Six Degrees...

There's a neat little write-up on Wikipedia about how we are all closer than we think and I’m always amazed when I’m off in some exotic part of the country and meet either someone I know, or someone who knows someone I know, or who is from our part of the country. Yesterday I was talking to a fellow from Inukjuak who vacations with friends every summer in Kincardine, Ontario. A part of this vacation of his sometimes involves trips on Chi-Cheemaun and across Manitoulin.

When in Sanikiluaq a year or so ago I ran into a family who were living there at the time but were shortly going to move home, to Tobermory. In either Big Trout Lake or Bearskin Lake (I forget which) I met a teacher who is from Kagawong. In Fort Albany I met a teacher who is from Wikwemikong. There are many others as well who are either from or who vacation on Manitoulin.

When Gloria and I used to trade pins at the Brier every year we also met all kinds of similar people. Included in this group of curling fans was a lady who actually worked with my brother in law on the island and another who turned out to be a future mayor of Espanola! I guess it just all goes to show how inter-connected we all are.

Just Let It Simmer...

Sunday morning and the chilli’s bubblin' away. I’ve gone overboard again and made so much it will probably last me all week. That’s OK though as I leave the house early in the morning and don’t make it back until around 8:00 p.m. so after about a 12 hour work day I really don’t have time or energy to cook. Warming up leftovers is quite adequate. Warmed up chilli with some garlic toast makes a great supper.

Kidney beans, hamburger, tomatoes, green pepper, red pepper, lots of onions and whatever you want to add for spices to give it some kick. I’ve added a couple other items today and I know the corn and carrots will be OK but I’ve also included some sliced potatoes as well this time. We’ll see how it turns out.

Usually my “experiments” as Gloria calls them turn out OK but occasionally I come up with a dud that not even I can eat. Everyone else is usually very polite and say how good it is but if I don’t get the spices just right it seems like a flop to me. Oh well, we’ll keep on a cookin’ as long as people keep on eatin’ and I’ll try to post a photo of the finished product when it’s done bubblin’ away a few hours from now...


... and here it is with a little cheese and garlic bread on the side. I haven't tried it yet so I'm not too sure how the potato in the middle will be but here we go!

Hmmmm... could use more onions!

A Sad Day

The photo on the right (posted here without permission) appears in this weeks Manitoulin Expositor. There is a story in there this week announcing that Farquar Dairies may soon be transferring their operations off-island to Espanola. I can understand this move for business reasons but to me it is a sad day indeed to see the world famous Farquar ice cream moving away.

I first started coming to Manitoulin in the late ‘70s and one of the highlights was always the island made ice cream. When my father, who is a self proclaimed ice cream addict started his annual visits several years later it was again one of the high points of his trip to have what he called the best ice cream in the world. Yes, I know, the recipe and taste will remain the same (I hope) but some of the romance and history (major ingredients) will not be there any more and in my mind I wonder what the first cone of next year will taste like.

Good Weekend

Sunday is usually my one day off a week (if I get one at all) and this is what I would call a rare “Good TV” day. It actually started last night with a choice of a couple movies I enjoy, Castaway and the 5th Element. While neither makes my Top Ten list they are both shows that I can watch without too many nasty comments… except for the idiot “Ruby” in the latter movie setting me off.

Today has continued with the morning draw of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts, followed by the Daytona 500 this afternoon and then we’ll get the evening curling draw tonight. Gloria and I went to 10 Labatt Briers in a row and are still members of the infamous “James Bay Gang” of curling groupies that try to hit as many Briers, Hearts and other events as possible. Over the years we were fortunate enough to have met, talked with and even had a beer or two with some of the curling greats. My personal favourite is still Eddie “The Wrench” Werenich and dozens of others that if I try to list them all I’d mess up and leave someone out. Oh, I’ve got to mention Pat “Elvis” Ryan, Rick Lang. “The Iceman” Al Hackner and of course “Brier Bear” himself. We’ve met millionaires, paupers, farmers, TV personalities, truck drivers, hydro linemen, musicians and hundreds and hundreds of real down home people who are fans, just like us. These people restore my faith in humanity and they make the Brier the best possible place to be for 10 days in March.

