Monday, June 1, 2015

Salute to June 2015



~ A Mosaic of Musings and Ramblings ~
(both sad and inspiring)

Best Sermons are Lived:  Today, after I watched my dog get run over by a car, I sat on the side of the road  holding him and crying...and just before he died, he licked my tears. (from Carolyn's collection)

Bizarre Amazing Facts:  About 1,311 people live in Verkhoyansk, Russia, a town with an average temperature of -45 degrees C (-50 degrees F) in January.  The town was also attacked by a pack of 400 wolves last year.  The sun currently rises at 2 pm and sets at 3:30 pm.

Caring for the Land:  Canadian Wildlife Federation encourages stewardship from backyards, to fields and forests: 700,000 square kilometres is covered by CWF Western Boreal Forest Land Use Planning Tool that will help assess tradeoffs  between development and conservation.
2500 locations surveyed by CWF for grassland songbirds ~ 14 bird species (4 of which are at risk).
68 new gardens certified as wildlife-friendly...now a total of 772 (more than 8400 acres)
9,000 students who took part in Habitat 2020 encouraging them to participate in creative approaches to wildlife education.

Children's Wise Words:  Required in class to write a “Six Word Memoir”, Joey, a Grade 8 student wrote:  Pain eventually vanishes, scars are forever.”
            “Life is too confusing to understand.”

The father of 5 young children won a toy at a raffle.  He called his kids together to ask which one should have the present.  “Who is the most obedient?” he asked.  “Who never talks back to Mother?” and “Who does everything Mother says?” 
Five small voices replied in unison, “Okay, Daddy,  You get the toy!”

Community Acknowledgements
Parliament Hill:  Joshua Bowman and Danielle Kydd, Hamilton High School students who attended the Forum for Young Canadians in Ottawa wrote, “You are the future of Canada”, we were told, imprinted in our minds at the February week-long program giving young a voice in federal politics since 1975.  The program was developed to foster leadership skills among youth while giving them opportunities to meet with influential political figures  and other students across Canada.

Hundreds Climb Chedoke Stairs to Help Fight Cancer: Mark Doering climbed the 289 steps at  the Chedoke stairs twice Saturday.  The top 3 climbers  made 13 treks up and down the escarpment at the 9th annual 'Climb for Cancer'  to aid the  Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre.  Of the more than 1,000 people who were challenged,  37 year-old Doering said, “I wanted to do something for the hospital that saved my life...twice!”

Baby Falcons Hatch at the Sheraton:  In mid-May, 2 peregrine chicks hatched in their downtown nest atop the Sheraton Hamilton Hotel.  This is the first set of chicks for Lily and Ossie who usurped Madame X's nest of several years.

Trees:  “Call the City of Hamilton to request your free tree; we will deliver and plant it.” Also, as part of the Churchill Park Management Plan, city crews have been cutting non-indigenous tree species and bushes to prepare for the public planting of some 1,000 indigenous trees in this Westdale park.
 Trees increase property value!  Trees improve air quality!  Trees improve storm water retention!

From Our Cows to Your Home:  Dairy farms in Ontario discontinued shipping milk in cans in 1977.
During the last 50 years, milk transportation has evolved from shipping milk cans in open trucks ~ to using large temperature-controlled milk tankers.  Through Dairy Farms of Ontario Management, a fleet of milk trucks travels more than 20 million kilometres per year to Ontario processors.

Gardens:  Tips to Crown your Lawn, 'King of Spring'...to Enjoy Summer!
Clean up (rake the garbage then apply compost ¼ inch thick!  Re-seed the bare patches!  Aerate your lawn!  Time to Mow  (optimal grass length 2.5 to 3.5 inches)!  Add Colour and Contrast!
To enjoy...add natural tree shade...free-standing umbrella...a pergola and/or cabana...retractable awning...and a covered patio.
Get your kids into the garden this spring:  have them plant a tree, create a window box, start a vegetable garden...choose flowers for blooms all summer.
A man's children and his garden
both reflect the amount of weeding done during the growing season.
(Anonymous)

Health is Wealth:  Allspice is a victim of its own name. Someone, seeing its label, believes it to be a blend of many spices (or even all spices) we use in food preparation.  Allspice is just one spice  ~ a dried berry from broadleaf evergreen tree that grows primarily on the islands of the Caribbean Sea and Central America.  Whatever tastes good with cinnamon, cloves or nutmeg, tastes better with 'allspice'.

