A good day to end the year.

It was a nice day. There was a pretty frost over Timmins this morning. I had a pleasant hike through the forest to grab some photos of frost on the pine needles. This afternoon, my younger brother and I hooked up with a nice phone chat from his latest location, which is the west coast of Canada. Ronald (army guy) and the kids are out by Canadian Forces Base Comox in BC. But Ron’s darling wife Loni (air force gal) isn’t home these days. Loni is back in Kandahar, Afghanistan. It’s her second deployment in the past year. My cousin Glen is back over there as well. He was home for a bit but was back overseas for Christmas. I wish them both good health and Godspeed in 2007.

The kids are fine.

It was great to spend a few days with Jennifer and her family. Of course, Neil was there too. My kids are the coolest. I caught this photo of them heading out the door the other night to grab some Tim Horton's coffee. Neil was all smiles in his new toque. Jennifer looked real spiffy in her new jammies and booties just before jumping in the truck. It's gotta be a Canadian thing eh.

Merry Xmas - Happy Boxing Day

Haven't been blogging for a few days. Got ready for Christmas. Spending lots of time with friends and family. Last minute shopping at the mall on the weekend was one big social event meeting all the people I haven't seen in months. Neil and I went to Sudbury on Christmas Day to have dinner with Jennifer and her family. All is good. Except that there is just not enough snow anywhere. Still in the holiday mood. Coffee and Bailey's at 9:30 AM is a good thing. TTYL.

White Christmas on the way?

Timmins has the best chance of getting a white Christmas over most cities in Canada according to a news report in the Toronto Star. The report, which quotes Enviro Canada weather guru David Phillips, says there are only a handful of cities in Canada likely to have a white Christmas. Of those cities, Timmins has the best chance.. with a probability of 52 percent. Sure hope he's right.

Winter is trying to happen...

Snapped a photo of these trees by Pearl Lake at lunchtime. It looks cold and wintry, but actually it was sunny and one degree Celcius... just above freezing. But the picture sure looked interesting. We are just two days away from the official first day of Winter. (click the pic to see the full size)

Xmas is correct ... if you think about it.

Was out shopping last night with Neil. It was good except that we both know too many people, so shopping becomes a social event of stopping and well-wishing. Then we went to Casey's for beer, burger, bowl of soup and bruschetta bread. There are a lot of Xmas signs around these days. Some people find them upsetting because they see the X as removing the Christ from Christmas. But if you look at things in the historical perspective, it's not so bad. X is the Greek letter chi (pronounced ki) and is the accepted ancient Greek letter for "Christ". There is also the suggestion that the letter X is in itself the sign of the cross, thus another accepted symbol for Christ. Also, it was common for Christian monks in the 16th century to write Xmas instead of Christmas in their letters and tapestries.

Nature's Velcro

Took a quick walk in the bush today. December is way too mild and all the snow is melting. I did notice lots of tiny plants... including these burrs. Even in winter the common burdock waits for the hiker to hitch a ride. Watch where you walk... they'll stick to your jeans even in freezing weather. When you look at the tiny hooks, they're just like Velcro. Or is it the other way around...?

Birthdays!

Jennifer has a birthday today. She says she "doesn't do birthdays anymore" but I can tell ya she is somewhere north of 30 ... but south of 35. It's all good. And I forgot to mention it earlier... but my favorite big brother Gary had a birthday last week. I know Gary is a bit north of 50, but that's all good, because he is a cool guy. My friend Claudette also had a birthday last week. She is the same age as moi! So you know she is still young! : )

Don't try this at home!

Who would’ve thunk it? I took the battery off my drowned cellphone Saturday to let it dry, figuring I might be able to use the battery when I buy a new cell phone. I came back home the next day and found the battery and phone all dried out… so whattyaknow, I installed the battery. And the phone came back to life!! The day and date stuff wasn’t working, but what the heck… the rest of the phone works! Washable cell phones… Cool eh.

Can ya hear me now!

Every now and then it's fun to find a five dollar bill in the bottom of the washing machine. I got home tonight and was doing laundry when i found something else... Oh well... maybe I will save five dollars worth of cellphone calls eh. I really liked that phone. It had my initials on it. Maybe I will have to change my name to Nokia. I couldn't find the phone about two days ago... I didn't really miss it... I just figured I was becoming unpopular.