Over the years we became known as serious pin traders and have a collection of thousands of lapel pins (mostly Brier) that includes two personal pins that have became collectors items in their own right. I really miss that part of our life and hopefully we’ll be able to get back on the circuit, do some serious pin trading and renew some of the old friendships once again.

Hey… The Brier is just down the road in Hamilton this year. Treat yourself, take in at least the weekend package and bring me back a pin, will ‘ya!

The Doors Open In

Just reading about all the storms in upper New York and it reminded me that in the north, all doors open in. There are many stories of people that were trapped in their homes for days at a time behind a door that wouldn’t open out against the snowdrifts.

I recall one such storm we had in Iqaluit that lasted a couple days. The morning after it ended I was heading to work and in places literally walking even with the power lines on top of the power poles. Took a few days to dig everyone out after that one!

Some lessons learned? Always keep a few extra days food and water in the house along with candles, batteries for flashlight and radios, a few good books and TP!

Inukjuak - February 5

Well we’re on the road again for a few weeks and right now I’m in Inukjuak, Quebec. Formerly known as Port Harrison, Inukjuak is located about half way up the east coast of Hudson’s Bay. There have been fur trading posts here since the early 1900’s with Revilllons & Freres first, followed by the Hudson's Bay Company and now The North West Company carries on the tradition. Although trapping is not as important as it once was, living in partnership with the land and the animals is still a major force here, as it is in all First Nations communities.

Back in the early 1950’s the government forcibly took people from Inukjuak and moved them north to Grise Fjord and Resolute Bay. This was done in order to create Canadian settlements in the high arctic that would prove our sovereignty and “warn off” other countries that might be tempted to move into our circumpolar regions. I won’t go into detail here but it would have been nice if the government had asked the people if they wanted to move in the first place and also they also might have checked to make sure there was enough animal life in the new communities for people to live off. These transplants had a very hard time and it's quite the story that you might want to investigate further someday.

The weather has been about what I expected it to be, generally in the mid –30’s with the wind chill and even down to –52 walking to the store into the wind Saturday morning. Today is not too bad and the blizzard that started Friday night is supposed to taper off by tonight. The temperature is up to –12 right now so it should be just a balmy stroll up to the store. Cold very seldom bothers me but I must admit that when I got to the house Saturday night and found I was missing one of the two cans of kidney beans that I was going to make chilli with I didn’t bother back-tracking to find it somewhere behind me on the road. I’ve always found that as long as you have something tight fitting so the wind can’t get in that the low temperature won't bother you. A well wrapped scarf around your throat and lower face with a good hood on your jacket should keep you nice and toasty unless you are headed out on the land for several hours. Also important is an ordinary baseball cap worn under your hood. The peak of the cap will channel the wind away from your face even when walking into the wind. Kind of important walking into a blizzard!

I haven’t taken many photos yet this trip so the one you see up top here is one I took while passing through last summer. We’ll do our best to keep Our Manitoulin! up to date while we’re here but my internet connection is a very slow dial-up so please be patient if I get behind occasionally. I’m going to rely on MSN Messenger and all your blogs to keep me up to date on what’s happening down there everyone so you keep on writing and I’ll keep on reading!

Norisle

There is an article this week in the Manitoulin Expositor about the Norisle. Apparently the costs of keeping up are just getting too great for Manitowaning to handle and something will have to be done with it soon. Some suggestions so far include selling it for the scrap metal value or even sinking it to become a diving platform. The former would recover some of the costs of keeping the ship up over the years and the latter may bring in revenue in the future. It would at least keep the Norisle in the area and hopefully still draw some tourist dollars to the island.

I found the following information about the history of the Norisle at Wikipedia...

