Greenwater Report for October 17, 2000

---The Greenwater Report for October 17, 2000

Greenwater Provincial Park - October 17, 2000 - By: Gerald Crawford

rousing
game of bridge
October 16th, 2000: I’m a day late getting this report out, but hope it makes some of the papers on time. We just got back from a little jaunt into Manitoba. We met Cathy and Ted (My sister and brother-in-law) at Virden and had a good visit plus a rousing game of bridge. On Friday we all went to Souris and met my uncle and cousins for lunch. Then we went out to the Souris cemetery and had a very informal little ceremony to inter my last remaining aunt‚s ashes. Why do I always find these informal ceremonies so satisfying?

museum at Dugald
Cathy and Ted returned home, and we went on to Winnipeg, where we spent a couple of nights with my younger sister, Liz, and brother-in-law Perc. Liz took us out to a museum at Dugald, just east of Winnipeg, specializing in clothing from the mid-1800s to about 1930. Mostly women’s and children’s, of course - I guess men either wear theirs out or throw them out. There were also many old photographs displayed, and they interested me more than the clothing. I have been doing some reading on dating old photographs by the photographer’s style and by the subjects’ clothing, and the museum was right on target.
-*
-
On our way home yesterday, we met more cousins, the Lovells, at an old car museum called "The Tin Lizzie" at St. Francois Xaviere, a few miles West of Winnipeg. Lots of beautifully restored old cars, but we feel funny when they refer to cars from the ‘60s and ‘70s as antiques. There were a lot parked around the building outside; at first we thought the place must be really busy, then realized that those cars were left on consignment. I heard one of the employees telling a man that there was no charge to park the car on their lot, but of course they took no responsibility for it, either. If it was sold while on their lot, they took a 10% commission.

The Tin
Lizzie

old motorcycles
Jim Steadman would have been interested in some old motorcycles, from as early as 1905. They referred to the period from about 1905 to 1912 as the heyday of the motorcycle, which surprised me. I thought they were just a curiosity back then, like the penny farthing bicycles. (They had one of those, too.)

my choice
If I had my choice from any of the cars, it would be a toss-up between a 1931 Ford Model A Coupe and a 1954 MG, bright red.

pall of
smoke
From Winnipeg to Russell on Sunday, we were in a constant pall of smoke from burning stubble. There didn’t seem to be enough wind to carry it away. We only ran into it in a couple of spots today. Another thing that bothered us was a smell of ammonia that had Doreen’s nose burning and her stomach doing flip-flops. Then we realized we were following a semi carrying two tanks of ammonia, and he must have had a leak somewhere. We tried dropping back, but because there was no wind the smell hung on the road. Finally I passed him, and we opened all the windows and aired out the car.

corn and sunflowers
On our way south last week, we saw some unharvested fields near Kelvington, but nothing else until we got into Manitoba. There were lots of fields of corn and sunflowers not combined yet, but nothing else.

bohemian waxwings
I took a walk around the yard when we got home. It seems to me just a couple of weeks ago I was remarking on the crop of berries on our mountain ask trees; now there are none to be found. I suspect a flock of bohemian waxwings stopped by on their way south.

Canada
geese
Speaking of flocks, we saw some huge flocks of greater Canada geese right in Winnipeg. Any of the locals I spoke to were not happy with them. They growl: "If rats and mice were half as much of a sanitary problem as geese, they would be exterminated unmercifully. Yet we have to put up with ankle-deep goose poop because it’s just not politically correct to suggest thinning them out!"

bull elk
Gene Mathieu told me that a young bull elk was wandering around Chelan just about two weeks ago. It stood outside Gene‚s place, watching the TV through the window, ambled over to pay Mike Derenowski a call, then finally wandered on out of town.

Gerald B. Crawford
Box 100, Chelan, SK S0E 0N0 (306) 278-3423
Check out my Webpage: http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/crawg

---The Greenwater Report for October 17, 2000

Greenwater Provincial Park - October 17, 2000 - By: Gerald Crawford

rousing game of bridge	October 16th, 2000: I’m a day late getting this report out, but hope it makes some of the papers on time. We just got back from a little jaunt into Manitoba. We met Cathy and Ted (My sister and brother-in-law) at Virden and had a good visit plus a rousing game of bridge. On Friday we all went to Souris and met my uncle and cousins for lunch. Then we went out to the Souris cemetery and had a very informal little ceremony to inter my last remaining aunt‚s ashes. Why do I always find these informal ceremonies so satisfying?

museum at Dugald	Cathy and Ted returned home, and we went on to Winnipeg, where we spent a couple of nights with my younger sister, Liz, and brother-in-law Perc. Liz took us out to a museum at Dugald, just east of Winnipeg, specializing in clothing from the mid-1800s to about 1930. Mostly women’s and children’s, of course - I guess men either wear theirs out or throw them out. There were also many old photographs displayed, and they interested me more than the clothing. I have been doing some reading on dating old photographs by the photographer’s style and by the subjects’ clothing, and the museum was right on target. -* - On our way home yesterday, we met more cousins, the Lovells, at an old car museum called "The Tin Lizzie" at St. Francois Xaviere, a few miles West of Winnipeg. Lots of beautifully restored old cars, but we feel funny when they refer to cars from the ‘60s and ‘70s as antiques. There were a lot parked around the building outside; at first we thought the place must be really busy, then realized that those cars were left on consignment. I heard one of the employees telling a man that there was no charge to park the car on their lot, but of course they took no responsibility for it, either. If it was sold while on their lot, they took a 10% commission.
The Tin Lizzie


old motorcycles	Jim Steadman would have been interested in some old motorcycles, from as early as 1905. They referred to the period from about 1905 to 1912 as the heyday of the motorcycle, which surprised me. I thought they were just a curiosity back then, like the penny farthing bicycles. (They had one of those, too.)

my choice	If I had my choice from any of the cars, it would be a toss-up between a 1931 Ford Model A Coupe and a 1954 MG, bright red.

pall of smoke	From Winnipeg to Russell on Sunday, we were in a constant pall of smoke from burning stubble. There didn’t seem to be enough wind to carry it away. We only ran into it in a couple of spots today. Another thing that bothered us was a smell of ammonia that had Doreen’s nose burning and her stomach doing flip-flops. Then we realized we were following a semi carrying two tanks of ammonia, and he must have had a leak somewhere. We tried dropping back, but because there was no wind the smell hung on the road. Finally I passed him, and we opened all the windows and aired out the car.

corn and sunflowers	On our way south last week, we saw some unharvested fields near Kelvington, but nothing else until we got into Manitoba. There were lots of fields of corn and sunflowers not combined yet, but nothing else.

bohemian waxwings	I took a walk around the yard when we got home. It seems to me just a couple of weeks ago I was remarking on the crop of berries on our mountain ask trees; now there are none to be found. I suspect a flock of bohemian waxwings stopped by on their way south.

Canada geese	Speaking of flocks, we saw some huge flocks of greater Canada geese right in Winnipeg. Any of the locals I spoke to were not happy with them. They growl: "If rats and mice were half as much of a sanitary problem as geese, they would be exterminated unmercifully. Yet we have to put up with ankle-deep goose poop because it’s just not politically correct to suggest thinning them out!"

bull elk	Gene Mathieu told me that a young bull elk was wandering around Chelan just about two weeks ago. It stood outside Gene‚s place, watching the TV through the window, ambled over to pay Mike Derenowski a call, then finally wandered on out of town.

	Gerald B. Crawford Box 100, Chelan, SK S0E 0N0 (306) 278-3423 Check out my Webpage: http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/crawg