Wednesday - Winter’s frosty breath chilled me to the bone tonight as Jasper and I took our evening constitutional. The weather man has been threatening snow for the past several days, but as yet, we have not seen much. Jasper doesn’t seem to mind and is in fact energized by the cold weather. I, on the other hand, am already pining for Spring.
Saturday – Maybe I spoke too soon, today was beautiful, and they’re calling for warm weather this week. Last year, I believe around the middle of November, we had a severe Winter storm up north. Shauna and I were delayed in leaving Toronto, and by the time we traveled north, our retractable dock up in Katrine was frozen into the lake. When we left for Toronto, we never dreamed the weather would change so quickly, and so early. By the time we had returned, we had to rely on our builder (Glenn) to chainsaw the ice from around the dock to free it up enough so that I could crank it out of the water.
Sunday – Today was spent removing the last remnants of the stuff from the old cottage, which we had stored in a trailer on the property. Some of it went into the as yet unfinished new log home, some of it went to our temporary rental bungalow in Burk’s Falls, and some of it went to the dump. When we closed the old cottage, two years ago, we had intended to go through everything before it was moved into storage, but Shauna’s dad fell gravely ill, and we ended up staying in Toronto for the six week window of opportunity we thought we’d have to go through all that stuff. Not knowing what we would save or throw out, the poor builders saved everything and moved it into storage. That trailer was packed full of all of the furniture, windows, doors, hardware, and a lot of the other extraneous stuff we never intended to save from the old cottage. It was a monumental job to move it all out. Three days later, we are nowhere near done sorting out what should stay and what should go. The good news is, psychologically, it is refreshing to be moving things into the new home. We’re still a long way from completion, but at least the end is in sight. The dock incident and the closing of the old cottage are lessons learned: expect unforeseen delays and plan accordingly.
Monday – Tomorrow, America will elect a new president, and it will probably be Barack Obama, judging by the latest polling results. It’s amusing to see the donkeys so gun shy after the last two “stolen” elections, but as I said months ago, even before Obama became the Democratic candidate, the donkeys would have to work pretty hard to blow this one. Even Billy Carter might have looked good after eight years of Dubya’s nonsense. If anything good has come of the failed Bush administration, it is the spreading hope that many Americans believe their votes are important. Democracy isn't perfect, but it tends to be self-correcting. I am hopeful that the Bush failure will energize the American voters to be more pro-active in the election process. No matter which candidate wins this election, he will have his work cut out for him. With an astronomical trade deficit, an enormous national debt, a tanking economy, and two wars bleeding us dry, America is in dire need of effective leadership. If Obama can fill the bill, as so many believe he can, then I say long live the new king.
Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c2008 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Saturday – Maybe I spoke too soon, today was beautiful, and they’re calling for warm weather this week. Last year, I believe around the middle of November, we had a severe Winter storm up north. Shauna and I were delayed in leaving Toronto, and by the time we traveled north, our retractable dock up in Katrine was frozen into the lake. When we left for Toronto, we never dreamed the weather would change so quickly, and so early. By the time we had returned, we had to rely on our builder (Glenn) to chainsaw the ice from around the dock to free it up enough so that I could crank it out of the water.
Sunday – Today was spent removing the last remnants of the stuff from the old cottage, which we had stored in a trailer on the property. Some of it went into the as yet unfinished new log home, some of it went to our temporary rental bungalow in Burk’s Falls, and some of it went to the dump. When we closed the old cottage, two years ago, we had intended to go through everything before it was moved into storage, but Shauna’s dad fell gravely ill, and we ended up staying in Toronto for the six week window of opportunity we thought we’d have to go through all that stuff. Not knowing what we would save or throw out, the poor builders saved everything and moved it into storage. That trailer was packed full of all of the furniture, windows, doors, hardware, and a lot of the other extraneous stuff we never intended to save from the old cottage. It was a monumental job to move it all out. Three days later, we are nowhere near done sorting out what should stay and what should go. The good news is, psychologically, it is refreshing to be moving things into the new home. We’re still a long way from completion, but at least the end is in sight. The dock incident and the closing of the old cottage are lessons learned: expect unforeseen delays and plan accordingly.
Monday – Tomorrow, America will elect a new president, and it will probably be Barack Obama, judging by the latest polling results. It’s amusing to see the donkeys so gun shy after the last two “stolen” elections, but as I said months ago, even before Obama became the Democratic candidate, the donkeys would have to work pretty hard to blow this one. Even Billy Carter might have looked good after eight years of Dubya’s nonsense. If anything good has come of the failed Bush administration, it is the spreading hope that many Americans believe their votes are important. Democracy isn't perfect, but it tends to be self-correcting. I am hopeful that the Bush failure will energize the American voters to be more pro-active in the election process. No matter which candidate wins this election, he will have his work cut out for him. With an astronomical trade deficit, an enormous national debt, a tanking economy, and two wars bleeding us dry, America is in dire need of effective leadership. If Obama can fill the bill, as so many believe he can, then I say long live the new king.
Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c2008 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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