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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1989-09-20, Page 4Page 4 Times -Advocate, September 20, 1989 Times Established 1871 Advocate Established 1881 Amalgamated 1924 • Published Each Wednesday Morning at Exeter, Ontario, NOM 1S0 Second Class Mail Registration Number 0386. Phone 519-235-1331 ROSS HAUGH Editor eNA cia.4 BM BECKETT Publisher 8 Adsertising Manager HARRY DEVRIES DON SMITH Composition Manager Business Manager SUBSCRIPTION RATES: Canada: $27.00 Per year; U.S.A. $68.00 A kinder, gentler way Regardless of the rights and wrongs on both sides of the abortion issue, the people who so strongly support the right to life of every fertilized human ovum could be spending their time in more productive ways than demonstrating in front of legal abortion clinics. No one has the right to force a woman to carry a child for nine months and give birth, no matter what other circumstanc- es are involved, then turn away like Pon- tius Pilate and wash their hands of the matter. . Being carted off to jail for disobeying a court injunction may capture the head- lines, but accomplishes nothing for the many children in desperate situations who are already alive in this world. Well-known writer Gord Hunsberger, a retired Mennonite farmer, wrote a col- umn this month in. The Independent, El- mira, after a trip to some desperately poor countries with burgeoning popula- tions. He warned we are close to reach- ing the limit that allows all people on earth to have their needs met adequately and have a meaningful existence.. Humans took until 1830 to produce one billion people. The next doubling took 100 years. But by 1975, only 45 years later, the population numbered four bil- lion. At this rate, there will be six billion humans by the turn of the century, and eight billion by 2020. Hunsberger offered three choices: Modern birth control, terminate unwant- ed pregnancies in the early stages, or al- low the law of the jungle to prevail where the fittest survive. Every child should have the right to be conceived in love and nurtured into adulthood by caring adults. This re- quires years of commitment. How many of the people in front of the Morgentaler or Scott clinics support a Third World child through World Vi- sion or Compassion or one of the other recognized charitable agencies? How many offer their time to babysit for a single parent? How many would take a pregnant girl into their home? How many drop in to a group home to take a mentally or physically disabled young- ster out for a hamburger and shake? How many would adopt•a handicapped child? What is being done to prevent little ones being damaged in the womb because their mothers are alcoholics or drug addicts? There are many ways to help right here in Huron County. Foster care coordina- tor Anne Miller reports a growing short- age of foster homes. She also notes the steady increase in reported incidents of child abuse. South Huron Big Brothers/ Big Sisters' president Jim Chapman says that organization currently has some little brothers and sisters waiting for matches. There are many more such opportuni- ties for committed volunteers in our *community. They await those who are willing to put their principles into prac- tice. Personal example and persuasive alter- natives are better ways to win arguments than intimidation and brute force. By Yvonne Reynolds Apples - reminders of paradise We have three old apple trees on our property. They were planted in the 1920s by the couple who sold us the place. The variety is called Joyce - a beautiful eating apple. It doesn't keep very long, but it is sweet and delicious while it lasts. Although the trees are past their prime, they bear many hundreds of kilograms of fruit every year. We are delighted with these ap- ntro . on 1 cn are manv.other cpe- cies that share this land with us. Some people would regard this as a problem, get all uptight about it, and feel robbed. With "proper" horticultural methods, i.e. a major chemical attack every couple of weeks throughout the spring and summer, we could certainly defeat our natural com- petitors. We could cat apples un- r� a-�nriv nrmsr" enough apple sauce to supply the entire village. Enough apple ci- der to make half the township drunk. We could give away or even sell a huge quantity of ap- ples. But what's the point? We don't run a professional orchard. To harvest a "clean" crop of apples, we'd have to poison the ground, kill a myriad of insects, and put in many, many hours of work. So we just let nature be our gardener. And the rewards are delightful. When the trees arc in blossom, they attract honey bees and other flying visitors. We like to think that some of the honey we buy from our friends, the McEwens at the nearby Moonshadow Hon - 1 cy Co., got into their hives via the nectar gathered from our ap- ple trees. As soon as the fruit begins to form, all kinds of caterpillars and other creepy-crawlies, PETER'S POINT • Peter Hessel moths and butterflies, and other flying and walking insects take possession of our trees. They spin webs and tents, they orga- nize races up and down the trunks, they jockey for position, and crowd each other. I_watch themselves. And yet, when Au- gust comes around, there is al- ways plenty for everybody else. Our resident groundhog fami- ly is anxiously waiting for the first apples to plop into the grass. They come hobbling over from their holes, one at a time. They are getting fatter and fatter until they are hardly able to run when disturbed. They sit on their haunches, holding an apple between their front paws, munching away peacefully, right outside my office window. Very soon they will call its quits, slink into their under- ground palace, and sleep till well past Groundhog Day next spring. The birds are having a feast. There are chattering chickadees, flycatchers and other earlybirds looking for a juicy insect break- fast. There are woodpeckers and swallows, blackbirds and crows, shiny black starlings, evening grosbeaks and other finches. I don't know how many species of birds love to visit