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whew !!!

IN THIS ISSUE

• Dixie Augusteijn has returned from her latest adventure
• Kate Brookfield posts a valuable suggestion for cell phone users
• Jean Sterling assures us that some Florida trees turn red in the fall
• Miriam Ockenden sends the story of a confused restaurant patron
• This one from Gerrit de Leeuw is old but so clever we´re having it again
• Jack Peaker forwards a list of inventions by Canadians
• Bruce Galway, Kate, and Jack suggest websites

Dixie Augusteijn writes about her recent

ALASKA/YUKON TRIP

I am back from my RV trip, and what an experience - it is a country so very different from here, or anywhere else I have ever been. The colours were breathtaking!

My daughter Elizabeth and Chris and I went at the end of August and early September, I think the best time to go: there are no bugs, tourists are fewer, and the autumn colours are at their very best. Pictures do not catch the special light which gives each colour a glow; my photo specialist said it is impossible to get that with a digital. The only way - and then only partially - is by taking slides. It is something to do with the slanted rays of the sun. In the autumn, driving here in our Ontario north, you are enclosed in glorious colour, but in the Yukon and Alaska, with such broad expanses, a Persian carpet of colour spreads at your feet.

We could not get a direct flight to Whitehorse from Toronto - though they are available from Frankfurt in Germany - but had to go via Vancouver. It meant an early start and I left here shortly after 5:00 a.m. From Vancouver I had a window seat with a good view of the coastline going up, and Alaska interior, and also of Mt. McKinly, when, flying into the very modern and attractive airport in Whitehorse.

They had reserved an RV, but the size ordered was not available, so we had one slightly larger - 38 ft. - at the same price. For anyone who has not travelled with an RV, it is a comfortable way to go. There was a bedroom - assigned to me; toilet and shower; kitchen, well supplied with linens, cutlery, dishes, etc, with three-burner propane stove and micro/convection oven; dining and sitting area with a pullout couch; sleeping quarters for two above the cab; a furnace, and oodles of storage space. It was not hardship camping. Both Elizabeth and Chris took turns driving and said it was easy to handle.

On the short distance into the small city we passed a dam which had destroyed the falls whose white spray - like a horse´s mane - had given Whitehorse its name. In Whitehorse they stocked up on provisions, found more variety available than here in the south, and among the special cheeses bought was a goat cheese from Woolwich here in Orangeville. That finished, we started out in the direction of Dawson City, which we hoped to reach the next day.

Soon after leaving Whitehorse, we saw the first example of that wonderful light. The mountains, green with the fir trees and the gullies outlined with the golden yellow of the birch and aspens, spread before and wrapped around us like a huge green and yellow patchwork quilt. Plaques along the wayside helped us understand some of what we were seeing. At one place, by Fox Lake, there had been an ´authenticated´ UFO sighting back in 2000, so we hurried by that. At Whitehorse Trough, a huge boulder of Mesozoic rock - you will have to look up that word - had been left when the sea receded so many millions of years ago.

A sign for Mom´s Bakery lured us off the way to a rest stop and we had our coffee by Mom´s small log house in a walled garden filled with masses of flowers: sweet peas, dahlias, nasturtiums, and on the side were tomatoes and green beans. The crowing of a rooster from over the fence, Mom explained, was from a bird she had rescued because he was being abused. The rooster, she said, had been in a such bad way, with droopy feathers and dulled eyes, she could not leave him in that state. To keep him happy, she also rescued some hens which were not well cared for, and that was why the crows we heard were from a happy rooster. His crows mingled with the quacking of ducks, so she was well set up, although I cannot imagine she could ever bring herself to kill off any of her happy chickens or ducks.

This place, by the way, was quite near Lake Laberge - do you know your Robert Service and the ´Cremation of Sam Magee´ - but in which Service had changed the name to Labarge.

To be continued.

