The Oppenheimer Report 3/7/16

 

Last weekend, the snowmobiles were out in force, and there are several trails that feed into the road we’re on, so it is not uncommon the see a line of sledders zapping down our road along the side. This winter may have been a little rough on the sleds, because there were a lot of patchy spots with all the warm weather. The other day, I noticed a lot of tracks along the periphery of our little lake, but not many tracks going directly across. This year, I have not ventured out onto the lake in the ATV because I do not trust the ice. Today, everything is warming up considerably and one might be inclined to think spring is in the air. Not so fast.

Last Wednesday, I was scheduled to take my friend James to his chemotherapy session in Huntsville, but we had more snow Tuesday night than I’d anticipated. I figured I could get out of our driveway – my MDX will go through fairly deep snow – but I had not anticipated the thick layer of ice underneath the snow. With all the freezing and thawing, the base of our driveway is a sheet of ice. I got to within 50 yards of the top, where it gets steeper, when I lost traction and slipped to the side. I grabbed the shovel out of the back of the SUV and tried to dig my way out, but to no avail. I called James and told him to take a cab so he would not be late. I’d meet him at the hospital later. Then I made the long trek back to the house to grab the snow blower. A little over two hours later, I was free and clear and at the top of our driveway. Normally, our plow guy is very reliable, and we’ve never been stranded for long. It seems this winter has been feast or famine for snow, and when it comes, it comes fast. Our plow guy has the contract for one of the local Townships, so we are not his priority. In an emergency, I suppose I could blow the entire driveway, but it would take some time. My heated gloves and snowmobile pants came in very handy on Wednesday morning. Keeping warm is the trick to snow-blowing. For the most part, I don’t mind the winter. I get the blues when I don’t see the sun for a while, but generally, I don’t mind the cold all that much. Last winter was pretty tough because of the cursed polar vortex. I prefer weather somewhere in between last winter and this one. Are you listening, Mother Nature? Didn’t think so.

This is an eventful week for us, as our musician friend Bobby Cameron will be coming to visit Thursday, hopefully to stay with us through the weekend. He’s in Toronto on business and wanted to come up and visit when he’s done there. This coming Thursday night, not only will I be hosting my radio show, but from 6-7 p.m., I will also be performing a live, on-air set of my music. I’m a bit nervous, but this isn’t my first rodeo. I have written some new songs and hope to perform several of them Thursday night. One of those songs, entitled “You’re Still Here”, I wrote for James Carroll (the guy I was supposed to take to his chemo appointment). For some inexplicable reason, my song writing goes in spurts, and I have been unusually prolific of late. When experiencing a dry spell, I used to get very frustrated, but these days, I fall back on the radio show. There’s no better way to find inspiration than to research good songwriters with whom I am not familiar. In the past year, I have become a fan of John Stewart, Chris Smithers, Jon Brooks, Rob Lutes, Steve Goodman, Leroy Preston, Jason Isbell, and a dozen other excellent writers. The more I learn, the better equipped I am to write good songs.

RIP Nancy Reagan, who passed on yesterday at the ripe old age of 94. I was not a huge fan of Nancy's, and I thought her war on drugs prompted some wasteful and useless legislation. Much was made of her perhaps misguided reliance on the advice of astrologers, and I used to make fun of her a lot in this report back in the early 90s. Still, she was a strong woman and I respect her loyalty to her husband and the challenges she must have confronted when Ronnie was in the end stages of Alzheimer’s.

Join me on Thursday night 6-7 p.m. (http://www.muskokaonline.com) at Hunters Bay Radio 88.7 FM. With any luck, Bobby Cameron will be joining me on stage.

Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c2016 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED