted around the twenty first of May. It's possible to vary the time of seeding as it takes a few days for seeds to germinate . By that time I hope there's no danger of frost.

     Plants that have a long growing period and are started in the house or a green house is another issue. If there was frost they would be damaged.

    So last night the low forecast was plus 6. I left my tomatoes and corn outside. At 7 AM this morning there was frost on the roof! 

    Now there are a few things to know about frost. At this time the ground  is warm enough that is will not freeze at ground level. So unless it gets very cold plants at ground level should not freeze. Also, if I have my plants beside the house foundation, there's warmth from the foundation to keep the frost away.

    So today I just said, "I'm going to plant my tomatoes now matter what." So this afternoon , I planted my tomatoes. There is still risk of frost at this time but you take the risk. 

   So here we go for delicious tomatoes. 

WEATHER COMPARISONS

      I enjoy your comments about the climate, weather and plants I live with. Of course, the pleasure is mutual. I find it most interesting when in some areas in January there are not only blooms but blossoms.

     So this is my report. My blue bells finished blooming a little more than a month ago. The plants are quickly going into a dormant state. My bleeding hearts are past their peak and the blooms are rapidly coming to an end. Peonies, irises and tiger lilies are budding out. 

     What sets this off at such a late date is the length of our days. Today the sun rose at 5:19 Am and sets at 9:47 PM for a total of 16 hours and 28 minutes of daylight. This much light causes our plants to develop rapidly. 

     Our weather is still variable. Yesterday we had a high of 30 C. It went down to 4 C by 4 AM. My furnace cut in this morning. 

    This afternoon I worked in my yard in windy conditions with  a temperature of 16 C. 

     All too soon I will be crying about very short days!

MEETING

       Some of your comments made me think about how and why I started talking to the homeless guys. I had to think about it for a minute and then I remembered what I did.

       They both had scooters. One was a very nice scooter. As I walked by I said that I always wanted to try a scooter but it was too late now. So that got them talking about scooters. From there the conversation just went on like any normal conversation.

     A few years ago the same thing happened with skate boarders. Skate boarders seem to be a rough bunch who don't seem to care about anything or anybody. I had seen these kids on my regular walk. One day as I went by they were stopped. 

    I just told them that I admired their skill. That gave them an opportunity. They wanted to talk about skate boards. I heard about the length and shape of skate boards. I heard about the proper place to put your foot for a certain maneuver. 

   I was very surprised at how technical skate boarding was. So I learned a few things about skate boarding but most of it went over my head. 

   I also learned about a group of people and some of them were not like I thought they were. 

   There are some groups of people who get some bad press. One of those groups is the elderly.

HOMELESS

      I walk every evening when the weather is suitable and I don't have obligations. I'm a bit obsessed as I take the same route 90% of the time. It's a pleasant walk of 3 to 4 km through a heavily forested area. There are many other walkers so from time to time you meet someone who likes to visit. So I've got to know some people quite well. 

     As with any forested urban area, there can be undesirables in the area. This area is quite well known for homeless camps. It's right across from a large shopping mall. It's usually you leave me alone and I'll leave you alone. 

     Occasionally you will meet a homeless person who makes sense. Last night I met one of those people who made sense so I had a good visit. There were actually two people and the other guy wasn't homeless. 

    We talked in general about homeless needing support. The one guy was 57 and the other guy around 40. Somehow we got onto schools, and teachers. They knew many of my buddies so we had a good laugh about that. They seemed to have had a positive time in school. 

    The one guy had much hearing loss so he was showing me the hi tech hearing aides he had. My biggest problem with hearing aides is that I sometimes hear more noise than voice. 

    So it was difficult to continue my walk as we kept finding interesting things to talk about. 

    These two guys were approachable and interesting to talk too. Some of them you just know that you're better to stay away. 

   So having a positive interaction with a homeless person makes me think that some things could be done to help homeless people. 

59

     What do you say when it's your 59th wedding anniversary? 

     We were married in Inuvik Northwest Territories in the stringer hall chapel. the chapel has since been torn down. 

    Anyway, life is good.

PAST TV

      I started thinking about television today. I don't know how those thoughts got started as I don't watch TV. I don't watch one minute of TV all year.

     I was thinking about the first TV I saw. We were 80 miles from the TV station. We put a 40 ft. antennae on top of the house. We got one station and it was snowy. Sometimes you didn't get any picture at all.  It was black and white. You had to get up and go to the TV to turn it off or on. (Actually I was thinking about remotes that started me thinking about old television.)

    TV reception improved a little. Then we got cable or something and brought in 3 or 4 channels. You still had to get up and go to the TV to turn it off or on or change stations. It still wasn't color.

    I don't remember when we got color TV. 

    I don't know when remote controls came in but that saved us a lot of effort as we didn't have to get up to change channels. Now we have many channels so sometimes there is a lot of channel changing. 

   Color came and it was not that clear. 

   Now we have so many channels that we don't know what to watch.

   Well, you could be like me and not watch TV.