TubaOrNotTuba

During childhood we learn to love the food we have. A better option than going hungry. Today I heard mention of something that my wife remembered from her childhood. Velveeta cheese with a small slicing tool. Unknown to me. We handled cheese differently. At the local store you could buy a piece carefully cut from a large block of cheddar. My father preferred old cheddar. The kind that would bite you if you did not pay attention. We had no access to fancier cheeses imported from another world. In fact I was fully an adult before I ever discovered cream cheese or cottage cheese or cheeses that were melted onto your food. We had old cheddar. Served on small dry crackers. Hardly novel to the rest of you but for us this was important. We did not mix our cheeses. Each piece brought from the store would be in the fridge until we stopped being able to serve a small piece with a knife. I am not sure what I would have done if someone handed me a dish of cottage cheese. I probably would have stared and asked very pointed questions. As for cream cheese that also came much later in my life. Around the same time that I discovered the wonder of the bagel. You have to eat what you have to eat. Too much variety leaves a small child confused. Even now I still have my clear preferences. I have tried other types of cheese but when it comes down to picking out something at the local store good old cheddar from the local cheese factory serves me well.

We’re back from a short camping trip. I just took the time to roll up my leather belt and put it away. Like so many other things there is a story attached. I used to contribute my efforts as a technician at an annual conference. Held in a large hotel we were provided with portable radios in order to keep in touch. And when I arrived early on the first day I realized that although I had the radio I had no way to attach it to my waist. And so I headed down into the complex below the hotel to find a haberdashery. About the only place you can find a belt for sale in such a place. I found what I wanted and put this significant cost on my credit card and then headed upstairs. One of the other technicians was very surprised. Obviously he already had a belt and he had never imagined that someone would go and purchase something like that just to be a volunteer at a conference. The belt served me well and it continues to do so more than 20 years later. I think that I had made a wise purchase in retrospect. So much of what we find for sale at the mall is destined to be thrown away. This belt will last me for the rest of my life. Not that I often carry a radio but just in case. After all we never know what need lays ahead. Now I use the belt to carry my Leatherman tool. Too heavy to put into a pocket, too substantial to carry around in my hand all day. Put on a good quality belt the job is done.

We have returned from a walk on the beach. I have no idea whether or not we walked a long distance or for a long time. My sense of scale is very inefficient. I could tell that I was on the beach but as for how far away things might be or how long I was walking in my own personal fog to others. Is it a relaxing thing to do? I have been told that it is. That many people walk just to relax. Here is the catch once you lose that sense of scale you have no idea how far you are from your destination or from your point of origin. In fact that has become my greatest dissatisfaction with the whole act of going for a walk. Even on the beach I am unable to determine when I should turn. If you hear that someone was found walking all the way around the island you will know who to blame. I do not want to become a local legend. It is true that on the beach you will not find many hills or valleys. You could get very wet just stick to the left step to the right. We are back now had some cold juice a new water bottle. It turns out that I left my trusted flask at home yesterday. I guess that I am ill equipped to set off to see the world. One of the videos that we often watch comes with a small song. One more step around the world I go. Not where my head is at right now. Instead I will go back to watching videos of Finnish folk music. A treat in a troubled world. The news tells me that we are on the brink of another major war and frankly I do not want to know about it. I will wait until the bombs begin to fall around me and then I will find a foxhole. Nothing to do with the foxes and their holes at home.

Trying to find our place in history is tricky. Similar to finding the right size of coat in a pile in the store. Even when we choose to look at history that is recent we may not get the fit we want. Today I watched the detailed documentary that outlined the details behind the collapse of the cod fishery in eastern Canada. My own memories are anecdotal but still reflect what the documentary told me. There was a time when I used to go deep sea fishing. An excuse to spend an afternoon on board a small boat with other people. And the catch in the beginning included the occasional codfish. Take him with a hand line just like in the good old days. But along the way the boat captains stopped providing that opportunity. We did not realize that the fish had gone away. Similarly during this season I spent fishing for lobster we became accustomed to finding small cod fish in our traps. Not every day but enough that we were aware of the problem. I do not think those fish are coming up in the traps anymore. During my visits to Newfoundland I became aware that the close of the fishery is a very sore point. Not a way to open a conversation with a stranger. For those that made their living catching cod the disappearance of what had been a bounty for centuries points to mismanagement. Nothing else. The people are obviously very sensitive to the question. I have to wonder if there are other impending disasters caused by the actions of the government. This is why we study history. An attempt to prepare us for what can go wrong. Unfortunately knowing who to blame does not mitigate the problem.

If you watch old movies you will be left with an impression that’s all we had in the former times were steam engines. Let me put that idea to rest. In reality steam locomotives were done before I was ever born. In fact I have only seen one running steamer in my lifetime. It came through town over half a century ago and yes I went to watch. It looked like what I’d seen in the movies and it was loud and proud. Now I have seen leftovers from that. I remember going to gather wild berries with my grandmother and in the ground there were large tanks covered with metal plates. When I asked about them she explained that that was where trains used to come to get water on the way to the boat. I wish I had asked more questions. Like; was this every day and were there many steam trains? A quick search will show me that before we had diesels everything ran on coal. Again from before my time. The system must have worked or it would have never stayed in place for all those decades. I realized that the coal came from across the water. Brought in on large ships. Used to heat our homes and run our trains. And to leave a mess behind. Believe me if you played with lumps of coal you had to go home and wash your hands. Those two ideas were inseparable. And although I realized that all things change I wish I had been around to see at least a little bit of it. There was a coal shed at the back of our local train station but I believe that was only to fuel the big pot bellied stove in the waiting room. And to make a mess. Call stoves had an interesting odor. Not something we smell anymore. The idea that you could run a train all day and all night simply by using lumps of black rock leaves me with more questions than answers.

