AUTUMN

The scent of wood smoke from nearby chimneys and honking of geese flying overhead; the beauty of my dog running to grab a thrown toy; the soft hair against my hands when my cat comes close for a snuggle and the warmth of her body keeping me comfortable in the evening; the flavours still favored after childhood: chocolate, peanut butter, strawberry — these are some of the simple pleasures I can be thankful for.

In contrast to this year's hot spring and summer in Ontario, my youth spent in PEI was much cooler and wetter. Spring along the east coast was a windy, rainy change from the large wet snowflakes of winter. I remember standing on the verandah, savoring a rare warm sunny spring day when the bees were buzzing amongst my mother's flowers and the newly opened leaves on tall trees shaded parts of the lawn.

Summer was a time for warm sunshine and walks on the beach. The average highs for June - August were 20°C to 23°C (compared with 23°C to 26.6°C in Casselman). PEI breezes from the ocean moderate temperatures so they are cooler in warm months and milder in cold months than experienced in Ontario. I don't remember any really hot days in summer. In fact, I had to keep blankets over me because the nights were cool.

By tradition, September felt like summer was over; not only because school started but because temperatures dropped enough that swimming in the ocean was no longer tempting — not that the water was warm in the summer!

This year's hot summer in eastern Ontario kept me from taking as many trips as usual. Terri and I normally enjoy walks at weekend outdoor events where dogs are allowed — dog shows, country fairs, camping in parks. This summer seemed too hot to enjoy spending a full or even half day walking under the sun. Many places have very little shade so I lacked any ambition to leave my shade trees.

The 2012 heat has lasted a surpisingly long time. Even the geese seem to be puzzled. They are still flying back and forth (north and south) as if they aren't sure which way to go. I suspect that this long mild autumn is allowing them to feed on many corn fields before their long flight south. I hope they don't get too fat to fly ;-)

SKY

Pale pink and pearl gray
Watercolour swaths on canvas
Western sky painted


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiku_in_English

BONES

Osteopenia: abnormally low bone density
Osteoporosis: severe bone loss; bone tissue is porous


I have osteopenia. My doctor says that means I have a greater chance of breaking bones than if they were normal density. Falling is the usual cause of bones breaking. Since I've never been accused of having a gymnast's balance and coordination, it could be a matter of time before I'd have to visit a hospital. Given the dangers of slippery dog drool, a cat that loves to run between my legs, and my general clumsiness, I've fallen a number of times. Luckily, no bones have cracked yet.

I highly recommend Strong Women, Strong Bones by Miriam E. Nelson, Ph.D. This book contains many facts about foods, medications, and exercises that have a positive or detrimental effect on your body's bone building ability.

Examples:
- aluminum interferes with calcium absorption if taken in excessive amounts
- thyroid hormone taken for hypothyroidism will increase bone breakdown if the dosage is not correctly calibrated
- caffeine acts as a diuretic and increases calcium excretion in urine
- too much fiber speeds food through your intestines so there isn't enough time to absorb calcium

Osteopenia means your bones can fracture easily. When you think of a broken arm, you might believe it couldn't be a big deal. Lots of people have healed nicely from a fracture. However, Nelson warns that a break for a low density bone is a different matter. You can be left with pain and deformities.

It isn't just leg and arm bones at risk. Bones of the spine fracture and cause pain, posture problems, and loss of height. Hip fractures require surgery for repair or replacement and impact your ability to get around and remain independent.

The combination of nutrition and exercise is needed to make and maintain strong bones.
* Daily intake of calcium AND vitamin D (and fruits and vegetables for other nutrients that are needed for bone building — phosporous, magnesium, potassium, zinc, sodium). Vitamin D is needed to absorb calcium and turn it into bone.
* Strength training exercises are needed for bone building. Aerobic exercises are good for your heart but aren't sufficient for bone health.

