Alan Skeoch

Month: November 2020

  • EPISODE 164 SCRABBLE TOURNAMENT – HAS GONE ON FOR MONTHS

    EPISODE 164   SCRABBLE TOURNAMENT -GONE ON FOR MONTHS (result?  Same as US election…narrow victory…for Marjorie)


    alan skeoch
    Nov.  2020

    We had never played Scrabble until the forced  isolation  of  Covid 19.  Our Scrabble Tournament
    is as near to a  draw as the Biden/Trump U.S. election.   Notably absent is the sore loser syndrome 
    though.  We have been having a great time with the game by playing twice a day and seeing who
    will win in groups of ten games per tournament.

    The results  are sometimes too close to call.  Marjorie has won games by a single point.  I have
    done the same.  A very good natured  competition.   Sometimes sitting in the sun.  At others
    sitting in the cold.  

    When  the tension in the U.S. election reached  a  fever point on the Tuesday,  election day, we got
    so nervous  that we turned to Scrabble to settle our nerves.  

     We now have Scrabble games set
    up in two locations.  Sometimes we stop one game midway through…take s  break…and
    come back.  Super relaxing game folks.  

    Occasionally Marjorie makes up a  non existent word.  And I do the same.  All words  can be
    checked on the Internet.

    Since it looks like this Covid thing will last until Christmas or longer, I suggest you buy a Scrabble
    game.   We found our second Scrabble game at the Salvation Army thrift store in the Children’s
    games section.  Cheap.  It was brand new…I think the owners had trouble with spelling…or maybe
    they took the game too seriously.  Too seriously?  Yes,  just like that EX PRESIDENT TRUMP the
    original owners of the game could not stand the thought of losing.  

    If you happen to be reading this Episode Donald (Trump) I would like to inform you that
    you lost the 2020 election.   You  are a loser.  If you had the guts to admit it you might
    find yourself in good company.  Winning and  Losing is part of  life.   Your daddy never
    told you that.   When you get bored  sitting around in Florida sneak up here and play
    Scrabble with us.



    “How about another Scrabble game, Marjorie?  I think I am on a roll.”





    Nice  warm day  in the house.

    Nice cold day on the back porch.


    I had to check this Scrabble board to make sure there were no cuss words…or sexy words…or misspelled words.
    We accept all words…even ‘damn’ and other impolite words.

    Sometimes Marjorie wins.  Actually often she comes up with bigger words and  when
    that happens I try to tack an “S” on the end…that way  I cancel out her points.
    It hurts my ego to see Marjorie making up bigger words than i do.  But my ego
    is not like Trumps…I can lose with a smile.  Most of the time.


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    alan  skeoch
    Nov. 2020

    P.S.  On second thought , Donald, do not come up here to Canada.  Our border is closed.

  • EPISODE 165 MARY FIX PARK…HOLD YOUR BREATH….FEAR OR GRASP CHANGE

    EPISODE 165    MARY FIX PARK…HOLD YOUR BREATHE…FEAR OR GRASP  CHANGE


    alan skeoch
    Nov.  2020

    Most parks are manicured.   They are perfect places … trees are limbed, grass is  mown, flower beds are edged, picnic benches are in place, 
    baseball fields are designated, etc.  And that is all well and good.  We need these parks.  

    But we also  need  wilderness parks.  Places where trees grow, thrive, die,  fall down and are allowed to disintegrate snd  return to the earth.  Wilderness
    parks where wild animals can  hide…dig holes to rear their young…patches so secluded that no human foot can tread.    Our city, Mississauga, is well aware
    of the need for both kinds of  parks because we are fortunate to have a major river, the Credit River, weaving its wild way right through the centre of our city.
    And that long piece of parkland is also all well and good.

    But today I would like to make  plea for another wilderness park.  A fragment tucked into the southwest corner of Hurontario and the Queen Elizabeth Way…two
    major transportation highways.  Mary Fix Park was given to the City of Mississauga decades ago … willed to the City by Mary Fix, a lawyer, councillor, activist
    and conservationist.   The park has been untouched for more than half a century.  As a result Mary Fix park allows my mind to slip back deep into he past 
    when the Mississauga First Nations walked  the trails.  A native grave was found  somewhere near or in the park…dating back  hundreds of  years I was told.
    Never confirmed.

    The park has its  own magic in other words.  

