TubaOrNotTuba

I have strong memories of one of the first recordings I listened to from a rock concert. Not going to name the group but there was a chanted slogan in the background. The whole world is watching. Not in context with the video of this concert. Rather a political statement. It turns out that history does repeat itself and today we’re back at that same point where the whole world is again watching. Waiting for the alarm bell to sound closing the election polls south of here. We have been warned. This one will not be counted in 15 minutes. Perhaps not in 15 days. Something complicated and complex. Beyond my own experience with canadian elections where we generally know the winner within hours. And I like so many others will be uncovering my eyes and checking the results from time to time this evening. And tomorrow. After several years of this campaign I want to know the outcome. I want to know if things are going to be as bleak as some have said. Enough time to get my sleeping bag ready and head out into the bush or something. Why does it have to be so complicated? Why cannot elections be as they are designed to be comma, straightforward. We will know eventually who was the winner but the lead up to that point is painful. So back to my videos where I have some choice in what I see. I can look for a title that interests me instead of depending upon those who make life difficult telling me what I do or do not want to hear. Remember, I have no skin in this game. I am not voting nor do I really care about the outcome other than the inevitable effect on me. Will my savings dwindle away in a flash of light? I mean, the odds that I will suddenly become wealthy based on the outcome qualifies as slim to none.

I still remember the first book they read as a directed reading. While in high school. I was a drummer and although I did not understand the relation between my instrument and my hearing I think that my teacher who was wiser did. He loaned me a textbook that had been given to him while in college by the author. A concept really. I’m not going to bore you with details but the overlying subject was something called sound escapes. You can look it up. We live in an environment where it is increasingly difficult to find silence. Industry has gone so far has to make noise cancelling headphones part of our standard toolkit. From time to time based on what I learned in that textbook I take a few moments to actually listen to the world around me. Today as an example I had an eye appointment. Afterward I ended up sitting in the middle of a woodlot simply listening to the world around me. It takes a while for your brain to tune in the new sounds. First of all the big trucks going by outside. And then the sound of someone hammering on a roof across the fields. Only after this had gone I was able to hear the different sounds of birds who were doing what birds do best. I did not stay there long enough to record all the sounds that I heard but I did take the time to listen and that is the real lesson here. If we do not listen we cannot hear and if we stop listening there are sounds that we will never hear. Think of the effect of the jet airplane which has given a new way of covering up the sounds of the environment. Not just at the end of a landing strip but as they pass overhead while I sit in a woodlot. I will go back to another place to listen soon because this is one of those things that you must exercise. And yes, I have reread the book after all these years because we tend to forget the little details while keeping the larger ones. Things that get covered up in the noise of our lives.

Currently one of the important political slogans is that we’re not going back. I can assure you that we are not and this has nothing to do with politics. I have lived through the pre electricity era and I have lived through the pre easy heat your home era and I am not going back to either of those someone said why don’t you put up solar panels to light your house? The answer is simple there are more efficient ways. It turns out that central electricity beats all the other old ways hollow. I say that because I have been there. I have watched the trimming of the Wicks before the oil lamp went into service after supper. I have watched the slabs of wood come in from outside to heat the single stove in the house. I have lived in a home where electrical appliances were only a dream. I am not going back. I know more about alternative technologies and if I was pushed I could probably get the lights on using stuff I have around the house but the lighting would be limited and it would be dim. I think I would simply go to bed early. As for transportation I am not ready to walk from here to the store more than once a year. That would make for some hungry supper times, believe me. The conveniences of lights and transportation in a car mean that what we do now is for our own good and at a price we can afford. I have never owned a horse but I know that they’re more trouble than they’re worth. Cantankerous beasts with big feet. As for chopping down trees to heat my home I have learned from my ancestors in every case when something else came along they put the axe in the corner and carried on as if it had never existed. You see we do learn. And we do change things for the better.

In a few hours we will change the clocks period. In a few days our neighbours will change their government. The question is which action will affect me more. Yes I know the obvious. There is no election going on in my country that will have great implications for me. As for changing the clock that qualifies as 15 minutes of frustration as I attempt to reset the time on the stove and the microwave and that little white button over in the corner that I used to find out what time of day it really is. Even the tick tock clock in the kitchen is easy. As for our neighbours with their endless long election. Well I just want to see that one over. I want something new in the newest cycle. I want to stop doom scrolling as others put it. Checking to see if the polls have anything of note because usually they do not. Remember this is not my circus and those are not my monkeys. Actually I do enjoy watching the lead up to a big election. So many lies told to so many people. And when all is counted and the signs have been changed on the office doors my life will go on. Waiting for the next time I have to reset the clock. What I should do given that there is no snow on the ground yet is take care of rearranging the chairs on the deck. An obvious point of pride on that big ship that went down. For me an obvious move to make sure that when the snow does come that I can clear it out of the way without having to fight unseen obstacles. I will get around to it. Right now it is not particularly warm but things are clement and I know what I want to do before I do it. Yes I do plan such things out in advance. No headlong rush into falling. Those chairs are heavier than they look. And my deck does not tend to slant when the waves get high. I would make a very poor foul weather sailor.

