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Fwd: High Flying adventure on a grey windy evening at North Beech



Begin forwarded message:


From: SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com>
Subject: High Flying adventure on a grey windy evening at North Beech
Date: October 12, 2018 at 9:43:05 PM EDT


(Note to any reader:  All dialogue is  alan talking to himself.  Silly at times, he knows  that…but alan thinks
the dialogue makes  the pictures  come to life.   Sometimes it may seem  that Marjorie is speaking but
that is  fake news.  Of course some people never read the dialogue anyway
so alan  inserts a little test.  In this case the test is  simple, where is  NORTH BEECH?)



SOARING WITH THE  WIND ON A LONELY BEACH 


alan skeoch
Oct. 11, 2018



THE gate to North Beach,  Prince Edward County, sported  a huge padlock.   Closed  for the season…abandoned  save for the two cars parked half in the ditch  and  half out.
At the end  of a Dead  End  road.  Eerie.  Solitary.  
This  was  not tourist  time.  The sky  was  grey…the wind  was  ferocious…the weather was getting colder by  the second…and the sun  was setting.   Perfect setting
for adventure.

“Woody needs  a walk, Alan…I doubt anyone would care if we slipped  under the padlock.  No one here…”
“Wind is  blowing fiercely…first time this year in winter coats.”
“What is that funny blue thing way up in the sky…looks like  a balloon…half a  balloon”
“Holy Cow, we are not alone…”
“Two people way  out in the surf … racing with the wind …”
“Sailboarding…”
“With a couple of miles of surf foaming its way to the beech.”
“Flying.”
“Faster than a speeding bullet as was said in the  comic books”
“Well, not quite but fast enough to lift those guys into the sky at times.”
“Wonder who  they are?”
“Woody will find out…there he goes racing the wind to greet those guys.”
“Might be afraid of dogs.”
“Any persons  who attach themselves  to a billowing kite in lashing wind will not be afraid  of a dog like Woody.”



“Hi fellows, where  you from?”
“Montreal.”
“Long way from home, how  come?”
“The surf here is  breathtaking…seems  to be end  of that Hurricane called Michael”

(On the left is  Benoit Dargis…missed out on his friend’s name)




“Seems a bit dangerous Benoit?”
“Not really…we stay away from those big boulders on the south end.”
“Did  Woody bother you when you benched?”
“No…does he bite?”
“licks a lot…wags tail a  lot…presses his  warm and tender  body against us a lot…but does  not know the meaning of the word bite.”



“Would  you boys like butter tarts?”  
“No…no…ok…Yes…mmmmmmm!”
“See Alan in the car with furrowed brow…we’ll leave him one tart, OK?”
“OK…and here’s  a jar of honey from Quebec…from our own bee hives.”

And  so the little bit of adventure ended.



Post Scrip Below”

“Well, Woody, what say we buy one of those rigs?”
“I like my four legs on the ground, Alan.”
“You don’t have to fly, Woody, your job  would be to pull a beech  cart with all the stuff.”
“Forget it, alan, another lamebrain  idea of yours that will never see the light of day.”
“Sometimes Woody you break my heart.”
“Get over it….”



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Fwd: I FELL AT THE CURLING RINK: COULD HAVE BEEN DISASTROUS



Begin forwarded message:


From: SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com>
Subject: I FELL AT THE CURLING RINK: COULD HAVE BEEN DISASTROUS
Date: October 16, 2018 at 2:18:32 PM EDT


FOLKS…YOU BETTER BUY A HELMET


alan skeoch
Oct. 15, 2018



“It happened  in the twinkling of an  eye.”
“What happened?”
“I slipped…upended…feet n the air…crashed while curling”  (High Park Curling Rink)
“Careless?”
“Maybe a little too overconfident…maybe too aggressive…throwing a rocket rock…take out.”
“Smart aleck!”
“Maybe, certainly my fault for sure.”
“Anyone see the fall?”
“Too many saw  it.  Best way to  describe  it was  a failed attempt at a back flip in Olympic diving…only there was  no
pool just a solid sheet of ice backed by concrete.”
“Couldn’t you stop yourself?”
“Anyone who has fallen knows that it happens in the twinkling of an eye…in a fraction of a second…no chance to
regain footing.”





