Looking Forward
Sheepishly, I pull up to my keyboard and dust off the buttons. It's been awhile since i've written, and would like to add that my New Years Resolutions include a disciplined regiment of timely posts! Hopefully.
And so I find myself in the same quandary as last year........ snow and cold outside, unable to dig and play around in the garden.
So we'll dream. About ponds and water features. About rose gardens and scented hyacinths, newly emerged from the warm ground. Happy birds and busy bugs, warm breezes and lazy summer days.
But wait. That's still months off! Wake up, wake up! Recently the song, " Seize the Day" has been playing through my mind, by Carolyn Arends.
" seize the day....... for life slips away like hour glass sand."
and again, " You can do what you will with the days you've been given, I'm trying to spend mine on the business of living!"
Wow. So true! We can spend our whole lives dreaming what's to be, ignoring what is happening now.
So, what is happening now?
well, my daughter is working on her laptop, and from it blares an Irish christmas carol. (it's Jan the 8th ) My son sits next to her, whistling the happy tune. Outside, the bluejays and mourning doves are busy under the feeder, in tight competition with the resident squirrel. The bright sun is making diamonds in the crisp white snow, bracketed by long winter shadows. That's whats happening now. And yet more, for I find my family and myself happy, content and thankful.
Seize the day, my friend. Even during these cold, dark days. For indeed, life does pass away like hour glass sand.
Till later, Charlie
Pushing The Season
It's 3:30 Pm. March 20th, 2008.
A quick poke outside at 8:00 AM made the initial decision not to write a blog this day quite easy. Too depressing, I thought. Really, what could I possibly say to lift the winter weary spirits of my fellow gardeners and plant lovers? There's still 5 foot snowbanks, and I just saw a female cardinal foraging for seeds on our ice covered creek! How depressing is that?!!
Well, the first bit of good news came with a phone call from my friends at Friendly Fotos. After a long separation, my camera was repaired and ready to be picked up. As a bonus, they had managed to save me $300 off the original repair estimate! Ahhhh, it was beginning to feel like spring!
With newly repaired camera in hand, I trudged outside, planning to digitize much of the emerging life in our gardens.
Ha! Was I in for a disappointment! Every flower-bed I visited, I heard the same thing; " go away! We're trying to sleep! "
" But it's spring-time, don't you know?!! " Was my troubled reply.........
Nothing but silence, with no signs of life.
Well, almost nothing.
Check out our pictures under featured plants, and see the brave daffodils pushing through the snow. You've got to admire their determination!
I know some people like that. There's nothing that can hold them down. They push through one obstacle after another. Over time they too bloom, so beautifully.
Another champion of spring is the Witch Hazel. They are also in the featured plants section, taken today with my ' happy to be home' camera. These shrubs are definitely under-utilized in our gardens! Witch Hazels bloom in Feb./ March and the flower's fragrance is amazing. They close the final garden season with vibrant foliage colours of orange, yellow and red.
The best surprise of the day can also be found in the featured plant picture gallery. Last fall my daughter planted a Mr. Goldstrike Aucuba against the west wall of our house. " No way, don't do it Becky! It's a waste of a beautiful plant! " Those were my encouraging words at the time. I firmly believed the cold of our winter would annihilate the plant. Well, it made it through the winter, and it's looking great!
The Aucuba is one full zone below where it should be, so it's definitely a zone pusher. Being a shade loving plant and having a bright, cheerful colour, I'm hoping it's survival through the winter wasn't a fluke. I'll keep you posted on that one.
I opened this story by saying it was 3:30 PM......
I didn't tell you that as I write this, I'm sitting outside on the back porch.
My daughter Katie just stuck her head out of the door, and told me that I'm strange!
" Why? " I ask, quite perplexed.
" Because it's cold outside! " She replies.
" But the thermometer says it's 9 degrees out! " I respond defensively.
" Oh dad, that thing hasn't worked for a long time!!! "
Hmmmmmm. Maybe that's why my nose is so cold!
Just now, a scolding Robin causes me to look up into the tree branches overhead.
Hey. If the daffodils, Aucuba and the Robins can push for spring, well, so can I. After all, it's already March the twentieth, officially the first day of spring!
Till later,
charlie
A Tribute to Mechanics
Well it's mid-march, and there are 10 ft. snow banks outside! I trust you'll forgive me for not writing about spring and flowers and such things. Perhaps next week, if things warm up.