    The one sure thing in life is change.  And  change is  coming to Mary Fix Park.  I hope and pray the change is not too drastic.  Mary Fix  did not want
    a manicured  park as her legacy.   The city of Mississauga is about to “improve” the park with a nature trail so that more people can enjoy the
    part.  And that also is  all well and good.    But please do not make the changes too  drastic. Leave the fallen trees for little creatures to disintegrate.
    Leave the remote corners hidden so larger creatures can raise their families.


    Mary Fix Creek weaves its way through the park

    Here is  the way the park looks now.  Nov. 12, 2020.  Be true to the park’s wilderness

     

    Windfalls  have been deliberately allowed to disintegrate naturally.  This has been policy of our parks managers.  Let’s keep it that way.




    There is one main pathway through the park. That will remain and ‘be improved’.   New signage will also be put in place urging
    the public  to stay on the trail and not damage the wilderness.  Hopefully those signs will be effective.


    alan skeoch
    Nov. 2020

  • EPISODE 162 WOODY AND THE COYOTES

    EPISODE 162    WOODY AND THE COYOTES


    alan skeoch
    Nov.  2020


    Woody is really  worried.  Not because he is afraid he will get bitten by a coyote  He wonders why I am on the other side of the fence.



    Our lot was  once part of the Mississauga First Nation land.  As a  result it is
    very unusual…deep…400 feet deep.   In addition long ago  Mary Fix donated
    her lots and  forested lands to the City of Mississauga.  A creek in her name,
    Mary Fix Creek weaves its way through those lands and  continues at the back
    of  our lot.  All these lands are a natural wilderness where dead  logs and
    underbrush are allowed to exist as if no human foot had ever tread the
    ground.

    A perfect habitat for wild things.  When we first moved  in back  in 1968 we had
    visits from pheasants and deer and almost too many raccoons.  Today, 2020,
    we get regular visits by a family of coyotes. Their colours and their movements
    are not easy to see due to the verdant backdrop.

    But Woody sees them.  He is not a barking dog.  Saves his voice  for 
    coyote spotting.  Then he begins to holler.  This noisy habit may  have been
    caused by a surprise he got while meeting a coyote last spring..
    He is a very social dog   Loves others.  The coyote was not so loving and
    sliced Woody on he bum.   Woody could not believe it had happened.  He  fled
    and sought my protection.  I wondered why.  A neighbour saw the event and
    reported Woody’s  flight.

    So now we keep him fenced in the front part of  our lot and  let the coyotes
    have the back part of the lot.  We coexist.  And that is OK with Woody. He
    can bark an alert but the fence stops him from getting a  sliced
    bum.

    The coyotes successfully raised a family and we think the young coyotes
    really just wanted to play with Woody.  But we cannot be sure of that.
    We all manage  to get along in peace.  I hope the City of  Mississauga
    sees the Mary Fix Park wilderness the same way we do.  We need some
    wild  lands.   



    Our garage and workshop was once  a mink house long, long ago.   For a few  years we raised  endangered chickens here…beautiful
    Silver Laced Wyandottes.   One  easter the chickens even laid  coloured eggs…at least we believed that was so until Mr. Donovan, our
    neighbour fessed  up.   I even made the mistake of  believing chickens and roosters should be  kept in equal numbers.  When the light
    of the rising sun  hit our chicken coop those roosters made more noise than kids  at recess.  Eventually we only kept one rooster…Big
    Red, a New Hampshire who serviced the whole coop.  Those  days are gone.


    Our lot…looking towards the little hidden creek at the back.  I have spotted the coyotes here occasionally but have
    to stare and stare and stare.


    Looking towards  our house from the midway point of the wild  part of  the lot


    Here is  Woody  at the fence.  He looks concerned, does  he not.  He fears a coyote is going to take a  slice of my bum.  He is
    trying to warn me.


    Bought this  old dump rake at the auction sale of Robin and Betty Craig who once farm the housing development on Highway 10 (Hurontario)




    alan skeoch
    Nov. 2020

  • Fwd: EPISODE 161 A TIME TO HEAL



    Begin forwarded message:


    From: ALAN SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com>
    Subject: EPISODE 161 A TIME TO HEAL
    Date: November 7, 2020 at 10:12:42 PM EST
    To: Marjorie Skeoch <marjorieskeoch@gmail.com>


    EPISODE 161   A TIME TO HEAL


    alan skeoch
    Nov. 7, 2020




    Words can be  strung  together in so many ways.  Sometimes these word combinatons
    are like fine music.  They warm my soul.   I know…I know…the concept of a soul
    is nonsense.  As expressed in the Atheist’s prayer . “ Save my soul, if I have a soul.”

