Unexpected Help

We walked over the Shopper's Drug Mart, a store well known to Canadians. For those who are unfortunate enough to not be Canadian, it's a pharmacy with a lot more than pharmaceuticals. For example, I get my Coke (as in soft drink) there and all sorts of items, including even the occasional banana.

I had an experience which was like a reversion to childhood, for after our cold trudge, I chanced to look down at my feet as we entered the store: "Oh no! My lace is undone." It wasn't just any sort of lace but a very long boot lace that must wrap around post-like things after it has passed through the typical eyelets.

I looked around for somewhere to sit to attend to my boot lace and was about to try to perch on the narrow ledge by the windows. But shockingly, a voice behind me was offering to help. The voice belonged to a middle-aged woman, a younger middle-aged woman. Not being a proud fellow, for I have little to be proud of, I gladly accepted. She did the job nimbly and efficiently, and I was soon thanking her for her kindness, and off she went  

It's nice to meet kind people, and I am only too willing to accept assistance in my dotage.

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I now leave you with two photos from recent walkies. In the first, Sue was looking for a symmetry photo for her group. She ended up posting a different one, but I think this one was better. The location was the empty market that will fill up again on Saturdays come May.

On our last trail walk, I stopped to photograph a park bench. Sue took one of me taking the photo. I composited Sue's photo into mine.

Finally . . . .

Opps! I see that already posted the bench photo. 

James Naismith

I am going to double post today since I just became aware that it is James Naismith's birthday.

On FB, they posted the following along with the above (emphasis mine).

Basketball, invented by the Ottawa Valley's own James Naismith, was played for the first time on December 15, 1891 — 134 years ago today.

Orphaned early in life, James went to live with his aunt and uncle and attended grade school at Bennies Corners near Almonte, graduating from Almonte High School in 1883.

James loved sports growing up, including catch, hide-and-seek, and a game called "duck on a rock", a medieval game in which a person guards a large drake stone from opposing players, who try to knock it down by throwing smaller stones at it.

To play duck on a rock most effectively, Naismith soon found that a soft lobbing shot was far more effective than a straight hard throw, a thought that later proved essential for the invention of basketball.

In a 1939 radio interview, Naismith described that first game and the initial rules that were used: "I showed them two peach baskets I'd nailed up at each end of the gym, and I told them the idea was to throw the ball into the opposing team's peach basket. "I blew a whistle, and the first game of basketball began. ... The boys began tackling, kicking, and punching in the clinches. They ended up in a free-for-all in the middle of the gym floor." (The injury toll: several black eyes, one separated shoulder, and one player knocked unconscious.) “It certainly was murder." 

As a result, Naismith changed some of the rules as part of his quest to develop a clean sport. "The most important one was that there should be no running with the ball. That stopped tackling and slugging. We tried out the game with those [new] rules (fouls), and we didn't have one casualty."

Back in September '08, on a Doors Open Day. we visited this heritage house where he lived. The then owner was quite informative.

Of course, everyone has a photo of Naismith on the bench in Almonte. I probably have several, but I found this one. from February 2017. There were scarves in the bag for those who might have need in winter.

There is also a little museum display at the Mill of Kintail, but I understand that it is due to me moved: to where, I know not. We were there with the kids in July 2012.

It seems odd but kind of wonderful that a worldwide sport was invented by a man who once lived just up the road.

Smores and Mores

Happy Sunday morning when my second cup of coffee will be a flavour that they call Smores. This blend is a new weekend treat that sure smells good brewing. While it might smell better than it tastes, it does taste quite good too. I use less expensive, plain coffee throughout the week and also for my first cup on the weekends. My second cup on the weekend is a bit of a treat.

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When I posted the photo of our neighbour shovelling snow of his car (there is another version, below) a few readers opined that he could use his garage to keep the snow off. Except nobody does on this block of townies because people need the space to store things. When I say nobody, of course I mean most people. We make space for our car, mostly because the previous owner made two big overhead shelves where we can keep our lawnmower and other items, including summer ornaments and such. 

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Speaking of garages, our adjacent neighbour (who is one the few other folk on the block to park in her garage in winter) impresses me greatly, when, upon peering from my den window, I chance to see actually her backing the car into the garage. Our garages are narrow, and I am even careful about driving in and reversing out, but she backs in for some reason. In general, people backing into parking spaces annoy me, but some people are totally committed to it.

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This week, we noticed the weak and cold winter sun lowering in the west before sunset. I saw it from the den window, but I went upstairs for a better and less obstructed view.  Once again, I cajoled Photoshop into removing wires for me.

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I made a sticker. 

Yesterday, I showed you the photo of me in my red coat taking a photo of a bench. Since then, I decided to inset it into the photo that I was taking at the time. I did convert my image to b&w, so the tonality is different in the two photos.

Speaking of benches, this is one up the street. You may recall that I posted it a few weeks ago with a maple leaf on its lightly frosted surface. There have been a few dumpings of snow since then. I replaced the grimy driveway snow in the background with more pristine snow. Now, it doesn't look like a driveway at all.

I leave you with this.

Tooth Saved

I think my dentist is very skillful. When we started the lengthy session, she said that all would depend on whether or not she could do a root canal on my half-tooth. Well, she accomplished that, then inserted a post, and saved my tooth, all for $167. Her assistant couldn't do it, but Dr Li could and did. I am impressed and grateful. It was on a Friday afternoon in which I was the only patient in the office by the end of the session. Note: the $167 was my cost, with more than $1000 being covered by the government insurance for which I pay no premiums.

