|
|
|||||||
|
The Greenwater Report for January 6, 2003 |
|||||||
| Greenwater Provincial Park - Monday, January 6, 2003 - by: Jerry Crawford | |||||||
|
moderate |
January 5th, 2003: Moderate temperatures again, starting off about ñ12° and warming up to just under the freezing point. Clear skies and hoar frost first thing but it clouded over before noon. The radio is full of fog warnings, in fact visibility at Wynyard was down to nil. No problem here, though. | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
couldn't be |
Welcome to 2003, People! Itís getting off to a good start. We had a fantastic holiday season, with lots of new snow, lots of sunshine, and delightful temperatures for outdoor activities. I canít think of a thing that would have made it better. | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
two feet |
We are starting out the year of 2003 with a good snow cover, we must have had a good two feet of it - not bad for this time of the winter, but a normal winterís snowfall is, I believe, about five feet. The winter of 1978-1979 we must have had close to seven feet. Thatís what we need now! | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
drag |
I dusted off the cross-country skis and went for a little run along the shore the other day. There were eight snowmobiles in a cluster not far from shore, and suddenly six of them took off at full throttle, heading to the northwest. It must have been a drag race. Then they turned around and raced back. They did it a couple of times. I donít know if it was the same six or if the other two took part as well. They must have been high-performance machines, judging by the noise they made. What surprised me was when all six of them were wound up, it sounded like a chord being played on an organ! | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
racket |
Did you know you can buy special mufflers for snowmobiles? Not to make them quieter, but to make them louder! Apparently that god-awful racket comes out of a box. | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
|
We arenít considering a snowmobile yet - we still canít get our snowmobile suits on! | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
draft |
Our son-in-law, Blaine, has a business associate who lives on a ranch south of Linden, Alberta. Robby is a man of diverse interests; on his ranch are sheep, goats, llamas, horses big and small, and many different kinds of pigeons. His latest acquisition is eight head of draft oxen, which will used to pull a wagon for special events. | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
|
While visiting at Beiseker in November, we drove over to Robbyís to see these oxen. I was hoping they would be harnessed up and doing something, but Robby was away and the oxen were in their barn. | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
clydesdale |
They have a Clydesdale horse called Duke. Duke had a sore hind fetlock and was having a rough time getting around. Some of the other horses were picking on him, and he wasnít much able to defend himself. Since Robby was away, it was his daughter, Barbís, duty to change the bandage and doctor up Dukeís wound. First, Barb (about 100 pounds) had to convince Duke (about 2,000 pounds) that the oxen didnít smell all that bad and that she would prefer to work on him on a nice, dry cement floor than out in the mud. That took some doing; she never raised her voice or showed exasperation, she just kept tugging gently at his halter rope and talking to him, and finally he stepped inside. Once inside, she lifted his back hoof, unwrapped the old bandage, scrubbed the sore spots vigorously, applied some ointment, and wrapped the hoof up again. Not a murmur out of Duke - a sweeter temperament you rarely see. | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
working |
Barbís sister, Julie, was there too, wandering in and out among the oxen. Her brother Justin, I gather, is the one who can make the oxen do what they are supposed to do. They donít use neck yokes; the yokes are attached to their horns and they push with their heads rather than their shoulders. They donít drive them, either - they lead them. Three wonderful kids. Seems to me these kids who grow up working with animals and responsibilities have a huge advantage over their urban contemporaries. They certainly know what makes the world go round. | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
busy at |
We met Bernie Markus and Shirley Miller at the Cove for coffee this morning, and the place was full. We were ready to give up our table, but then three tables emptied. Ten minutes later, they were full again and there was a lineup at the door, so we left. Gloria said it has been like that for the past two or three weeks. | ||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
loppet |
I see a poster at the Cove advertising the annual Greenwater Ski Loppet on Saturday, January 25th, put on by the Naicam Ski Club. If you are interested, call Shirley at 598-4333 or Marge at 874-5533. I donít think I will be quite ready for this one, but maybe next year! | ||||||
| Doreen & Jerry Crawford Box 100, Chelan, SK S0E 0N0 (306) 278-3423 http://www3.sk.sympatico.ca/crawg |
|||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
|
|||||||
