Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Salute to September ~ 2015

~ a Mosaic of Musings and Ramblings ~

Animals Living Amongst Us: Baby Falcons Born on Skyway Bridge: Barry Charriere, standing near the Burlington Lift Bridge, was watching the peregrine falcon family. Three born in the bridge rafters: and already one had 'flown the coop'...considering himself sufficiently independent.

Poisonous Rattlesnake Greets Shoppers: A section of a Home Depot store in central Tennessee was shut down recently after an astute customer noticed something suspicious in the 'garden centre'...a timber rattlesnake. Wildlife experts were called to remove the venomous intruder.

Farmer Celebrates Cow's Return After 2 Years on the Lam: Matylda finally moo-ved back home. She escaped from her Polish farm and lived a 'life on the lam.' in a nearby forest. Farmers in the area complained of the damage she caused, but no one was able to catch her.

Beachgoers Help Stranded Great White Shark on Massachusetts' Cape Cod Peninsula. It is now swimming free, thanks to rescuers who kept it wet until able to be returned back to the water.

Pig Resort: The Bahamas attracts people to visit one of the nation's uninhabited islands, Big Major Cay (Pig Island) to see the friendly swimming pigs, that greet visiting boats and locals who bring food to them...then romp on the beach and rest under the palm trees...waiting for the next shipment of dinner.

Kangaroo Joeys: Adult female grey kangaroos can have two joeys of different ages nestled in their pouches at one time. However, the older one gets kicked out when the younger one starts growing.

Cats Behind Bars: 'Inmates' in a maximum-security-prison in New York State, found a reason to stay in prison a little longer...4 stray cats! The wild felines were raggedly little kittens when they arrived at the prison looking for a place to keep warm. The human inmates built a large cage for them, leaving the door open so the cats can come and go. One staff member arrives early to work, to care for them.

Best Sermons are Lived: “Today I kissed my Dad on the forehead as he passed away in his hospital bed. About 5 seconds after he passed, I realized it was the first time I had given him a kiss since I was a little boy.” (from Carolyn's collection)

Bizarre Facts: There have been several vigilante groups in recent years including Rodrigo Duterte, a man who transformed the murder capital of the Philippines to the most peaceful city in Southeast Asia by killing multiple drug leaders and traffickers. He was dubbed, 'The Punisher' by Time Magazine.

Community Updates: Meet 'Arrow' ~ Halton Region's Newest Police Dog, At 14 months old, Arrow has boundless energy, eating 1.5 kilos of raw meat daily and is quickly learning to hone his 'hunt drive'. He is the 6th police dog for this police force and expected to be out on the road in December after completing 16 weeks of training by Const. Tara McLorn. Dogs search with their noses ~ having 225 million olfactory senses compared with a mere 5 million in humans. For police dogs, the motivation is all about play. They find the drugs? the Bad Guy? They get their toy!

Birds and Bunkers: King's Forest Golf Club in east end Hamilton, is facing a seemingly unsolvable problem with teenage mutant ninja turkeys. A pair of young male turkeys have made 'the first tee' their favourite spot this summer, perusing around carts, blocking shots and even jumping in the back of staff trucks. They are not always socially amiable. A 65 year old woman teeing off on the 10th hole when hitting the ball near the birds; going to retrieve it, the turkeys bombarded her. They surrounded her on both sides and flapped aggressively. She and her partner sped off in their cart. There are an estimated 15 wild turkeys and hens nesting on the course...only a couple of these is bothersome.

Teddy Bears Now on Fire Trucks Across the City: The Aldershot Lions Club recently donated 50 stuffed teddy bears to the Burlington Fire Department. The bears will be placed in the department's fleet of fire trucks for on-duty firefighters to give to children involved in traumatic emergency calls.

MBK'S NewsBits: Fire Problem in Mount Albert. A small town of bout 2,700 people located north of Toronto, Ontario, has a 'volunteer fire department' that usually does a very good job. There was not much the firefighters could do when their own fire station happened to be the building that went up in flames. The fire started about 8 am on a Sunday morning and by the time the firefighters got to the scene, it was impossible to access the pumper truck inside and fire trucks had to be called from nearby communities. Luckily, no one was hurt.

Speeder Wanted to See Sunset at Cottage! An Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officer says a Windsor woman claiming a desire to watch the sunset and was driving northward at nearly double the speed limit. OPP says her car was clocked at 150 km/hour in an 80-zone on the Bluewater Veterans Highway near St. Joseph. Her licence has been suspended and her car impounded for the week. She is due to appear in court in Goderich on September 1 to answer to the charge.

Teenager Finds Gold Bar in Lake in German Alps: While swimming in the lake, a teenager found a 500-gram (17.6 oz.) bar of gold. Police are still trying to figure out where the bar comes from and how it got into Koeenigssee Lake, a popular tourist destination on the border of Austria. The 16-year-old girl who was on vacation, found it around 2 m (6 1/2 feet ) under the lake's surface.

Soldier Lost While Heeding Mother Nature's Call: Helping to fight wildfires in Saskatchewan, he became lost on the fire lines near La Ronge when he went into the woods for some privacy. Search began after he disappeared. The Edmonton-based military member was found safe six hours later.

Our U.S Neighbours Ignored Pan American Games,” Steve Dobrus wrote to 'Readers Write' in the Hamilton Spectator. “I did a little research work during the Pan Am Games wanting to know how many US major television stations and networks showed interest in our Games. Watching ABC, NBC, CBS, and CNN, also Buffalo's 3 stations. None of them even mentioned the Games! These are our so-called American cousins and 'friendly southern neighbours'! Who do they think we are? Nobodies!!!”

Music Lessons Reinforce Communication Skills. A young person who studies music reinforces teamwork, communication skills, self-discipline and creativity ~ all qualities kids need to be successful in their other school work,” says Peter Nero, a German Award-Winning pianist, conductor and creative musical director. “Teamwork is learned through participating in ensemble programs such as chorus or band. Self-discipline is gained by practising an instrument or fine-tuning a voice. And music is a creative medium, offering chances for self-expression.”

Notable Dates: September 7 (Monday) ~ Labour Day
September 12 (Saturday) ~ World First Aid Day
September 13 (Sunday) ~ Grandparents' Day
September 16 (Wednesday) ~ International Day for Preservation of Ozone Layer
September 18 (Friday) ~ Visit of Astronaut Chris Hadfield to Hamilton*
September 24 (Thursday) ~ National Tree Day
September 27 (Sunday) ~ Police and Peace Officers Day

*A rare opportunity to meet Chris Hadfield who will kick off the city's 2-day event:
Our Future Hamilton: Community in Conversation
(discussions concerning the next 25 years).
He will speak from 7-9 pm at Hamilton Place.

Note: All foregoing facts are not verified by this writer.

Merle Baird-Kerr...compiled August 22, 2015
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