July 9th 2016
This is how I remember BC weather when I first moved out here in the 80's. One day sunny and amazing , the next 3 days grey, and still amazing. I'm blessed to be able to live in one of the most beautiful places on the earth. Rain or shine! If you live in Vancouver and let the rain stop you from doing things, you would never do anything! We've been spoiled the last couple of years. We've been setting records for the least amount of rainfall. Last July it was .00 no measurable rainfall. We were on level 4 water restrictions. It starts at level 1 with only watering your lawn twice a week in the middle of the night Level 3 only vegetables and flowers with a hose with an automatic shut off to level 5 where you drink your own urine to conserve water.
Meanwhile back on the deck the bee`s were digging the Jasmine.
Meanwhile back on the deck the bee`s were digging the Jasmine.
and why not it smells good enough to eat......if your a bee.
It was a picture hanging day today. We are now officially full. Walls that is! I hung 3 large pictures on the staircase going to the basement. the smallest was 44" square. That one was a picture of Marilyn Monroe and it now lives at the bottom of the stairs. At the top of the stairs is an art poster from the 30's for Vichy Water they both belong to Michele. On the side wall is a large numbered print of the Vancouver Canucks dressed as gangsters from the 9o's. I used to have a Toronto Maple Leafs poster but it kept falling down!
Newly pictured stairwell. |
Worth noting. I did all this while still in my pajamas. Chef Boy R Lisa worked until 2:00 am. By the time she was home and in bed it was 4:00 am. I was already in bed for a few hours. I knew when she got home, because Nutmeg was standing on my chest licking my face, I got out of bed gave the lovely Lisa a kiss and a Ratdog (Nutmeg) and went back to sleep.
I was up at 8:00 to find the Grandkids sitting on the couch! OOPS! I forgot that Jen and Christian were helping her mother Sharon move and I told them to just drop off the kids. Sharon is moving into the same building as G McT and as a matter of fact her door is right across the Hall from his. It was a really crappy day ( so don't move here) the rain was coming in waves! The Grandkids were so good. They watched the movie RIO until lunch. I made them pancakes. Here's a review of Presidents Choice Whole Wheat Heart Healthy Pancake Mix. It sucks!! They were heavy and tasted like health food! There wasn't enough Aunt Jemima's in the house to fix these flying disks of good for you. The lovely Lisa slept like a rock until I woke her up the backside of 1:00 in the afternoon. Then as the weather was stable I kicked the Grandkids outside.
It's 8:30 Sunday morning and my neighbor "Back Alley Bob" is out mowing his lawn. I run on the 10 to 10 rule. No noise before or after 10:00! Perhaps a little sugar in the gas tank will curb his enthusiasm? Kidding! He has a 6' chain link fence and keeps his mower locked up. The thing that ticks me off about Back Alley Bob is he finishes every project he starts. What's the deal with that? He's making me look bad. I have had the trim for the attic door sitting in the attic for 13 years! He worked for the railroad for 40 years or so and retired a few years ago. Railroad guys everything has to be on time! His wife Claudette is hardly ever seen, just like the name Claudette! She's the only Claudette I've ever met. Do you think I could remember her name? It took me five years to remember it. She is a sweet woman who is more of a homebody. Again, we won the lottery when we got the neighbors we got! Hows that for a bad sentence? We got the neighbors we got. Sheesh!
That's when it started. Well, I don't know that that's exactly when it started. But that's when we noticed it. We were being invaded by a murder of crows! Or more correctly the cherry tree was. There were five crows in the tree having a fabulous time. I don't care. All the cherries that are left are too high up for us to reach, with all the recent rain have split and many have mold. That was the beginning of The Crow Wars! First the Lovely Lisa climbed the cherry tree looking to salvage as many cherries as she could. Not many. As soon as she was down the crows were back. They call them a Murder of Crows. That's because they make so much noise you want to murder them. You can't because they are a protected species. Like a bad Bruce Willis film "They eat dead things!"
Along with Seagulls and Skunks it is Illegal to kill a crow! It is not however illegal to try to knock them out of the tree with your high pressure hose.
While the lovely Lisa was conducting a major offensive against the invading army of Black Winged Warriors I helped Anthony, Micheles son in law, move her Mattress into her room. She has been sleeping on a foamy. It must be working because it's 9:30 and I haven't seen her yet. She's been up at 6:00 every morning she's been here. It's working out great. Her and the lovely Lisa are good friends and Michele is a clean freak. I'm gonna just sit back and reap the rewards of her mental issues.
"I vacuumed the front deck, I hope that's alright" She said to me. "You missed a spot" I said. Who in their right mind would stop someone from cleaning their house.
"Do you know that your deck is sagging really badly when you walk on it" Tamara our tenant said when I answered the door. "Yes I know. Thanks for reminding me. I've been trying to ignore the problem for weeks" I replied sounding like an Idiot. Here's what happened. Five years ago these wood eating wasps moved into the 16 ' long 4" x 6" timbers that make up our front deck. It took me two years and two cans of Wasp Killing foam to get rid of them. There were piles of sawdust all over Otto and the ground. When there was no more sawdust I knew they were gone. That was three years ago. A couple of years ago the eavestrough started leaking when it rained. The water made it's way into the network of tunnels that the wasps had created and I now have a soggy bottom. I'll know more when I start tearing it down. I only take Sundays off writing the blog. Even though it's Sunday and I'm writing this blog it is technically Saturdays Blog. Life however doesn't take a day off. I'll check it out today and start on it on Monday when the lovely Lisa is at work . That cuts down the "Help " she provides me.
