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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1979-08-15, Page 7Sugar and spice By Bill Smiley Odd weather blues we're well into the second week of one of the weather in this Canada of ours. the drapes drawn and the fan blowing, for my longjohns. That would be typical of in print, I may be looking through drawers But as I write, holed up in my study with Hot nuff fer ya? By the time this appears • when it's their turn to go on holidays. sparkling, it's going to snow and blow on the weekend. They are positive that, if the summer has been ideal, warm and dry and delightful so far, it will be cold and wet The weather is so much a part of our national psyche that it's a wonder it hasn't those scorching summer sessions that we crept into politics, On second thought, masochists in this country endure and even it has. Elections are carefully geared so enoy, in a perverted way. that they don't occur in midsummer, when We suffer, but we suffer with a certain nobody gives a damn about politics, nor in pride. One wilted citizen will say to another mid-winter, when it's too cold to get out dripping one, "Ain't it a corker?" And the the vote. other will respond, almost joyously, "Ne- ' One of these days, so enthralled are we ver seen the beat of it." with the weather, that we'll probably have On the streets of our towns and cities, we a couple of guys running for prime minister duck from one air-conditioned haven to who are weather forecasters. And the one another, catching our death of cold in the who gives the most horrendous forecasts process. Smart people take a heavy will win in a walk. sweater to the supermarket so they won't freeze their extremities, and peel right I am not sneering at my fellow Canad- down to those extremities as soon as they ians obsession with the weather. I am as get back into the street. bad as the next. There's nothing I enjoy What a crazy way to live. Six months more, on a winter day, than blustering in agog and six months from now, we'll be from the cold, tearing off my boots and doing the opposite, ducking from one overcoat, and asking all and sundry, "Did over-heated place to another, and bragging you ever see such a rotten winter?" And about the cold. sure enough, someone will retort, "Yabbut I wonder if there is another nation in the we had two feet more snow this time last world that talks as much about the weather year." as does ours. I doubt it. Perhaps it is In summer, I sizzle around the golf because we are rather shy and inarticulate course (my body, not my score) and whine when it comes to opening a conversation. with the best of them, "Isn't this brutal? As a result, we commence with, "Cold My lawn is baked black. It was 98 in our nuff fer ya?", or, "Hot nuff fer ya?", and bedroom last night;" and one of the can nearly always be certain that the foursome will come back with, "Yabbut person spoken to, even a complete stranger remember last summer, when we hadda as long as he's a Canadian, will respond play in rubber boots and mackinaws ?" with something like, "Real brute, izzen You can't win. it?" This retort covers extreme days in One of the few Canadians who doesn't either winter or summer. care about the weather is my wife. If an immigrant, unfamiliar with our When we had babies, she'd pop into the opening gambits, makes a sensible remark office in the middle of a blizzard. "What in about the weather, such as, "My, it is the Sam Hill are you doing out on a day like unpleasantly warm today, is it not? ," we this?" go right on the defensive, with, "Ah, this And I'd discover that she'd thought the is just right. Waiell the real heat wave hits, baby needed some fresh air, and pushed It'll slaughter ya." the carriage through the snow for half a Or if a similarly untutored foreigner, just mile. trying to be pleasant in February, "Mein Her indifference to our great national Gott, zis is a cold country in vinter, Hein?", conversation piece infuriates me. We had a we snarl, "Nah, she's mild this year. Ya bitter quarrel just this week. I'd been out in shoulda been here last winter. Forty the car, and told her the guy on the radio below for three weeks straight." said it was 96 downtown. She said she Yes, there is a certain arrogance in didn't believe him. With a touch of warmth Canadians when it comet to our weather. I repeated what they guy on the radio had Nobody much likes rain and wind. But said. Ninety-six degrees. when it comes to hot and cold, we are "It couldn't be." fascinated by temperatures. "Why not?" We exchange weather reports. We "Because it doesn't feel that hot. And remember winters and summers as far what does it matter, anyway?" back as thirty years. You can see why I blew my top. Matter? If some unusually urbane Canadian What could be more important? ventures to utter a, "Nice day, eh?", we There is no single element in this country usually come back with a yabbut. "Yabbut that is more important to us Canadians there's a big blizzard comin' in from the than our love-hate relationship with the West." Or, "Yabnbut it's supposed to rain weather. In fact, it may be the only thing all next week." that will hold this country together, when Canadians know, without being told, all the referendums have been taken. that if a winter week has been sunny and RESCUE BREATHING (MOUTH-TO-MOUTH) THE CANADIAN RED CROSS SOCIETY Start immediately: The sooner you start, the greater the chance of success. Pinch nostrils to Seat your mouth Remove mouth. prevent air leakage. by keeping the neck Maintain open airway victim's mouth and tightly around the blow in. Thei victim's from lungs. Watch Release nostrils, Listen for air escaping chest should rise. for chest to fall. elevated. HUGE WINNINGS — Lions club president Jack Knight congratulated Joanne and Rick McDonald and Fran and Bill Bremner were congratulated by past president Bob Richmond for being the largest winnings -- $500. and $2,500 respectively at the Lions Club elimination draW held Saturday night in the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre. (Photo by Langlois) AND THE LUCKY WINNERS ARE ......—Fran and Bill Bremner won the biggest prize of $2,500 at the Lion's Club elimination draw held Saturday night at the Brussels, Morris and Grey Community Centre. Ontario's new 3 to invest 0% incentive in small business Small Business Development Development Corporation to invest in Corporations Program eligible small businesses, if certain This new program is designed to requirements are met. Development Corporations. small businesses throughout Ontario encourage private sector investment in by the formation of Small Business The Incentive Small Business Development Corpora- tion and how to apply for a grant or Ministry of Revenue staff are ready to discuss with you how to establish a Please Ask Us tax credit. Investors who purchase equity shares I you require information or assist- in a Small Business Development ance, call our Information Centre Corporation receive financial incen- toll-free from anywhere in Ontario: tives that amount to a 30% grant for individuals and a 30% tax credit for • In Metro Toronto, dial 965-8470 corporations. On a $1,000 investment, individual investors get a $300 grant III In Area Code 807, ask the Operator and corporations, a $300 tax credit for Zenith 8-2000 against Ontario Corporations Income • In all other areas, dial 1-800-268-7121 Tax. Ws a straightforward process and the Ministry of Revenue is ready to receive applications. Formation of a Small Business Development CorpOratiOn An individual, corporation or group of investors can set up a Small Business Open airway by lifting neck with one hand and tilting the head back with the other hand. REPEAT LAST THREE STEPS TWELVE TO FIFTEEN TIMES PER MINUTE: IF AIR PASSAGES ARE 4J01' OPEN: Check neck and head positions; CLEAR mouth and threat of foreign substances. For infants and Children, cover entire mouth and hose with your mouth, Use small puffs Of air about 20 times per iiiinute. USE RESCUE 611EATHINO when persons have stopped breathing as a result of: OROWNING, CHOKING, ELECTRIC SHOCK, ATTACK, SUFFOCATION and OAS. POISONING: Don't give to. Send someone fora dobion Medical MVP arrives breathingi restored Lorne Maeck, Minister of Revenue Frank Miller, Treasurer of Ontario Larry Grossman; Minister of industry and Tourism Ontario 1.11.11.1111.611110.1.1101 11111111111m1111111