“Let’s  skip the melodrama, were you hurt?”
“Not nearly as badly hurt as  I could  have been.”
“Why?”
“Because I was wearing a helmet.  Spared me from a  major concussion.”
“So, this story is in praise of Helmets.”
“You  betcha…just the second game I wore a helmet after 40 years of curling.  Managed to buy the helmet 
at an auction sale.  Thought it seemed a good idea  since I turned 80 on October 16, 2018…day after my fall”
“Hit hard?”
“Hit the ice so hard , I cracked the helmet according to Shaymus, our lead who also wears a helmet.”
“Many others wear helmets?”
“Just three of  us out of 40 curlers.”
“Maybe the others are better on their feet.”
“That’s what they think, I’m sure because that is the way  I thought before the fall.”
“So  you are pushing for all curlers to wear helmets.”
“Yes, I most certainly am…now…especially after the hospital treatment”
“You went to the hospital?”
“Had to do so…911 medics insisted on it…anyone who bashes his or her head needs to be  checked out.”

“What happened in the hospital?”
“Triage  nurse asked  a trick question.”
“Like”
“Like…’What year is  this?’   I couldn’t give a  fast answer…as a joke, sort of, I said  1979.  Immediately she put
a red  star on my admission bracelet.”
“Brain concussion?”
“Suppose it was possible…my wife and I spend the next 8 hours in the Emergency Ward…checking mu heart, 
my chest, my back,  even my feet.  “
“Doctor could  find noting wrong but ‘Let’s  take a  couple of X Rays to be sure’”
“Dead  of night by then…3 a.m…got XRays  of lots of my body…even my big  mouth.”
“Any problem?”
“Not finished.   Then I was sent for a Catscan in a big special room with a giant donut in the centre.  The Do nut 
big enough to fit my whole body.  “Lie down  there,” said the scanner.”
“Then what happened?”
“I don’t know because I closed  my eyes fearing I might do some claustrophobic  whimpering .”
“And what was the final result of the hospital experience?”

“We can find nothing wrong with you, Mr. Skeoch,”
“Can I go home.”
“Yes, you were a very lucky man.”
“Why?”
“Because you wore that helmet.”
“Helmets are that important, are they?”
“Obvious.  They save you from a brain concussion.”
“I expect to be stiff and sore for a while…”
“Maybe…maybe not.”
“As  things turned out I am not even very stiff and  sore.”

alan skeoch
Oct. 16, 2018
My 80th birthday


Note:  I am writing this story about 20 hours after the fall at High Park Curling Rink.   I am not even
as stiff and  sore as I expected.  I am fine… my 80th birthday.  I am a very lucky man.
And  I owe my luck to wearing a  HELMET.  THIS IS A  CAUTIONARY TALE…A MESSAGE…GET A HELMET!


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Tom Buckland’s last look at his barn Oct. 2018

TOM BUCKLAND TAKES  A  LAST LOOK AT HIS BARN

alan skeoch
Oc.t 23, 2018
I wish we could stop and  take a breath.  The pace of change is  just too  fast for me…and for lots  of others.  Fortunately I  had
that chance to pause the other day when I caught Tom Buckland, alone on his seventh line farm which was   about to be turned
over to a new owner.  And that new owner may not know what to do with the huge Buckland  barn because it needs  some rescue
work on the stone foundation.    If other barns are any guide i expect the Buckland barnwill soon be gone…a  pile of splintered  beams
and twisted roofing.  Not glorious any more.
“Tom can we take a look at your barn from the threshing floor?”
“Closed  it up for the farm sale…worried  someone would get hurt…”
“Two of us are unlikely to have trouble…”
“Sure  we can take a  look.”
What was left unsaid?   You figure that out below.
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Fwd: History of Parkdale

So you seem to like stories about Parkdale…reflections

Here are a few to add to your collection:

THE YEAR WAS 1963
THE PLACE WAS PARKDALE C.I.

I think my dad was startled when it became apparent that both my brother and I were to become high school history teachers…both accepted jobs at Parkdale because of John Ricker and Evan Cruickshank.  Senior teachers…admirable teachers…real teachers.  

