Only in Timmins...

I was checking out the schedule this morning for the South Porcupine winter carnival which is on next month. The schedule shows 10:00 p.m. on February 12, and says "Skinny at Jakes". I had to laugh. Only in Timmins would anyone have any idea of what that means. Skinny is a very well-known local entertainer and Jakes is a popular pub. Better plan to get there early. If Skinny is on stage, it's gonna be a good time.

Death in the family

We lost a sweetheart of a guy this weekend. Mike Campbell, 49, died in an auto crash in Manitoba on Saturday. He was driving back to Timmins to be with his wife Sue, Terry's eldest sister. Mike always lived life to the top and he never slowed down. He came into our lives years ago when he rode his Harley into Timmins to get a job in the mines, years before riding a Harley was fashionable. Mike never worried about fashion. He lived life his way, never held back and always had a big smile for his friends and family. Yes, we are sure going to miss him.

Another hike...

Another hike today, this time across Pearl Lake and up the north shore to get a close-up look at the McIntyre headframe. It was surrounded by deep snow and the whole place was deathly quiet. It looks huge the closer you get and I wondered if this is how it looked back in the winter of 1927 when it was first built on top of No. 11 shaft. By the way, Stompin' Tom wrote a song about this place back in 1965. It was called Fire in the Mine... fire burned for 30 days.

More than a thousand men were laid off. Draegermen were brought in from as far away as Kirkland Lake and Sudbury to fight the fire. Only one life was lost. Interesting times those were. Anyway, I hiked along to the north side of the headframe ... the side that people rarely see. You can see my snowshoe trail in the lower left side of the photo. It was a good workout.
I didn't mind it, except that when I am really hoofin' along I sweat too much. My toque got wet with sweat and then it froze solid on my head because it was so darn cold out today (minus 34 windchill). I didn't dare take it off until I got back to the truck. It was uncomfortable, but I figured frozen hair would be worse, so I just put up with it.

And just so you know, this month marks the third year that I have been blogging. Jeez, you'd think I would run out of things to yak about by now.

Another blog!

Oh well, I knew it wouldn't last forever ... I am not the only Blogger out there. Yeahhhh, I know it's hard to believe, but today I found another blog. This one is in the States at some place called The White House. Check it out here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/

Goosebumps eh

I don't know what you're doing right now, but I've joined millions of others around the world this moment to watch CNN.com and the swearing-in and speech of President Obama. Amazing stuff. This is a "where were you when..." moment. And yes, it gives me goosebumps.

Good words...

Have you had a frisson lately? You may have, but not known it. I didn't know until this week what a frisson was. I was reading a novel and as the detective walked down the dark hallway with his gun in his hand, he felt a frisson as he passed an open door. That sent me running for the dictionary to learn that a frisson is a "shiver, quiver, shudder, thrill of sudden excitement". I guess it's a good word, but I don't think I can use it in newspaper writing. It's not the kind of word we use everyday. Hmmm.... I can imagine the frisson when I get into the the line-up at the Tim Horton's drive-through!

On the cover of the Rolling Stone...

Lots of excitement about President-elect Obama these days. It's going to be an interesting week. I am sure looking forward to his inaugural speech. I noticed that Obama's image is becoming iconic. I was lucky to grab several copies of the Rolling Stone magazine, which interestingly changed it's format just before Christmas to become the same size as all the other news magazines. And the first edition of that new format has Obama on the cover. It has become a collectors' edition already. I sent Neil a copy for Christmas, because it looks like he's becoming a little bit political. Go figure - - A Gillis with a political opinion! I think that old Bob Dylan's amazing words from his folk song 45 years ago are still ringing true today ... The Times They Are A-changin'

Come gather 'round people wherever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide the chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon for the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who that it's namin'.
For the loser now will be later to win,
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come senators, congressmen please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway , don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside and it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come mothers and fathers throughout the land
And don't criticize what you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.
The line it is drawn, The curse it is cast
The slow one now will later be fast
As the present now will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

Another scanner : )

It's been cold today, but it was a good day. I got another scanner today! I dropped by the TV newsroom and noticed that their old scanner was unplugged... apparently it hadn't been working properly, and they have a newer portable scanner. So I asked Sean, the head techie about it... he said, go ahead and take it. Here's the good part ... this is the very same scanner I bought in the early 1980s and I used it for years at the TV station newsroom... when I left Timmins in 1987, I sold the scanner to the TV station. So I took it home today, cleaned it up, opened it up and poked around a bit and got it working again! The speaker is fried, so I hooked up an external speaker and it works perfectly. Cool eh.