Icy designs

At first it looks like an aerial view of the craggy icefields on the north side of Baffin Island. Then you see the edge of the nickel on the left side of the picture. It was just some interesting ice cystal patterns I saw on a creek when I went for a walk at lunchtime. It was cold too. Time to dig out my scarf and mitts eh.

Celebrating life

I was so pleased to receive a note from Cape Breton today about our late Uncle Rannie, who died in August. Rannie was the subject of an interesting news article examining the idea of church funeral ceremonies. It was comforting to note that despite the sense of sadness and loss, Rannie’s funeral was seen as a celebration of life. Indeed, Rannie Gillis was a celebration of life in his own way. Read the article. The last two paragraphs are excellent.

Cool Morning

I was on the road for a couple of days this week. I got up early Tuesday for a brisk walk along the western shore of Lake Temiskaming to watch the sun come up. It was about minus five degrees, but it was a nice start to the day.

Good Saturday morning!

It was a good idea NOT to buy groceries on Friday night. On Saturday mornings, I like a leisurely breakfast…but I’ve been too busy to buy groceries. So I opened the fridge … Woohoo. Chocolate Pie! Yum. Yum. What a great way to start the day. And Jenn called too… she’s back from Jamaica, full of stories and excitement. I spent a few minutes on the phone with my grandsons who were all excited because Santa Claus is in the parade in Sudbury today.

Boots in the oven.

No, I am not having sole for supper! I was chatting awhile back with a friend about the best way to treat winter boots for salt and slush. I normally use Dubbin. My friend, Bryan Pacello from Spanish, says "put 'em in the oven before you put the Dubbin on..." He says its better to work on warm boots. I figure Bryan knows a bit about these things... for about 20 years he has been running snowmobile and ATV wilderness tours. He spends a lot of time in the bush. So yes, I put my Sorels in the oven like he said. It will either work very well... or that b*stard Bryan is laughing his ass off at me! ha ha ha.

Rebate Rant

I don't like rebates. Especially when you're asked to mail in your rebate. The stores make you pay tax on the full price... but the rebates don't give you the tax back. So I don't do the rebate thing. I let store managers know my feelings too. I tell 'em I would likely buy the product if they give me the rebate right away... and they can send in the coupon. But few do that. Be careful too... if they give you the so-called instant rebate at the cash register, make sure you're not paying taxes on the higher price. I think if more people speak out, the rebate thing may go away. Just so you know I got a new laptop recently. There was a mail-in rebate coupon attached to it. I told the guy, "hey I will buy that right now... if you send it the rebate". Sure enough... he gave me the discount right then and there. So sometimes it pays to speak up.

Glen makes the news.

I received a nice email this morning from one of my Cape Breton cousins. It seems he was featured on the CBC website today on a story about Remembrance Day observances in Afghanistan. The good looking fellow in the photo is Major Glen MacNeil, Task Force Afghanistan, Operation ARCHER ... my young cousin Glen from Grand Mira.

A good day in Canada

A good day in Canada. A good day in Timmins. Literally hundreds of Timmins citizens attended Remembrance Day ceremonies this morning. It was nice to show support and gratitude for the old veterans and the men and women of the Legion. As they marched to Hollinger Park, people on the street began applauding. It was nice. It was cold and blustery. Right after the ceremony, everyone scrambled for the Tim Horton's across the street. As I stood in line, I thought, Thank Goodness I am a Canadian.

A few minutes to Remember...

Here’s a challenge. Tomorrow is Saturday, a day off for most of us. So let’s make the effort to observe Remembrance Day. Where ever you are, get out of the house for the 20 to 30 minutes it takes to drop by the local Legion or war memorial. Throughout the entire year, I think it’s worth 30 minutes to say thanks for freedom. I know in Timmins, there will be a ceremony by the Cenotaph at Hollinger Park starting at about 10:45 AM. See you there.

Where were you the day the wall came down?

I remember it vividly... Watching CNN. November 9, 1989. The reporters couldn't believe what they were saying. The Berlin Wall , the infamous Iron Curtain, was crumbling. It happened with the fall of communist East Germany. Thousands of citizens approached the wall. The guards let them through. Suddenly people were dancing atop the wall.Others smashed away at it with sledgehammers. The next morning I tracked down a colleague, CBC reporter Colleen Thorpe, a Sudbury girl, who was working in Berlin. I told her I had one request- Get over to the wall and grab a piece of it for me. And so I keep my own little bit of history in a filing cabinet. It's a nice remembrance that even concrete will crumble when the people get fed up with being pushed around.