Project Helper

For some time now I have working on a project in my basement room. I wanted to rid myself of the old wall unit which did not serve my need any longer. Firstly I had to get the unit out of the way, so I needed help. My son came along and did all the heavy lifting and cleared out the area so we could begin building.

I drafted a rough plan that fitted our needs and purchased the necessary materials. While my son was here we were able to cut the material into workable sizes. I painted the material before having it moved downstairs and that was a good decision. We were able to start by erecting the base and first shelf. Basements are not always perfectly square so measurements were a challenge.

While I was working at the wall unit my room was a mess and the pool table held all the electronic components as well as the treasured clutter that was exhibited in and on the old unit. It is amazing how much junk you can show in a relatively small space.

With Theresa's help we managed to place the whole new structure in a proper place without permanent fastenings. My helper returned yesterday and we were able to put the structure together. I was a spectator and gopher as my son worked on the electronics.Basically he managed to guide all the sound from the electronic devices through two large speakers. This gave a wonderful stereo tone. I could never have done that as I rely on my family to help Theresa and I with these chores. We rely on the same people for Computer encounters.

During the next few days I shall complete stage three of the wall unit and then the really difficult part emerges. I have hundreds of treasured clutter. Each treasure has a story and each one is important to me.I have agreed with Theresa to make this wall unit beautiful without clutter. I must make choices and that will cause me stress. As an example I had need of a short straight edge yesterday. I immediately went to the fireplace mantle and picked up a beautiful brass ruler given to me when I left PSPS. On one side it said, "from the perfect secretaries Betty and Nora" and on the other side, "to the perfect principal". That triggered  warm memories of days gone by and I did have a great visit vicariously with my fellow educators. How could I get rid of such items?

I shall box all the extra treasures and from time to time trade them off with the selected choices. I only have to find space to store those boxes. I was so happy to have my son once again help me with a project as it gave us time to talk and share our skills while just enjoying each other's company

Cold Front

With some of the hottest and most humid weather on record for the past few weeks we were greeted to quite a show this am. I awoke to a sunny morning but very early an quickly clouds moved in. We have been breaking records every day and the weather lady warned that we might have some thunder and lightening.

At about 8.30 am the darkening sky gave way to a blast from mother nature in the form of a far off thunder clap. Within minutes the rain came in torrents and lightening flashed . Our eave troughs were filled to capacity and still the rain came even harder. The next phase was the hail and lucky it was not too large but it made a racket on the roof.

This front moving through lasted only twenty minutes but the moisture did wonders to our parched lawns and gardens. It is early in the year to see brown lawns but the heat mixed with windy conditions caused damage to our  trees and ground cover.

We welcome these little waterings from time to time. Yesterday I spent the best part of the mornings making sure our vegetable garden was protected from drought and you can be sure if you water rain will come.

Early July In The High Arctic

Early July in the high Arctic is a wonder to behold. First there is the return of the first Snow Birds who arrive to freezing cold and sit outside the homes of the Inuit. They eat what they find and endure the chilling winds and cold nights. Suddenly there is a change in the air. The North West Passage shows Leeds where there once were cracks in the ice. Next the blanket of white which covered the entire north shows black tips of rocks peeping out of the white. There is a warmer wind and rivers which were dormant for the winter begin to trickle under the ice. Spring and summer is approaching.

People who were settled in there homes during the long winter begin to emerge and take in the cool sun. The airline pilots who fly in to the north tell of huge herds of caribou moving to the north shore of the mainland and are staging to cross to the islands for the summer. The water melts near the shorelines of the lakes and the ocean moves with creaks and groans. The ice moves and opens up Leeds and soon open stretches of water appear.

Birds from the south come in droves. Snow geese and Canada geese sit on the cold ice waiting for the signal to return to their ancestral homes. Swans  come by the thousand and stay in a flock until one day as with a instinct fly away in pairs to distant lakes to have their chicks. Smaller birds come through but do not stop long as they are anxious to get to their space as the summer is measured in weeks not months.

People emerge from their winter habitat and crowd the shorelines and jig for the Arctic Char. The Char come from the lakes in numbers and feed on the abundant food for 6 to 8 weeks and retreat to the lakes for the winter. Excitement is everywhere and Inuit use this short summer to stock up on caribou and char to hold them over the long cold winter.