My 1998 1/2 ton pick-up was running really rough, especially while idling. Not having much to do outside, considering all that white stuff, I figured why not tune-it up myself? After all, i'm no stranger to mechanical things, coming from an automobile related background.
Deciding to do just that, a quick call to the auto parts supplier with the vehicle information ensured a speedy delivery of the needed tune-up parts. Into the shop goes the truck, up goes the heat, and click, on goes the radio. " This should be fun! " I exclaim, as the hood goes up. Grabbing the shop light, I move it towards the engine compartment while turning it on. Nothing. The cords plug gets a wiggle, still nothing. Next I check to make sure the bulb is in tight. Sigh. Ok i'm off to the house. Now, realize that I'm a veteran at repairs, so instinctively I grab 4 new light bulbs, knowing that at least two will be broken before this is over.
Back at the shop the new bulb reveals what i'm up against.
Hmmmmm! Ok, now how am I going to get those spark plugs and plug wires out from there?
Have you ever asked yourself that question in a similar circumstance? These things are built so that you and I cannot take them apart!
I look down at my hands, especially my knuckles. Do I really want to do this?
With ratchet in hand, I lean over the fender and begin to pull on the spark plug wire. Ugh! It's been on for a long time, and it's stuck to the spark plug. After 5 minutes of standing on my tip-toes and stretching like a giraffe, I pry the first plug wire loose. I'm already beginning to have certain thoughts and feelings rise, and they're not pleasant.
So I tell myself, " ok, first of all, get a block or something to stand on. Does that make sense? Yes, yes, good idea!" Ahhh that's better, at least now I can reach the blasted things. I continue conversing. " Oh,oh. Hang on. How will I know which wire goes where, once everything is torn apart? Hmmmm. Ok, Take your time, take your time. We'll number things and tag them, matching the old wires with the new ones. Yeah, that'll work. Wow, you're a genius! "
And so the tedious job of spark plug removal continues. Of course, everything that possibly could be in the way, is, Including an emission air line that has a rotted fiberglass sheath. Every time I bang up against it, a cloud of minute nose itchers float up with the heat of the shop light.
Aaaaachooooo!!!!!! Loud and hard, and at least 10 times.
Several times I experience that miserable clickety clackety noise, you know, when your socket comes loose and falls into that remote, unreachable spot. And sure enough, pop, there goes my first light bulb!
Alrighty! The spark plugs are out, and i've managed to guide the spark plug wires out of their tight nest of hoses, wires, shields, covers, and brackets.
I shudder at the thought of putting things back together.
Next I compare the gaps between the old and new spark plugs.
But wait a minute!!!! Something's not right here! The new spark plug threads are at least 3/16 " longer then the old ones. Do you know what happens when a longer spark plug is used, rather then what the manufacturer calls for? You could potentially put ugly little holes in your pistons, increasing the cost of your tuneup by several thousand dollars!
So off to the auto parts store I go, where they confirm my suspicions. Unable to provide the correct plugs, they send me off to the dealer.
Finally, armed with the right parts, I continue with my ' fun ' job. And it's about at this time that I start to really think about it all. What if I hadn't checked the new plugs against the old ones? What a messy situation! Who's fault would it have been?
I also think about the fantastic contortions required of my body, just to remove a few parts! Sometimes I believe there's a really mean engineer in every car company. These engineers hate mechanics, and design cars in such a way as to cause maximum pain and discomfort!
Mechanics have to be positively even-tempered and patient individuals. I've only heard one mechanic cuss and yell in my life, but that was because I had filled his pocket with grease, in retaliation for him soaking me with water. In winter. But that's another story.
Their knowledge requirements are greater then that of physicians. The mechanic's 'patient' goes through fundamental core changes every few years, with accompanying new symptoms and new problems. The physician's object of attention hasn't really changed for thousands of years! And the mechanic's responsibility is as great. With oncoming cars and trucks passing you at great speeds with only several feet to spare, well, let's just hope all mechanics are doing a good and thorough job!
A mechanic endures burned hands, skinned knuckles, banged scalps, bruised shins, strained backs and muscles, melting ice water down the neck, salty road salt in the eyes, screwdriver stabbed hands, They sweat over hot engines on the worst summer days........ well you get the point.
Oh, and then there's the dirty oil, the grease, the stinking old transmission fluid, the smell of gasoline and diesel fuel. All these things he gets to take home, on skin and clothes.
