It's Sue's birthday month, so we try to get out a little more than usual although enjoying March isn't always easily accomplished in Eastern Ontario. I posted earlier that we did have a few decent days, but then there was ice followed by a little bit of snow which was, in turn, accompanied by miserable winds.
We had breakfast out last week, so I purposed to take her out for lunch this week, but Sue opted for our frequently enjoyed take out sandwich and coffee. In honour of the occasion, however, we added a chocolate chip cookie to our usual order.
Our view from the vehicle revealed a light dusting of snow after the rain, but the prodigious winter cover is gone for the year, except perhaps for a storm or two that won't remain on the ground for long.
On the way home, we found a patch of trees with still some ice on the branches. The light wasn't great, but I thought it was worth a shot regardless.
Sue was happy to opt for the simple pleasure of a car lunch, but there is still the opportunity for a restaurant meal, perhaps two, before the birthday and month are over.
One doesn’t think how customs that we take for granted are so completely foreign to those in other climates. A recent somment about snow removal caused an Australian blogger to pose some questions.
I’ve never heard of ‘snow removal’ before so have questions…..where does the truck take the snow to….what’s it used for….and how do they load it on to the truck? Does this only happen in your city or is it a national service. Do home owners and businesses pay or is it part of the yearly rate charge
You’ll have to do a post explaining for us warm climate colonials 😊
And so, I shall explain although this may be redundant for many.
You must understand that we had a big snowfall on November 09/25, and snow is still with us on March 12. It doesn’t always come and stick that early in November. Some years, it doesn’t stick until December and even late December. It always lasts until well into March and even April in some years. Indeed, I once removed snow from over the flower bed in April to see that tulips were already growing under there.
That is the background, so here we go with your questions.
where does the truck take the snow to….
I don’t know where they take it exactly, but I expect to an empty lot or field somewhere or other. There is one such empty lot near us where they dumped quite a bit of snow, but I haven’t seen them do it, and there have to be more dump sites.
what’s it used for
It is useless stuff, which is why it is removed from forever clogging roads and parking lots.
how do they load it on to the truck?
There are dedicated snow blowing machines that blow the snow into a truck travelling alongside the snow blower. When that truck is full, it goes off to dump the snow, and the next truck in line takes its place.
Sue reminded me that I did a whole post with steps, photos and even a little video clip a few years ago. I copied the above photo from there, but you really should go there for a fuller explanation as it was a pretty full descriptive post. (The AC is On: Winter Excitement in The Great White North)
Does this only happen in your city or is it a national service
Communities make their own contracts and arrangement, and we pay for it through our property taxes. Bear in mind that the need for snow removal does vary in this big country. While we still needed the service in our city, in the other end of the province where we used to live, it was not quite as big of an issue as it is here in Eastern Ontario. The west coast of Canada doesn't really require the service at all. There are palm trees in British Columbia, believe it or not. Of course, snow is a concern in most of Canada.
On private property, it is up to homeowners to clear their own driveways and walkways as they see fit. Some people shovel manually. Others have their own little snowblowers. Many of us hire a contractor for the winter. We have paid almost $500 (with tax) to have our driveway cleared this winter. If the accumulation is a couple of centimeters, they will come by and do their thing. We take care of lesser amounts on our own.
A kind neighbour used her personal snowblower to help us out many years ago before snow blowing businesses became common. This was a major storm, up to her knees or higher. They aren't all like this.
The snow was very high that year, well over my 6' frame in 2008. I think that was the year when the tulips started sprouting under the snow because the mound remained well in April. It isn't always this deep, but it was again last year.
Just this year, I posted a picture of our contractor blowing our driveway. They blow it from the driveway onto the lawn. The pile on the lawn gets pretty high, so it takes some time for it to melt away.
When it happens, it happens quickly. When I walked to the mailbox, it dawned on me that there was no snow on either the street or sidewalk, and the banks between the sidewalk and road were simply gone. While there remained an abundant pile in our front yard, it was beginning to lower and pull back from the edges, exposing ground, particularly on the south-facing sides. Our back, our yard was 3/4 clear, and there was very little snow on the soccer field on the other side of the road.