our apple trees, whether the fruits are there or not. And in spite of all these hun- wcus of animai diners, there are Y more than we could possibly use. When I bite into one of our de- lectable Joyce apples, I try to miss the little brown channels that wind through them. Yes, our apples are wormy. And some have little holes made by sharp beaks. So instead of eating .r._-- ,..1...H.,_,._ .ti `virrvis, aYEirs. iv uw W.v, wi... quarter of this` one, half of that one. Just a bite or another. And even if - in spite of precautions - a tiny little worm should pass down my esophagus and into my stomach, I don't think it'll kill me. Far less likely than the' layers of pesticides and fungi- cides and preservatives sticking to the store -brought fruit. In the words of Robert Brown- ing: Where the apple reddens, Never pry, Lest we lose our Edens, Eve and I. All the Eves and Adams are go- ing to lose their Edens unless we remember: paradise is ours only as long as we share it with all creatures. Serving South Huron, North Middlesex & North Lambton Since 1873 Published by I.W. Eedy Publications Limited Do you remember this? Calling all Empire air trainees from Exeter and area. Do you re- member this famous photograph which accompanies this column? If you do, then you are proba- bly eligible to attend the world's largest reunion of the former Em- pire (Commonwealth) Air Trai- nees to be held in Perth in West- ern Australia between April 22 and 30, 1990. The two Avro Ansons pictured here had collided in mid-air over New South Wales in Australia in 1940. Despite incredible odds, Len Fuller, the pilot of the top aircraft successfully landed both Ansons, only to be knocked over two weeks later while riding his bicy- cle. That picture and the sad after- math will bring back many mem- ories to the more than 250,000 men who were selected for air- crew training under the Empire Air Training Scheme from 1940 to 1945. Although training was tough, close friendships were formed between trainees of many differ- ent lands. They were times of great fellowship and hilarious es- capades, and also of great emo- From the ;editor 's disk by Ross Haugh tional sadness when their 'mates' went away and never came back. Now for the first time in 50 years, an attempt is bcing made to get together as many as possi- ble of the surviving former trai- nees from Australia, Great Brit- ain, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, India and other Commonwealth countries. Several thousand former trai- nees are expected to wing their way in to Perth in Western Aus- tralia for this very moving Gold- en Anniversary Reunion, a reun- ion which will mean a great deal to those who gave their all during the Second World War. More than a nostalgic occasion for old comrades in arms to re- new friendship, the reunion will also remember the fallen, many of whom were killed before com- pleting their training. Those still living will be at least in their 60's. For anyone in this area interest- ed in attending, more information may be obtained by writing to 80 Bloor Street West in Toronto, Suite 702, Postal Code M5S 2V1 or telephoning 1-416- 924-1112. Thanks to George Shaw of Highway 83 West in Exeter for providing some of this informa- tion. * * * Move over Yogi Berra, you are getting some competition in the sage remarks department. Rick Wrona, a rookie with the' Chicago Cubs came up with a statement the other day that comes close to rivalling Berra's "It ain't over until it's over". When Wrona was asked about hitting his first major league home run, he replied, " It was great. You don't get your first home run very often". Thought of the Week: A late IOU is a perilous paper wait. Chapter I learned' to -drive iii before automatic transmissions, cruise control, power steering and disc brakes. Our first brand new car, a sporty grey and red sedan in which we invested our lifes' savings in the mid -fifties, even had a crank for easy starts on cold days. •We shifted our own gears, rolled our own windows up and down; stopper-- to wash our - windshields by hand whenever we couldn't sec out of them, and stuck our left arm out the win- dow to signal stops and turns. Those were the days, my friends. In my last column, I told you about my first solo flight with the family car. I did pass my first driving test, though. The local tester, who held down a regular job as a car mechanic, had me drive two blocks to the railway yard, tum around, and drop him •off at his garage. A tractor - trailer pulling a pup could have followed the same route with no difficulty. With my brand new licence in tw-o rtly 1J13f.L', IfL'AISt n.; It.iw-n I got there without incident. The trip home was somewhat livelier. As I backed out of a driveway, there was a thud and something flew into the air. I stopped to in - by Yvonne, Reynolds vestigate. Nothing serious. 1 had only removed the bottom foothold -on a -telephone pole that had obviously been installed far too close to the driveway. I continued on my way. 1 no- ticed a nasty smell as an old truck passed me. The smell lin- gered, but I ignored it. Not until I stepped on the brake to slow down for my tum did I find out why 1 had been breathing in ac- rid fumes. I had driven from town with the emergency brake k'rck.e.d no The bill for four new wheel cylinders had a sobering effect. I forgot about driving until we moved to a subdivision outside Halifax. I was now faced once again with my old dilemma: if 1 want- ed to get to the city, I would have to drive. • rnrfittstraditd 111`P` dlInil ra tg` up for driving lessons would be a wise move. I agreed. Once a week for the next two months, I spent an hour in the Left-hand seat - of a dual -control car, being in- structed and encouraged by my passenger -teacher. I did beautifully. I cruised around Halifax with all the grace and aplomb of a harbour seagull. My stops and starts were unbe- lieveably smooth. I soon found out why. My instructor was clutching and braking a micro- second ahead of me. Back to square one. And there I must leave you un- til my next column, set in New- foundland - one-half hour later.