    Tonight is not a  night for cynicism.  Tonight is Joe Biden’s night.   The  words  he
    managed to string together were what we all wanted  to hear…words of  hope.
    The last four years  have been very dark  and for a while last Tuesday it looked like
    we would be facing another four years  featuring words strung together badly.

    As with most accomplish speakers Joe Biden,  now President Joseph Biden, used
    familiar words.  What leapt out to me and to many others was  his
    appeal to the fifty percent of  Americans who voted the Trump ticket.
    As the Bible says,  Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8…”to everything there is a season”
    President Biden reached out to Former President Trump’s followers
    to  say these next few  years must be a ‘time to heal’.  

    Almost immediately…in microseconds…President Biden’s worlds were
    entered into the  Internet.  They are words of hope. You can find them with ease.
     The full quote from Ecclesiastes was not used.  It is  
    less hopeful.

    Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
    (New King James Version)
    To everything there is a season,
    A time for every purpose under heaven:
    A time to be born, And a time to die;
    A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted;
    A time to kill, And a time to heal;
    A time to break down, And a time to build up;
    A time to weep, And a time to laugh;
    A time to mourn, And a time to dance;
    A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones;
    A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing;
    A time to gain, And a time to lose;
    A time to keep, And a time to throw away;
    A time to tear, And a time to sew;
    A time to keep silence, And a time to speak;
    A time to love, And a time to hate;
    A time of war, And a time of peace.

    I hope and pray that the season in which we are entering
    will be a season of healing.  The alternative is frightening

    WE CAN  ALL BREATHE A SIGH OF RELIEF…WE CAN
    ALL FLY ON EAGLE’S  WINGS THIS  DAY.


    I hesitated to include the lyric’s below because they put
    an incredible load  on the shoulders of joe Biden and
    Kamala Harris.  But these words  do express the overwhelming
    feeling of relief that so many of us in Canada feel now that
    the American election is clear.  Yes,  the words are religious
    but they can also be seen in a secular way.  We need these
    words today.


    And He will raise you up on eagle’s wings
    Bear you on the breath of dawn
    Make you to shine like the sun
    And hold you in the palm of His Hand

    [Verse 2]
    You need not fear the terror of the night
    Nor the arrow that flies by day
    Under his wings your refuge
    His faithfulness your shield
    For to His angels He’s given a command
    To guard you in all of your ways
    Upon their hands they will bear you up
    Lest you dash your foot against a stone

    [Refrain]
    And He will raise you up on eagle’s wings
    Bear you on the breath of dawn
    Make you to shine like the sun
    And hold you in the palm of His Hand

    SO HERE WE HAVE SOME

    WORDS STRUNG TOGETHER … WORDS OF HOPE


    alan skeoch
    Nov. 7, 2020


  • EPISODE 160 “DON’T BUY ANY GREEN BANANAS” … ADVICE TO THE TRUMP TEAM

    EPISODE  160   “DON’T BUY ANY GREEN BANANAS” … ADVICE TO THE TRUMP TEAM IN PENNSYLVANIA


    alan skeoch
    Nov. 7, 2020



    “What advice would you give the Trump team in Pennsylvania”, asked the commentator
    “My advice is very simple, they should not BUY ANY GREEN BANANAS.” responded the Democratic
    Lt. Gov. of Pennsylvania this sunny November morning.

    That image is worth some thought.  Really quite funny but the leader  of the Trump team…the big
    leader…the man in the White House at the moment…lacks a sense of humour.  His response would
    be anger and worse.

    And the Lt. Governor had some further advice in same dark humour.  “Trump should give the ‘U rent it’
    truck a call.”

    My response to the comments is summed  up in one word…relief.  Today I am going 
    out to buy a big bunch  of green bananas.

    alan skeoch
    Nov. 7, 2020

    p.s. Today my Episode should be cheerful … relaxing.  Certainly not serious. I am  thinking
    about a walk  through the wilderness beyond our back yard.  A neighbour says he saw
    a beaver at work back there.  Good image.  Let’s get back  to work…back to normal.