The Lonely Fire Hydrant

Once upon a time there was a lonely fire hydrant.

It lived in a vast park. It tried to make conversation with various pine cones, to no avail. It wished it had a friend.

One day its wish came true. A boy named Andrew was walking by after an ice storm. He thought the fire hydrant was picturesque in its surroundings. No one had ever paid it attention before and the fire hydrant was smitten. But the boy had to go because it was getting dark.

The fire hydrant was sad but also glad that it had met the boy.

The End

Icy

Here in the Fraser Valley we had an ice storm over the past few days. It had been cold with a bit of snow, then some warmer air moved in and the freezing rain took down a bunch of trees, power lines, etc. Today was sunny and things started to melt a bit. Here's a couple of photos from Mill Lake:

Walk in the Rain

On Sunday, for reasons I cannot explain,
I decided to take a long walk in the rain.


The new tower to the south of Mill Lake gets lost in the low clouds

A long walk can lessen static back pain
And help minds boxed in all week to attain
a re-appreciation of all that is main.

To slow down and notice the signs in the lane
-driving past in my truck no notice to deign-
Giving conscience condescension arraigned
Judged and juried, moving past all that is bane.

Hmm. Any more archaic 'ān' words I can use in this poem?

Fall

Something floated down from above. Then another, and another. Fall had arrived. A good windstorm helped many more leaves cover the lush green grass. I borrowed a rake from the co-op's shed and made a big pile. The intention is to fill compostable bags with them and truck them to the depot...eventually!

In the background you see our place: look for the spider web!

Mister Sparkly Countertop!

A project I've been working on for awhile in fits and starts is a fiber optic light countertop. I bought an offcut of solid surface from Floform (I'm not sure the brand or colour). I fabricated it into a vanity for our bathroom, to replace some old butcher block laminate. After drilling about 150 1mm holes, I painstakingly glued each fiber in place, then sanded the top smooth. It looks pretty cool! I'm marketing these through my business if you're interested in buying one! Mister Sparkly Countertop

Solar Eclipse 2017

Ken and Bev from All-Star Telescope invited us to join them in Casper for the Solar Eclipse. They booked the hotel two years ago! It was a good excuse to see them and some other family and mutual friends as well. August 21 was a warm, clear day. We arrived at the site by 10am and watched others setting up cameras and telescopes.

Using camping supplies we had handy, Michelle followed NASA's pinhole camera instructions, and together with the kids we had made 3 boxes for safely viewing the sun. They worked well! Even the seasoned astronomers took a peek!

Our viewing site was on the lawn of a Medical Center, and a couple of nurses came out to see what was happening.

Kate drew a picture on her dry-erase board to show the first nip that the moon took out of the sun:

Here's a picture of the group while it's still bright out, and then again as it gets darker. As totality approached at about 11:42am, the temperature dropped, the mosquitoes came out, the streetlights went on, and there was a 360 degree sunset!

There were only a couple of moments of totality. Time passed very quickly. I tried to enjoy it but also took a few pictures of both the eclipse and also the group, and missed the "diamond ring effect" at the end while I was fiddling with my camera settings. As the sun slipped back into its usual bright eye-blinding self, cheers erupted from the group. It was indeed an awesome spectacle to witness together.

Here is a "pinhole picture" from a sheet of cardboard on which Bev drew the number 2017 with pinholes. It was difficult to photograph the suns on a second sheet of paper, but by bringing up the contrast you can see the moons easily! Happy Eclipse Chasing everybody!

Devil's Kitchen

Well, as you can see, our car topper made it to Wyoming (see previous post--by the way, it worked well; gas mileage did suffer a bit but not too crazy). We camped at a KOA in Greybull with our friends from Denver. One day we did a daytrip to see some nearby falls, and the Devil's Kitchen (see photo). I'm not sure what was he was cooking up--something green and slimy? We also visited a Dinosaur Track site and walked over some real tracks in the rock. Then after a few days we drove to Casper, which is the subject of my next post!

Car topper

Last time we went camping at Chilliwack Lake, we took my pickup truck...and everything and everyone fit comfortably. However for a longer journey the car makes more sense. Except that the four of us will not fit in there too comfortably with all of our camping stuff (I don't know how my family did it when I was in highschool. I remember a week trip up the Island with 4 of us in a small hatchback).

The obvious solution is to put some stuff on top of the car. I found some nice roofracks on Craigslist for $125. That was as much as I was willing to spend, however, and decided that for this trip, a home-made car-topper would do.

It had to be aerodynamic, somewhat waterproof, light, and secure. I'm fairly happy with the end result, but the real test will come tomorrow when we go road-tripping!

The box is made of some old 1x4s someone gave me for free (cedar I think), some scraps of 1/4" plywood I had, and a wee bit of hardware (some U bolts for the front and some zap-straps for the back). Malachi helped me paint it. I call it the "Thule: Almost" box. I also added another piece of plywood (not pictured) angled at the front to further deflect the wind.