“The ship was 215ft in length and was one of the first vessels on the Great Lakes that could accommodate a large number of automobiles and livestock. The Norisle was built at the Collingwood shipyards in 1946—the first ship built in Canada after the end of World War II. Her engines were actually designed and built for a Royal Canadian Navy destroyer, however because of the end of the war, they were put into the Norisle instead. She sailed until the year 1974, when she and her sistership, the MS Norgoma, were replaced by the much larger and more modern MS Chi-Cheemaun which could accommodate a much larger number of automobiles, and passengers (but no livestock).”

Manitowaning just wouldn't be the same without this great reminder of the past inviting us onboard and I hope some way can be found to keep this bit of history afloat in the area.

Politics?

So, the Ontario Government can spend millions of dollars of our money constructing smokers lounges at their casinos because they are not in the business of selling food and drink? This is a menu from just one of the restaurants at just one of the casinos that they own and operate. Looks like food is available to me, what about you??

I'm not against the smoker's areas, just against the people we've elected ignoring their own laws to help themselves while at the same time discriminating against the bingo halls, restaurants and bars on this topic. Shouldn't people have a choice as long as they’re not hurting someone else? What’s wrong with giving smoker’s a separate area to relax or gamble in?

This photo is one that I saw on the MyChoice web site and is just one of the THREE our Provincial Government endorsed and paid for at Casino Windsor alone. Of course there are still four other casinos that the Government controls and each of them has, or will have, smokers shelters paid for by you and me at a minimum cost of $250,000.00 each. Makes me wonder what other double standards we have here in Ontario. What do you think?

I'll Take Three...

Been playing some on-line poker lately. Not for money, just at some of those fun sites like PartyPoker where you can play all day and work on sharpening your skills for free. I used to play a lot of money poker years ago but gave it up as someone always seems to get mad when it’s for real cashable bucks.

My first posting with the Hudson’s Bay Company back in the early 70’s was to Mistissini, about 60 miles north of Chibougamau, Quebec. This was a huge location for trapping and I’ll write a little bit about the community in another entry some day. Most of the people spent the entire winter season in the bush and twice each winter our store manager would charter a plane and visit each of the bush camps taking in supplies and buying fur. Anyway, to get to the point of the story for a couple months each winter we had pilots staying with us at the house and poker was the evening ritual. These were the fun times where no one ever lost more than $10 in the nickel and dime games. Later on after I went to a few other communities the hands got into the big money and just weren’t as much fun any more because none of us could afford to lose, so I quit the game for a lot of years.

I’m enjoying the on-line challenge although I think the game is easier to play when you have a physical opponent sitting across from you. It’s a little difficult to get a read as to whether or not they’re bluffing when you just have an avatar staring at you! So anyway, if you’re playing virtual poker some day and find yourself sitting at the same table with the WikyLion… take it easy on an old guy, will you?

PS: I think I lost to this bulldog the other day. He's one smooth pooch!

Fowl!

It’s amazing what difference a little snow can make. Normally we have the Chickadees and Nuthatches but as soon as we get a little bit of white stuff the Purple Finches, Tree Sparrows and Juncos also show up on the deck. Of course there are the persistent Blue Jays that I’m at war with because they just swoop down, fill their gullets and disappear leaving nothing for the smaller birds but at least I get some exercise going back and forth to the window scaring them all day.

Speaking of birds… there is an interesting article in the Manitoulin Expositor this week about possible introduction of the Wild Turkey to the island. I thought that they had already brought some in but the impression I get from the article is that they are still just talking about it. I’ve always wanted to see a Turkey around the house and was sort of looking forward to perhaps a future hunt (Sorry, Chrissy!) but now I’m wondering if it’s true they would indeed do damage to our farming industry. I can see them eating grain but would it be that much more than the geese already do? It also mentions that they can trample the crops… hmmm, don’t know about that one. (Turkey photo is from Anita Gould's Flickr Site.)

I agree that they are not indigenous and if they were meant to flourish here then they probably would be around already. Maybe they were here long ago and died out for some reason. I’ll have to ask my in-laws and find out as I heard once upon a time that there used to be some in the M’Chigeeng area.