The next time you get the chance, take a look at your mechanics hands; he could probably write a book about each scar, each mark. I can just imagine ...... it would go something like this. " Hey John, what's that burn mark on your hand from? " " Oh wow, yeah!" He replies. "Last week a little old guy with this beat up Ford ........." and there comes another story.
Well, I could go on forever. You see, I've worked alongside mechanics for many, many years. They're a special group of people, both in skill and character. And i'm thankful for all the years i've been privileged to work with, and learn from them.
The next time that you get your vehicle serviced, ask the manager if you can personally thank the mechanic who worked on your car. You will be doing a really good thing.
Oh, and my truck is running much better now, thank-you.
Charlie
Reflections about the past........ our Heritage
Over the last number of weeks I've been reading about the Gray-Dort years in Chatham, and it's effect on the surrounding community.
Did you know that at one time, Chatham, Ontario was positioned to be the leading automobile manufacturer in Canada?
Prior to changing to auto production, the Gray Catalogue listed 92 different styles of buggies, sleighs, and wagons! these products were sold in Canada and throughout the British empire.
From 1906 - 1912 the Grays were contracted by Ford to build bodies for the Ford assembly plant in Walkerville.
In 1917, 10,286 carriages and 3,352 cutters were manufactured and sold. The last horse drawn buggy was built in 1920.
By 1919 Gray-Dort employed some 800 men! The following year they were among the top 4 best selling cars in Canada, out-selling Chevrolet in Ontario.
1921 saw the company put out 7,000 automobiles, capturing a good share of the Canadian market. The three Chatham plants totalled 430,000 Sq. feet, covering 15 1/2 acres of land.
Serving this large enterprise was the Canadian Pacific Railway, with it's Chatham train station nestled between, on the corner of King St. and William. This building, portrayed on our web-site by artist William Biddle, was moved timber by timber, brick by brick in 1983 to it's present location in Chatham.
IT'S 9:30 PM.
As i write this, I'm sitting mid-point between the front and rear doors, both of which are surrounded by a crescent shaped multitude of aged glass panes.
I lean back and reflect......
In which ways had this building served the Gray-Dort Company? Who had found shelter from the rain under her 10 ft roof overhangs, supported with huge timber bracing? Had William Durant, founder of General Motors, while visiting his old business partner, Dallas Dort?
Who else may have walked through this old station? Surely Lester B Pearson, as he once lived only 2 blocks from the CP station!
Mr. Ron Todgham, who ran a Chrysler dealership in Chatham, and went on to be President of Chrysler Canada at one time also must have graced this building with his presence.
Legend has it that Canadian Joe Shuster, co-creator of Superman borrowed the name ' Daily Planet' from Chatham's own Daily paper, after visiting the city. Had he also walked beneath the large stone arches?
My mind drifts off....... to the many thousands of others, regular folks like you and me. How many immigrants, confused and alone have stumbled off the train and upon entering the rear door, searched for a friendly face offering assistance?
My mind's eye sees a vast convergence of time, custom and culture. Women dressed in fine Victorian style, dainty and fragile, to halter tops and ear plugging I-pods.
Straight-backed, moustached men with neck choking collars from the early 1900's, to the casual, comfortable males of today.
They have all passed before me, during this time of reflection.
So much has changed, yet, as i look around, so much has stayed the same!
All those who have passed through these doors were on a journey, with hopes and expectations.
Our desire is that this building and it's people serve in meeting the goals and aspirations of the citizens of Chatham-Kent, for another 100 years.
until later,
Charlie
Most of the information was gleaned from the book, Gray-Dort, The Class of the Light Car Field by John Rhodes 1988 and published by Chamberlain Press, Chatham
Spring is coming!
Like the awakened sap in the sugar maples, spring thaw is working it's effect, urging me to step outside and wander through our quiet gardens in search of emerging plant life, through autumn's blanket of leaves.
February cold has pressed caution on the bravest of spring bloomers, with only a few south-facing daffodils and crocuses poking their leaves through the frost -crusted soil.
But take heart friends! Not long ago i spotted my first Robin, a sure sign of spring in this area. Lately on warmer days, male Cardinals have been changing their short slurred whistle to a warbling love song! Spring, with it's warm south winds will once again bless our garden soil with it's life sustaining touch, producing an abundance of shapes, scents, colours and textures.
And so, we again will put ourselves to work, with pleasure i must add, coaxing, guiding, encouraging, protecting and watching our garden beautiful, through yet another wonderful season.
I can't wait for spring!!!!!!!! Charlie