That was on Monday and Tuesday. This morning, we are on the edge of an ice storm. It may or may not hit here, or not much or maybe a lot, according to your forecast of choice. At least we can appreciate that winter is beginning to lose the war and is simply fighting rearguard battles. Jonathan can enjoy what could possibly be his last snow day of the year. We usually get some late storms, however, so you never know.
Winter is, indeed, starting to pack its bags, but there remain clothes strewn about, and the toothpaste still occupies its place by the bathroom sink.
As winter draws closer to the end, I have a few photos that I have, somehow, missed posting.
For some reason, snow machines intrigue me. The first is a snow removal truck crossing the little bridge. It seems that we can't walk along this bridge without two or three trucks going by.
That abandoned factory by the back bridge. I liked the snow on the branches on this day.
We only saw the trumpeter swans in the distance this year, but I have this photo from a previous year.
This isn't really a winter photo, but it's Sue's photo of me in the recent fog, but I like it and want to share it, and there is snow in the background.
And there is also a wee bit of snow on the roof by the older, languishing clock tower. The clock tower on town hall is still functional, but this relic requires some TLC.
While many seniors have some hearing loss, I have a significant deficiency. Being hearing impaired carries its frustrations for both the hearer and the speaker. I have experienced this several times recently.
When I asked Sue to repeat something while we were driving, she wondered if my hearing were deteriorating even more because I seem to be asking her to repeat herself with greater frequency. And to be truthful, I sometimes don't even bother to ask because I evaluate that a certain message didn't strike me as being terribly important, so I let it slide. The necessity to repeat is frustrating for both parties after all, so one reiteration bypassed can be beneficial for the nerves.
Recently, I was out for coffee with the boys, and I just couldn't catch a certain word in the conversation. Bob repeated it. Nick repeated it. It took several repetitions before I clued in. It can be aggravating. It didn't help that I was sitting next to a speaker and that we are usually right under one at our other coffee venue.
Then there's music. Sue asked me to listen to the Britain's Got Talent segment, below. I asked if it were important that I listen to the words, and she said that it was, so I tried. While I caught a bit here and there and would think that I was starting to get it, the next words were indecipherable. They really did sound like they could be singing in a different language. Even though my hearing aids sufficiently amply the volume, I no longer seem to possess the sensitivity to discriminate amongst all sounds.
It seems to me that modern pop music relies more on the words than the tunes, and since I have so much trouble with the words, I simply can't appreciate the music the way that others do. Oh, for the good, old days of singable tunes.
For my part, it is frustrating when people, after raising their voices or speaking more clearly for a sentence, go right back to their previous volume. Everyone does this. People have a certain manner of speech, and they revert right back to it naturally. It’s just the way that it is.
I also recognize that it is frustrating for others to not be heard and to continually be asked to repeat themselves. And then they have to do it again. The cycle keeps repeating itself, probably at least partly because hearing impairment is invisible, and what people can't see they tend to forget. Hearing-impaired people still look normal, but we aren't.
After partly missing out on the above video, Sue was feeling sorry for me, so she later came back with a compilation of harmony auditions for BTG. They were great vocals that could be appreciated for their sheer musicality.Since there are several in this post, I have cued to one that gave me the feels. I didn't have to follow the words to be touched.
I have cued the video to one clip that affected me but there are others if you were to care to listen to more.
On Sunday, I walked into Sue's room and wished her Happy International Women's Day. She reminded me of the day back in 1994 when I sent her flowers. This was during my major back event that had me on the floor for weeks on end. Somehow, I learned of the day, and I managed to order flowers. Sue was delightfully surprised when they were delivered to the door. I haven't done that since then. For one thing, we aren't overly thrilled with either of the of the florists in this town. We decided after the disappointment from her previous birthday, or perhaps our last anniversary, that if we were to require flowers that we would simply choose them from whatever was available at the grocery store.
