Camp Gilla... again

Even though covering news is my passion, I do like to stop and take a break every now and then. Saturday had been a long day covering stories about the big forest fire near Timmins and so when evening rolled around, I was ready to sit back and enjoy a nice dinner. I dropped by Pick of the Crop and grabbed a very nice strip loin and then as I was getting it ready, with a Spanish onion, some mushrooms and a green pepper, I opened a bottle of Beaujolais. Woohoo, this was gonna be good. The phone rang.
It was the communications lady from the forest fire command post. The new fire teams are coming in from BC and I’ve got a seat on the chopper for you, she said. Can you be at the helipad in ten minutes?
Yeahhh, I said. So drop everything, grab the cams and head out.

I got to the helicopter without 30 seconds to spare! I had no idea where we were going, except I could meet some of the fire teams and get photos. Good enough for me.

So up we went over the fire zone. There was a crew from Global National with us, and so our little chopper was packed with people and cameras. The TV guys got the best shots, as expected. I had no problem with that since I wanted a good newspaper story. So we were flying for about 30 minutes when the pilot starts asking if anyone knows precisely where Camp Gilla is? What? I was there two weeks ago. So point out the window at Highway 144, there’s Highway 560 and there’s Camp Gilla. I sure didn’t expect to be back, but once we landed there were about 80 fire crew members from BC there. So that was interesting.

On the way home, the TV guys wanted some close ups of the fire. Our pilot was accommodating. We flew at about 200 feet through the smoke and right above the flames. I’ve never seen anything like that before. We were close to trees, but I wasn’t worried because I was in the back seat. If we hit a tree, it would hit the pilot first! Ha ha ha. Anyway, it was a fun evening and when I got back home at about 10:20, I cooked up a very, very nice steak!

Group Hug!

If you're anywhere near Timmins, one of the things you get to see a lot of are claim posts.  These posts were put up by prospectors on what is obviously a good claim ...  because there are so many posts.  To me it kind of looks like a group hug of claim posts!  It's kind of interesting, because anyone can stake a claim, but it is the first one who gets back to the Mining Recorders office who becomes the owner of the claim.  That's all going to change in the next year or so.  The Ontario government, based in that awful far away place called Toronto, has deemed that claims can now be staked on computers! It sounds modern but it is not. This means that whoever has the fastest computer, or biggest bank of computers (meaning the large corporates) now get the edge over the lowly hardworking prospector who spends his days on the land looking for gold, silver and diamonds. It will be a sad day to see prospectors leaving the land.

More forest fires ...

A bit of excitement Sunday. Another major forest fire broke out south of Timmins. This one caused a massive smoke plume in the sky… was like an eclipse. It just blotted out the sun. I had some explaining to do when a Natural Resources helicopter crew wondered what I was doing in an area they said was too close to the fire. I snapped a photo of them checking out my vehicle. I was on a nearby hilltop getting shots of the fire zone.

Busy week in the bush!

Two things to report on this week. One ... the black flies are out! Oh Yeah, the little buggers were everywhere this week as I had a couple of assignments in the bush. Second item - I saw Don and Denise this week, but I sure didn't expect to see them. They were evacuees from Timmins Forest Fire No.7, which broke out Monday. All the people of Westree were ordered to leave their homes Monday night as the fire appeared to be getting too close. As it turned out, the 200 hectare fire began to move away from the Westree and Morin Village areas on Tuesday. So I drove down Tuesday to snap a few photos. I was able to get past the roadblock and into a remote bush area where I could get a few extra photos. But the wind was carrying embers on the fire and before we knew it, there were little fires popping up all around us, and the whole area began to get very smokey ... so we scooted out of there very quickly. We also dropped by the relief camp where the evacuees were staying. It was nice to say hello and to have a quick chat with Denise and Don and some of their neighbours.

Once there was a real hero ...

This week was interesting in that I spent part of Thursday and then Friday covering the annual competition of the Ontario Mine Rescue teams in Timmins. A lot of people don’t know that Ontario’s own mine rescue program began in Timmins after a terrible fire at the Hollinger Mine back in 1928. Thirty-nine miners died. I wrote a history piece on it for this week’s paper and posted in online as well. One of the most interesting parts came from the testimony at the official Royal Commission inquiry into the disaster. During the inquiry, the story came out about a miner named George Zolob who was trapped with several other men below the 600 level. Poisonous smoke was creeping through the tunnels, but Zolob decided he couldn’t sit there and die. He tore his coveralls into strips of cloth to make primitive face masks for himself and the other six men. Zolob then crawled on his hands and knees through the smoke and darkness to find the shaft leading to surface. Once there he was able to get to the cage (elevator) and get himself and the other miners rescued. Incredible! So here’s the good part. I took a phone call this morning and discovered that Zolob’s daughter is alive, living at the Golden Manor senior’s home. She was pleased with the story and I get to meet her and her son, Zolob’s grandson, on Monday. By the way, the story was told before. It was in the New York Times on February 11th, 1928 … front page! (Click on the image for a larger version.)