“Alan, if you come to Parkdale Collegiate, you will never leave.”  Both John and Evan said the same thing which was odd.  And I thought false.  I mean, who stays in the same job for his or her entire adult life?  Lots of other things to do in this world.   Why would anyone stay at PCI for 35 years?  Well John and Evan were right.  I stayed at PCI for 35 years and am damn glad I did.  Just full of adventures:

Continue reading “Fwd: History of Parkdale”

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WHO WANTS a vintage COMBINE HARVESTER… Running order $500 (BRYAN MARSHALL FARM SALE OCT. 13, 2018)

(I like to put  a little test in my stories just to discover who really reads the stories…I suspect most
people just zip through the pictures and press delete.  The test:  Who bought the Clipper Fanning mill?)
Note: The following dialogue is just me talking to myself but based on the experience.
BARGAIN…IF ANYONE HAS  ROOM FOR IT

(Vintage International combine harvester, perhaps 91 model 1970)

alan skeoch
Oct. 13, 2018
ar Bryan Marshall farm sale
Fifth line south of Milton
(circa  1970 International Harvester / McCormick 91 combine harvester)
“Combine looks like it just  from the Showroom floor.”
“Too small for today’s fields…half a  century ago it was
a prize machine.”
“Not anymore.”
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“HORSES WERE BETTER THAN TRACTORS” (LET ME TELL YOU WHY)

HORSES WERE BETTER THAN TRACTORS

(LET ME TELL YOU WHY)
alan skeoch
august 2018
PLOWING IS AS ANCIENT AS CIVILIZATION…MAYBE 6,000 YEARS OLD
“This painting on  an Egyptian tomb shows a farmer encouraging two skinny cows to pull a  tiny stir plow.”
“Stir plow?”
“Yep…early plows were really just tough tree roots  fashioned  to a dull point.”
“How could that plow cut sod?”
“It couldn’t.   Ancient plowmen  only plowed easy fields…no sod…closest thing to bare ground.”
“Bare ground doesn’t grow much  food.”
“You got that right…world population was small…farmers just tilled the tops of  the  hills where a stir plough
would work.”
“Do you mean those  rich fertile valleys  were just left  to the weeds.?”
“Think so.  No doubt some poor sap was trying to grow wheat among the  weeds.”
“Must have been good healthy work.”
“Bad joke.   Most people died young…35 would be old.  Do  you believe that?”
“Nope.   You are like  Trump and  make up a lot of  bull shit.”
“Take  it for what it’s worth.”
‘I’ve got better things to do than read  your drivel, Alan.”
“Bugger off and do it then.”
“Just kidding…”
“Human  beings in western  Europe came down off the tips of the hills  when the  medieval two furrow  wheeled plow was invented.”
“More food”
“Fat people started to appear in large numbers.”
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PLOWING MATCH … DEATH OF A TRACTOR…Cucumber Ordeal

BY ACCIDENT, WE FOUND A PLOWING MATCH

(AND MET QUEENS OF THE FURROW)
alan skeoch
august 24, 2018
“What’s  going on?”
“Looks like a time warp…those tractors date back to the 1950’s and 1960’s…”
“Why  so  many on one field?”
“And  why pull two morrow  plows…obsolete as the pocket watch.”
“And three of the plowmen are not men at all…three women…”
“Special women…they are the QUEENS OF  THE FURROW.”
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Monarch Butterfly sightings, life cycle

MONARCH  BUTTERFLY:
HOW DOES THE FOURTH GENERATION KNOW IT MUST FLY TO MEXICO?
(A MYSTERY)
alan  skeoch
August   2018
MONARCH  BUTTERFLY REPORT
OUR HOPE FOR SURVIVAL RESTS WITH THE FOURTH GENERATION
Alan  skeoch
August 20, 2018
The world is  in trouble.  We all know that.  And the trouble is  right before our eyes.  No frogs, No snakes,  No  bobolinks, No leeches, No  Killdeers.   Let me change that.  yes, I did  find
a  couple of Leopard frogs in our 7 acres  of ponds this year (2018).  No doubt there are more but decades ago there  were hundreds, thousands maybe.  And  last year we had  garter  snakes
procreating in our green house.  The big female had lots of suitors…seemed to be in every crate of  flower pots.  None so far this year. And the ponds  had  lots of leeches.  None for past few years.  Have not seen
a  bobolink or a killdeer for decades.  What to do ?  What to do?   Are we really in the midst of the sixth extinction of life on our planet? Will the polar regions  melt and  raise the oceans high enough
to drown our ocean cities.  Will the climate change so radically  that lives of little creatures  will be lost forever?  Is it true that 95% of the living creatures on earth are human beings and  their domestic animals.  The wild  creatures have been reduced to 5%.