Zoom w a View: Good timing. It was almost lights out

I thought someone had left the lights on outside.


["View from the back deck": photos GH]

But I reached the switch before I said something stupid.


(“Hey, who left the lights on out back?” was on the tip of my tongue).

After my finger flipped the light switch, I realized the light shining in through the back window was caused by the sunset, not my wife’s negligence. (Hey, it couldn’t have been me. It had to be her).


Fall, crisp air, clear sky, good timing, great sunset, no foul.

***

More artsy fartsy photos here.

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After 40 years of marriage I took my wife on a...

Mini-vacation to Ottawa.

Yup. She was so impressed.

And she didn’t seem to mind, as far as I could tell (after 40 years of sharing the same sugar bowl with her I have a sixth-sense about lots of stuff, e.g., she doesn’t like it when everything I wear at one time is made of denim), that I planned to have us walk to the National Art Gallery, only 6 - 15 blocks away from our hotel - again, as far as I could tell.


Visitors will come upon a striking monument dedicated to the spirit of reconciliation as they approach the gallery.


The outside of the gallery is most impressive, in my humble opinion.




The inside is nothing short of spectacular.


The above is one of the last in my set of ‘permitted photographs.’

***

Coming up next (under the cloak of darkness and secrecy) - the photographs that could cost me a whole whack of my hard-earned Boy Scout badges.

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I wonder if it’s about the money? Pt 2

Money matters. Apparently, so does our long-form census.

It’s in all the news. It’s not going away.

In an earlier post I stated “maybe our Prime Minister realizes Canada is headed for the poor house,” and that affected his decision about the census. You know, stop producing the penny and stop sending out all those census forms - to save money.

I don’t know if PM Harper has the census under his microscope because it’s an ideological issue as some of his critics say.

To them I say, it may be an ideological issue in part.

It may also be a financial issue in part.

It may be because the Pm is vindictive and small-minded and ornery in part.


["Other- 5%? Let me see. Contrariness?"]

It may be all those things and more.

I wish there was a machine that spit out percentages when an issue came up and it worked like this:

Ideology - 32%

Financial concerns - 28%

Vindictiveness - 12%

Small-mindedness - 8%

Asleep at the switch - 8%

Indigestion - 7%

Other - 5%

The machine would really help.

Until it’s invented, however, we’ll have to make due with lots of discussion, and I’ll continue to speculate that money is involved because money matters and it’s getting tight.

***

What could ‘Other - 5%’ be? Now I’m curious.

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How can Muffets make you feel older?

I visited The Red Roaster again this morning (no surprise there, right?) and while enjoying coffee I noticed that Kendra, the owner of the cafe, was eating half of a huge cinnamon roll at a nearby table with her husband and a friend.

The KFC DD, and its affects, came to mind so I said, “Kendra is enjoying a very nutritious meal, I see.”

I was soon asked what I had had for breakfast since I seemed to be the expert around them parts.

“Muffets,” I said.

“Muffins?” asked Kendra.

“Muffets,” I said again.


["How do people not know about Muffets?": photo GAH]

By the blank stares that followed, I realized I was talking to folks who were too young to know that Muffets is the name of a breakfast cereal - a whole grain cereal made by Quaker and packed with sunny goodness.

“What’s it like?” I was asked.

Well, I mentioned a few words about shredded wheat and how Muffets taste a bit like how they look - like small round bales of hay.

More blank stares.

Gosh, I felt old.

***

Does anyone remember the best kind of all - malt-flavoured Muffets (in the brown box)?

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From The Workshop: Hey, bird feeders take no time at all

It still surprises me when someone says, “Could you make me one of those?”

I was making two new bird feeders the other day in the shed and a friend asked me to make one for him.


["They are so easy to make - try white cedar": photos GAH]

(My younger ‘starving-artist’ brother needs one out back of his new apartment/art studio on Dundas St., and if I’m going to set up equipment to make one, I might as well take a few more minutes and make two or more, go into business and earn my fortune. Right? Sorry, I digress).

“I really like the design,” he said.

And how could he not I ask you?

But, they’re so easy to make.

I thought, why doesn’t he simply rescue a bit of lumber and make his own? Fer Pete’s sake.

“And you’re sure the squirrels can’t get at it?” he asked, interrupting my thoughts.


["Free from squirrels - so far"]

After crossing my fingers behind my back I said, “If you keep it 6 feet off the ground and 6 feet from any pole or fence, you should be okay.”

And I’ll be okay making another and another after that, if need be, because I realize very few people have a workshop or the tools or the time to fiddle around like I do.

So, I’ll just shut up, make more feeders and count my many blessings.

***


["How about some custom cedar trim, eh?"]

I sold my friend on a ‘custom’ model, i.e., with cedar trim.

And you all know what ‘custom’ means, right?

That’s right. I earn my fortune 1 extra buck at a time.

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My Toronto Maple leafs are going backwards

I don’t know what it is with The Leafs since mid - December.

One step forward, two steps back, two steps forward, three steps back - you get the picture.


["Send me in, Coach": GAH circa 1959]

Way, way back in an earlier era (say, Dec. 20, 2009), they were doing much, much better, had a winning record over ten games.

I half-boldly predicted the following in a brilliant, optimist post:

I think if The Leafs maintain the same pace over the next 20 games they will have a fair - good chance of reaching a playoff position.

But now? Over their last ten games The Leafs are a sad 2 - 6 - 2 - 0, and are 9 points out of a playoff position.

Had Leaf scouts seen me play yesterday they would have said, “Not bad. We should send him up.”

Not that I was that good. But I was holding my own against younger players.

***

My secret for creating room to make a blistering shot?

I don’t wash my hockey sweater!

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Young at Heart: Opportunity for great wealth below - maybe

We live in a litigious society, eh. Remember the lady who sued McDonald’s for a bazillion dollars because the coffee was too hot to pour in her lap?

Yeah? And the guy who sued a lawnmower company because he lost a few fingers while cleaning out the wet grass from under the mower with a screw driver - while it was running? (Who knew?)


["I said that. So sue me"]

Well, here’s your opportunity to sue me without losing any fingers or scalding your lap.

Ready to make money or save it?

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I help a new team to victory - same old, same old at home

Got to the rink a little late today (too much time spent in the workshop nursing the latest birdhouses toward completion) and found the teams out of balance.

“I’ll switch to the white team,” I said, “and play stay-at-home defense. Should help even things out.”

It did alright. White team, for the first time in a dog’s age, won the game.

Yup. I was brilliant.


["Better luck next time, pal"]

Got home, told Sweets the news.

“I played stay-at-home and set up a couple of great goals. Tipped the balance, I’d say,” I said.

“You’d better do your laundry tonight. Your room smells,” she replied.

Yup. She was right.

Shoulda kept my mouth shut.

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