Our bodies use calcium for more than just bone building (blood coagulation, blood pressure regulation, muscle contraction, and others). For that reason, we need a daily supply of calcium and vitamin D. "If we get plenty of calcium in our diet, we don't have to draw down the supply that's stored in our skeleton." Page 27.

Nelson includes chapters about testing and improving your balance and fitness to avoid or reduce falls. Pages 134 to 222 tell all about using exercise to improve bone strength.

One chapter provides info on the best food sources of calcium plus sample menus to show how you can add up the amounts of calcium from various foods to supply your daily needs. Dairy, soy, nuts, vegetables, fruits, fish, and calcium-fortified cereals are listed with their calcium content. Protein fortified dairy products containing more milk solids have more calcium than regular products.

To determine if you need supplements to your diet to ensure you aren't usng the supply of calcium from your bones, you'll need to take these steps:

A. Check the DRI (dietary reference intake) for calcium
Age 19-50 years -- 1000 mg/day
51 + years -- 1200 mg/day

B. Decide what supplements you need to add to your diet to get 1000 or 1200 mg/day. Nelson recommends that you get calcium via calcium carbonate or calcium citrate rather than calcium glucomate, calcium lactate or calcium phosphate. She explains why. Spread your calcium consumption over the day — your body can't absorb more than 500 milligrams at one time.

Don't forget vitamin D to help calcium absorption. In Canada we don't get enough sunshine in the winter — November through February — for our skin to produce vitamin D and we are usually covered up then anyway. Since sunscreen blocks sun rays that are needed to make vitamin D, Nelson suggests 15 minutes of sun on arms and legs before applying sunscreen.

Age birth - 50 years -- 200 IU daily
51 -70 years --- 400 IU
71 + years ---- 600 IU


In addition to calcium and vitamin D, bone building needs magnesium, potassium, vitamin K, vitamin C, and other elements (silicon, manganese, copper, zinc, boron) that you can get from fruits and vegetables.

In Chapter 9, Nelson discusses medication. For example, alendronate (Fosamax) is a bisphosphonate that binds to the cells that break down bone and suppresses their activity. It must be taken on an empty stomach but with water.

Near the end of the book are several handy logs you can use to ensure your nutrition and exercise requirements for stronger bones are met.

Please, for the sake of your bone health — read this book and take Nelson's recommendations seriously.

More about osteoporosis:
Slideshow and info

SANDY WAS HERE

Loud winds disturbed Terri Monday night but she calmed down once I put her thunder-shirt on her. The snug wrapping makes her feel and act less edgy. The electricity started going off and on before 11 PM. By then, I gave up watching TV and went to bed, pulling power cords out of the wall outlets on my way.

We didn't get rain, despite the appearance of thick clouds in the NASA image below. Luckily, the storm winds slowed down before they arrived in eastern Ontario.

The wind was powerful enough to knock down the dead tree behind my back yard. I was relieved that it didn't fall on the fence that lies along the back of my yard.

All is peaceful now except for noises such as car doors slammed shut. These prompt Terri to make "quiet" annoyed barks as if she disapproves of people making unnecessary noises to disturb her rest. ;-)

STORM COMING ?

Luckily, the rain held off Saturday so Terri and I had time to play games, shop for groceries, and prepare for rain and wind. I should be preparing for power outage too, just in case. The list of things to have ready is available at the link in my previous post. I sure hope I don't need any of these items, especially things for power failures. However, it doesn't seem to take much to lose power on my road. I wonder why.

The following map shows the probable turn west for the storm into the Atlantic states somewhere between NY and SC. The storm itself is huge so it will cover a wide area wherever it lands.

I hope it lands far south of New York since that would be better for the greatest population but I don't know how badly it would affect states such as North or South Carolina. [More details to come as the storm continues up the coast.]

GREAT WEATHER

FRIDAY, OCT. 26: What a beautiful day today! I knew it would be pleasant but the temperature and sunshine was just perfect. Flower enjoyed the deck for a couple of hours before taking her regular afternoon nap curled up on her big chair. Terri and I couldn't get enough of the perfect day so we stayed outside, even after dark. It's a good thing we made the most of this 18C + weather — a weekend of rain starts tonight or tomorrow morning.