Sunshine and snowshoes

I got out and got some sunshine today ... a bit too much in fact, as I got a bit of a burn on my nose and cheeks while snowshoeing across Pearl Lake. I have a tube of sunblock ointment in the truck, but it was frozen. I am gonna have to remember to wear my sunglasses too, except that I find the metal frames are uncomfortable in cold weather. One thing about snowshoeing is that it makes you walk like you crapped your pants ... not that I am too familiar with how that feels. But it sure feels good and it's all good exercise - - the snowshoeing I mean! : )

Feeling good

Finally feeling a bit better today after that miserable cold. I made only one pot of coffee this week. I think tea is better for a cold. I like hot sweet tea with milk. I think that's something I got from my Mom and Grandma Gillis. When I was a kid and I came in from the cold weather, Mom always gave me a hot cup of tea. I always added sugar. Grandma Gillis always gave me tea in the mornings, when I stayed in Mira. I guess tea is one of my comfort foods. I am pleased that so many people sent Christmas Cards this season. I thought that was something from the past. Obviously not. Canada Post also came through this week with a card and letter from Leilani and Ronald, all the way from Vancouver Island. Leilani is my cool sister-in-law who is one of the few people I know who got her picture taken with the Stanley Cup ... in Afghanistan! Leilani put in a real nice Christmas letter with the card, which is a nice tradition. It's amazing to hear that Dominique is 24! Christina is 17! and Matthew is 15! Wow, we are all getting older eh. Ronald was home on leave for Christmas, but is soon heading out to Afghanistan. Leilani is back in uniform too, working at the air base in Comox. It's so nice to hear that things are well with them all.

Staying warm in the bush

I finally dragged my lazy butt out of the house today for a nice hike in the bush. The weather was perfect. It was snowing and mild at about minus 20 ... still cool enough to try out my new Canada Goose parka for about an hour. There was a problem. After about 20 minutes of hard hiking, it was too warm! I was actually sweating.
I had to stop at one point and open the front and cool off. That's not a serious problem. Santa Claus was generous this year but the parka should last a few years longer than most. My first extreme weather parka was a Woods brand... it lasted 17 years. I remember it was so warm I could go ice fishing and lay down on the ice for a snooze and not notice the cold. The Canada Goose cost a few extra bucks, but I think it will keep me toasty warm for a few years.

Circumstances

For the past few years I have been thinking of snapping some nice photos of the Northern Lights. But circumstances don't always allow it. I have been waiting and preparing. I bought a special tripod because you just can't get a nice shot by shooting a handheld camera. I have all my cold weather gear ready and I always travel with my cams, fresh batteries and lots of photo memory cards. As luck would have it, we saw the Northern Lights on New Year's Eve as Jenn, Scott and I drove to the house party at Moe and Marie's place. It was bloody freezing out and I couldn't stop the truck to set up for a good photo. Since it was New Year's I was wearing a kilt, which doesn't quite lend itself to working in cold weather. I figured since the aurora is caused by magnetic anomolies at the earth's poles, it would likely continue on Thursday night. But Thursday night was clouded over. All day Friday I grumbled with my cold and sore throat and then at midnight I checked for aurora. Nothing. Same story Saturday night. Clear skies. No aurora. I will keep watching. Oh well, I am tired of staying cooped up in the house with a cold. Gonna load up on some Neo-Citron and go snowshoeing this afternoon.

Happy new year ... poor Reuben D'Aigle

Well here we are in 2009 and I am still puttering along in low gear. But I am having fun. New Year’s Eve was a hoot at Marie and Moe’s place as the Maltais gang came together for a party. It was nice to see everyone again. Jennifer and Scott were in town for that and so we all partied the night away. Everyone slept in on January 1, got up for steaming pots of coffee and then went off to Aunt Sue’s for some 'hangover soup'. I stayed home to nurse a sore throat. Last night Scott and Jenn took me out for supper at the new Boston Pizza restaurant. It was nice and then we rented some movies and snuggled on the couch. I think everyone was too partied out to do anything more than that. Jenn and Scott got up early this morning to make the trip back home to Sudbury. I know that I have to be back in “work mode” by Monday… but I was already out at a fire alarm this morning. Some poor guy on Norman Street had a garage fire. Life goes on eh.
Oh by the way, happy 100th anniversary for Timmins. It was 100 years ago that the Porcupine gold rush began. You’re gonna hear a lot about that as they plan to celebrate this for the next FOUR years, which includes the discovery of gold, the start-up of the mines and then the incorporation of the municipalities.
One of the most interesting stories was that gold might have been discovered here in 1908, instead of 1909. A famous prospector named Rueben D’Aigle came through this way looking for gold in 1908. Reuben knew his stuff. He’d made money in the Klondike gold rush and came back east to find a fortune in the Cobalt silver rush. He was a bit late for that so he headed north to the Porcupine where he did drilling, blasting and rock testing, but for some reason had no success. It was a year later that another team of prospectors came through. They found Reuben’s camp; they even saw the old bootprints in the moss and the mud. As the legend goes, they kicked aside the moss and found a beautiful vein of gold that eventually became the world renowned Hollinger Mine. Poor Reuben.

