Fall Colours

The last few days have been just perfect with temperatures in the low twenties and the night time cool for sleeping.However Mother Nature has a way of creeping into our life with her paintbrush and beginning to once again paint a masterpiece. The plants and trees around our home are beginning to show signs of fall and some flowers are trying against odds to keep blooming Our yard has a variety of vegetation and this year we are seeing our young chestnut tree producing nuts which I will plant if the squirrels don't beat me to the punch and snatch all the nuts away for winter.

We love the many rich colours and the last roses which try valiantly to keep blooming. There is something refreshing about the turn of the season as we know that soon snow will cover the land and the plants and seeds will be hidden until spring and begin the renewal process all over again.Nature has a way of making every season special and fall is no exception. Canadians are fortunate to have four distinct seasons and each has its own merits to make people happy.

Fall season can have a lengthy warm time and beckons people to go out and enjoy the good weather before the  onset of winter.

Prime Minister Asleep At The Switch...Again

During the past few days our Prime Minister showed the world that he really was asleep in representing Canada on the World  stage. He was in New York at the UN in a room adjacent to the General Assembly when he should have been addressing the world body to state Canada's vision for world peace and supporting world goals in the environment. Also what better platform for him to speak on behalf of our Canadian citizens held in Egypt and Russia at this time.

What was he doing at this time? Meeting for a photo op with Mr. Gates ,a person who has real concerns about the welfare of the women of the world and we all know howour PM  feels about woman's rights just check his record in Canada.

Every member of the UN had an opportunity for its leader to address this world body to express concerns and support the work of the UN. Our Prime Minister missed the past three years and has shown a hostile attitude for the work of the UN.The countries of the world used to hold Canada as a great member of the world order but since his lack of leadership in world affairs has diminished so has the respect of the world for him and unfortunately Canada. We even lost the vote for membership on the security council to a third world country and embarrassed our standing at the UN.

With great world issues being discussed at government bodies all over the world our PM porogues our government while he is able to get up enough nerve to face the House of Commons to talk about his abuse of power and the multitude of scandals flying about his leadership. There are no words to describe his total disregard for the democratic process and the elected body in particular. It was sad but fortunate that the USA delegate Mr. Kerry spoke to the UN about our citizens overseas who languish in prisons without aid from their country.

The Greenpeace episode with Canadians involvement was a perfect time for our Prime Minister to speak up about the freedom of the Arctic region instead of just playing dumb. Could it be because he has little use for bodies of advocates which tend to safeguard the environment and its inhabitants? Do we have any real power to look after our Arctic territory and our citizens who lawfully ply the waters.? There are so many issues that this man could be working on and with the help of parliament succeed but it seems his agenda is personal and not that whiich important to the people of Canada.

Perfect Golfing Weather

Theresa and I love to golf in the early fall as the weather is usually perfect. With the temperature around the twenty mark and perfect blue sky with not a breeze what more could you ask? Our golfing is strictly for exercise and fun so the score is kept only for the habit from the past.

Few people were on the course at Century Pines so named for the grand old pines left from the lumbering era. They escaped because in those days the logs had to be perfect and these survivors are not. They are weather beaten and have a few crooks along the way but majestic as they reach for the sky. Some day this beautiful golf course on the moraine will probably fall to the earth movers as progress will require the land for buildings. What a shame.

Along the way today there were birds a plenty but one in particular took its position seriously and would not be moved in spite of the activity around it. Theresa took a few pictures and the bird seemed to pose for her but never left its perch.

Our game took second place to our enjoyment of the flora and fauna surrounding us on all sides. This course is owned by a man who has landscaping as his means of earning a living and all his courses earn praise for the care he demands for the upkeep of his property.

Tea For Two

A short time ago Doris had her 96th birthday. Daughter Lynda gave her a special gift of tea for two at a Streetsville Tea house. It is difficult to buy a gift for the elderly but a day away at a special restaurant was appropriate as they would have some time to talk and enjoy a afternoon tea.

Lynda has the ability to motivate people as she has the gift of conversation. For Doris who is a good listener it will be a real treat. She was up early preparing for the outing and with Theresa's help found the perfect outfit for the occasion.

The hours of shared time between the two made a perfect gift for Doris.

Halton County Green Program

I used to take my garbage and redundant objects to the dump. No more dump as the facility operated by the county is a 2013 marvel in efficiency and recycling. It is actually a pleasure to visit the facility once in a while just to see how your tax dollars are being used.