Dragonfly vocalist

Today for our "Canada Day" church service we met outside. I led music with a guitar/amp and mic, and also had a keyboardist, and a percussionist playing my cajon as well! After a nice service, and a BBQ lunch and some carnival games, I was cleaning up the sound equipment and noticed a bug sitting on top of the microphone. It appeared to be a dragonfly of some sort and he was unaware that the microphone was not plugged in--otherwise who knows what interesting noises I would have heard? Dragonfly rap?

Yesterday on the real Canada Day our family watched the parade from street level. Then we walked to the mall to cool off and the kids did some shopping. Later we caught the afternoon showing of Cars 3. It was a nice "family date." The kids did really well on their end-of-school report cards, so it was time for a treat!

Now the teacher in our family can start enjoying her summer break. It will be a bit of a break for me too with no school pick-ups! Maybe we can also get more caught up on cleaning the house!

Handy Andrew

Some time ago I decided to start my own business. It had always been a small pipe dream of mine, but some circumstances at my regular job propelled me just a little more than before. I found myself registering a business name, obtaining a licence and signing up to collect PST (oh, joy!). I set up a website, printed a few business cards, and bought a truck. Without really trying I found myself with too much work, so I've now given my notice at Floform and will commence Handy Andrew in earnest on June 1.

What does Handy Andrew do, you ask? Well, so far just about anything that requires some handiness. :) My accepted quotes right now include bedroom furniture (built-in desk and dresser), custom built RV cabinets, and a day at a house doing drywall repair, window hinge repair, and pressure washing. I'm also painting some cabinets for a friend from church right now.

I'm enjoying the business set-up side of things, although parts of it are a little daunting too. I'm hoping to give more energy to this when I have more time. Right now time is limited!

Beauty and the Beast - Theatre

I was asked awhile ago if I would like to help with set construction for Gallery 7's production of Beauty and the Beast. I had never done any before and was interested to learn, plus I love to volunteer with this theatre, so I started helping out a few times after work, and on Saturdays. It was a daunting task; the workshop was sufficient but not as efficient as my workplace. And the set was quite big. There were many 4x8 flats to make, some mounted on risers with wheels, some 10 feet high, and when stacked in pieces pretty close to to 20 feet high. Then there were custom arched doorways and windows, and stairs. I learned a lot from the guy in charge, Phil, and was able to make a significant contribution.

The last week before the show was quite packed. I was at the theatre when I wasn't at work or sleeping for most days. While stressful, it was also enjoyable helping make this show a success.

Today our family attended the matinee at Abbey Arts Centre, and it was very well done; after the show Kate got pictures with many of the characters including Belle and the Beast. Malachi only wanted a picture with Gaston. Kate took this picture of Mom and Dad with Gaston and LeFou (played by a girl named Emily who also helped with building/painting the set one day).

Cajón No. 2

In 2015 I made a cajón (see this blog-video for one dog's opinion). It sounded really good and I enjoyed playing it; our house and plot were large enough that I didn't feel like I was bugging too many people when I played it. I left it with an American colleague (Drew, aka Oneheart, recording artist) in Zambia and I am happy to hear that it is getting some good use! But I needed to make another one, so when I found some 3/8" plywood in the recycling bin here in Canada, it was time to start.

A friend from the cabinet shop gave me a scrap of 1/4" plywood for the front, and I had some old steel guitar strings for the snare, so this drum cost me nothing! I added a "crotch protector" (not sure if there's a name for this yet) to the top front so as to reduce extending the arms while playing. I'm not sure if this affected the sound, or if it was the lighter box, or my strings weren't strung well, but the sound is not as good as my other one...but it's still fun to play. Just not as fun because I feel more self-conscious in the townhouse. Sorry, neighbours!

Now to write a song featuring it. I'm toying around with some lyrics relating to the parable of the weeds in Matthew 13...

'Bogganing in Queen E.

Victor and I went tobogganing in January in Queen Elisabeth Park.  It was a little icy but quite enjoyable once I figured out I could stop before the road!

Food Choices

I used to work for Panago Pizza, a long time ago, as a delivery driver. Later I graduated to a Supervisor for a short time. It was a good job and I ate a lot of pizza as a starving college student. In fact, I sometimes wonder if I ate too much, hence my wheat and cheese sensitivities. Anyway, tonight our family ordered Panago and I decided to try the gluten-free crust and the dairy-free cheese. It was the first time I've had Hawaiian pizza in many years. It tasted much better than my rye bread and goat cheese pizza that I made some years ago. But I suspect for any of you regular pizza eaters, it would be hard to stomach. It does smell a bit different and has a different texture.

The other surprise I had the other day was at the Old Spaghetti Factory. They have corn-based penne, so I was able to order (basically) spaghetti and meatballs! Yay for restaurants catering to gluten-free people!