I’ve read somewhere that the English Sparrow was introduced to North America at one time and weren’t Pigeons imported as well? English Sparrows have some nasty habits and I’ve seen them take over other bird’s nest and throw the existing eggs out. I know nothing about the Wild Turkey and its characteristics but I wouldn’t want them to drive out any of our existing populations…. unless maybe we can pit them against the cormorants? (Cormorant photo from Dan Kaiser's Flickr Site.)

3 years 166 days and counting…

That’s what the countdown to retirement clock on my web site reads.

Just got the call the other day to start my years travel for Northern again and I’ve got to admit to mixed feelings. I received the e-mail in the morning asking if I would be available for a management relief in Northern Quebec and you know… it took me most of the rest of the day before I finally said yes. I’d known all along that I would, but there is a complete lack of excitement about starting another year of troubleshooting, training and take-overs. Maybe it’s because I’ve had better than two months off but it seems harder than usual to get started again.

A very good friend of mine wrote to me in an email today that he’s just scared of the term “early retirement.” Well, I would be too if that meant doing nothing but I’ve got too much to do, too many plans made, too many books to read, too many memories to document and I have no intention of just sitting on the deck and waiting for the rest of my life. There are things to build, a half dozen little money making little projects I’ve always said I’d start some day and a dozen more still just tickling the back of my mind, some of which will hopefully help pay the groceries. If they don’t… so be it. It’s all going to be fun anyway.

Here’s to the future… what’s in yours?

Ghosts and Memories...

A photo that Kusari posted on his Flickr site the other day finally inspired me to take this shot. I look at this abandoned farm on Highway 6 every single time I go past it and remark on the trees around the old house, wondering about it’s history and the memories that must still linger inside.

The buildings sit in the middle of the field with these huge old trees surrounding the homestead. I can visualize the lady of the house telling her husband not to cut them down when the house was being built, but to leave them for shade and character. Perhaps it was he thinking of her and the pleasure she would get from them. Perhaps they were even planted by the couple after the home itself was up. It just seems to me that these trees would have made the home complete. I can visualize the two of them sitting out front, tired after a long day in the fields just sitting or rocking, looking out at their domain, proud of their accomplishments, planning for the future… hoping they hadn’t made a mistake in betting their lives on this particular piece of Manitoulin Island.

Who were they? Did they succeed in their lives here, did they move away, did they die here on the island; are their descendants perhaps even now working the still active adjoining farms? Ghosts and memories…

Tag this!

In keeping with what seems to be a “travel” theme lately, what with Flight Simulator and the travel maps I’ve found an offer for everyone to take advantage of.

If you go to the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines site they have a link where you are able to order your personalized KLM luggage tags. There is a choice of uploading a photo of your own or choosing from one of their themes such as Holidays, Destinations, Airplanes, Business or Cities. Just plug in your information and within 2 weeks you should receive your tags. I got this tip off the Airliners web site and know of several people who have received their tags already. Mine are supposed to be on the way to me.

Meet you at the airport!

Where's Waldo?

Just ran across an interesting site. You can plug in the countries or states you have visited and it will create a map for you. Christine... it would be interesting to see your "world" filled in!

Up, Up and Away!

So now you know what I’ve been doing the past several days.

We’ve been flying Flight Simulator for 15 or 20 years now and just may have more hours logged than a lot of real pilots. I’m still trying to master the different helicopters that come with this version but the J3 Cub is a pleasure to fly, as is the Beech Baron. It also has a very realistic Beaver on floats but my favourite so far is a great handling little Ultra-Lite. This week I’ve explored most of Manitoulin with it and although it lands great on the beach in front of the house it’s a little too slow for the longer cross country flights. I’ve parked it at CYEM (Manitoulin East Airport) and switched over to a DC-3 for a flight up to Timmins and points north. Right now we’re just passing over the Sudbury radio beacon and will probably go on to park it in Moosonee for the night. Sometime in the next few days we’ll try out the jets and hopefully be flying 747’s by the weekend.