Yup, did it again. Silly me!

So I had to do some catch up on my laundry last night... close to midnight. Without thinking, I grabbed the hamper and threw it all in the washer. Only when I pulled my jeans out did I notice the black spot... a big yucky black spot where my pen leaked out. Yep, I left a pen in my jeans pocket. Then I remembered I might have left phone in the pocket too. Yup! Of course, it wasn't working at all so I pulled the battery out and put the phone on a table to dry out. Luckily I had a phone from two years ago sitting in my desk. So I changed the SIM cards and everything is fine. The old phone is working perfectly. I just have to get used to all the buttons again! And I will have to buy some new jeans. Threw the other ones out last night.

Silly photo.

Somedays I shoot a silly photograph at a serious situation. There was a small fire at the Mac's corner store Monday night... the sign out front was a bit funny. So I snapped the photo.

Un - photos. Huh?

So I met a news photographer in Vancouver a couple of years ago who showed me his collection of Un-photographs. Un-photographs are those photos that show up on your digital camera card and you have no idea where they came from. I knew exactly what he meant. My cams are sensitive and sometimes will shoot off a frame or two before I get set up for a news photo. I have seen one or two shots of my shoes that were taken as I had the cams hanging from my shoulder. So this week, I was at a fire scene at about 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday when these Un-photos "happened". Maybe I should start a collection eh?

Global warming ... is over?

Yeah so this was the weather Timmins woke up to this morning. It was only a few weeks ago that we were enjoying sunshine and warm weather, but now this ... yeah, I know, I know... climate change. Well climate is what you're supposed to expect. Weather is what you get.

Books, books and Bo Duke!

So I have been reading like a fiend in the past few weeks, and even though I feel guilty spending so much time reading, it has been worth it. First of all the nice weather changed into yukky rainy weather for a while, so it was good to grab a cup of Red Rose and bury my nose in the pages. Since March 30th I have gone through six books and I am about two thirds the way through the seventh book!

The latest book is a Ken Follett novel called World Without End, which is a sequel to Pillars of the Earth, one of my all time favourite books. The woman at Coles told me I should go back and re-read Pillars, but I didn't take her advice. Now that I am so deep into World Without End, (about 1000 pages with SMALL print) I think I will take the advice and go back an re-read Pillars. This stuff is like chocolate. Some of these books are so excellent. So I am making a new list of authors I haven't read for awhile and I will be visiting the book store soon. If you haven't read Follett's stuff lately, treat yourself. Pillars and World Without End is all about life in small villages in feudal England from the tenth century to the 13th century. Amazing stuff. You won't be able to put the books down... real page turners. I did break away from the books for awhile yesterday ... I went out Saturday night with friends. We all ended up at a house party playing a game of Rock and Roll trivia. I feared that I wouldn't know a thing about it ... because I don't much attention to the "new" music. Well it turned out to be about rock performers from 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. Luckily I knew my answers. Neil (the music expert in the family) would have been proud.

Planning some fun with Tyler and Nathan

Spent a bit of time on the Internet last night planning a trip to the big city with the boys. It's going to happen in June. Haven't worked out all the details yet, but I know we will be staying in a very nice hotel. That's my travel rule... always get a nice hotel room and you will have a good trip!

ATV Adventure

Easter Weekend was a bit more fun than I imagined it would be. I was pleased to be able to get down to Westree to the Alexander camp to spend time with Jennifer, Scott and her boys Tyler and Nathan, Don and Denise Alexander, along with Christine, Dimitrios and Victoria. I got into relaxation mode right away. As soon as I arrived, Denise was serving appetizers. We had all wonderful seafood dinner, and there was a fabulous full moon Friday night. We sat around the big fire and enjoyed drinks and conversation.

