聽returned home March 30 at 8:00 p.m. I was gone to Arizona for 24 days, not long enough. I wished to have stayed at least one more week, but Easter is fast approaching and there are preparations to be done.
Leaving Saskatoon there was no snow. At North Battleford and driving northeast to where I reside there was barely any snow. Getter in closer to where I live, there was a lot of snow. I couldn't believe all the snow in our yard. One could easily go cross-country skiing yet in my area, and perhaps snowmobile.
The temperatures were supposed to soar to 16 C Tuesday then drop the next few days. I actually got to experience 40 C temperatures in hot dry heat and it wasn't overly unbearable.
In 2005, during July and part of August, my husband and I holidayed in Australia (me for give weeks, David for three weeks) and also experienced the very hot weather especially at Alice Springs and Ayer's Rock. I would love to return to that beautiful country because I have a penpal that I have stayed in touch with since 10 years of age. Actually, Janette Shepheard and her sister Dawn are coming to visit in June and July 2016. I can't wait to show them the many scenic places we have. If time permits, Banff and Jasper and of course a visit to one of our son Greg's home, who resides in Red Deer, Alta. He has been living there since May 2006 and is a chartered accountant with Collins and Barrow, a national office across Canada.
Many people own units in the warmer climates in the United States and I can see they tremendously enjoy the sunshine (nature's Vitamin D), cheap food and the friendly people. Yes, Canada does need our neighbouring country and vice-versa. A lot of them are still quite ignorant of our geography, but that is because they (especially the older generation) never learned anything in the school system about Canada. One example is a 76-year-old lady next door to my rental trailer who hails from Washington state. I told her where I live and of course she did not know, only the country name of Canada, no names of provinces. I said, "British Columbia and Alberta border your state," and she replied, "No, it's Columbia River that is the border." I repeated myself a couple of times (to no avail) but she was very adamant about her correctness. Perhaps she could want to learn a little about geography, but I did learn from other people in the trailer court that she was a "know-it-all.鈥� Guess who I didn't associate with much?
My two sons who live locally now have done a lot of ice fishing this past winter. Ryan ice fishes at Meeting Lake, Keeley Lake and Chitek. A group of friends have a good time for a few days when they are free from their jobs. He said their catch at Keeley was remarkable.
My other son Curtis, who hasn't had much opportunity to do this winter outing, partook in it this year. For the past 14 years he has spent the winter surfing and travelling to Spain and Central America. He and a group of friends from Manitoba (his work buddies from Scott Lake, near the Northwest Territories) have ice fished mostly at Tobin Lake and various places in Manitoba. He is a safety construction officer and worked for Tahk (a big company in Alberta) last winter but due to the fallout with oil and gas, was unable to work this past winter.
It is a sad situation with many leaving Alberta to go back to the Maritimes because of job loss. Things will hopefully improve in the next few years, as this cycle happens to most countries. It is very unfortunate for young families who want to be employed, but the economy is down.聽 Things will never be like the Dirty 30s though, with people barely existing.
The banks are only too generous in wanting to lend money and this is also a big problem for a generation who thinks we need everything. I've read books and on TV learned we could easily live with less than 70 per cent of our materialistic things. Why is this so important? Accumulating 102 salt and pepper shakers as a hobby or other large collections only clutters one's house and then a larger house is needed. Get what I mean? And I'm not the lady that collected the 102 shakers! I collect photos (my weakness) which bring back many good memories. Memories are all society has to hang on to. Think about it! Get out your cameras.聽