My older FS versions weren’t equipped with a GPS so there’s been a learning curve with this new feature for me. I’m having trouble entering waypoints directly into the GPS and leaning what all it’s switches are but filing flight plans and staying in touch with various control towers around the world is fairly simple. A real nifty feature of FS-X is that it will stay online full time with the weather service so whatever it’s doing in real life is what you have to deal with in the simulator. Needless to say I haven’t had to handle too much in the way of snow or icing conditions so far!

We left Alert up in Nunavut a couple days ago and discovered that a Mooney just doesn’t have enough fuel to get from there to Pond Inlet on the tip of Baffin Island. That particular aircraft is now parked at the Thule Air Base and I’ll have to go retrieve it some day and bring it home to Manitoulin. How about it, anyone else out there hooked on this particular game educational tool?

Almost There...

Well we’ve just about survived another one.

I’m usually a pain at this time of the year but I’ve been in a department store setting for going on 34 years now and unless you’ve been in that position you have no idea what it’s like. I won’t go into details (unless you insist) but suffice to say that there can be many 18 hour workdays in the days leading up to December 25th.

The last 3 years have been great though as I haven’t been assigned to any one store but travelling and doing training or just helping out whenever and wherever needed instead. I call myself the ‘Designated Hitter’ for The North West Company as when they need something done I head in and can usually get the job done for them. Not being posted full time at one spot means that I’ve been able to duck most of the late night closings and early morning openings. I feel a little guilty about this but hey… I’ve done my time and put in the long hours when it’s been called for and yes… I’m starting to feel I’m just getting a little bit too old for this sort of thing.

I started my career in 1973 at Mistassini, Quebec. If you’re wondering, that’s about 60 miles north of Chibougamau and one of the very few stores where we have a year round road into town. Many of our stores still have only fly in access although the more southern ones now have winter roads open for a few weeks during which the entire years freight has to be moved into the community. We didn't have telephone there at that time and I still don't have one now in 2006. (As explained in a previous blog entry there are no telephone lines available where we live.) Don't worry, I’m not going to get into my entire work history with you right now but maybe we’ll have a series of write-ups later on about different locations and experiences. Or you may just have to wait for the book I keep telling myself I’m going write some day.

The best thing about all the travel and transfers for work was if I hadn’t…

I wouldn’t have met the fantastic lady that allowed me to become her husband of almost 29 years now… WOW! She was Office Manager in Fort George (now Chisasibi) at the time we met and I was still a green trainee learning the ropes.

We wouldn’t have had a great bunch of kids. Don’t tell them I called them “great” or they’ll think I’m getting soft in my old age!

I wouldn’t have seen the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic Oceans.

I wouldn’t have visited every Province and Territory. Except for New Brunswick and P.E.I.

I wouldn’t have moved to Manitoulin Island, the best place in the world!

Looking back it’s been fun and there aren’t too many days that I’d want to trade away, except maybe for a couple sealifts and midnight freight planes.

Actually, it’s getting harder to remember any of the bad days at all. Maybe it is time to start working on that book. See you next year, everyone!

Out Of The Way Telephone Service

Now I have nothing against Amtelecom or Bell Canada or FirstTel or any of the other great telephone companies in the country but...

We live way on the outskirts of town and the last quote we received from one of the above mentioned companies was in the neighbourhood of $4,000.00 to run a telephone line to our house. Cell 'phones also do not work in this area but we do have TV through Bell ExpressVu and internet through Xplornet. Last year I signed up to Skype for a computer telephone service and so far it's worked out great. Occasionally the signal seems to fade a bit and the voices come out weird but on the whole there have been very few problems.

Anyway, just wanted to mention that they've got a good deal on this month and I just renewed my subscription. We're getting unlimited local and long-distance calls anywhere in Canada or the US through to the end of 2007 for only $17.50 total. Can't get a better deal than that I think... and no, I'm not getting a commission from this one!

Great Opportunity!