A hybrid storm - part hurricane, part cold nor'easter - may head inland to parts of Ontario and eastern Canada in a few days. The mixture of cold air and wet storm could result in snow. "While winds would not likely exceed Category 1 strength, the size of the storm would mean that a huge area would be affected by winds strong enough to bring down thousands of trees and leave millions without power. Heavy rain could trigger flash flooding." - The Weather Network

Your Emergency Preparedness Guide Guide

LOSING WEIGHT

It is very difficult for me to lose weight. I suspect I have a slow metabolism. I love tasty foods and tasty foods always have some sugar and/or fat. Tempting photos of food abound on TV and even in Facebook posts! I have a huge appetite — I'm sure I could keep up with hungry teen boys if I allowed myself to.

Despite that, I have managed to lose 5 lbs. You laugh. I understand, it's not much; but it is a start! I've cut down on margarine, butter, animal fats. I try to use just olive oil and only when really needed. I've stopped eating chips, cookies, cake, etc. More recently, I've stopped eating candy — WOW! For snacking, I've made a fresh fruit salad in a large glass bowl which I keep in the fridge. Canned peaches and/or pears chopped up, grapes, pineapple, cranberries. When there is room for more fruit I should add orange or apple. I don't like melon except for watermelon.

The best motivation for losing weight is sharing the plan with friends. We are on a 5 lb loss for October plan. Next month we'll have a new motivation. It's a good thing ;-)

FALL COLOURS

Terri and I enjoyed some sight-seeing around Russell Township Friday afternoon. I drove along country roads without caring where I was going — I figured I couldn't get lost since I wasn't trying to get to any particular spot.

MORE FB PHOTOS

Here is another set of FB "cover" photos.

PHOTOS FOR FB

Facebook's timeline has an area at the top of each user's page where they can upload a 900 by 300 pixel photo as background to his/her profile icon. I've been having fun taking pics around the yard and cropping them to this long, narrow size.

I guess I'll keep the others for a future post.

MORE TRACKING

Sept 14th

Pleasant day with sun & cloud. I waited too long to drive to the tracking fields. The clouds arriving overhead were rain clouds. Grabbed my rainproof jacket just in case -- it's a good thing I did!

I didn't wait long after laying the track before I put Terri's harness on her and invited her to drink. She turned her head away from the bowl. She stopped at the scent area to eat the pieces of kibble and then her nose moved around for some seconds before she decided on a course. It was the correct one. She followed the 1st short leg nicely and swung around counter-clockwise beyond the 1st left turn but not far enough. I had to encourage her to keep looking for the 2nd leg. Once she found it, I was able to watch how she tracked towards the tall power pole that I had selected for sighting along. She stayed mainly 2 to 4 feet to the right of the track but also swung left & right of the track. The wind was blowing scent in that direction but I don't know if she was following scent blown from the track at that time or scent blown off me when I laid the track.

She amazed me by taking the 2nd left turn without any problem :-) Her speed was great - not too fast but certainly not hesitant. At the 3rd left turn, she just breezed along and soon found some kibble halfway along the 4th leg. Then she started to have trouble and wandered around quite a bit until she reached the post I had aimed for. The prize - more kibble - was just beyond the post and she found it immediately. A successful track!

We continued to walk towards the car and had almost reached it when the rain started. In a few seconds (after Terri was inside but I wasn't) it turned into a downpour.

Learned to pay more attention to clouds in the sky ;-)


Sept 19th

Damp vegetation really does help a dog follow a track more easily. We had a heavy rain the day before our tracking practice and Terri had no trouble at all getting those turns. Here are photos of parts of the first 3 legs.

