Forty-Five years ago today Marcia’s father took a deep breath, swallowed hard, and then steadied himself. Minutes later he both gave his daughter away and married Marcia and I. If Trump had been at the ceremony he might have asked her; “do you really want to marry a face like that?”

Now, enjoying my mug of coffee, it occurred to me that in place of something with a hint of humor, such as: “a married couple are well suited when both partners usually feel the need for a quarrel at the same time” I’d take a different tack.

” The value of marriage is not that adults produce children but that children produce adults.” ~ Peter De Vries

Marcia and I have produced three great kids and trust me, they are trying mightily to push us into adulthood.

So alike and so different – Part Deux – Last week I mentioned a difference between the USA and Canada. This week it’s a difference which will cause you to chuckle. Yet, it does point out what happens when a ‘progressive’ form of government is so established that even a difference as wacky as the one I’ll describe is part of the ‘fabric’ and thus becomes the norm.

Alcohol, Wine, and Beer are all sold through the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) and something called The Beer Store and all tightly managed.

Now something new in the brewing world has made an appearance – small batch craft beer. What to do, what to do?

So finally the Province has given its blessing and soon some select Supermarkets will begin selling wine and beer – including a bit of craft beer.

Soon retailers may sell the equivalent of 46 million six packs a year in the 450 supermarkets which will finally be licensed. Do the math and it will mean that one of the selected 450 supermarkets may sell 279 six packs per day.

But, Dirk, you ask, what happens when Charlie-six-pack runs home after his second shift and dives into the store only to find out this his will be six pack number 280? What to do, will he head home dry?

Not to worry, The Province with its progressive policies have a solution to that problem. The Supermarket won’t have to deny poor Charlie-six-pack after all. All they have to do is pay The Province a penalty of 1% of the cost of the beer on the overage sold. See bureaucrats will come to the rescue each and every time. Simple huh?

Autumn – And we are taking note of that change. It’s still gorgeous mind you, but there is change nevertheless. The weather is beginning to change.

However, the change I am talking about is the slow beginning of the work required to close the cabin for the winter. Stuff which will head south with us have started to be assembled.

  As the planning to close Northern Comfort, we‘re still improving the place. On Monday we’ll pick up the shed which will house our backup compost toilet. So, this week I got the pad it’ll sit on ready for its arrival.

The one ‘hiccup’ is the work on the cabin foundation. Yesterday I left a Voice Mail with our contractor to try and establish an exact start date. Once that has been established we’ll work everything else to accommodate.

In the meantime, last evening we had another campfire.

Word of the Day – “Deconfliction” Haven’t come across this non-word? Neither has anyone else. It appears to be a product of our Secretary of State, John Kerry’s fertile mind. It would seem to come under the category students use when they can’t provide the answer on a question and try to cover with b……t. He used it to explain the discussions held with Russia as they are inserting themselves in Syria.

Animal Planet – The Geese continue to head south. On a daily basis we’ll hear distant honking and then another ‘V’ formation comes into sight.

Nearby farmers’ fields provide a resting/feeding station for these migrating birds. We can see hundreds of Canadian Geese and many dozens of Sandhill Cranes at a time. The latter, with their 7-foot wingspan, fly so high when migrating that it’s virtually impossible to spot them with the naked eye.

A few days ago we were sitting in our yard when a large bird (size of a grown chicken) flew by me, buzzed Marcia’s head, and latched on to the big Hemlock right behind her. It was a gorgeous Pileated Woodpecker with its shocking red cap on full display. Moments later it disappeared into the little woods we call “Narnia”.

Thursday, as Marcia and I were turning off the highway into our drive we noted a pickup truck pulling a flat-bed trailer heading south. On the trailer was a bull Moose with a large rack. Hunting season has begun somewhere.

Fini – Tomorrow be sure to watch the full Harvest Moon. It’s to be a lunar event with the moon rising as the sun sets. This will also mean that the moon will turn red shortly after sunset.

Yesterday was the one year anniversary of our accidental ATV flip. When the machine rolled I landed on Marcia and the machine on top of the both of us. To make matters worse we were about two hours out from anywhere. Bruised (and maybe a cracked) ribs had her deal with the result for the next six months. Luckily her name did not end up on a Doctor’s Medical Chart like this patient: “Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.” All is better now.

Make it a great week and stay safe.

Cheers.

Dirk