Summer here is so compacted that a day is like a week. Through the snow, finally comes the first flowers and they come in every colour in abundance. Their life cycle might only be a few weeks but for that time they really make a great show.

I loved the spring and short summer and one of the joys I realized was visiting the Inuit as they retreated to the land for the summer. Really all the Inuit moved from their hamlet homes to a preferred tent on the tundra and welcomed visitors with tea and pilot biscuits and jam with conversation about the fish and caribou. Always they were happy just to relive their past when they lived a free life on the Tundra.

Yes the spring and summer was beautiful and I loved it but with the warming of the Arctic new challenges will be presented to the Inuit but I have no doubt they will prevail and live and flourish on the Northern Tundra as they have for 10,000 years.

Incredible Discovery

I have been following  this 6 billion dollar scientific research project to try and discover the secret to how matter gained mass . If this project could get to the point where the scientists could actually duplicate this feat then many answers to the secrets of what happened after the BIG BANG would unfold.

An international group of many thousands worked together to solve the mystery. Years ago Higgs and others believed that one billionth of a second after the big bang the universe was a gigantic soup of particles racing around at the speed of light without mass to speak of. He and others puzzled over how subatomic particles which are the building blocks of the universe acquired mass. Simply put particles would not hold together without these subatomic particles and therefore no mass.

In the sixties Higgs and others thought another particle named the Higgs Boson creates a sticky field field that acts as a drag on other particles and creates mass.This is fundamental for scientists understanding of how the world came into being.

The team of scientists called this particle,  God's particle. To prove the theory a huge Hadron Collider was built under Geneva and after years of research they finally discovered how mass was created from nothing. This exciting discovery captured my imagination as I always wondered how our universe was created beyond being told by clergy for years to have faith and believe God created the universe.

I wonder what take the fundamentalists will support in light of this scientific knowledge. This discovery is a once in a lifetime achievement and Gerald Oakham from Carleton University was a key player on the team who finally made the announcement.

As a followup the Hadron Collider will be improved to increase the capacity for making more  collisions in the future by a 100 fold to more than 40 million per second they now produce. This will help in the next stage of research. These are exciting times.

65 Years Ago

Back 65 years ago we celebrated with a migration to Groves Point. Because few people had cars the only transportation that could be mustered up was to get Buck Ashe to clean up his huge truck and carry us out to the Point for a picnic and swim.This truck was a ten ton job with an open box which could hold up to 25 people. He would take us out on the 12 mile drive, drop us off and return in the evening to take us home.

The drive was fun and as we arrived at the beach site everyone would run to get the choice spots under the big trees for shade. Blankets were laid out and the boxes laden with the lunches would be stored close by. We children would find a convenient place to change into our bathing suits and we would be off to the beach for hours of sunshine and swimming.

The adults would sometimes swim or group on the sandy beach keeping watch over we children. I would break away from the group and sneak up the nearby Glenn and follow a trial to a small waterfall. Usually we would see deer along the way and on the way back we would take a different trail and emerge near the beach.

Mom and the adults would move away from the beach and prepare the lunch. A loud voice would call us together for lunch.An open fire made smokey tea and Mom's salad with her special mustard dressing was always served. Potato salad and ham on plates balanced on shivering knees caused by the long time spent in the cold water was our table. It seemed everything we ate had a special taste and the good humour among the family and friends made the day memorable.

After lunch games were played on the open field. Usually a pickup game of ball kept us interested and entertained for some time. Everyone joined, even Mom and we all laughed when funny things happened.

The sound of music caught our ears so we gravitated to the fire which became larger as we kids gathered driftwood to feed the flames. A banjo, a violin would appear out of thin air and the singsong would begin. Shouts from the people seeking their favourite song made us forget about time. Hot dogs and marshmallows were produced and with hastily cut branches the party was nearly complete,

The beep of the horn from Buck Ashe's truck reminded us that the day was over.Sadly we packed up and crawled into the truck box, The little ones wrapped in blankets nearly sleeping from the day's activity saying that we should do this again next weekend. We arrived home tired and completely happy with having a great day at Groves Point with family and friends. This routine was followed many times during our young lives and remains even today one of those memories that stand out as just perfect.