LEG 1

LEG 2

LEG 3

Terri had no trouble making the last turn but didn't follow the track as closely as she had done the first 3 legs. Instead, she swerved left and right of the track a lot. I have no explanation for this. Confusing wind? There was very little wind that day. Other interesting scents? A possibility.

TRACKING :-)

We've had great weather for tracking lately. That is, it hasn't been horribly hot & humid so I managed to get off the sofa and move ;-) Terri and I have had a treat tracking on a lovely big clover field. Such a great change from our puny 1/2 acre yard! The exercise and tracking practice has been good for both of us.

I found a use for toilet paper rolls! I put a piece of cooked liver in a number of rolls and hid them along the tracks. It served two purposes — rewarded Terri and confirmed to me that we were right on track. I picked them up after Terri ate the liver and that taught me how I would have to handle Terri when picking up dropped items on a track. I should really be making her stop and sit to indicate found articles.

One of the handy things about this field is that there are little bushy plants and flowers here and there to serve as landmarks so I know if we're in the right place or to signal to me that there's a turn up ahead when running the track. The fence, trees and power poles are sighting tools to keep me on a straight track when laying the course.

NICE FIELDS!

I finished the mowing and some of the raking yesterday so I allowed myself to take Terri on a fun "exploring" run today. It was only 6 km and 7 minutes driving to my friend's farm. (We arrived at 7:30 P.M.) What marvelous tracking fields she has! Oh my goodness! It's just the most perfect place I can imagine for tracking. We didn't track today but explored parts of the field so I could see potential paths to make. There are some natural spots such as a patch of yellow flowers for making turns.

I must go with Terri tomorrow — some people may think it's weird to get so excited from just seeing a field but other trackers would understand immediately. Terri didn't put her nose to the ground until we got to the edge of the field — I suspect there's a path near the fence where Laura and her dogs walk. (See bottom photo.)

The entrance to a field of tracking dreams!

Terri may be scenting dogs and people here by the fence.

P.S. — You wouldn't think from the green of these fields that we're suffering from a drought, would you? I guess the little sprinkling of moisture we had recently was enough to turn the clover leaves green.

OLYMPIC CLOSING

Everybody has different opinions about the closing ceremonies, particularly the music which was explained to Canadian TV viewers as a pick of the 30 best songs of Britain. Off to a wonderful start with the first part of Bohemian Rhapsody leading into the full length Imagine! After that it was all downhill :-( The mix of Bowie songs was very poorly done and not anywhere near long enough. The only other highlights were 'Wish You Were Here', 'I Am a Walrus', and 'We Will Rock You' actually performed by Queen on Stage. The rest: not musical, no memorable tunes (except for Pinball Wizard which I'm very tired of hearing). No wonder I rarely get excited or even interested in Olympic ceremonies. England has many great musicians; few were given tribute tonight. Pity.

SOME RAIN

I don't consider that we've had enough rain unless the bottom of the wheelbarrow is covered. This has finally happened! Cooler temps indoors too: 72°F/22°C while it is 20°C outside today. Terri enjoys the cooler temps and wants to run longer; I believe her endurance is directly proportional to the cold. She runs only 15 minutes at 25°C but happily plays for 2 hours at 0°C.

A requested book was at the library so I went there to drop off and pick up books. A short drive after that took me to the farm on N. Russell Rd. where I bought some big field grown tomatoes.

Terri and I played outside for a while in our yard. What a disaster the back yard is! The hot dry sun has killed most of the grass but weeds are having a great season. Last year I planted two cedars near the back fence so they would soak up water in that wet corner. There has been very little precipitation since the planting.

DOG GAMES

I've been a terrible dog Mom lately. I can't stand the heat & humidity so Terri & I have afternoon or full morning siestas. I don't want her running in the heat and she doesn't want to run for long when it's hot so we often wait until 7 or 8 PM to play catch/fetch. Nothing terrible about that BUT I've also been too lazy to practice tracking or rally-o.