Sorry, but I just can't say enough about the future that this organization offers. I've been looking for years for something like this that I could truly trust and have become convinced that this is the one. I can't find any gimmicks, drawbacks, hidden agendas or anything else that's anything but 100% positive. Click here for more information. No obligations, just possibilities.

Churchill or Bust!

I thought since “Life On Manitoulin” had mentioned she wanted to visit Churchill someday that I would put a little blurb up here.

First of all you have to decide which you want to see, beluga whales or polar bears. The big season for the white whales is August while prime polar bear time is now running from late October into November. There is of course a good chance of seeing the bears at any time of the year but the beluga are limited to the summer months. Without a bit of stretching the truth I happened to go for a walk one evening in August of 2005 and there were hundreds of them popping up to breath as far as I could see up the river. At any one time there had to be at least 50 spouts visible on the water. I never saw that many at one time again but you could always see a dozen or so around the beach behind the hospital and elsewhere along the coast. One great way to see them is to take one of the many tours offered by "Sea North Tours." If you are at all interested in history take their “Beluga and Fort Tour” which will take you across the river to Prince of Whales Fort and either on the way over or way back (or both) you cruise along in the boat with the whales swimming right along side you. Again, you may or may not see a bear and you just take your chances on that.

If you want to see polar bears then the main time is when the ice is starting to form in late October and early November. The old timers tell me that this is getting later every year as the seasons are getting warmer. I was reading somewhere recently that the bears are now actually getting about one month less time to hunt seals than they used to. This is also making them hungrier and more impatient while roaming up and down the coast so when you see one of the many warning signs… BELIEVE IT!

I personally know of one guy last summer who went past the sign behind the hospital to get a closer look at the whales and when he looked up the beach there was a bear ambling towards him! John was smart enough not run but just backed away slowly and made his way to the back door of the hospital… which was locked. It’s OK, he made it around to the front and got inside but if that bear had been very hungry the ending may well have been different. Best way to see bears? Book at tour with “Tundra Buggy Adventures,” You’ll be warm and safe and still see the bears from just a few feet away.

Normally I’m just passing through Churchill but one time I was there for a few weeks and flew up on a Calm Air Saab 340 and took the train out. I really enjoyed the train as I got a single roomette for the two night journey to Winnipeg. It’s got a very comfortable seat with a great view out your window, a sink that folds down from the wall, your own private toilet and a bed that rolls out of the wall. I must say getting in and out of the bed was a little tricky as when it is pulled out there is absolutely no floor space to stand on while getting in. (Did I mention these roomettes are small?) Anyway, I found the best way was to slide the bed half way out, get up onto it, and then grab the window frame and pull it the rest of the way out and lock into place.

There is a community shower (very clean) at the end of your car and you can wander down to the lounge / dining car to relax, chat with your travelling companions or have a quiet drink. Oh, I shared the dinner table one night with a nice old couple from the Waterloo area who are retired and spend part of their summers “riding the rail” and seeing different parts of the country. They were going to be driving back to Waterloo from Winnipeg and were of course driving through Manitoulin on the way in order to save some miles by taking the Chi-Cheemaun and also to stop at 3 Cows and a Cone for some delicious Farquars Ice Cream!

Another point about the community is that Churchill is a major seaport. It regularly has huge ocean freighters in port loading up with wheat that arrives in town by train. There were two from China in town loading while I was there.

Churchill was also the location of Canada’s only space port, the remains of which are still there. At one time there were plans to build a huge operation that would have rivalled Cape Canaveral and many rockets were actually fired from this location.

If you are into Northern Lights then this is the right place for you, in the winter of course. There is one building way out away from any lights with glass domes on top so you can sit back nice and warm with your hot cocoa and watch the show going on above you.

All in all, Churchill is a great place to visit and I definitely want to get back there some day for at least a week. To tell you the truth if I’d been posted there with Northern Stores years ago I would have never left… but then I wouldn’t have discovered Manitoulin, which would have been a tragedy!

Here's a few more Churchill photos if you're interested.

December?

I don't know abaout you but a sled on grass just doesn't equal December for me...