Saturday proved to be a big adventure. It was decided we’d go on an ATV ride and have a picnic at a nearby lake. So we head out on what was supposed to be a two hour trip. But the trails were a bit mucky in places and that slowed us down quite a bit.
The real fun began we came to a part of the road that was washed out. The washout was old and was not supposed to be much of a challenge. But the beavers had been at work creating dams, so there was too much water to cross the washout. There was a bit upper dam with the big pond behind it and a lower dam with a small pond about a metre deep.
I took a minute to enjoy the fact that we could see a couple of the beavers working on their little house in the middle of the pond. Look right in the centre of the second photo.





After a bit of discussion, Scott and Don determined the washout could be crossed if they could figure a way to lower the water level in the lower dam. I thought, No Way! But Scott and the boys set to work tearing out sticks and mud from the lower dam with their bare hands. Well, what do ya know? After several minutes the water began receding. Don was able to cross the washout with the bigger ATV, but a couple of the smaller bikes had to be “walked” across the upper dam. Sure enough, those fellas did the job and got everyone across. Who would’ve believed that?

After awhile we all stopped by a perfect Northern Ontario lake and had pop and sandwiches. No wonder Westree people smile a lot. After that nice little break, we made our way home. The two hour trip took more than four hours, but it sure was fun.

Happy April

I got a real kick out of the fact that the boys called Saturday morning with BDay withes for old Papa Lenny. It was fun to chat with them. They're still kids, but they talk about lots of interesting things... they're pretty thoughtful. So yes Saturday was a good day to buy myself a gift. Sure enough, I found myself browsing the shelves at Coles where I picked up two news book by two of my favourite authors, Ted Bell and Ken Follett. So that will keep me occupied for a week or two. I also bought an apple pie! Got home, put the tea on, cut a slice of pie and began reading. Before long it was nine oclock. I forgot all about the Earth Hour thing about shutting off lights for one hour. I sure wasn't going to read in the dark. So I poured a Jameson and drank a toast to all the environmentalists out there.
So today is April and that means it is Tyler's Birthday. No foolin! He is twelve years old. I will get to see him on Friday. That will be fun.Here's a pic of Ty and Princess Curly Mom in Timmins last summer.
April will also have Earth Day. I know that the local school kids head out on the local highways every year on Earth Day to pick up litter. It makes them feel good. So I am going to do my part. I will take my Tim Horton's paper coffee cup and toss it out the window that day, so the kids will have something to pick up and they will feel so good about themselves.


Just Kidding!!!

Feeding my addictions...

So March is almost gone, but I have been feeding my addiction. Books. It was one night about two weeks ago, I getting ready for bed when I suddenly realized I had read all my recent books. I had nothing new to read. I panicked. I ran to the bookcase and searched for something to read. Next morning I was up and off to the book store where I bought four new novels. So I have read two and began reading the third one last night. I am heading out to buy more books this weekend. I am also thinking of buying an e-reader, one of those little tablets. But I am still not sure if I will use it or like it as much as holding a book.
Anyway, super, crazy, busy news month. You may have heard about the big tractor trailer crash near Timmins this week… a truck hauling coins from the Mint hit a rock cut on Highway 11 and spilled several million dollars worth of loonies and twoonies all over the roadway. Bizarre. The unfortunate part is that the two Brinks employees suffered serious injuries and they will be getting medical attention for weeks, if not months.
I have another addiction. Grapefruit. I used to think they were bitter tasting, but not anymore. I actually had one for supper this week. I find them so juicy and slurpy good.
March in Timmins has had some unusual weather. We had temperatures last week in the mid-twenties! How crazy is that? Things seem to be back to normal now. It’s minus 11 right now and I can accept that. There is very little snow left in the bush and the rivers are running high. I am going to predict this will be a rough season for forest fires. Come May and June, it’s gonna be pretty smoky around here.
I was talking to Jennifer this past week and she and her family are all well. We will all be heading to camp for the Easter weekend so that will be nice.

Quite the change eh?

So if you check out the photo and the note I posted here last Monday, you will note the temperature was MINUS 30! Well it's Sunday afternoon in Timmins and the temperature is now PLUS 20! What's with that?

Sad news, good news ...