MBK's NewsBits:  Monarch offers Condolences
In May, Queen Elizabeth met with 3 senior officers from the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada at Buckingham Palace ~ Hon. Col. Ron Foxcroft, Hon. Lt. Col. Rick Kennedy, Lt. Col. Lawrence Hatfield....this being a special audience prompted by the October shooting of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo while on guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Ottawa.

Dancing With the Stars winner, Rumer Willis dedicated her trophy to all her fans with 'low esteem' .  The 26 year-old said, “ It is for anyone who thought (like me) they deserved to do something...or wasn't capable.  Other than Val and myself, that is who the 'mirror ball' is for.”

$21,000 One-Way Ticket???  Definitely not economy!
United Arab Emirates' Abu Dhabi's  national carrier, 'Etihad' has received its first Airbus A380.  The double-decker jet will operate daily to London Heathrow December 27  and features “The Residence by Etihad” ~ a  3-room suite complete with a living room, a private bathroom with shower and a bedroom...as well as a private butler...at the very front of the plane's upper deck.  The suite has already been booked for the inaugural flight to London.  It's expected to cost $21,000 one-way.

Shunned,  Ignored ~ Now Honoured by West Point:  Benjamin O. Davis Jr. entered West Point in1932 as its only black cadet and spent the next 4 years being shunned.  He, not only  roomed alone but no one befriended him. The future  Tuskagee Airman and trail-blazing Air Force General later said he was an 'invisible man'.  Now, more than a decade after his death, a new cadet barracks is being constructed at the United States Military Academy will be named for Davis ~ a rare privilege...previously granted to students with names like...Douglas MacArthur and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

National News:  Canada ranked 10th among tourism-friendly countries. Spain, for the first time ranks first as the world's most tourism-friendly country in the World Economic Forum's Travel and Tourism Competitive Index.  Other countries in order: France, Germany,  United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Australia, Italy, Japan, Canada...and so on.

Atwood Named Honorary Member of American Arts Academy:  One of Canada's famed writers, Margaret Atwood has recently been named a foreign honorary writer.  The Academy is an honour society based in New York and founded in1898.

Mohawk Goes Green:  Mohawk College has been named one of Canada's greenest employers for the second year in a row by editors of 'Canada's Top 100 Employers'.  Mohawk is the only college in Ontario and one of two colleges in Canada to make the 2015 list of 'greenest employers'.
“Mohawk welcomes the world to Hamilton
in starting a year-long project at making itself and the city a more attractive community to foreign students and graduates. With 1200 to 1300 international students a year studying at Mohawk, it is important for us to be a welcoming community,” states College President, Ron McKerlie.

Notable Dates:  June 8 (Monday) ~ World Ocean Day
                           June 8-14  (Monday to Sunday) ~ Rivers to Oceans Week
                           June 14 (Sunday) ~ Canadian Rivers Day
                           June 21 (Sunday) ~ Father's Day
                                                          National Aboriginal Day
                                                          First Day of Summer
                                                          Pan American Torch Arrives in Hamilton.***
***Ignited some time in May during an Aztec ceremony at the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan,  just outside Mexico City, the Pan American Torch will be flown to Toronto for the relay to begin there on May 30, visiting 130 communities across Ontario.  About 3,000 people (including 9 local representatives) will be carrying the Pan American flame for 6 weeks before the Games' Opening Ceremony in Toronto  July 10, 2015.  The flame will travel 15,000 kilometres by air and 5,000 kilometres on land. throughout Canada.

Wild Animal:  Lynx Joins Internet Cat Craze ~ Terrace Bay, Ontario
A Northern Ontario woman,who came upon a wild lynx outside her shop, captured the encounter on video and posted it to You Tube.  Beth-Ann Colebourne, 31 says the chance meeting happened one evening outside her nail salon in Terrace Bay about 225 km east of Thunder Bay.  She didn't feel threatened by the animal, giving it room to get away...but her calls of 'Kitty, kitty, kitty' and 'What's up Buddy, what are you doing?' had some communicators questioning her sanity. Despite her invitations of 'Hey...Lynx!' and 'Come Here', the animal appeared uninterested in making friends...and walked away...looking back at her several times.
Compiled by Merle Baird-Kerr...May 23, 2015
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