CUB SCOUT OR MAD BASTARD?

It's the end of the season here at Kemble with the sun lower on the horizon and morning fog banks forming in the chill air. The iconic Chi Cheemaun ferry passed by on its way to its winter harbour. And because of an excellent growth year, the carpet of golden maple autumn leaves seems thicker than ever.

 The annual shut-down of the homestead has happened. The leaves (see above!) have been raked several times. Most of them get spread on the gardens, like a warm blanket on tender tootsies. The summer vehicles have been winterized and reassured that they'll be back on the road --- topless --- again (but who knows where??). On the top of the hill the lawn gets mowed on the east side while the pond gets skimmed on the west. At the bottom of the hill, the leaves outnumber the rakers about 1,000,000 to 2!

But the big story this week was the sale of my 1964 Honda Cub motorbike. After 51 years, I have passed it on to the future. My nieces have all written about their memories of rides on the bike long ago; comments about being terrorized or having sore bikebum dominate! For me, it's images of doing wheelies as a teenager or riding in Baja Mexico or speeding at night on dark roads, howling like a lone wolf free on the wind. But after years of scouting a Cub repair, it's time to let go. Thank goodness, Pat and I did ride on it together a couple of years ago. Here's the archival pose with this big part of my life:

The amazing thing is, the guy that bought it has big and fun plans to put it back on the road! (We were overwhelmed by him; he counted out the $$$ before saying hello. He didn't want any details from me. He put the Honda up on the custom hoist immediately and shooed us away before I could even take a farewell picture!) Despite having a garage-full (4!) of big BMW motorcycles, he will be riding this little classic next year in an event called the Mad Bastard Road Race. Limited to "scooters", this excuse to drive and drink (in that order) has a hundred crazy guys going about 500 miles in 24 hours on back roads. In costumes and/or silly decorations. Look it up! Next year on June 19-21 we'll be somewhere in southern Ontario watching my former pride and joy whiz by.  I expect it will be in the lead, like beloved memories of my own mad times...

PUT IT ON MY TAB

The sunrise is as dramatic as ever these days but minor history is being made on this screen. This season's travel starts soon so we will need a new and smaller device in the backpack --- an Asus tablet with 10" screen. Today's blog posting is the first on my Tab so please forgive if it's a little late or a little weird looking. The learning curve is as steep as our driveway and just as slippery!

About 100 new bulbs will be emerging next spring, narcissus and tulips. The pond plants have been cut back and put in their wintering spots, either underwater or under cover. Woody made good on his promise to bring up another load of wood chips in trade for our ash logs last week. He even threw in a bottle of his family farm's pure local maple syrup!

The wood chips are maple, the syrup is maple, and the most fiery autumn leaves are maple. How Canadian! In our village of Kemble, the annual Pumpkin' Chuckin' fun is going on. But they're really mucking around, like me on this touch pad!

THE CHIPS ARE DOWN

This is the weekend of Canadian Thanksgiving and we're getting everything from sunny days to hail. But we are truly thankful for our privileged healthy lives. I also have to give the biggest thanks of all to my mom, Sophie Chmill Wyszynski, who would have been 102 today. Happy Birthday Mom!

She would have been as enthusiastic as we were to complete the cutting and chipping of our blighted ash trees. Our chainsaw had been heroic but couldn't handle the biggest of the trees, so we had the guys from Woody's (the name fits, no?) use 24" saws and a wicked Vermeer chipper to finish up. The challenge by the barn was the low-lying telephone wire. The challenge on the slope was the barn roof just 3 feet from the biggest tree to come down. As it turned out, a stray branch did crack a skylight in the barn roof. But otherwise it was like falling off a log!

Despite our warnings that our steep lane has a history of eating vehicles, Woody tried to drive his dump truck up with the chipper connected. Predictably, it stalled out a third of the way up and left skid marks like drag racers at Grand Bend Raceway. They hooked up a 4 X 4 and came up the rest of the way like a 3-car freight train chugging up the Rockies. The chipping resumed and all the branches we cut in the last month became a huge pile of garden gold.

Then chip pile #3 was created by the greenhouse, to be spread out along the fence to keep the weeds and poison ivy lower than knee high, we hope. The finale was the crashing down of the iconic but worst-infested tree, a sad end to 80 years of growth (I counted the rings). What's that expression: As happy as a pig in .... chips?!

JUDGED AND JURY

In Toronto, I'm thinking of selling my original 1963 Honda motorbike. Some of my nieces and nephews may remember near-death experiences on that bike in that no-helmet era! However, the real reason for the city visit was the simultaneous break down of both water heaters, but for different causes. The tenants had to go two days without showers or dishwashers --- could you??

Back in Owen Sound, the annual salmon run is in full swing with giant fish making their death run to spawn in the shallow waters right in town: an awesome sight of nature. Up at The View, an ash tree fell across our steep driveway and there's no chainsaw available these days. So it's retro time, hacking away with an axe to clear the path. Great cardio workout, just have better footwear than I did!

The last old car event of the season was at Port Elgin Pumpkinfest but  rain and cold kept the morning crowds and cars low in numbers. New records were set for rutabaga (98 pounds!) and pumpkin (1,562 pounds). The vehicles (Cinderella's Carriage--- get it?) being judged included this 1932 Model A precursor of the snowmobile, and a very cool 1946 Ford Woody Wagon, trimmed in Ontario maple. Our Dakota stayed nice and dry in the barn but it's Best In Show, no??

One morning a raccoon seemed to be trapped at the top of a 50-foot tree. That's how I feel --- I've been called for jury duty again (been there, done that in Toronto 2007). The 'coon eventually knew how to get out of the predicament, but I don't. Civic duty here I come...