A week of beautiful fall weather! A little frost on the pumpkins every morning and then it warms up with nice sunshine for the afternoons. A person could not expect better for the end of October. Now having said this I have probably put the jinx on all of us and by the time you read this we will have rain or snow. Hope not.
There is a big storm coming across Mexico and Texas. I am hoping that it will veer off to the east and leave us alone. By the time you read this column we will be either really wet or we may have missed it. I always want to get moisture when I can but there are some areas around here where the soil is full. Those who won the “showers lottery” this summer really don’t need any more water. Reality is they have no say, only the Big Guy calls the shots, so wet or dry if it comes, it comes and the only thing you can do is make sure your rubber boots don’t leak.
I put more faith in nature and signs we know than the weather forecast. I think we will have a couple of weeks of good weather. The big flocks of geese have just arrived from the north. They are not going to stick around if the weather is going to be bad. They wait for the perfect weather conditions and just before the weather changes to bad weather they are gone. There must be a jet stream or something, as when they go they are hundreds of miles south the next day. Pretty smart, aren’t they?
If you were on main street Maidstone at noon any day last week the geese filled the sky, honking for all to hear. They have been out feeding and at that time of day they are going back to the lakes and sloughs until evening when they go out again. They will be here for at least two more weeks. The old geese know there is a plan and Mother Nature will look after them. These are no ordinary run of the mill barnyard animals. These are survivors. They have migrated 3,000 miles to their nesting grounds in the north. They have raised their chicks to adult birds. All the time they have been shot at, fought off coyotes and many other predators. They have been doing this for thousands of years. You have to admire them.
On the home front, not much happening. Jose has finished putting on anhydrous. He is attempting to drain a couple of sloughs on the top of Sec 15. Son Ron is off to an Oiler game. He must be done pumping leases. Son-in-law Roland is done baling just in time to start the cattle show circuit. He plans to take his Speckled Park cattle to Lloydminster, Edmonton and then to Regina. The bales are going to be moved next week. We have the Gerry on the case. In my hills it is like an ant hill in motion. There are two guys baling, another guy cutting and Bobby fencing. My cross-country lookout trail is busy with guys driving through looking things over. Greg and Mike’s cows are on the barley stubble. There is lots of lying around and chewing the cud. They look sleek, fat and content. Lots of calves and they have lots of energy. In all, it’s very nice to see and I find it a pleasant drive.
There is a 400-page book available — Reflections: A 70-Year Glance Into the Life of Victor Hult. It includes letters to the editor and the Vic’s View columns I have written. Cost is $30. Phone 780-875-3611.
In politics and baseball the ”blue” teams lost. I was not impressed as anyone who reads my column would know. I was watching the ball game and kept switching back and forth to the election results. I am diabetic and not supposed to have a drink. As the evening progressed I poured myself a stiff rye. Then I poured myself another stiff rye. It didn’t help. The Blue Jays lost. (Editor's note: The Blue Jays actually won their game Monday night, losing the series later in the week in Kansas City. Better lay off the whiskey, Vic) Then the Conservatives lost. BAD, BAD, BAD! Trudeau won! He better get ready. We have him and the Liberals for the next four years. Lord Love a billy goat.
As the campaign wore on, the Conservatives' one horse “He’s not ready” campaign wore a little thin. Trudeau became better at speaking and he was saying a lot of the right things at the end. Mulcair had nothing new or different to offer and in the end slipped quietly into third place. His promise to be responsible and balance the budget was ignored. His response to the niqab controversy hurt him in Quebec where a lot of his support was. I liked Harper’s stand.
We will see what the Justin Trudeau government will bring us. He seems to be going to try to keep his campaign promises. That will be different, as Liberal practice in the past was to promise anything to get elected and once back in Ottawa forget all about it. Most people in western Canada remember getting the middle finger salute from Justin’s father. I hope Justin Trudeau will try to be prime minister for “all” of Canada.
Just a little humour to end the column but maybe not that funny. If Trudeau legalizes marijuana, with all the smoking going on, how are you going to make the clean air act work?
There is a climate change meeting in Paris. Justin Trudeau has invited Tom Mulcair to go along and anyone else who would be interested. Saskatchewan has a lot of oil interests so Brad Wall said he would be interested in going. He is going try to make sure Trudeau doesn’t sell the farm. As my Uncle Harold used to say “ Oooh boy!”
