Clubber

    Clubber was in one of my grade eight classes in the early 60's. Clubber was a little different than most thirteen year olds.

    Clubber was a loner and very quiet. There were some good reasons Clubber was a loner. Clubber was a quiet kid but that doesn't mean that he was nice. The other kids were somewhat afraid of Clubber as he could look after himself physically. Clubber didn't hesitate to use force to get what he wanted from other kids. Kids didn't report much of this behavior as they were always afraid of how Clubber would retaliate. If you did pal around with Clubber you were probably going to get into trouble and kids did not want to find themselves in trouble.

    Clubber learned the pleasures of tobacco early in life. Clubber had to have his regular supply of tobacco. He got his tobacco in several ways. Thirteen year olds could buy tobacco in the early sixties but they didn't have enough spending money for a full supply. So shoplifting helped in the supply of tobacco. Of course, he was caught quite regularly. Clubber may have been smart but at being a crook he was pretty dumb. Clubber also picked up other things from stores. As a result everybody in town watched Clubber. His third supply of tobacco came from other kids. Kids would give him a cigarette as he would probably take all their cigarettes if they resisted. 

     Clubber entered a few places he wasn't supposed to enter. Pool rooms were closed on Sundays in the sixties. One Sunday the owner of the pool room checked his facility and there was Clubber playing pool all by himself. The back door was not very secure so he just walked in. He had probably been doing the same thing for quite a while.

    Teachers tried to watch Clubber very carefully but it was difficult. Clubber was not a behavior problem in class.  He was sneaky but also an opportunist. It was interesting to watch him as he was always looking two steps ahead. He saw things nobody else saw.

    Clubber's parents were at their wits end with him as they didn't know how to handle the situation and at that time there was no support for them.

    You could see where Clubber was headed. He had no concerns about getting things he wanted by using illegal means.

   Five or six years later I read a news item in the paper that Clubber had been sentenced for armed robbery.

   It was rather sad to see a person so young get into behavior patterns which were not only destructive for him but others.
     
    I will certainly remember Clubber for a long time.

Snowstick Worries

    Now I've posted about my snow stick on a previous post. Far Side got me into setting up a snow stick so we could compare snowfall amounts.


    Me being somewhat lazy and disorganized went out and thought if I put my snow stick on a table in the yard, I won't have to get my boots full of snow and it will be easy to take photo. In other words, I won't have to bend down to get a photo. I reasoned that the table would show an even level amount of snow. My plan worked well.

    We've had some mild spring like weather. The snow on the table melts faster than snow on the ground. Snow melt is influenced by shade or direct sunny spots. The snow melts on the south side of the house first. So now I'm left with a bare table. No snow! I also found that there was a pot saucer on the table so that my snow stick didn't get to the table surface.

The snow table

     Now we still have tons of snow around. There's still lots of snow and ice on the roads.

Snow in the yard

Snow in the front yard where I shoveled snow off the driveway.

     Now next year I'm going to have to improve on my snow stick. Maybe I should get one of those super dooper snow measurers they use on TV weather to show how much snow we receive. Then I could go on YouTube and give my own weather report.

I Can Always Find Something Useless to Whine About

     Don't you just hate it when blogs just disappear? They just stop.

     I guess why I get upset when a blog disappears, is that I've enjoyed the blog and am just plain disappointed when it's gone.

    A few people do say that they have decided to stop blogging. I can handle this because there's closure. They also give reasons as to why it's time to stop blogging. Good! There was some thought to this decision. One blog I really liked and was disappointed when it closed was Just Another Day on the Prairie. A good reason for stopping was given and a good bye was said.

  One blog that really impressed me was where the blogger posted until a few days before his death. There were some intense comments shared on this one. I learned a great deal from this one. Much reflection took place after this one closed. His wife wrote a couple of posts when he was too sick to write. His daughter wrote a final post.

    In one or two blogs illness has set in and I think that the blogger passed on. Sad.

     Sometimes a very active blogger just starts to slow down. Time between posts gets longer and longer and then ceases. Sometimes bloggers try something new. They go from posting every day to once a week. You know something's up. Not long after things dry up and stop. Some bloggers are involved in more than one blog and they are stretched too far so something has to go. Sometimes bloggers move on to a completely different area and start a new blog. I can follow their new blog or call it a day.

    Sometimes the area that they cover just dries up and they have no new material to use. 

    Sometimes the fire in the belly just goes out.

    I would think that some bloggers find something else to occupy their time and blogging is what is dropped.

    So once in a while I have to go through my blog list and "clean it up."  It's sad to take these blogs off your blog list. They are old friends.

    On the other side of the coin one can search for more blogs. That's a blog post for another time.