Yesterday morning I finally made a short track with several turns for her. It had rained the previous day but tracking day was quite windy with breezes from the north. The sun wasn't too hot and humidity was down. I left rewards of thawed (cooked) liver pieces at a few spots.

Terri took a good sniff at the ground starting area and her nose pulled her along the track like a train engine. She turned left, left again, right and then was hanging a couple of feet south of the tracks. Before the next turn she lifted her head and didn't put it down near the grass. I don't know what she was thinking. Perhaps the wind was blowing the scent around too much? I had to encourage her along until she seemed to get the scent again and she was onto the next liver treat quickly. After that, she followed the trail fairly well, though not right on the tracks. She found her way to the next treat but couldn't see/smell the treat itself and was trying to go straight at the next right turn. I had to set her going around circles so she could find the tracks and she finally took the turn after several wrong starts. That was the last turn so she was soon at the stopping point — her toy, hidden by a shrub.

I should concentrate on the positive parts — her first 3 turns were super! I tend to get hung up about her bad parts though, and wonder if we will ever get good enough to bother taking the tracking test. We did once and failed terribly that year due to very dry bare conditions after practicing during a wet summer on green moist fields. Still, the important point is to go outside and play a fun game with your dog, even if she never runs a complete track correctly from start to finish.

WEATHER REPORT

It's not official but one person wrote that the last rain fell June 25th; that's 21 days ago. From the weather maps online and on TV, it seems that we don't have much hope of getting rain unless a storm cloud happens to move across the sky. All forecasts are for 40% chance (or less) of precipitation for the next few days.

I wish I knew what is happening to the water table in this area. I have a deep well but how deep is it compared to the water table? How much water is available from the ground? Since we had very little snow last winter, is there a real risk of running out of well water this summer? Perhaps not in the short term but if lower rainfalls and higher temperatures persist in the coming years, that will affect the water table levels for certain. (See www.ontla.on.ca/library/repository/mon/1000/10294255.pdf)

From CBC:

Ottawa: between June 8 - July 8 there were 10 days of 30°C temperatures, compared to 4 days in a typical year. [Did the writer mean 4 days between those dates?]

During the past 30 days less than 60 per cent of the normal amount of rain has fallen. The Rideau River is flowing almost 80 per cent below normal levels, while the Jock River is flowing at only three per cent of its normal levels.

So far this summer there have been record-setting high temperatures across Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces coupled with some of the lowest rainfall on record.

A lack of rain and extremely hot temperatures badly affecting crops mean that Canadian consumers will likely be paying more for their produce.

Tuesday July 17: We got a little rain from thunderstorms passing overhead but not much. It didn't cover the bottom of the wheelbarrow so I'm not impressed :-(

Sunday August 5: T-storms are bringing rain! 25 minutes of heavy rain. If we're lucky, more will follow. Not much since July 17 -- just some heavy mist a couple of times :-(

SNOW CRASH

SNOW CRASH
1992 novel by Neal Stephenson

Whew! That was a whirlwind tour through a futuristic 'real' gritty landscape of corporate-states (formerly America) and 'unreal' Metaverse occupied by realistic avatars. In both places, our hero Hiro Protagonist and heroine Y.T. speed along streets on motorcycle or skateboard and join forces to investigate what destructive plans have been made against hackers.

They meet when Hiro crashes the pizza delivery car he is driving and Y.T. comes along and does him the favour of delivering the pizza on her skateboard. She rides to delivery points by attaching a cable to vehicles that are driven in the direction she needs. Although Hiro's description isn't at all like him, I couldn't help thinking of Hiro looking like actor Masi Oka who played "Hiro Nakamura" on Heroes. Y.T.'s character brought to mind actress Jewel Strait playing "Kaylee Frye" on Firefly because of the similarity of their spunky characters.

Yes, this is cyberpunk but it's not dark like Gibson's Neuromancer. Instead, it carries you along like Y.T.'s joyful though hair-raising skateboarding trips through a fast and furious series of adventures leading to the discovery of who, what and how the evil forces plan to destroy the computer systems that every person and corporate entity depends on.