From the moment you enter the gates until you leave there will be processes to keep you interested. At the recycling area there are several staff guiding clients to the various specialized containers to place your objects. Everything has a place and each container is filled and removed for resale to companies all over the province. This facility has reduced the amount of landfill need by thousands of tons yearly.

Three specialized programs are present. The Salvation Army has a building prepared to accept any good items that can be used. The toxic waste program accepts all items for disposal like batteries, paints and fluids. Good paint is labeled for reuse and anyone coming to the facility can take three items for free.

The big program is the mulch give away twice a year. Every week the yard waste is collected and composted on site and twice a year the residents are invited to come and take seven bags of mulch free. Theresa and I have used this program ever since it was established and have witnessed the huge growth in the interest of the residents. Thousand of tons have been recovered by people like me and there is still enough for the municipalities to  take care of their needs.

All in all the people in our area are buying into the program and there is still more room for the ones who have not to join a great Green effort to make out community a better place in which to live.

Cleanup Time

The first really cool weather has swept over much of Ontario and it is Mother Natures way in signalling that it is time to clean up your yards and gardens. Trees have to be given a very good drink to hold them through the winter and maintain healthy roots. Lawns could use some care with a winter fertilization. Trees and shrubs like to be mulched and some need a haircut.

I prefer to get my garden beds ready for spring planting in the fall and to this end I bury dry leaves and some good cow manure in the vegetable plots. Strawberries have a habit of spreading all over the place and it is a good time to weed out the old plants and nurture the healthy plants from the runners.

I have made bad choices when pruning fruit trees so I am a little cautious now when I put the pruning shears in my hands. Bulbs are seeking a new home so plant your bulbs now and make sure the squirrels don't watch your planting or you might not have  a good showing in the spring.

Garlic likes to be planted late in the fall so watch for  a warm day late in the fall to make sure the plants do not grow too big before freeze up. I use the regular grocery store garlic and have never been disappointed. Very white Chinese garlic takes well to our area as it is grown in the same latitude as Ontario.

Rhubarb can have a great head start if you give the plants a good covering of manure in the late fall. Loosen up the earth around the plants and give them a good watering before freeze up for best results.Clean up time has its rewards and gives you a time to be creative in planning for the next year. One task I take great pride in is wintering my pot flowers. I just cut them to about ten inches and place them in the garage after a watering. I have a 75% rescue rate over the past years. Actually I have some flowers that are six and seven years old. Geraniums winter over best.

Apple Picking Time Again

I like every season of the year but harvest time brings a certain sense of accomplishment for the farmer in most of us.I planted a Spartan apple tree four years ago and it flourished. The area where I had room enough was protected from the cold winds and receives extra water from the run off from our back yard so the tree was spoiled.

This year we looked forward to a crop but nothing like the several bushels of apples we picked this morning.Deep red in color and hard with pure white flesh makes it a favourite with many.Our other tree is ten years old and quite ugly with a conservative leaning to the right but being a Northern Spy it is the very best for pies and apple sauce. Their lasting quality enables us to keep fresh apples until after Xmas by storing them in the garage.

We are half way  through the month of September and it is beginning to feel like fall as the temperature reached a low of 6 the other evening. I go into a cleanup mode and prepare the gardens for next spring. My biggest challenge this year will be the strawberries who have gotten out of hand this summer and I could not identify a row if I tried. I have to pull out the old plants and organize the rows again to facilitate picking.

There seems to be so much to do all of a sudden but the chores are really a labor of love as it brings us back to earth in more than one way. Mother Nature has a way of rewarding her friends so we who garden and work the soil have a front seat.

Troubled World

It seems that the world is troubled in so many ways that there is no solution to the massive problems. The world decided after the second world war that there had to be some sort of world governing body to solve problems between countries. After a great start the organization became a paper tiger because the few richest and most powerful were unable to live under the constitution.

The world bullies and there are a few acted outside the parameters of the rules set up to keep the peace and make life better for the needy peoples of the world.The USA, Russia and China are so big and powerful that they can dictate the actions as they see fit. The hundred plus smaller and poorer countries have little power and few means to make life bearable for their citizens. The organization breaks down when the initial concepts were ignored.

At times we get hopeful that pressure from the world peoples will dictate actions which will reflect the goals of the UN. Success has been seen it the areas of health, cultural exchanges, universal education and women's rights. The weakness comes not with the will to do well but the inability to enforce the will on unwilling members.

