Mom & Dad - Christine & Les!

Here are Christine and Les, now simply known as William and Charlotte's parents!

How to Follow The Seasons in Texas

When I was a kid in Toronto, my upper floor bedroom window overlooked our backyard. When it was fall, the leaves fell off the maple tree. That started in mid-October. Later, in December, when it snowed, the branches of the lilacs, hedges and the maple were trimmed in white. It was beautiful . . . from the window! The ground was a blanket of white.  By Christmas, it looked just like a Courier and Ives greeting card. 

Of course, in order to go outside, we had to bundle up and there would be a muffler (or scarf) tied across your nose and mouth, because it was COLD outside! 

Come Easter, it was still not too green but when May came, the lilacs were blooming and we would cut those and bring a bouquet inside for my birthday. 

Our roses in Ontario started blooming late June and that last rose of summer was in September.

By late May and early June, there were colorful flowers (annuals and perennials) in our rock gardens and some bushes were in bloom.  Summer was colorful and then, of course, autumn rolled around again. 

So, by looking out the window, you knew pretty much what time of year it was. 

In Texas, even after almost twelve years, I still find myself looking at the calendar to see just what season we are in. 

So, when we have a Fall Festival, that tells you it is autumn on the calendar. People – like me - from other areas are reminded of their Oktoberfest, their hayrides, bazaars and so we organize them here. 

A really big difference is Thanksgiving! In Canada, it is the second Monday in October and here in United States, it is the last Thursday in November.  People often ask why this is and the answer has to do with when the harvest is.  The Canadian crops are all in long before here in the South.  Of course, Thanksgiving is when we give thanks for the fine crops we have harvesting. 

I think that most people appreciate what they remember from their childhood and so, even in Texas, we have many people from many areas, all honoring their roots. 

Hurricane Ike - Back to Normal Yet?

The first question is: are we back to life as we knew it before Hurricane Ike? The second question is, “What was normal for us?” 

Well, the answers are “Yes”, “Yes, for us” and “No”, if you count the tree limbs at curbside awaiting pick-up and the trees resting on some house roofs. There are still a few extra people here, some who had nothing to go back to, and a few children registered with our local schools. So, as before, we have probably increased our population somewhat. 

There are extra service trucks and there will be plenty of them to do all the clean up. 

Most of us are back into the routines we were used to before the storm. Because we are “retired”, perhaps Hubby and I do not have so much of a routine as some. 

A few of us have some residual aches and pains which may or may not be psychosomatic. 

My friend has an ongoing headache. Sinus headaches are very common in East Texas and they are probably weather-induced. So, I conclude she is sick over the hurricane, or climate change. (No, she did not have severe damage, just the same inconvenience we all had.) 

Today I am finally going to see my doctor about my back pain. Now, I have to tell you my G.P. is a Canadian, eh? So, he will not tell me that I am a hypochondriac. He will come up with some uncommonly simple solution for my pain. He is a very down-to-earth type of fellow, graduated from University of Alberta who practiced in Northern Ontario. 

So, I have dispelled the thought for you that I am the only Canuck here! (And there are a few more . . .) 

Why is my back hurting so much? Well, it might be that big stock of water I pushed in the cart from the back of the Wal-Mart store before Ike. Or, could it be an immense tote box laden with heavy stuff marked “Crawl Space” that I pushed from one room to another? 

What is the significance of “Crawl Space” written on the box? Well, it means it came from Ontario, because we do not have any crawl space at this house. For all my Texas friends, let me explain. I was living in a four level back-split which is truthfully, a house with four levels and lots of short sets of stairs. On the bottom of it all was a final level – accessible by children, dogs, and you on your knees – for storage: CRAWL SPACE! 

So, like most of us, I kinda left something aside that I should have sorted through – oh, maybe 10 or 11 years ago. 

And, my doctor will know that I simply did too much at the last minute, won’t he? 

On the “do it now” side, we did take the tidy clear bag of gently used clothing that they were calling for at Goodwill. (I confess that bag had been sitting in the garage for about five months.) Fortunately the newspaper headlined that they needed more clothing for evacuees. 

On the clean side of the slate, except those with generators, most of us now also have very tidy freezers! (We put frig contents in coolers with ice, but alas the freezer contents had to be tossed and of course, any residual ice melted.) 

Should I tell you that yesterday morning, the power went off again while I was here at my computer? Accompanying the outage was a giant pop or crack out on the street. Fortunately, we were soon up and running and then, only then, did I print out some hard copies of work to be edited. Oh, when will I ever learn? 

So, shall we conclude that some of our pains are beyond our control – like headaches, and some – like other headaches and backaches, may well be caused by the old procrastination? 

Are we back to normal? Well, yes, no, and maybe!

Did you know you can move a town?

Luxurious Vacation

Having been away from the Toronto area and living in East Texas for almost 12 years now, I am able to see more clearly the distinct differences.

We are expecting Hurricane Gustav in three to four days. The last two hurricanes to really impact this area were Katrina, the one that devastated New Orleans and another named Rita.

Katrina impacted our area in that many people came here and on down to Houston to get away. Some never went back; they stayed here.

We happened to be in Shreveport, Louisiana when Katrina was on her way and we left early the last morning of our stay and ambled down back roads to keep away from the heavy traffic on the major thruways.

Rita did bring damage to our area – mostly downed trees and many damaged roofs. She also took out our power, or as you in Ontario know it, “Hydro”.

(Electric power in Ontario is mostly generated from water, such as Niagara Falls and since “Hydra” is the word for water, you get the idea.)

To help you get the humor, let me digress and tell you how much people in Ontario love to leave their city homes, often near water and take a break at a cottage. The humorist Stephen Leacock wrote about how much Ontario folks like to live and vacation near the water.

Well, when I was about 20, a friend of mine invited me to her family’s cottage for a week. Their cottage was actually on an island, their island. Now, I had been to her home which was very large and suitably situated in a fine Toronto neighborhood. I had also been to her family’s hobby farm also with a spacious, comfortable house.

Well, I took a bus from Toronto up to Parry Sound on Georgian Bay (maybe 120 miles) and she came to meet me in a fancy car. We drove to the dock where she parked and we got in to a large and impressive boat.

So, I was not prepared for their island. There was no electricity and no indoor plumbing, only outhouses. (Now, I think there may have been more than one outhouse, which of course is impressive.)

I stayed on the island for a week and actually had a very nice break although at age 20, I did not truly appreciate how nice a break it actually was.

In Texas, so far, I have not heard about people taking this type of vacation.

So far, in our neighborhood, the destruction since I have been here has generally been fallen trees, downed fences (which are mostly wooden), and some roofs damaged. The temperature here gets really hot and the most oppressive thing about a hurricane is the power outage. That means no air-conditioning and when the temperature is 90 – 100 degrees that becomes a major problem. (Air conditioning is not a luxury here.)

So Hubby and I are sitting on our reclining sofa in the late evening and it is not too hot yet. We are in the dark, reclined back, holding hands and I say,

“Do you know what we call this in Ontario?”

“No, what?” (Hubby is a very good straight man and is an Illinois native.)

“A luxurious vacation!”

So, it looks like Gustav is heading our way and let’s pray that it is just a “luxurious vacation” again!