There is an older movie that I’ve watched several times. Nothing that would have ever been seen in the theatre. I believe it was a British documentary. It has to do with the work to save some sailors. And the surprising part is the number of interlocked technologies that come into play. The opening scene begins with the sound of a real train whistle. Used to wake our intrepid crewman before he heads for his ship. I believe this is in a coastal town allow no signposts are ever shown. However in the background there is an ongoing theme that involves communication with a Coast Guard radio station. Letting people know that a ship is in danger. The operator undo T uses voice while Morse code plays in the background. In the station itself there’s also an operator wearing a headset as he uses landline telegraph. Supposedly to communicate with other authorities in this area that do not have the benefit of a ship. There are a number of ships that also join in to the search and rescue. Also the load of coal that has to be transported from one bunker to another to level things out to keep up the steam that is used to drive the ship. And the sound of the whistle on the ship communicating with we never find out who. So many little mysteries. I tried to imagine the making of this documentary. As they sat around the table writing the script did they simply throw in every technology they could think of? In the end no one died. At every juncture someone had a cup of tea which proves that it was a British documentary. I assume that if it had been from the continent the beverage of choice might have been wine. I’m going to have to find some other films from this. To see how they handle such an A2 storyline. Remember, no one died. At a point where we thought things might get rough everything was settled and the ship radio back to shore to say that the rescue tug would not be required. A short and sweet lesson in life. Yes I should list the title of the film but unfortunately I missed that Part 2.

I’m starting to lose count. I believe that today was the third round of vaccinations. In the third location. I live in a very small community and I did not realize that I had so many opportunities for every medical intervention. I mean, getting a vaccination counts right? But I went I sat and I received an injection in each arm and then I waited the requisite 15 minutes and then I went home and all I can remember is that this wasn’t the same place as last time. I wonder how they decide these things. Especially because I think the nurse today was the same nurse I saw elsewhere. Is this just a roadshow that goes from room to room and I am caught up in the web of it? I’ll need to think this through. We’re into the festivities. That is today is the day that we give away more candy than at any other point in the year. So much so that people no longer come to your home. Instead the candy is prepared before hand and brought to a communal centre where all of the parents can see all of the costumes on the same day. It makes sense in a way. Sending small children out to wander up and down a busy highway in the dark has never been a very good idea. I did my candy gathering in towns where we had a neighbourhood to investigate. Out here in the country that possibility is no longer a valid one. Sometime before primetime all of the candy will be at home with its new owners. From what I can tell tiny chocolate bars are the best take. To be fair I haven’t seen one of those chewy molasses candies in years. No loss nutritionally. Instead we get to file away hundreds of tiny wrappers until the next garbage day. At least we aren’t doing apples dipped in some kind of caramel. That was never a thing in my area but I’ve seen pictures and I know that it exists and I know that the same people that make caramels wrapped in plastic did push the idea. Of course, our only local apple tree is a bit on the bitter side that would not be a good choice for any kind of apple givers. Unless you are using them as armour period. Or a weapon. I’m old enough to remember apple fights.

We wasted no time. The new sleeping bag was tested last night and according to reports it is what was needed. Now, normally we do not go out and try every new piece of equipment immediately. Sometimes it can wait until the next summer but this was also a requirement yesterday because the temperature dropped. Below the freezing point. Into a world where an RV was not ready for winter. Sometime after dark, the water tanks and lines had to be drained. And they were. And then with the heater running inside a watch was kept. Not sure what one would see at the point where it becomes cold outside if you’re inside with the heater running but that’s not my problem. We’re not done of the job. On the way to the store now to buy more of that magical red liquid that is used to winterize. Essentially a ethyl alcohol that one will never drink. I think. I am also not a chemist. Each year we go through this routine. Sometimes a bit earlier in the cycle but it is an annual production. And then, next spring, we will drain that same red liquid out because it is not supposed to be toxic to the environment. Again based on what we read on the instruction sheet. There are other methods. You can purchase an air compressor and special fittings and try to force the last drop of water out. If you over calculate the pressure you could also blow a line so we have opted for the more gentle manner. And once we can put a check mark beside the steps to be done for winter we will be able to sit back and wait for the steps of spring. Not as far away as one might think. From what I can calculate we no longer spend 8 months under the spell of snow. Like in the good old days. Now we just tough it out in our heated homes and wait for the go ahead to get back out into nature.