As we look to the future we see the possibility for change  and a willingness to co-operate but the problems are so huge and cost so great that people throw up their hands in despair. There is a great amount of frustration on the part of wonderful people who devote their life to the ideals of the UN.I see a bright future for the world when the super powers work with the rest of the world instead of acting on their own to satisfy their self interests..  

Visitors From New Brunswick

Doris has few of her friends still living as she just turned 96. She has however one sister in law who has been a long time friend and a person who became a regular hostess for Doris as she visited her on a regular basis for years. Polly came to visit us two years ago and as Doris was unable to travel to N.B. this year she decided to come up for a weeks visit.

one thing that was special this year was the mode of travel to our area. Polly and her daughter travelled by Porter Air and landed at the Toronto Island Airport. This enabled them to get a birds eye view of the city and to travel to the mainland on one of the world's shortest ferry rides. The crossing is just over a hundred meters.

They were met at the airport by Theresa and escorted to the curbside where I picked them up. The amazement expressed by the passengers over the development of condos along the shoreline surprised me as we saw the changes over the years but they seeing this for the first time must have been a great experience.

Every new sight along the way home to our house required Polly to say, " my golly ,can you believe that? ". We smiled and realized that they were going to love their time with us here in Upper Canada. There is something absolutely unreal about the tremendous changes that have been made along the shores of Lake Ontario. The Royal York Hotel used to be the signature building on the skyline and now it is dwarfed by a multitude of skyscrapers which block the view for  most of the people to seeing the beautiful lake.

Polly and Doris and others will have a week  of telling stories from the past, looking at pictures and just enjoying each others company.We will be bystanders in a ritual enacted over and over when old friends meet .

Loss Of Power....Loss Of Face

The Syrian situation has caused a tremendous change in the world order of power. The president of the USA could have walked into the G20 ten years ago and dictated his will on any issue. This past week the president walked in the Russian gardens alone with his thoughts and wondering what went wrong.

His loss of power comes as no surprise because no president in recent history had to live with so much negativity and acrimony from his Congress and people in general. He attempted to steer the basic issue about Syria from him to the Congress but Congress will give him little solace as they probably will not support him. This is humiliating to the leader of the Western World as there is little support for the manner in which the leaders are responding . Time was of the essence and when the president hesitated his time was over and sober second thoughts became the outstanding mode. To blow Syria to pieces in a cold calculating manner weeks after the event is ludicrous

If your child does something that is wrong and you wish to make an impact on his behaviour you act in the immediate. To hesitate is to lose the impact and so it is with the powers of the world.

Canada's stance was sound in the time immediately after this issue but sounded like me to after the USA made its plan public. Beard has made strong statements about Russia and its support for requiring proof at the united nations before acting was again the weak link in  Canada's support for the .USA. Iraq was a case in point and see how our Prime Minister stood up to the USA and he was right. As it turned out there was no arms of mass destruction and Canada was spared the involvement in a useless war.

Even when most of the people of the world believe poison gas was used in Syria, most want to wait for the report to the security council. Canada was once one of the greatest supporters of the UN and now Baird publicly plays down its importance and the little countries of the world are shocked as the UN is the only international organization to which they are able to turn to in times of difficulty. It will take years for Canada to be accepted again as a positive member of the organization. What a pity.

No matter how this issue plays out in the future the world order will be once again divided into clear groups and the world will be a poorer place because of the lack of leadership among the western world powers.

Syria

Syria is situated right at the focal point of division of the great powers of Europe and Asia. With Russia, China, Turkey surrounding this nation and tucked in the middle we have a number of small Islamic nations surrounding Israel , there can be no easy solution to its problems. There seems to be a pattern to Islamic nations to either have a dictatorship like in Saudi Arabia or a state controlled by right wing radicals as in Syria where you have both. Iran is on the verge of some changes and maybe there is hope there in the future.

The whole world is drawn into the mess which encompasses the Islamic nations and explodes from time to time with uprisings brought about by people who seek freedom. Islamic people and nations are not organized like western powers who are able to have a democratic government and still have room for people to seek change through peaceful means at the ballot box.

Tribal loyalties go deep into history and these loyalties are the prime motivating factor and when a country has two or three or more tribal groups democracy has little chance of developing. Right now the uninvolved Islamic countries are happy to see the western world looking to once again spill their blood to correct a Islamic nation which is out of line.

