By the time you read this column it will be November. The weather was nice with below zero temperatures at night and warming up in the day to above zero. It’s typical late October weather. Mid-week we got spitting cloudy weather and an unpleasant wind. That wind actually was a friend to anyone who didn’t want snow yet as it moved the rain and snow away. I know winter coming is inevitable, but the longer it stays away the better with me.
On the Hult farm, the only thing happening is the green feed harvesting in my hills. I went down there the other day and I don’t think I have seen more equipment moving since the oil well drilling boom. An outfit from Kitscoty was there. They were making silage bales. They had two outfits cutting, three guys baling, two guys bagging and loading trucks and four semis hauling bales away. Working other areas that were cut earlier, Mike Ferguson has a whack of bales made and Irvine Carson was just finishing baling his part. It was a heavy stand of oats and there are just hundreds of bales everywhere.
On a personal note, at my birthday party this summer my wife Beverly and our daughter Crystal put together a book of all the things I have written for the last 70 years. I was dumbfounded and speechless. I didn’t know they were doing that. My aunt Signe started the trend by saving every little thing like letters I wrote to family members when I was a kid and Bev carried on the tradition of saving all the letters to the editors, letters to politicians that I have written since we have been married (47 years), including Vic’s Views since that part began with the Maidstone Mud. I am humbled and I no longer allow myself to call Beverly a hoarder. We started out with 10 books. They went right away. Then I ordered 30. I have only about six left. I have ordered that are supposed to come by Nov. 6. Anyone who wants a book call me at 1-780-875-3611. They cost $29 to make and I am selling them for $30. It’s kind of like farming, not much money left over at the end of the deal. If you need postage that would be extra.
In the World Series of Baseball, The Kansas City Royals are playing the New York Mets. The best team in baseball in 2015, the Toronto Blue Jays are at home watching. They were beaten by the Royals, but really they were defeated by their own egos. Twice they had a man on third with the winning run and would not lower themselves to bunt or base hit to bring them home. All they could think of was swing for a home run and be heroes. Turns out the Baseball Gods don’t like people who get too high on themselves and have no problem turning them into bums. I would wonder how the games would have gone anyway. The Americans don’t like some upstart from Canada winning what they consider their game. The umpiring was horrible. They threw out the Blue Jays all-star short stop in one game. In the final game they called a ball hit to the wall a home run when replay showed a fan reaching over the wall to grab it. Should have been ruled a double. Then later called strike two on the leadoff batter that was clearly outside by six inches. Maybe next year. Walter Kohuch, Keith Swartz and I rehashed the whole thing at the Maidstone Fall Supper and you know what, the outcome didn’t change.
In politics, the west is out again. Until Stephen Harper won, we haven’t had a western prime minister since John Diefenbaker. Oh we had people in the Mulroney cabinet who were elected here but instead of representing us in Ottawa they only represented Ottawa back to us. It became so bad the Reform party was formed in Western Canada. Now here we are, out again.
Justin Trudeau is starting down the list of election promises he made. Holy snarky, there is a Liberal who intends to keep election promises. Are there two moons in the sky or what? He told President Obama he was pulling the fighter planes out of Syria and Iraq. When the American general in charge of the bombing was told his response was “we’ll handle it.”
Now Trudeau has Canada Post stop with the outdoor mailboxes and home delivery can continue. We had a big fight at Waseca and have an indoor post office.
Trudeau’s promise to bring 25,000 Syrian refugees by December is a lofty goal. I think it is the least we could do. I only have one worry about the commitment and as my neighbour said he hoped they ask the question “Are you a terrorist?” We don’t want those guys. I have in my lifetime seen at least six influxes of refugees. They all became part of Canada, raised their families and held a job. One of the first refugees I remember coming was Hungarian. We had a family arrive in Waseca, I don’t remember what the father did back in the old country but he was wringing his hands because he had no way to support his family. My uncle Ernie Snell was the mayor of Waseca and he said to the father “Waseca needs a barber, I need a haircut and I will be your first customer.” The man became the barber for the area and cut hundreds of heads of hair. He was happy, he had work and he supported his family. That is the way it will go if we give these families a chance and a new home.
There were 78 days of campaigning. There was an election promise almost every day. Where is the master list of promises made? We can only watch as we are out of the loop as far as having anyone we elected having any say in what happens. Sucks to be out again.
Joke of the week: An old guy goes into a restaurant and sits down. He looks around and there is a girl sitting a few tables away with spiked hair, pink, purple and green. He starts staring at her until finally she said to him, “What are you looking at?” “ Well,” said the old guy, “years ago I got really drunk and went to bed with a peacock. I was trying to figure out if you were my daughter.” As uncle Harold would say, ooooh boy
