Oooh Yuck... stuck in the muck!

Every now and then something unusual happens in Timmins that raises the level of conversation at Tim Hortons.This is summer road construction season and so its not unusual to see large pieces of construction machinery around town. Except one poor fellow decided to move his excavator off the road and got too close to one of the swamy areas near the old Hollinger Mine tailings. Schlurrrp! He sure had that sinking feeling Thursday. They had to build a new section of road to rescue the excavator... they got it out Friday afternoon.

Good movies!

Saturday night is good for movies. I watched a great one last night that I hadn't seen in years.
The Joy Luck Club. I liked it years ago and I liked it again last night. I recommend it highly. Amazing story. The screenplay was written by author Amy Tan, the same person who wrote the original novel. I will have to find a copy. Hmm... I am betting Jenn will really like the movie.
And because I was at the video store I picked up Clint Eastwood's latest film... Gran Torino. Really good story. I watched it this morning with a pot of coffee. Eastwood is always great to watch. The ending really surprised me though. Never saw an ending like that!

Good Saturday morning, people.

What a nice morning in Timmins. Only 16 degrees so far. I have been up for awhile; put the coffee on; made a fresh batch of muffins; got two loads of laundry on the clothes line and read about 30 pages in the latest novel I am devouring. It's amazing what happens when the weather is "nice" eh. I must be getting older. I am working on a story about how young people in Timmins have managed to find an open pit mine filled with water and they go "cliff diving". There was a time when I would have thought it was a cool thing to do. But now I can only imagine how crazy dangerous it is. Because it was a former mining operation, there are slabs of broken razor-sharp rocks everywhere.
I had a nice chat with the Jennifer and the boys last night. Those kids are amazing... Both Tyler and Nathan had excellent report cards and they're all excited about the first week of summer. By the time you read this, their cousin Victoria will be on the road for a trip of a lifetime to Newfoundland with Don and Denise. I imagine they'll have a fabulous time. I sure hope so. And Jennifer and Scott and the boys will soon be heading off to a place called Great Wolf Lodge, sort of a them park and luxury hotel all in one. Aline and I are planning a trip "down North" next week. Here's a hint. We might see a Beluga.
Well now that poor Michael Jackson is dead, the rumours are alive and well. Even though the autopsy indicates no foul play, the conspiracy theories are already spreading. It seems that MJ may have been the victim of over-medication. I can just imagine what the supermarket tabloids will be writing. I will predict that Elvis is involved somehow. LOL. Stayed tuned. Keep smiling.

Too darned hot.

It's just after 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday and already the temperature is 25. It has been crazy hot all week. On Monday, Timmins was the hottest place in Ontario with 32 degrees. I have to find a lake soon and get cool. I am NOT a warm weather person. Oh well, lots of other people seem to be enjoying it. I just close my eyes and think about how much I enjoy snowshoeing!

Father's Day

Father's Day is nice only because I remember how lucky I am that I have two truly amazing children... They're adults now of course, but they're both kind of special and unique and I am so blessed to have them in my life. I never took any training to be a Dad. It just sort of happens, but I am glad to be their Dad. Yup, Father's Day is good.

It's still June eh?

It's funny how I feel guilty when I haven't dropped in here with a note. Usually in June, there's lots going on that I write about. I have just been lazy. Some good things have been happening with my life. One is that Neil dropped by Ontario for a visit and was able to see plenty of his friends. He stayed at the house for a few days and I think the best part was that he was able to just crash and take it easy without any pressure to go anywhere or do anything new. The warm weather has arrived in Timmins and for sure there are a few forest fires going on. Luckily Northern Ontario is so huge that there is no serious threat to any towns yet. Interestingly the entire area of Southern Ontario, stretching from Windsor all the way to Ottawa to North Bay, doesn't even make up one-tenth the size of Ontario. I took a hike in the bush the other night and the bugs were pretty bad. But it was nice to hit a few bush trails and feel the breeze through the trees. I even heard a loon, but I couldn't get close enough to the shore to see it. It has been pretty warm though for most of the week... temperatures in the high 20s and low 30s! That kind of heat just saps all the energy out of me. So I have been hiding in my cool rec room and reading a lot. I promised myself to get over the the library to do some more research as the Wintergreen group is planning to publish another history almanac to make the Timmins centennial. I was thinking about that when I was out on the trail near Simpson Lake Wednesday night. Goldcorp is turning most of the mining lands back to a natural state. After 100 years of industrial abuse, it is amazing to see how quickly the bush restores itself. It's not perfect, but it sure is getting better.

Park with the cops!

It was a great weekend. So much going on and I was on the run Saturday and Sunday. Sometimes when I park, I just pull over into a fire zone (my friends at the Fire hall won't be happy to hear that!), but it's always good to get cozy with a cop car when you park illegally. That makes it real hard for anyone to give you a ticket. ; )
More good news. Got a text message this morning. Neil is back in Ontario for a few days and he is heading for Timmins. I guess I will have to stock up on a couple of cold ones. ...or I could just give him all the beer that Jennifer so generously left in the fridge after her visit. : )

Cool riders

It was a good weekend. The RCMP Musical Ride was in Timmins to help celebrate the 100th anniversary. I was allowed to pose a shot on the shore of Pearl Lake. It was also cool to watch the riders going through town. The horses were stabled at the McIntyre Arena, but the performance was at the Hollinger Park, so they rode through town.