   So how do you handle things when a blog shuts down?

Missing the Forest for the Trees

       A while ago I bought a new camera. It was a step up from the little old point and shoot I had to another point and shoot.  I wanted some zoom so that I could do a better job on some topics.

        I'm a birder so I want to get some better photos of birds. I will be satisfied if my photo is good enough so that the bird can be identified.

      So I've been practising a bit. I went to our local nature center. They have some feeders and they are very active. So for an impatient person like myself , the action is fast. There's also a convenient post I can lean against so that I can steady my camera. I park myself close to the feeder. So I've been learning a few things.

     Now I posted some of my bird photos. One comment was that "it was pretty good for shooting out a window." Then I saw something! I saw the brilliant reflection in the windows! I was concentrating on the bird so much that I missed other things in the photo. The person making the comment was looking at more than the bird.

    So I learned a little more about taking pictures. I will have to see more than I've been seeing.

These reflections were much brighter than I thought. 

The bird isn't interesting but the background is very busy

The Gadgets Just Keep Getting Smarter.

      I recently attended a session put on by the Alberta Biodiversity Monitoring Institute. This organization's objective is to inventory all the  various living organisms in the province. They have set up 1529 posts throughout the province where they identify all living organisms on the site. So areas such as grain fields, grasslands , forests, wetlands and mountains are studied. They first choose three by seven mile sites and then choose something in that area which is narrowed down to a few acres.

     So a small site of  few acres is studied very carefully to identify all organisms. The purpose of the whole operation is to set up a level which can be used when deciding on land uses.

     They've made some interesting discoveries. They've found several new species of soil mites. They've also found species that were not known to exist in Alberta. They also plan to go back to each site every five years and survey again.

     Now a lot of this work is just hard observation. Sit and observe. Take photos. Dig a bit here. Take samples.

   There are a few gadgets that can be used. The familiar one is the trail webcam. Some of you have trail cams and if you are patient in monitoring you will see some interesting critters travelling through your yard.

    The gadget I found most interesting was a sound recorder. The device is placed on the site and left for a year. For ten minutes of each hour the device turns on and listens. Each year the device is read for the sounds recorded. They can identify an amazing number of sounds. Bird and animal calls are a no brainer. They can also identify creatures that are moving in the area. So it will hear mice rustling through the grass, a bear ambling through the site, a deer munching on some browse, a coyote scratching his ear or a bird flying by. This device is extremely sensitive. I thought this was pretty neat.

    This organization has many tools in its toolkit but the one using sound for a whole year was most fascinating.

    Once this study is complete it will have a most detailed and complete inventory of the things around us.

March 1: Lion or Lamb?

    March 1 is a fun date that I like to notice. The "in like a lamb out like a lion" or the opposite "in like a lion out like a lamb" is important when you get to this part of the winter. Everybody would like to see winter end.  My felt boots have holes in them and my fleece lined underwear are the same. If winter lasts much longer I'll be cold!

    Now for a skeptic like me, there are a few questions about conditions on March 1. What are the rules and regulations about the weather to define lion or lamb? So last night at one minute after midnight it was minus 15 C (5 F  ) calm and dark. At 6 AM it was minus 16C (4 F) , calm and the beginning of the dawn.  At noon it was minus 2 C ( 29 F) very windy and clear  At 6 PM it was minus 2 C(29F) 16 kph (10 mph) and clear. So some of this was lion and some was lamb. What am I to do? Toss a coin and pick one? 

     Whatever happens it's always pleasant to reach March 1. We know that we can get cold weather but it won't stay long. We will be getting much more mild weather. 

     The sun rose this morning at 7:22 AM and set at 6:12 PM for 10 hours and 50 minutes of sunshine.

     It was a good day to get out and walk, snowshoe or ski.

Starting a pleasant walk

Great blue skies

Coming back from the walk

My best shot of a chickadee today.

Darn! Wrong Date!

      Now with my history, this could be a story about the wrong woman. But it's not.

      On my Face book today , somebody had an example of what they thought was a humorous card which said, "Yesterday was National Middle Child Day, but I missed it." I only caught the "middle child" term  and that sent me off on a tangent. 

      I immediately thought, "I have to make a post on this topic." 

     I like discussions of birth order and  day of birth. I find the assertions and all the contortions people have to go through to make their case quite interesting.. I do not know the day I was born. I once asked one of the local autistic guys, I know well, to tell me the day of my birth. I forgot it before I got home.

     So I thought I should do a little research. To my horror I found out that yesterday was not National Middle Child Day. National Middle Child Day is August 12.

    So I was looking forward to posting on a topic I find interesting.

    But since it's not the right day, I've been left at the altar!

     So how do you feel when some inaccuracy spoils your day?