It was upsetting today to learn that a dog near Sudbury has died after valiant efforts by veterinarians and ordinary people. The dog was discovered last week wandering along a bush road after it had been shot in the face, twice, by shotgun blasts. Remarkably the dog was alive long enough that people driving by were able to pick him up and bring him to a vet for surgery. The dog was nicknamed Buddy and although he seemed to be recovering, his heart failed Friday. It is so sad that somebody would try to kill the animal and just leave him. I can’t imagine how that dog suffered. If somebody doesn’t want their dog anymore there are ways to look after that by having the animal adopted out by the local pound or the Humane Society. It is frustrating that this happens.
Jennifer and Scott and their boys have a dog. He too is named Buddy. He’s pretty special. Every time I arrive at Jenn’s place, he wanders over to the truck and waits for me to get out of the vehicle. This is a photo of Buddy and Neil at Christmas, with Buddy sucking up to get a treat. My best memories of Buddy were when Jennifer was in the hospital and I would visit her. When I came back to the house, it’s like Buddy knew where I had been and he would circle around me several times, nosing and sniffing knowing that I had been visiting Jennifer.
Okay I have some “apartment guy” news to share. I finally have a “door thingy”. In my building, most tenants have some sort of a Welcome ornament on their front doors. I never had one, but thought it would be nice to get one. I just never saw anything I liked whenever I went out shopping. To be honest I never gave it a lot of thought. I was snooping through my bookcase this week when I noticed the eagle head carving. Neil gave it to me at Christmas. It’s a piece of street art carved by a Nootka aboriginal guy in Vancouver. Neil said he always gives the guy a few bucks in return for a piece of unique street art. Suddenly I knew what this was… It’s a door thingy! It's on my door right below the little peep hole. So now, on those evenings when I have sipped an extra whisky and I am tip-toeing home from the pub, I will know for certain what door is mine.

March mornings ...

Today was one of those typical deep-of-winter mornings in Timmins when the smoke from the chimney's just hangs in the air. And yup, like the thermometer shows, it was cold. Minus 30. I didn't plug the vehicle in, but it started just fine. I am really liking that Jeep engine. Sunday morning was a windy March morning, with gusts up to 45 Kilometres per hour. In one Timmins neighbourhood it was enough to send a portable car shelter up into the air like a kite, where in got tangled in the wires at a neighbour's house.

As usual, click on the pics to see them in a larger size.

Schumacher celebrates

There’s a little part of Timmins known as the community of Schumacher. It’s a tight-knit little mining town left over from the glory days of the McIntyre gold mine. Schumacher is not a pretty place; it’s a rough little reminder of the hard working who lived there for so many years. But it’s the people that make it special. March 1st is the 100th anniversary of the town. It is named after a fellow known as Frederick Schumacher, a mine financier who made his fortune in the early days of Timmins. So the next few days will be a lot of fun in Schumacher as they celebrate their centennial. I know I am going to have fun. I like Schumacher and that's probably one of the reasons I have taken so many photos of the old McIntyre Mine headframe, such as this one, which has the look of an old postcard. One of the nicest tributes will be a re-enactment of the walk from the townsite up the hill to the mine gate. It’s a walk that was taken by thousands of miners over the years, as they left home each morning, or evening, and went to work at the mine. In a lot of cases, wives and children would accompany the men to the mine gate; it was a social thing. So Thursday night, at 7:00 p.m., the whole town is invited out for the walk to the mine. See you there!

Half a century ago...

Hard to believe that 50 years has passed by since the flight of Mercury 6 - Friendship 7 when American John Glenn became the first NASA astronaut to orbit planet Earth. I remember it because I was in Grade 2 and the teacher stopped classes so we could listen to the broadcast on the radio on February 20, 1962. It came back to me a couple of years ago when I toured the famous Museum of Flight and Aviation History in Seattle where they had the Mercury space capsule on display. A lot of people at the museum walked right by the old capsule, but I was drawn to it and just tried to imagine what it is like to travel through space at 27,000 kilometres per hour!

A nice winter day in Timmins

Winter in Timmins is great. Well, today it was. I like winter. But I’m not alone. Today was an amazingly bright and sunny day with a temperature of about three degrees. So I was out driving around with the intent of snapping a few photos. Sure enough, there were things to see. I saw a family out at the sliding hill on Highway 655 by Gillies Lake having cookies and hot chocolate at the top of the hill. Of course, they were surrounded by all the other families out enjoying the snow and the sunshine. How nice is that? Over at the Hollinger Park, people were out skating on the new oval there. Other people were sitting around the open fire roasting marshmallows! And then, over at Tim Horton’s the snowmobile crowd was standing around outside, enjoying the sunshine with their coffee. So yeah, it was a nice winter day in Timmins. I took one of the photos I snapped today and played with it through Adobe Photoshop to get some different effects. I think they’re interesting. (Click the photos to see them enlarged)