Spent the rest of what was left of the afternoon watching the lovely Lisa warring with the Crows and rehearsing the song I was going to play at John's Wake. Bro Steve came by and helped me set up the sound on my amp. We got it sounding real good and then he was off to see Mama Lee. We'll hook up at the Rocky Point later today.
The lovely Lisa looked great. She wore a slinky knee length black dress with a design in silver on the hem and a beautiful black jacket she borrowed from Michele. She looked great. I should have taken a picture! Idiot! I wore a Hawaiian Shirt and sandals. I know that seems odd for a wake but that was John. His wedding to Barbie Doll, (That's what he always called his wife) was a Hawaiian theme wedding. He was always in a Hawaiian shirt at any party. It suited him. He liked to relax. That was his personality. He was my smartest friend. There was nothing John didn't know about computers. Software, Hardware it didn't matter. If your computer had a problem John "Hoot " Gibson could fix it!
John was born the same day as Elvis |
We played on the Dart and Pool teams for Jake O'Grady's back in the late 80's. Man, he could play pool! He never played Slow Pitch with us but would come down to our games when we played in the Down Town East Side League. Our games were played at Oppenhiemer Park or The Wino Dome as we called it. John would sit in the stands behind home plate with the largely transient crowd, though we moved him into the dugout when they discovered John had four beers in his bag. There were some world class hecklers at the Wino Dome. " Hey Fatso, You suck!" I was about 400 lbs at the time. One game I literally hit the ball out of the park! Onto Cordova Street and under a car. I was thrown out at third base. I hate it when a hecklers right! After the game we would cross the street to the Mar where the owner would block off the pool room for our personal use and protection! Many a night we would sit at the bar and suck back a few pints playing darts or pool watching the games and listening to the Al Foreman Band who were the house band at the time. Later a few of us would go back to John's place. He was the guy in the group who always had the Tech stuff first. "You gotta come check this out" he would say. "Laser Disks!" He was so excited. I didn't get it? You had to change the disk three times to watch a movie! "Why don't you just use your Beta Max!" That was John.
His wake was held at the Kinsmen Hall in Port Coquitlam. Well attended I saw a lot of people that I haven't seen in a long time. I have to say it was poorly organized in respects to an Agenda. There wasn't one. There was a P.A. set up by Howard the Country Crooner, I'll get back to him. Barbie Doll was going to go up and say a few words but was already trying to back away from it. I took control of the situation walked up to the mic and started to get peoples attention. I have hosted too many Wakes over the years. It's not a memorial, it's a wake. The bar was open and Elvis tunes were blaring, John loved Elvis and music. John did the music for our wedding. Howard the Country Crooner got the music turned down and the mic turned up. I spoke for about 10 minutes, mostly jokes about John's personal quirks. John would have appreciated the laughter. He had a wicked dry sense of humour. I brought Barbie Doll up to the mic. It was heart wrenching watching her try to focus on the notes she had written. Her sister came up and put her arms around her. I said "Forget your notes Barb, just say what you feel". It was short and sweet. Thank you all for coming, miss him dearly. Then she reminded people where they can smoke and not to take their drinks outside. John would have for sure ignored that second rule.
It was time for me to sing and Howard the Country Crooner got the Guitar working through his
P A and I sang them It Didn't Rain. It was, as it always is, well received. It's strange, it had rained off and on all day. Half an hour before we started the Wake the sun came out. Same thing happened at Ronnie Ghini's memorial two months ago. There aren't a lot of pictures. It always seems inappropriate to be taking pictures at these things. After the song I opened up the mic for anyone who wanted to say anything. Several people came up and told stories about their relationship with John. All involving Tech and Beer!
Elvis has left the building. NOT! The food is here. Not your usual egg salad sandwiches and Nanaimo bars. The Super Deluxe Elvis Platter from Memphis Blues.
My Plate |
Ribs, pulled pork, sausage, chicken, baked beans,potato salad, cole slaw and corn bread! Ceaser salad too but who cares. When you are staring at a cornucopia of critters slaughtered for your dining enjoyment, who wants to take up space on their plate with salad?! I ate too much. The food was great.
After the dinner Howard the Country Crooner talked me into playing some more tunes.
Howard the country Crooner and I a clash of styles! |
Howard was definitely a crooner. The most current song in his song book was a hit in about 1939. He did it well but it was really bringing down the crowd. I played some up tempo songs. A little Elvis, a little Cash and finished up with the Great Canadian Blues Song. A song about a guy who runs out of beer. John would have liked it. Then I let Howard the Country Crooner put everyone back to sleep while the lovely Lisa and I said our goodnights.
A life long smoker John died of Lung Cancer that spread throughout his body. I'm glad to have missed that part. Now I can remember him in my minds eye with a big smile on his face, a beer in his hand, kicked back in his favorite Hawaiian shirt digging Elvis. Aloha Hoot.
Goodbye John! |
We were invited to a music party at George VanderDude's but I wasn't up to it. I was missing my friend. The circle is complete.
That's all I've got
Until next time
Peace Out Y'all
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