We cannot learn everything. Remember that. Today while looking for something completely unrelated I came across the story of the great logjam. Or the Great Raft if you will. The first time I have ever come across the story which deals with the way a colonial government decided to clear the river. Little matter that the logjam had been created over a period of a millennium. Little matter that a whole society depended upon the ecosystem for their life. Somebody thought it would be a good idea to make a river available for steamboats. And so with enough dynamite and enough heavy equipment a pathway was cleared. The waters could flow which was the whole point of the exercise. Steamboats would now be able to come up the river and bring new residents. For those that had been there before that did not matter. They were offered a small amount of money and told to find another place to live. I realize that this is an ongoing cyclical story. I realized that the great raft is nothing more than an incident in a long history. But it was to me remarkable. Proof that the old proverb where if you have a hammer everything looks like a nail is true. If you have the equipment to clear a path through a large logjam you can get to it. You can make it all the way you think it should be. No need to consult with anyone else because you know what you were doing. I invite you to look up the history of this incident which took place in Louisiana. I had never heard of it until today and now I will be unable to forget it going forward. That is the way that history works. And keep in mind that history is only written by those who win.

Imagine having a job where every day is different everything remains a challenge. That is the exact opposite of a job. Remember that your employer pays you to be there doing boring stuff because that is the way the world is tuned. Almost like a one string guitar. I was fortunate in retrospect to have had work experiences that remain memorable even now. I have talked to a lot of other people and they never came close to that dream. When my own children despair of getting summers from their efforts I have to remind myself that that is the way life works for the majority of the world. At the same time I have to continue trying to encourage them. My efforts are not always great. Hence those weeks where I hear little from the outside world. I am not the sage on top of the mountain. I imagine that if they have questions they will be asked. Meanwhile I listen to others who tried to explain their path through professional life. And reality for the majority is that it never gets wonderful. Let us go with satisfying. Maybe even satisfactory. No mystery about why employers have to keep paying all the time. I will continue to think about this even though my time in the workplace has ended. At least I have some good memories in the absence of my fortune. Right now I am more concerned about staying healthy and avoiding near occasions of hunger. Real life with real people. And as for my new disciples, that being a small family of foxes that’s it outside waiting for a miracle I will try to find some biscuits that I can throw outside just to watch them move. Just like an employer.

I hear a lot of things that do not affect me directly but I still have a reaction. This morning I learned that the United States government for some of their plans to charge more government RV camp sites if you are there as a tourist. I am not an economic genius but it seems to me that punishing the people who want to come and give you their money is an odd way to attract more clients. Especially when it turns out that the amount of money that would be realized in such I decision will not affect the bottom line. Some say that it will not help rebuilt or fix any of the parks equipment if outdated. Some parks are very old and only offer basic services and it would take a major investment to modernize the premises.Nothing more than expensive symbolism. If you do not want tourists think close the gate. You know you can do it. As for me I have lots of choice right at home. I do not need to cross the border to find a place to pitch a tent or park and RV. Actually I have that available right here on the property. Now you might say that a big part of the pleasure of going away on a camping trip is the going. I am less sure as I get older. Somehow spending hours in a car seat to get to another place that has trees seems like overkill. Did I mention that I also have trees? So you go ahead, U.S.

I have no more excuses. I was outside just a few minutes ago and two blades rolled by. That is an affirmation that this is all real period now to be fair I cannot claim to have seen anything clearly but that is definitely the largest object to come by my door since I arrived here. Longer than the actual sections of my house. And the other part is that there will probably be nothing else like this for the rest of my life so feel good about marking it on the calendar. My way of saying that I am glad that I had enough eyesight remaining to see the object pass. Do not ask me to describe it. Think of it as something like a flat elephant. There. Close enough. These are huge mechanical forms that were constructed in another continent and they came here by ship. In pieces. The original mechano set. Even Lego has nothing to compare. And when the windmill construction project is complete I will be able to give directions to my house. Not just go east but go until you see a giant windmill or two. Not going to be any more exact in the count biggest the project is still not completely determined. Seems that they have run into a bit of boggy ground in the middle of a bog. Who knew. Certainly not the engineers. There are already people wondering if the project will fall sideways and become a story for the world’s newspapers. Still too early to tell. But I will be able to confirm that the project is ongoing. But all those documents that were posted on the internet years ago we’re a commitment to do something larger than life. Will they dwarf our local lighthouse? I think so. Will they last as long as that lighthouse? I have doubts. They don’t build things the way they used to.

I had a chance to interface with a new gadget today. We were over to the local dentist and in order to provide X-rays I was asked to stand in what can only be called a high tech phone booth. Stand steady. Place something in my mouth. Wait for the big piece to rotate around my head. Profit. I was even provided with a neat jacket filled with what was probably LED. And yes it was heavy. Protection. Now that the X-rays have been taken the dentist can do an evaluation. Much better than the old way where you placed small rectangles in your mouth and waited for the sound of electricity nearby. And then the dentist would go off to a dark room and develop the film. I tried to imagine what my life would have been like if technology like that had existed half century ago. Not for the dentist but for standard photography. Of course everything has advanced since then we now have digital cameras that have placed the darkroom into something of memory. What will be next? I have those wireless headphones that allow me to listen to the radio or television without a wire. So many changes in a short period of time. We also did an initial test with our new satellite dish. The one that will go in the RV. Not a real test but rather just to see that the power system would turn on a little blue light. Satisfying. We will soon move to the next step which will require us to send money off to the richest man in the world. At least that is how I visualize it. He will never notice that I’ve been in contact. Apparently you’re busy when you have that much cash on hand.