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JJ retired from hockey three years ago, but the longtime faithful will recall my frequent photo posts from his games, not just of him but of the team. I squeezed the trigger whenever I saw interesting action.

not Jonathan, just a random action photo with the puck going in the net

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I was really chuffed to receive a message from Danica yesterday. I am glad to know that some photos were meaningful to some players and even some grandparents.

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I know that I recently posted a photo of me shovelling snow, but perhaps you can stand one more pic that Sue used for one of her prompts. For this one, she coordinated my ensemble with a hat to match my coat, and she added a scarf. She also made sure to get some light in my shovel along with the snow.

Alright! one more pic of this olde blogger. I like how my coat stands out in the almost mono surroundings.

The Coldest Walk

When I checked on family whereabouts yesterday morning, I saw that Jonathan was still at home. I wondered if he were ill but discovered that he was enjoying a snow day. That makes two consecutive days of scholarly reprieve. Living in a largely rural region, it takes time to plow out, so the buses were inactive for a second day.

However, your two beloved oldies kept up their rhythm (the spelling of which throws me every time) by opting for a walk along the nearby trail. The wind was up, so we reasoned that we might be more sheltered along the trail. Indeed, we were a bit more sheltered but not completely, so it was a cold walk as you might deduce from seeing from our rosy cheeks, Susie's especially. We felt the cold more than on the recent Coldest Day, even though the temperature was somewhat higher.

Our Cheeks Were Nice and Rosy
but we were not totally
Comfy and Cozy
Whatever the song might say.

The trail was still walkable because there remains a softness to the new-fallen snow, but like Riverside Park, there will come a point after hardening that we will necessarily need to choose route with surer footing.

At one point the ducks were congregating in a spot near the trail. They didn't flee in terror this time, so I got the shot. Unlike we of the great ape family, these fowl beings never get cold.

Snow and ice are visible at the bottom edge of the photo

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With your indulgence, I will just add this photo on our neighbour clearing his car in the morning. It's a task that Canadians have been doing forever, so I have chosen to try to make the photo look old, even if the car gives it away. I managed to time the shutter to get the snow falling off the vehicle.

Code Yellow

Yesterday morning's sunrise was very pretty — a bit pastel-like rather than the bright, vibrant oranges that we all love so much.

A little later in the morning, I found myself sitting in that ever-so-comfy dentist’s chair for a semi-emergency appointment for a lost filling.

It was not any sort of lost filling but from the tooth that I broke badly, earlier in the year, by biting down on a carrot that was baked to hardness. Back then, I was warned that the filling might not hold, and it eventuates that the dentist was correct.

She proceeded to inform me that she could only do a quick patch before sending me to a periodontist for an extraction and implant. After some discussion, she revealed that the procedure would cost between $6000 to $8000, and that it wouldn’t be covered by my free government-provided insurance. Well actually, it possibly could be, but this specialist does not particulate in the plan, that being his or her option. This insurance exists freely for people like me who live under a certain income threshold and who do not have other dental insurance. It's a plan that has saved me quite a lot of money over the past year or two.

After more discussion I revealed that I wouldn’t be spending that kind of money on an implant and that I would settle for an extraction only. I looked at her and said, “I’m 78,” which, of course, meant that my old head with not too many years remaining would not be worth it. She looked back at me, quite understandingly, and replied that I didn’t look 78. I guess that was the nice part of the session. :)

I asked her if she could do the extraction without sending me to the specialist. She replied that she would ask the boss, Dr Li, if she could do the extraction. I paid my $30 co-pay and left waiting to hear whether Dr Li could do it.

That afternoon, I got a call and was informed that Dr Li thinks that she can save the tooth and that it would involve a root canal and that my co-pay would amount to $200 with government insurance covering the considerable remainder.

That will occur on Friday afternoon when I shall endure a not too comfortable hour or two.

Meanwhile, this morning is not looking pretty like yesterday morning, and we have code yellow (a new designation) for a winter snowstorm. School buses have been cancelled, so Jonathan is, doubtless, happy and probably still snuggled in bed. Now I have to worry about Shauna driving a half-hour west to work, and then I will have to worry about Danica driving almost an hour east into the city tonight to sit for an exam after the storm has hit.

That, above, is what is to come, but our neighbour was kind enough to clear our driveway of the little that had accumulated overnight. I caught him over yonder, just having finished his own driveway before heading off to work. Although he has cleared the snow, I notice that the windows of his van are quite frosted over.

79

It was almost three months past that I stopped on our main street to photograph doorway 79, one of the two doorways in the former Federal building. Without looking up the information again, I believe that this building once housed local branches of both the Canadian Postal Service and Inland Revenue. The property no longer serves federal functions and now lies within the private sector.

Obviously, I have passed this doorway many times, but I stopped to take a picture back in September because I was drawn to the shapes and textures on that particular day and also probably because I am always keeping my eye out for grist, no matter how familiar, for my little blogging mill.

I experimented with styling (or developing) and three very different images emerged from the same original photo.

I put the three versions in Blogger Drafts way back then but never got around to posting. For awhile I have been thinking that I would like to add another variation with snow; it's a Canadian thing after all. Yesterday was the day. There was snow, and I was downtown, so I took another photo. The snow was all out front on the railing, so I had to compose differently to include it. Once again, I developed two versions from the same basic image.

The post is finally out of a long lingering in the Drafts folder.