We in the western world should step back in this case and seek the Islamic world leaders with all their wealth to find a solution and correct the mess in Syria. The leading nation is Saudi Arabia who got rich and fat at the expense of the western powers buying their oil should get their head out of the sand and do something for their fellow Arabs.

The Arabic world and their Islamic religion have been a curse on the world as the people are unable to control the radicals among their numbers. It is not OK to say any longer that it is not the problem of the good Islamic people because it is their responsibility to get off their buts and control their leadership. Nearly every country in the western world has welcomed people from the Islamic countries and many have come to bring wisdom and economic benefit to their new country. However these same people left behind countries which could well use their abilities to generate change in their homeland.

Too often western society has brought people to their shores only to find out that these minorities disrupt the harmony of our democracy.We in Canada are a leader in welcoming people from all over the world and we seem to be well served by our new Canadians. There are however projections made that show even Canada with a birthrate of 1.3 cannot sustain our society as it is when we import more people as immigrants who will become the majority in the future.

Let it be said that this crisis in Syria could be our greatest news maker in this century if it is not dealt with some long term solutions involving the Arab world. I fear that there is going to be another great divide like the one during the cold war with Russia. Our only saving grace is the fact that China's future depends on making things for the world and this might keep them out of this mess. As for Russia and Putin it is any one's guess as he is a wild card. Good Luck USA and the world.

First Day of School

Every year about this time I get kind've get ready for school. I have been retired nearly 25 years and our youngest grandchild is in his senior year but still there is a connection. This September there will be six of my grandchildren and one grown-up daughter who will be going full time to university. This situation keeps us in touch with the educational continuum.

One of my daughters was born on the first day of school and she is still working in education and working to complete her Masters in Leadership. I always wished that my children would get some post-secondary education and none of them disappointed me.

There have been so many changes in the field of education from the time I started school that one could hardly recognize the curriculum. Schools have a much different and more difficult task than in the past. I often wondered what it would be like to go back to try teaching now in the modern schools with the students who are products of the technological age with all their learning devices.

Students today have such a great opportunity in a very diverse workplace to study for some interesting future occupation. To succeed one must have goals and a desire to work hard while in the education system. I guess I still have part of me in the system after all.

96 and Going Strong

Yesterday we celebrated the 96th birthday of Doris. The family and friends came together as we have on many other occasions to recognize a life of one of our oldest and respected citizens.The grand children, children and friends enjoyed the time shared with Doris and her comments were both humorous and enjoyable.

This year Doris was in good health and she was looking forward to the  visit of one of her few close relatives that being her sister in law and niece from Sussex, New Brunswick .They will be here shortly and stay with us for a week where I am sure stories will be told and news from down home will make the time fly .

At this time in the life of this lady every occasion becomes special and Doris just beams with enthusiasm when she visits with the young members of our family.Her memory is a little short but her eyes light up when she sees the Birthday cake and the realization that she really is ninety six. Her comments about life back at Coot Hill where she was born amaze the young folks as it is difficult for them to realize the changes Doris lived through her long and interesting life.

Doris has travelled extensively over the years but now she enjoys her time at home in the neighbourhood and with her immediate family. Doris loves sweets so this occasion provided a special day of cake and cup cakes to satisfy her sweet tooth. Of course her daughter Theresa is the apple of her eye and she depends on her for literally everything and her other close care givers Glenda and Lynda try to spoil her with special attention. As the day ended with the group dispersing  and travelling back home they all left with a happy feeling because of their time shared with Doris.

Golf With the Grandsons

Although we live close by it is not often that we have the opportunity to play golf together. The other day was such an occasion. Theresa, myself and the two grandsons played 18 holes at a Oakville golf course. The two boys are rivals,age 16 and 25 they compete at most things. Theresa and I love the game because it gets us out in the green  acres of the golf course together but the boys take it more seriously.

Each of them is capable of hitting the ball 280 yards on a regular basis. However they sometimes hit a stray shot and at that great distance they have a problem as their error causes grief on the score card. Good humored conversation and frequent checks on the score card makes the competition keen.

The younger of the two has great potential as he is also an all star catcher for the Oakville baseball team and with his gained strength he rivals his older and much taller brother. The weather was perfect and as the day wore on it was evident that the eventual winner would be Adam the older brother.It was also evident that we all just enjoyed playing the game together.

It is always a good time when you have the good fortune to share over four hours of time with your children or grand children. This day was no exception and we completed the game with the wish that we would be able to repeat the joyful experience in the near future.