Month: September 2024

alan skeoch

Sept/ 22. 2024

“Swimming will be good for your new knee, Alan.”

WE went for another swim at Richard;s Park.   The beach was empty

at first then a young woman arrived.  Cheerful person.  Recent Ukranian

refugee it seemed.

I wallowed around in the surf propped up with my wooden cane which gave

me the advantage of a three point posture.  Without the cane I would

topple for sure.

The swim was delightful up to the moment we decided to leave the

water.   I wallowed to the shore.   Very unsteady.  The sandy shoreline was very

soft.  Impossible for me to wade as my legs just sank into the gumbo.

“Marjorie, I cannot stand…too weak…these small waves are pushing me over.”

“Don’t get so excited.”

“Cannot stand…no pruchase…I’m going over.”

‘YIKES!   ..I’M dowm!”

And then almost instantly I was rescued by two angels.  Marjorie and the

Ukrainian swimmer.   They fought the waves and tried to get me

back on my feet..   It was not easy because the sand just would

not let me stand.  My legs sank into the sand as they laboured to

get purchase.  I tried to help but legs kept pushing through the sand

as the small waves buffeted all three of us.

“There, we made it.  Thanks to you two.”.  The Ukrainian girl did not speak

English   She smiled and left us. “Without her I do not know what we could

have done, Alan.”

“ Could have wallowed my way to the hard sand, Guess…I was not

going to drown.”

There was something odd about the sandy shoreline.   Odd indeed.

It was not sandy.   Looked like sand.  But the shoreline was composed

of thousands…hundreds of thousands of tiny plastic balls.  Grains of

sand…a fake shore.  That’s why my cane and legs failed.  All three

penetrated the plastic microchips.  A deceptive shoreline.

CURLING DECISION — SAD

“My balance is not good, Marjorie.  These plastic miniballs defeated me.”

“You cannot go curling”

“But I am the skip of my team.  They expect me.”

“You cannot even stand on a sandy shore…how will you stand on ice?”

She was right of course.

Those millions of plastic balls that lined the shore at Richard’s Park were reminders of

just how we have mismanaged planet earth.  It is a fake beach.  A trap for unsteady feet.

I had to send a note to John Morton that I would be unable to curl.  I let down my

team.  But had I toppled on the unforgiving ICE of the High Park Curing Rink and hit my head

there would be no angels of mercy like Marjorie and that Ukrainian refugee.

alan

My knee was replaced on December 12, 2023.  The operation

went well but the recovery has been long and painful due to a

reaction to the drug used.

alan skeoch

sept. 17, 2024

AN EMPTY BEACH ON LAKE ONTARIO  NORTH SHORE

“ALAN, you need to walk more.”

“I do walk.”

“not enough,according to the therapist.   So today we are going for a walk at Richard’s Memorial Park….smAllest parl

on Mississauga lakefront.”

“Who was Richard?”

‘Bit of a mystery…not much is known about him except that he was 14 when he died.

“Why is the park named after him?”

“Because the boy’s heart was transplanted to Mayor Robert Speck ,mayor of Mississauga

back in 1971.  Mr. Speck wanted something done to remember Richard Wolniewicz”

“What is known about the tragic death of Richard?”

“Nothing that I can find.”

“Isn’t that strange…the boy has one of the nicest parks in Mississauga named after him but

there is no record of why he died at age 14…just before his 15th birthday.”

RICHARDS MEMORIALPARK, MISSISSAUGA

So, on September 17. 2024, Marjorie took me to Richard’s Park.  Hardly

anyone was there. The sun was shining and the beach was inviting so we

stripped down to our underwear and waded in.  We we’re almost alone

…one man doing excercises on the beach and another swimmer so far

out in Lake Ontario that he or she was only a bobbing speck.

These two humans took no notice of  two underwear clad 80 year old

citizens.  The water was delightful…soft sand…the water  gradually

got deeper. I was helped by my wooden can.  We left the walker on

the beach.   We had the whole park to ourselves really.  It was wonderfull

and  we plan to go swimming every day until fall turns to winter.

Next swim we will have bathing suits.  

**Please obey all signs posted at the beach and take caution if it has rained in the past 24-48 hours.**

Richard’s Memorial is the smallest of Peel’s three lakefront beaches. It has picnic areas and BBQs as well as a mostly sand beach. The park commemorates Richard Wolniewicz, a fourteen year-old boy whose heart was donated to Mayor Robert Speck in 1971. The Park is also home to a five-foot tall peace monument, bearing the inscription “Planet Earth is our Home, Humanity is our Family.”

RICHARD WOLNIEWICZ

1. Mayor Bob Speck’s heart donor was to turn 15 on Tuesday. Mississauga News, December 22, 1971
2. The generosity of a family is honoured in Lorne Park [Richard’s Memorial Park]. The Booster, January 4, 2006

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EPISODE 1,1O4:  SANDHILL CRANES – 4300 LIVE HERE – 95,OOO STOP AT REST SPOTS LIKE LOING POINT -TOTAL POPULATION IS 450,000 – SHOULD HUNTERS START KILLING THEM?

alan skeoch

sept. 13, 2024

“Dad, four huge birds were eating grain dropped by the combine harvester.. I Checked

them out.  They are SANDHILL CRANES.  When they stand erect they are almost as 

tall as humans.  All four took off making a gobbling noise.”