The large delivery truck came into the driveway and turned. Then the driver came to the door with a large cardboard box. He did request a signature but he admitted that since nobody ever reads them I could put pretty much whatever I wanted on the imaginary line. So I did. The box contains the most recent sleeping bag to join our family. Not for me because I’m satisfied with my current model but it did bring back memories of bags from bygone times. Stretching back over a lifetime. And the first one that I can really remember was received after selling a lot of greeting cards. What it had as a feature was this plastic panel on one side. Supposed to keep you dry if you were camping in a mud puddle I guess. It was uncomfortable and cold and when I had a chance to replace it with something better I did so. The next bag of note actually had some quality. I had purchased a sack in a war surplus store in downtown Toronto between trains. The military can afford to buy good stuff and even by the time it goes through it’s lifespan it makes it into the surplus market you still have something of quality. I kept that bag for several years until the leakage of tiny feathers became too much for anyone to accept. So many feathers. Since then I have been a fan of fake materials. The ones that come with a tag. And that you can actually dry out and use to keep warm. My current sack has enough slipping up zipping options to make sure that I can get through the warmest of nights and the coldest. Yes I have tried it in cold weather. And now we wait for the next report card. Will the newest bag in the family be suitable for staying out in the winter. The one that will begin any day from my calculation.

I will begin with a bit of weather trivia. A local observation. Today was our first snowfall of the season. Not a lot and pretty much gone by mid afternoon. But that’s how it starts. Now on to some food based trivia. In this area a staple diet consisted of potatoes and fish period. With a few root vegetables thrown in for variety. One element found in most home gardens was the common carrot. Our parents assured us that this was a necessary element in her diet. Both parents. You need to eat your carrots to be able to see at night. An odd life skill given that we lived inside during the evening and that we did not rely upon our eyesight forgetting our daily ration of potatoes and fish. Turns out that this was an element leftover from wartime. In order to hide the reality of the new radar systems the military press circulated the myth the Commonwealth pilots we’re doing much better than their adversary because they could see better in the dark. Due in large part to a steady diet of carrots. As a child I had never thought much about it. My parents had told me this and that was all that was needed but in a place where carrots had to be grown specifically it seemed like a good idea. Whether we could see better in the dark than anyone else in the nation was unclear. We have been told. The carrot does not get much variety in the average diet. You boil them and you give them a dollop of butter and you put them on the plate and then you tell the kids to eat. Which they did. And which we did. Carrots were not something you ever left behind because of your eyes. To find out that this was not based on science but rather on an attempt to mask a military technology events seems funny a lifetime later. There should have been a better story that they could offer. And we heard locally because we had a Commonwealth flying school. A place for pilots trained before going off to war. Who better to spread the myth than those who most needed the skill.

As we move through life we start to realize that there are two sorts of questions. The first are questions where I want to know the answer. The second are the questions where I need to know the answer. A very carefully defined subset of the earlier class. Think about it for a minute. Right now as winter approaches people are getting their wood-in. Is that still a thing? It certainly used to be. I know because I helped get the wood in. Here’s the thing though. The way we heat our homes has evolved and if I look back to where my ancestors came from, which I can do, I realize that they have a bit of a problem. Heating your house with wood is fine, as long as you have trees available. I was looking at some video from the Outer Hebrides where a number of my people lived several centuries ago. It might have been that the loss of tree cover is a modern thing but I get the feeling that they have not had many trees hanging around waiting to be burned for a very long time. The hills are bare. So are the fields. What did those people do back in the day? I imagine that wearing more clothes was always an option but what did you do when you needed to heat the kitchen. Or the bedrooms. With no trees available to cut and dry and split getting a fire raging must have been tricky. I now want to know. The question is not evolved to need to know but I imagine that it will as I ponder. We have many things like that in our lives. If I want water I can go to the kitchen and turn on the tap but it is not very long ago that someone would have had to go out to the well and draw a bucket and bring it in. With all the splashes and wait that evolves. My mother would have been sent down to the stream to collect water for the classroom. When it was her turn. Getting a pump and a tap was a much later convenience. One that would have been appreciated. And as for heating the stove in that classroom, there was a reliance on the parents to provide their share of the fuel. Something that a school board has not had to consider for a very long time.