The Day After

When all is said and done Canada had a great birthday. We are all pleased with ourselves and for 24 hours we could forget the huge cloud hanging over our rich and beautiful country. In the world there are some countries that are so blessed with natural resources that being a steward of these riches becomes the chief role of people who can properly balance the use of these gifts for all Canadians.

At this point in time Canada stands as one of these countries. We have riches in our resources that are envy of the world. The only country that can compare with us is Russia. Both of these countries have untold wealth because of their geographic locations.

Russia is a country which is tearing out its resources for short term gain. Russia is doing so at a great price to its environment. Their oil fields are a disgrace and the pollution is vast but few people are in a position to control this mess.That is true of most of Russia's resource development.

We in Canada had a record for honest, careful environmental regulations. The process took time and at times got in the way of hasty development. The benefits were the safe guarding of our water, our wildlife and our air. During the past year we have been pushed back fifty years in this regard. Today, one day after Canada day the government is offering for sale the finest fresh water monitoring station in the world. It seems they do not value this station at a cost of $2 million to report and advise the government on water safety like in the tar sands.

This is one small piece in the diminishing of the environmental safety net built up over many years. Every agency dealing with the environment is carefully being dismantled. WHY?  This government is building a oil based economy from the tar sands and does not want anyone or anything slowing it down.

Saskatchewan has the same resources as Alberta but watch how they develop their economy around their resources. They have tar  sands, and other vast resources but are taking a long range view of development and are making sure there is built in safeguards for the future.

We in Canada have vast resources and some are non renewable. These resources have to be used in a responsible manner for the betterment of all Canadians and our environment. This is not being done by this environment minister and our elected government.

Canada Day

This morning as I read my morning paper it was filled with stories of what Canada means to you. One section was about your favourite place in this vast country. I began to think about these things and quickly my mind went back to my childhood and my memories of where I lived and the impact it had on my life.

Born in Sydney Mines, Cape Breton gave me a unique feeling about our country. My memories run back a ways but were dominated by WWII. Our town was situated on the north point of Sydney Harbour. The harbour was filled with activity during thew war. A huge net was placed across the harbour to keep out unwanted enemy and the inner harbour was filled with Liberty Ships all lined up to form a convoy to Europe. The net was opened at night and the ships would pass through and form up outside the harbour with navy warships darting about to maintain a safety ring  much as a sheep dog does to protect its sheep.

All was in darkness and heavy curtains were requires so as to maintain security. Our Mom was quiet about the war but it was everywhere in our community. We lived right next to the railway and trains shook our house as they rumbled by carrying vital war materials to far off places. We watched these beautiful steam engines puff by at great speeds and our imagination was always active. The Union Jack flag was prominent in our school and church. We repeated the oath of allegiance every morning and took time to buy war savings in little cards. Pennies, nickles and dimes were collected and recorded to help the war effort.

Our uncles and aunts, mothers and fathers were no longer with some as many were away to fight for freedom.War was the main topic of discussion and the sad news of people dying made our community aware of the price being paid for our freedom. We were young and just beginning to form pictures about our land and how Canada was growing up in the world.

My parents were very loyal and proud Canadians and instilled just enough patriotism to make its mark on all of us. With rations, restrictions,media hype about the war children were brought into the reality but no more so than when  we had air raid drills and when we had to put on those hated gas masks. I am sure they wouldn't have worked in reality but we were instructed to put them on. Some kids were scared and without doubt traumatized by the war. Our parents were calm and Mom explained some of the effects of the war and it was at this time my imagination went wild and I saw the enemy everywhere.

One day the announcement came that the war was over in Europe. That evening everyone went up town and stood in front of the post office and announcements were made to great cheers and the lights were turned on throughout the town. Some fireworks and more speeches. I was old enough to understand most of  the celebrations and to this day remember the emotion which showed on my mothers face as she was remembering the death of her youngest brother who died in Europe.

During the war O Canada and God Save The Queen were sung thousands of times with feeling and we as young people were swept along with he patriotism. Today when they sing O Canada on the Hill in Ottawa the whole country will sing along with them. Many factors are brought into play when we try to describe what makes a Canadian and Canada. I believe much of that special feeling of pride comes from our family ties and their attitudes.