The best Christmas...

It's Monday morning and I am enjoying another day off. It's nice to be home, but I have to admit that this Christmas at Jenn's place was just one of the best ever. Maybe it was the fact that we all managed to get together, despite the weather and then enjoy each other's company. I felt lazy because I had absolutely nothing to do but sit back and enjoy the time. All I had to do was eat and drink and get hugs and kisses when we went visiting. The food was fabulous and the whiskey was fine, but I think I caught a little cold from somebody. There were some funny moments. We visited one home where the host asked what I'd like to drink. I held up my thumb and forefinger closely together and said "just a whiskey with one ice cube, please". He came back with a full tumbler of whiskey ... and one ice cube. Good thing Don was driving.
Jenn and I even managed a nice phone call with Neil on Christmas Day. He's in Vancouver and was heading off to enjoy what he called "an orphan's Christmas" with several of his friends. Neil even bragged they had a nice 30-pound turkey. But since he's an avowed vegetarian, I hope he got to enjoy some of the stuffing.
Well, I tackled the driveway this morning. It took an hour to get rid of all the snow. I will have to tackle some housework today because Jenn and Scott are arriving Wednesday to celebrate the New Year in Timmins.

Finally back home in Timmins after a fabulous visit with Scott & Jennifer and the boys in Sudbury. What an eventful week. Take a close look at my old beak there. It’s still a bit swollen and bruised from my adventure with Jenn’s storm door last night. I even managed to get a few cuts. (click the photo) I was coming back to the house after taking the kids skating and it was raining. So once the kids got back into the house, I wasn’t paying full attention to the storm door, which was a one-piece all-glass door. I thought the door was open when I barged right through it! Luckily the glass was safety glass and it shattered into thousands of tiny pieces… but I still got a few cuts on my hands, scalp, face and even one cut on my elbow! Nothing serious, thank goodness.
Today was fun. I was able to get out to Nathan’s hockey game today and witness his first official minor hockey goal. Nathan was quite pleased and it was nice that the whole family was there to see the goal and cheer for him.
The week was also great in terms of the excellent food. Oh my god, I can't believe I ate so much. Denise (Jenn's mother in law) brought some excellent Christmas pastries and an amazing jar of picked eggs. I think that's all I ate for three days. But it was soooo good.
The drive home from Sudbury took several hours. Jennifer called me on the cell phone to advise that the highway had been closed at the Watershed. The sun was still shining, so I pressed on. Within an hour it was obvious that winter was in control. The plows had not yet passed and the roads weren’t that slippery, but just so packed with snow that you couldn’t drive any faster than 60 K/ph. When I got to the Watershed, there were no roadblocks, but there had been a power failure. Not able to get coffee, I pressed on. The driving was very slow and tiring, four-wheel drive, second gear. Twice I saw vehicles in the ditch. I got to Highway 101 at Timmins and that’s where police had indeed set up a roadblock. There had to be more than fifty vehicles there, mostly transports, waiting for the highway to open.
They seem surprised to see me coming through. The police officer at the roadblock said a snowplow was about 30 minutes behind me.
Oh well, it has been a long day. I am so tired. I am hitting the sack shortly. It's too quiet here at home. I was just getting used to the sound of the kids laughing, shouting, fighting, crying and laughing again. I miss them already. I am lucky though.. we spent hours together talking, laughing, shopping, eating chocolate cake, playing games, telling silly stories and laughing some more. I am so blessed.

Lazy holiday time.

