Cat and Mouse

Pat leaves for Beijing a week from today. Already it's been chaotic days of class prep, cat prep, and net prep among dozens of hectic other arrangements. The lists of things that have to be done by the 20th seem to get longer, not shorter. Could you shut down your household and leave the country in a week?

Flights seem to be confirmed but visas are not. Contracts are signed but clothes not packed --- what's the weather in Beijing late October, and other cities in November? Class curriculum has been specified but textbooks don't match the subject. How much to prepay the MasterCard? What vaccinations? Normally I really enjoy doing the logistics of a trip, but there are still too many loose ends dangling right now.

Two biggies have been settled. First, the sitter for Brandy the cat was over to check out feeding, watering, and toileting. Secondly, we now have a netbook computer (with retractable mouse) to take with us. Lots of files to transfer, favourite pictures to load, and glitches to work out. The (Blog)Show must go on!

Mixed Message on Canadian Thanksgiving

This is the Thanksgiving weekend in Canada and we have so much to be grateful for. But nature is giving us a mixed message to ponder. On one hand the leaves have reached fall colourmax but the thermometer reads hot. In the garden, the carrots are being harvested but the strawberries are still blossoming and/or green. The little frog pond is being cleaned out but the little frogs don't want to hibernate yet.

On a drive over to Sauble Beach, the top was down and kids were still swimming in Lake Huron, but Amici's was closing down and thanking customers til they open again in spring. The ice cream cones were extra large because the shops were emptying out the inventory, but as soon as you walked outside the Cookies 'n Cream Chocolate melted down your hand in the sun.

Still, the signs are there and fall is here. The mums are blooming, the fishing boats are on land. And the geese aren't fooled --- their morning fly past is always southbound!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone; what are you most grateful for today??

It's Official: MAID IN CHINA

As in that famous anthem, this morning the East Is Red! After months of meetings, bureaucracy, and finally invitations from 3 universities --- Pat will be going to China to teach. It may sound like sending coals to Newcastle but she will be teaching business subjects to Chinese! It's all happening quickly and she will be flying 2 weeks from today. (It looks like the visas won't even be ready until the 18th, and she leaves on the 20th.) I say "visas" plural because I'll be joining her about a week later. I'll need the time to close down the house and vehicles, she needs the time to concentrate on the job there.

This working-adventure will be 2 weeks each in Beijing, Zhanghzhou, and Shanghai. That takes us to early December and right now the plan is to continue roaming in southeast Asia. It's a month earlier than usual for us to leave home, but opportunity is knocking. (Fortunately, Brandy seems healthy these days and will be staying home with Pat's sister.)

ASIDE: Yesterday I noticed a ripe APPLE in a tree here --- it turned out to be a MAC! Coincidence or cosmic? As I write this, tributes are pouring in for Steve Jobs, the adopted teen delinquent who went on to become a computer titan. We have no Apple products, but it's clear he changed the world by combining the mass appeal of Henry Ford with the inventiveness of Thomas Edison and the imagination of Walt Disney. He WAS the app for that!

But back to China ---I have been there twice before the massive upheaval of the last two decades. And Pat had taught in Shanghai in 2005. A lot has changed, and she'll be in other cities too. But China is enormous and fascinating and we'll try to take in all we can. Let the learning begin!

How To Winterize Your Horse

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It's a bittersweet day in the barn. Despite a beautiful sunny Indian Summer day and due to an unusually early departure soon, I had to winterize the red horse. My odometer records show it was only on the trails 951 miles this year! No matter, all the steps have to be followed.

1. Thorough wash (water only, never soap of any kind) and wipe down.

2. Top up, windows closed, safety Club in place.

3. Car backed up onto wood blocks (rubber on cold concrete not good).

4. Crawl under, change oil and filter (not always easy, keep reading).

5. Remove battery and store in warmish dry place.

6. Put steel wool in both exhaust pipes (stops mice from squatting).

7. Mothballs placed in trunk, around tires, and in top well (mice don't like the smell, do you?).

8. Check antifreeze (good to -40, Farenheit OR Celcius).

9. Into full gas tank: add gas stabilizer, lead substitute (gas was leaded back then!), gasline antifreeze, carburetor cleaner.

10.Check air filter, trans fluid, air pressure in tires, etc.

11. Kiss your horse goodnight and put on the blankie. See you in April?

Note: This time the old oil filter wouldn't come off! I broke a filter wrench trying and the new one wouldn't torque it either. Used various wrenches, heat from a plumbing torch, even piercing it with a screwdriver to lever it counter-clockwise. No go, and now the filter was destroyed in place! Google advice no help --- it said "take it to a lube tech"! Eventually I brutalized it with a hammer and chisel, but there was (my) blood on the floor. Note to owner: Not so tight next time!

25 Pumpkinfests, Only 800 Cars

This weekend is the 25th annual Pumpkinfest over in Port Elgin. 60,000 people attend the judging, carnival, and events such as underwater pumpkin carving (by scuba in Lake Huron!). A new world record squash came in at 1486.6 pounds. The heaviest pumpkin was 1657.6 pounds --- didn't beat the world record of 1810 pounds but still a lot of pie!

But the real draw for me is the Cinderella's Carriage (she arrived in a pumpkin, get it?) Car Show. The limit is 800 cars but since this is the last main event of the classic car season many cars get turned away. I think we were #786! There's always something I've never seen --- this time it was a 1964 Barracuda station wagon with a big V8 and stick shift (that's a muscle car looking like a mom's car). Plus great colour combos, creative licence plates, and nostalgic cars my dad might have built on the line at Chrysler Windsor. But no matter what event I attend, the Best-In-Show always turns out to be a 1964 1/2 red Mustang convertible. Go figure.

Cirque, But No Soleil

The first week of fall is still mostly blustery-rainy and the days noticeably shorter-cooler. But went to Toronto for some appointments and got the van dirtier than a hard-working vehicle should ever be. Saw Canada's famous Cirque du Soleil ("Circus of the Sun") in their current show "Totem". Absolutely awesome and soul-uplifting. How can those 6 girls on unicycles flip those tea bowls onto their heads? How can that Russian couple spin around on roller skates while contorting a love ballet? How can that native guy shape those hoops so fast into so many symbols?? Impossible to describe and illegal to photograph, you'll just have to experience it yourself. (Oh --- and how does that canoe glide over the stage like it was in 10 feet of water?) Simply incredible what imagination and talent can do.

Otherwise preparations continue for a major adventure/experience in what used to be called the Middle Kingdom. Still not totally confirmed, so no announcement yet. But if you crossed everything for good luck, it sems to be working so far. Even our trees are bending to thankyou!