Jean Sterling claims they do get

FALL COLOURS IN FLORIDA

A lot of the trees around here are various kinds of oak trees. They lose their leaves (kind of, they never go completely bald) but don´t give us those lovely colours; then they get pale green new leaves in February or so. They also drop a lot of yellow pollen, which keeps the allergists busy.

I don´t know what kind of a tree the red one in the picture is, but the leaves are similar to the chinaberry tree we have in the back yard. The chinaberry drops its leaves with no colour change, and then it produces berries which fall to the ground and ferment. The robins have drunken parties on the fermented berries when they pass through here in January.

I don´t ever remember the red trees having such vivid colors before. The yellow that preceded the change to red was pretty too. We have been very dry, so perhaps that´s it. The only rain we´ve had has been from Alberto and Ernesto several months ago. [Yes, they do have changing seasons in Florida] ... We have air conditioning season, heating season, and hurricane season. We also have open-your-windows season. That arrived here today.

For a larger image of the tree, click on the image above.

Kate Brookfield posted this potentially great Idea:

THE "ICE" IDEA

A recent article from the Toronto Star, "the ICE idea", is catching on and it is a very simple, yet important method of contact for you or a loved one in case of an emergency.

As cell phones are carried by the majority of the population, all you need to do is program the number of a contact person or persons and store the name as "ICE". The idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when they went to the scenes OD accidents, there were always mobile phones with patients, but they didn´t know which numbers to call.

He therefore thought that it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognized name to file "NEXT OF KIN" under.

Following a disaster in London, The East Anglican Ambulance Service has launched a national "In Case of Emergency (ICE)" campaign. The idea is that you store the word "ICE" in your mobile phone address book, and with it enter the number of the person you want to be contacted "In Case of Emergency".

In an emergency situation, Emergency Services personnel and hospital staff would then be able to quickly contact your next of kin, by simply dialing the number programmed under "ICE".

Please forward this. It won´t take too many forwards before everybody will know about this. It really could save your life, or put a loved one´s mind at rest. For more that one contact name simply enter ICE1, ICE2, ICE3, etc.

This is a great idea that will make a difference!

Don Henderson claims there are circumstances in which it would be permissible to swear:

WHEN IS @#$% ACCEPTABLE?

There are only eleven times in history when the ´F´ word has been considered acceptable for use. They are as follows:

11. "What the @#$% do you mean, we´re sinking " - Capt. E.J. Smith, RMS Titanic, 1912
10. "What the @#$% was that " - Mayor of Hiroshima, 1945
9. "Where did all these @#$%ing Indians come from " - General Custer, 1877
8. "Any @#$%ing idiot could understand that." - Albert Einstein, 1938
7. "It does so @#$%ing look like her!" - Picasso, 1926
6. "How the @#$% did you work that out " - Pythagoras, 126 BC
5. "You want WHAT on the @#$%ing ceiling " - Michelangelo, 1566
4. "Where the @#$% are we - Amelia Earhart, 1937
3. "Scattered @#$%ing showers, my ass!" Noah, 4314 BC
2. "Aw c´mon. Who the @#$% is going to find out " - Bill Clinton, 1998 and a drum roll please...!
1. "Geez!I didn´t think they´d get this @#$%ing mad!" - Saddam Hussein, 2003

Miriam Ockenden sends this one:

UNIQUE BREAKFAST

A man observed a sign in the window of a restaurant that read, "Unique Breakfast," so he walked in and sat down.

The waitress brought him his coffee and asked him what he wanted.

"What´s your Unique Breakfast " he asked inquisitively.

"Baked tongue of chicken!" she proudly replied.

"Baked tongue of chicken Baked tongue of chicken! Do you have any idea how disgusting that is I would never even consider eating anything that came out of a chicken´s mouth!" he fumed.

Undaunted, the waitress asked, "What would you like then "

"Just bring me some scrambled eggs," the man replied.

Gerrit de Leeuw passes on this oldie that has been doing the rounds lately:

COMPUTER, MALE OR FEMALE?