I got tired today of being lazy and eating rich foods and drinking Baileys. Today was a shopping day with the kids, so Tyler, Nathan, Victoria and myself jumped into the truck and drove to the New Sudbury Centre. That's where each of the kids grabbed a shopping cart, - yup they each took a cart, - and pushed it all around the Dollar Store to buy stuff with some of their Christmas cash. It was fun. I actually had more fun with the kids this morning in the driveway. The weather was so mild that I was out there in my housecoat and pyjamas playing frisbee and then we played for awhile with the remote control toy truck, driving it through the slush! It was almost lunchtime and there I was in the driveway, slippers and jammies, playing with the kids.
I can't believe how mild the weather was compared to earlier this week in Timmins when I got frostbite on my fingers. Christmas Day was perfect. Sunny and mild. The kids were all about snowshoeing before lunch, and then they were skating. I think the warm weather is my fault. Santa came through with my new Canada Goose parka, reputed to be the warmest parka in the world. I was looking forward to testing it out in the ultra-cold weather, but no such luck. Jennifer tried the parka on as you can see in the photo below.
I was sleeping-in Christmas morning, but my room was next to the kids' room so I heard them getting up and checking out the gifts, when I snapped sone photos.(see the top photo here)
It was a fun Christmas morning and the kids could barely contained their excitement. I think the best laugh was when we could hear Nathan hollering urgently, but no one could see him... that's when we realized he had climbed behind the Christmas tree and was lost in the tangle of branches and gifts.
Jennifer made the morning a bit more enjoyable as she made the rounds with a pot of fresh coffee and a bottle of Baileys. It was an absolutely perfect Christmas Day with Jennifer and Scott and the boys; Christine, Demetrios and Victoria from Whitby and Don and Denise from Westree.

So this is Christmas Eve...

I love this time of year. Everyone's in such a good mood eh. I was in the line-up at the liquor store in Timmins yesterday...Oh my god, what a line-up... but everyone was joking and laughing. At one point, one fellow hollered "hey why don't we open a few and pass 'em around...?" The liquor store staff looked nervous for a few moments. I can just imagine how busy it will be there today.
It's early morning and I am having my coffee. I awoke before 5:00... but there's no way I could go back to bed. Pretty soon, I will load the truck and get ready for the drive south. We had some snow so it should take about four hours. The drive should be nice and quiet. I hope. The highway should be in good shape. If not, I have discovered there is a logging road that runs south from Timmins down to Matachewan, then there's a connecting road southeast to Elk Lake, then west to the Watershed and then south to Sudbury.... Yeah right, I should arrive by New Year's.
Got all the wrapping done last night. I ran out of Scotch tape and had to use heavy packing tape for some gifts.
I always think I didn't get enough gifts, but I think the real reason is that we all have so much it's difficult to buy for people. I can't wait to see the fun that Tyler and Nathan, my grandsons, will have tomorrow morning.
Tyler called me at work yesterday, just to remind me that I have to visit him and Nathan at Christmas. I was laughing so hard.
I also got so many nice Christmas Cards this year. With Facebook and e-mail, you'd think Christmas Cards would be obsolete... but they're still so darn nice to get. So thank you for those.
I checked the truck a while ago. New bush tires. Snowshoes, Survival kit, blankets, extra parka, compass, GPS unit, CDs (there is no radio signal between Timmins and Sudbury!. I am such a Boy Scout eh. Tyler reminded me of one more thing... I gotta buy a chocolate cake...that's what we're having for breakfast on Christmas Day.
Merry Christmas everyone.

Other things

Some clown jumped on the hood of my truck today. Really. Click the photo. She was part of the firefighter’s annual candy run, where they drive through the streets each winter and give out candies to the kids in return for donations for the food bank.

I dropped by Tim Horton’s today. Tim’s makes you polite. There are two doors to go through to get inside, or outside. On the way in, I met another fellow coming out. He held his door for me, and I held my door for him. We were about two metres apart. I said “you’ve carrying coffee and stuff, I’ve got the door.” So he came forward. On the way out, I ran into a teenager… Same thing happened. He smiled and held his door for me. It’s a good thing to hold doors for people.

Dropped by the Book Bin after coffee. I bought five new books. That should keep me going for awhile. I’ve read four books so far in December. I don’t think I miss TV at all. Well sometimes when I get together with people and they talk about stuff on TV, I think I am missing out.

More good news, I was chatting with Jennifer today about spending Christmas with her gang and she revealed some nice news. Tyler scored his first goal in minor hockey today. Woohoo for Tyler!

Winter has officially arrived.

Happy winter! Yup, It arrived at 7:04 this morning. Minus 28 here in Timmins. Windchill minus 39. But that will improve... Environment Canada says it will warm up this afternoon to a high of minus 25. I will be out and about. It's gonna be a nice day.

Good reading.

One of the good things about the net is the fact that it has so much FREE online stuff. I am referring to magazines and newspapers. There was a time you'd have to spend hours in the library or make a trip to a specialty news store to get this stuff. I have bookmarked a couple of new websites that are great. One is for The New Yorker magazine, which has a very funny section where you get to insert the caption for their cartoon. The magazine has some good writers, but its a bit snooty overall. Pretty political too. There is also another website for the New York Magazine, which is totally different. It's all about pop culture and street level New York. Still, it's interesting reading. It's a good way to blow off a Saturday morning and ignore housework. A steam hot pot of tea and peanut butter cookies helps out too. : )