WEIRD WEATHER

Eastern Ontario. While I was lounging in the heat (28°C) on a sunny Monday, twenty centimetres of snow fell to the ground in Gillam, northern Manitoba (between Churchill and Thompson). That's as much snow as we get in a mid-winter snowstorm. On the weekend, golfball-sized hail, rain and strong winds tore through other parts of Manitoba, including Winnipeg. No wonder my paternal grandparents moved away from Manitoba after trying out homesteading there ;-) The chance of snow in June plus rampant mosquitoes in whatever summer they had must have driven them crazy.

Here, it is hay-making time. We had a few sunny days until today and are expected to have more sunshine this week. For mid-June, it's very pleasant weather. Meanwhile, in the Atlantic provinces they are enjoying their usual mix of warm sunshine and frequent cloud/rain. Is it any wonder I love living here?

STRANGE NEW WORLDS

In this century and the last, astronomers have been announcing more and more precise discoveries in space — more than the increasing size and complexity of telescopes can account for! How can they present their findings with such confidence? Newly discovered planets! Not just the fact of a planet's existence but estimates on its size and density — how do they know? Even the Hubble telescope is limited to small pictures of stars (see photo). Planets can't be viewed directly.

Strange New Worlds: The Search for Alien Planets by Ray Jayawardhana (University of Toronto professor) answers these questions and explains how amateurs and professionals team together to make discoveries even in this time of space-based telescopes.

Photo: Close Up of Ancient, White Dwarf Stars in the Milky Way Galaxy

See also:
Jayawardhana on TVO
NASA: Microlensing

MAY PLANTING

During my shopping trips at the beginning of this long weekend, I noticed lots of people at the "garden centres" provided at various large stores. No doubt, this weekend's sun and heat would be welcome to new vegetable and flowering plants. No gardening for us yet — Terri and I took it easy until today's start at the weekly grass mowing. The sun has dried the laundry quickly so I feel that I've completed a little something.

The unmowed yard looks messy. Dandelions have managed to poke their ugly white wispy heads above the grass, the grass cuttings have dried in rows here and there, a general untidy-ness prevails. I need to harness Terri's energy to accomplish some yard work! I've been in a slump lately, not wanting to do anything except sit back and read or watch TV. Having a herding dog reminds me every day that I could and should be getting something done, even if it's only one household chore at a time.

The May planting will likely end up being June planting for me. Meanwhile, I'll be mowing and trimming outdoors plus doing some editing at the laptop.

COLD WATER

Like my friend Laura, I took a walk around my property with my camera. I don't have the pretty blossoms that she has but took a pic of maple leaves that looks like her photo. Although I was late doing laundry, I still had plenty of time for clothes to dry on the line. Now (around 7 PM) it's clouding over and we might get rain.

The local library's Mega Book Sale is on. I dropped by for a half hour of browsing and found an illustrated volume about Ottawa. I may return to pick up some paperbacks — sold by weight — for reading on a cold winter's night.

Last night I discovered that I wasn't getting any hot water in the kitchen. I boiled some to add to the cold water in the dishpan; no problem. Today there is still no hot water. I tried to get some in all the water taps including the washer — nothing but cold. I'll wait until Monday to call for water tank help.

I had to wash with boiled water added to cold in the bathroom sink. I hate not being able to take a warm shower — I feel as though I'm living in a third world country. Life in real third world poverty is much, much worse than a temporary lack of hot water, of course. I've just finished reading a very disturbing book about life in India. The White Tiger by Ravind Adiga follows the fictional story of one young man who tries to escape the poverty of the "dark" interior region. The lack of everything we take for granted in Canada — electricity, education, opportunities for upward mobility — plus overwhelming corruption and the burden of the caste system, makes it almost impossible for him to achieve a better life.

Curiouser and curiouser! The hot water tank started working again Sunday evening.