“Wonder if I can get a look at them?”

“Doubt it Dad. They saw me before I saw them…took off immediately.  Try the back field.”

Result?   No sign of the Cranes even though I drove the Kubota through all the fields most of

which were now covered with red clover plants. also Must be lots of grain dropped by the combine

harvester.

“SURVIVAL?” … SURVIVAL IS A QUESTION

I Have never seen a Sandhill Crane even though 95,000 of them live or pass through

Ontario each year.  I am 86 years old and an amateur naturalist which means I love

nature but have no easy answer to the survival of Sandhill Cranes.  I do not grow

wheat, oats. or barley.

What is known about Sandhill Cranes?

– nearly became extinct from over hunting but seem to have rebounded as there

are now around 95,000 visiting Ontario each year.   4300 were counted at Long Point

on Lake Erie.  The total population in Canada is around 450,000.

-Right now they are protected but pressure from farmers may result in a change.

Why?  Because flocks of sandhill cranes devastate some grain fields particularly in Northern

Ontario.  Losses of grain on some fields are as high as 50%.

-Sandhill crane nests usually have only two eggs but only one hatching survives.

Of late the population has grown about 4% per year.

-Nestng sites are always close to wetlands.  Big nests of dry reeds and even burdock.

-They eat almost anything including frogs and snakes but grain seeds

are their favourite food.

-preditors are raccoons and other carnivores which are driven away by adult cranes using their

feet.  

-24 cranes are wearing collars in an effort to determine if population of cranes

should be ‘harvested’ (which means shot)

-Breeding sites are mostly in the northern tundra.

-wintering sites are as far south as Florida and Texas where they gather in thousands.

-wingspan as much as 7 feet

-they remain aloft for hours

-considered a prize by hunters as they weigh as much as ten pounds

-Skeoch family sitings on Fifth Line, wellington county – Andrew saw and photographed four sandhill cranes

      -Alan Skeoch saw none because the cranes saw him first it seems.

alan skeochupload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/Grus_canadensis_in_flight-2618.jpg/400px-Grus_canadensis_in_flight-2618.jpg 2x” data-file-width=”3646″ data-file-height=”2051″>

sept. 13, 2024

HERE IS THE QUESTION…IS CULLING THE FLOCK A QUESTION OF SURVIVAL?

Should we allow hunters to kill sandhill cranes…one crane per hunter?

Consider that they mate for life.  Shoot a crane and leave the mate to fly alone.

Consider that each pair of sandhill cranes produce one hatchling per year.

Consider that predation by raccoons, coyotes, foxes, eagles, disease, loss of wetlands

already is a natural check on population growth.

Consider that I have never seen a sandhill crane but would like to do so.

Consider that I do not make my living by growing grain

Weigh the checks and balances carefully

We are considering a road trip to Long Point.

On a mid-February morning at Big Creek National Wildlife Area, which encompasses 771 hectares on the north shores of Lake Erie, eastern sandhill cranes patrol the icy surface of a marsh. The large grey birds with red-splashed foreheads take off, swooping one way, then another, and the air fills with squeaky chatter. They land in a field and scratch for grain. 

Sandhill cranes are no strangers to the area, which sits at the base of the Long Point peninsula, a 40-kilometre sand spit that’s a little more than an hour’s drive from London. It’s one of Ontario’s most important staging areas for bird migration. What’s unusual, though, is that they’re here now. Typically, the migrating birds visit briefly in the fall and early winter before continuing toward the American Midwest and, sometimes, as far south as Florida. But, this year, thousands have remained — there are roughly 4,300 today, according to a Canadian Wildlife Service count.

EPISODE 1,102:  COMPARING NIAGARA FALLS TO NIAGARA ON THE LAKE.

alan skeoch

sept/ 10, 202

Here is a flash visit to both towns. They are different yet the same on their main streets

.

That is the main street at Niagara Falls

Below is Niagara on the lake.

Which do you prefer?

I AM a tire counter.  How utterly boring!  Right, maybe, but consider
the cost of those tires.  Perhaps $500 per tire which amounts to $11,000
for a 22 wheeler.  No wonder these huge machines dominate the roads.
They pay their way

Here is a picture of a 22 wheeler hauling fluid of some kind.  Fliuds slosh
around.   The weight on the tires must vary making the truck dangerous.
Yet I have never seen a huge rig upset.  Rollovers are usually 18 wheelers.
Why is that?

Dad was a truck tire builder.  Big Strong men were needed to construct
truck tires.   He qualified and was proud of his work.  The day
he reTIREd  Eric and I visited the Dunlop factory in Whitby
and actually saw dad building a truck tire.   Impressive.  He slapped
great lengths of heavy rubber on a spinning wheel. Vulcanized I imagine whatever that means.
Real pure rubber tires were reserved for aircraft because real rubber
can take the stress of a B52 trying to land on a Norad  airstrip in
Minot, North Dakota. Loaded with atomic bombs.  Or the stress
of an airbus loaded with people like us.

alan

P.s.  This is the second version of the tire counting habit. The first
version was longer but I hit the wrong button on my computer..
Perhaps a story about rubber will come next.