A Spanish teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine. "House", for instance, is feminine: "la casa." "Pencil", however, is masculine: "el lapiz."

A student asked, "What gender is ´computer´ "

Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether "computer" should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation.

The men´s group decided that "computer" should definitely be of the feminine gender ("la computadora") because:

1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic;

2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else;

3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and

4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your paycheck on accessories for it.

The women´s group, however, concluded that "computers" should be masculine ("el computador") because:

1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on;

2. They have a lot of data but still can´t think for themselves;

3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem; and

4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.

The women won.

Jack Peaker forwards this list of

CANADIAN INVENTIONS

Imagine a world with nothing but buttons. Then thank goodness for the crafty Canadians who invented the zipper, not to mention a long list of other essentials that would be impossible to live without. Here is but a small sampling of Canuck ingenuity at work:

The Abdominizer

Air hockey: Naturally

Antigravity suit

Basketball: Invented by James Naismith, of Ontario.

Canadarm: Cleverly named to ensure the proper country received credit, this fifteen-metre Remote Manipulator System is an essential tool on the space shuttle and brings the maple leaf logo to alien life forms everywhere.

Chocolate bar: A fishing trip prompted chocolatiers Arthur Ganong and George Ensor to invent a chocolate nut bar which they began selling in New Brunswick in 1910.

Dental mirror

Documentary film: Canada´s Nanook of the North (1922) was the first film ever termed a "documentary." And perhaps, the first film that ever offered you a much-need nap in grade school.

Frozen fish fillets: Believe it or not, it took until 1929 before someone - namely Dr. Archibald G. Huntsman -- had the brilliant idea to sell "Ice Fillets" to the public.

Fuller Brush Company: Mr. Fuller, the father of door-to-door sales, was born in Nova Scotia.

Ginger Ale: Invented in 1904 by University of Toronto chemist and pharmacist John J. McLaughlin, his "Pale Dry Ginger Ale," featuring a beaver sitting atop a map of Canada on every can, was the predecessor to Canada Dry, still the "champagne of ginger ales" and the perfect partner to Canadian whiskey.

Plastic garbage bags

Goalie mask: Naturally.

Hydrofoil boat

Ice hockey: The first recorded game took place on Christmas Day, 1855, in Kingston, Ontario, when bored members of the Royal Canadian Rifles tied blades to their boots, borrowed field hockey sticks and a lacrosse ball, and hit the frozen harbour. Appropriately, the International Hockey Hall of Fame is located in Kingston.

IMAX movie system

Instant mashed potatoes: As of 1962, spud-loving campers everywhere notice a significant lightening of their backpacks.

Insulin: Isolated by Canadians to treat diabetes.

To be concluded

THIS WEEK´S SUGGESTED WEBSITES

If you are in favour of a national child care act, send an e-mail to your MP at http://tinyurl.com/y7cr98 or http://www.buildchildcare.ca/action/billc303

Bruce Galway sends "a somewhat biased website selection for those who like black and white photos. I have already picked out two for our new home ..." http://www.davidgalway.com/

Kate Brookfield posts a site that heralds the changing face of UNICEF Halloween fundraising. No longer will the kids be collecting for UNICEF, but you can make an online donation, or join their Dare-to-Wear challenge. Dare your boss to wear a Halloween costume to your workplace. Set a fundraising target and, if you and your colleagues meet the challenge, your boss dares to wear the costume. Or you can be the one to Dare-to-Wear by challenging your colleagues, friends or classmates to donate to UNICEF.

Find out more and sign up today athttp://www.unicef.ca/daretowear.

Jack Peaker recommends these sites:

   Time Capsule:    http://timecapsule.yahoo.com/capsule.php
   Health: http://www.nutrition.gov/
   Past Lives: http://www.mangofalls.com/index.php?showimage=537
   Relax: http://www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/27000363

You can also read this newsletter online at http://members.shaw.ca/vjsansum/andhttp://www.nw-seniorsonline.org/stories.html.

Life is half spent before we know what it is. - George Herbert