However, later in the day, I was delighted to see this Facebook post and photo from Shauna's employers and staff.
Today on International Women’s Day, we want to recognize someone who works tirelessly behind the scenes but plays an incredible role in everything we do at Lanark Lifestyles — our Executive Director, Shauna Rayner.
Shauna is one of the smartest people we know and the person all of us turn to when we need guidance, perspective, or help finding a solution. She is the sounding board for so many ideas and challenges, always helping us find a way forward.
While she may not always be the visible face of Lanark Lifestyles, she is truly the heart of it. Shauna leads with compassion, wisdom, and a sense of humour that keeps us all going. Her infectious laugh and approachable nature make her someone everyone feels comfortable turning to.
More often than not, Shauna puts our work ahead of her own — making sure we have what we need to succeed before focusing on herself. Her dedication, leadership, and support do not go unnoticed.
Today we celebrate Shauna and all the incredible women who lead, support, and inspire those around them every single day. Happy International Women’s Day!
Alexa popped a notice onto my phone: a yellow warning for heavy fog. It was Saturday evening, and we had just watched an episode of Boyd. Well, we call it Boyd, but that is the protagonist's name, the head cop on Waking the Dead. It's a series that was shot from about 25 to 15 years ago that has stood the test of time, and there have been enough episodes to get us through February and into March.
Of course, I digress. Sorry: it's habitual.
I had been preparing to go up to my den and watch the hockey game, but the weather alert caused to peer out. I popped my head out the door. There wasn't much to shoot amidst our townhouses, but one tries.
Back in the house and upstairs, I tried my long exposure phone app. I am not very familiar with it, but I tried a couple of 2 second exposures to try to capture the car lights moving across the frame. It's an effect that one may or may not like. You will notice that the whole scene tends to blur on the phone. I don't mind that.
We decided to go around to the park. It's just around the corner. We sure wouldn't have wanted to drive any farther in the pea soup.
I thought the little phone relay station, or whatever its name, looked interesting in the atmospheric conditions.
Sue was following her own muse. I liked the shadow that she cast.
A car came toward us. The light diffused and were also picked up by the puddle and pavement. I have two versions of the same image, the second one a little more processed. I can't make up my mind.
In retrospect, we should have gone the other way than the park where there are more interesting lights and structures, but I glad we did what we did before I went home to catch the final period of the hockey game.
Our scions have been enjoying somewhat opulent weekends. Last weekend, Shauna and three friends took over a grand, heritage b&b on the eastern side of Toronto. Sue hitched a ride to visit her sister, Heather, who lives in the region. This weekend, Danica and her friend are staying on the 31st floor of the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto overlooking Lake Ontario. Sue and I dropped them off at the train station in Smiths Falls yesterday. They are making a big weekend out of attending a concert tonight.
After leaving the kids at the station, Sue and I stopped at the greenhouse down there on our little portion of the adventure. While they are still close to two months away from the busy spring season, it was pleasant to wander about for a few minutes with Sue looking for her daily photo. I managed to get two photographs that I liked well enough. I didn't stop to note their names.
Working backwards: the day before, on another little trip, the boys and I went up to Almonte for our coffee outing. Nick had a photo in mind, but that didn't eventuate. Still, the coffee was good enough in the OVC, or Ottawa Valley Coffee. The first is a candid of Nick with guitars hanging in the background. Then, Bob wanted a more formal pose with the guitars. The Nick photo turned out better in my opinion, but Nick probably got a better shot from his angle.
It's rainy here today, which is much more appreciated than snow at this time of year. For the first time in forever, we left the car out overnight to absorb somewhat of a washing from the rain. With semi melts going on, we've been splashing through a lot of puddles. I washed the car once but re-splashed it in record-breaking time, and even if the rain cleaned it a bit overnight, we'll be forced to drive through more puddles before long. It simply cannot be helped.
