HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1993-08-18, Page 4Page 4
Times -Advocate, August 18,1993
Publisher: Jim Beckett
News Editor: Adrian Matte
Business Manager: Don Smith
Composition Manager: Deb Lord
c c.+.
Publications Mall Registration Number 0386
Sllt3SCR!PT10N RATES: C*/MDA
ytllledn 40 wales (65 km.) addressed
to sea tatter rimier addwanea 3130.00 plus S2.10 G.S.T.
Outside 40 minas (65 km.) or any4etaer smiler address
630.00 phis 530.00 (tote1110.60) + 420 GALT.
Outside Canada 965.00
"Men are never so likely
to settle a question rightly
as when they discuss it
freely."
... Thomas Macauley
Published Eaoh Wednesday Morning at 424 Main St,,
Exeter, Ontario, NOM 136 by J.W. Eedy Publications Ltd.
Telephone 1-S19•235-1331
O.S.T. 18105210835
One thing leads to another
oward .Hampton, lviinisterof
:naturalResources,learned a lesson tin
how lough .it to. govern, last week.
die iea=r,tad'ihatfone simple•decision can
have l'epercussions far tieyond what can
be foreseen by !the people making:that
decision.
Iiampton°was:in :the- area tiking.to
various group s -including :the :local- con-
servation:authorities.aswain- as_ a group
ofinurse y growers. IItwvas:from:those
growersthathe learned 'how much
damage. one little_decision can:have.
Backin 1 992, 'government budget
cuts suddenly left the MNR with iniI-
li ons :ofpees that; had been:grown` but .
there'was suddenlymormoney to -plant.
Someone ache ministry- came iupwith
!the ,brilliant idea'thatrther:than'waste
the-trees,tthey should 'begiven: away -to
. any _landowner with afew acres to plant
.them on.
But_ as John Drummond, a nursery
°owner.across the harder in Perth
County;pointed,outrto Hampton, the re-
percussions mole 'thattsuddenly there
were rniillions,offieerwees on The mar-
ket,tdestroying.a part; of -The iliving of
!people who.grow trees. But the situa-
ltion is worse; Drummond•explained.
"The fitee:tree.giveaway _has ended, but
fortree:.growers, it -may -take years .to
recover:from the blow -it:meant :to The
industry. For one thing, when people
see /roes being given away, they then
thinktrees should be cheap.and refuse to
pay 'the prices nursery owners must have
to pay the bills. They forget ;that they've
.already paid for/hose trees in 'their tax-
es.
- Butthe problemgoes further. Drum-
mond mold :the minister !that when!he was
:at:garden shows: this spring, publicizing
hismursery:and its stock, :he 'had people
.coming ,up !to him'wanting(to'sell him
i ees. many: of those free trees have
beenplanted-on land in !the country and
allowed to mature .and mow areflnding
rtheirway'back .into the:city .as landscap-
•ing-tnees, Drummond:claims.
The•:giveawarw.i11 have repercussions
even further down :the line when many
of those Millions :of free Trees are mature
enoughlo sellas Christmas:trees. 'Sud-
denly, he said, the 'bottom will 'drop out
of t te.market for:all those people who
regularly make •a living from planting
and :growing -Christmas:trees.
It seemed likela goodideaback in
1992 when someone,didn't°wantsto
waste 'those trees. That ;good ideaWill
:haunt the nee industry for years, howev-
er. tIt shows:that:governing is 4t lot more
complicated than many peoplewould
like it to he.
Fan the Northilwnn Citizen i t
fiy•
•
•
Appalled by bigotry
"Kim Campbell - a dumb
blonde"
Dear Editor:
I am appalled by the bigotry that is inherent in
many of Gibby Gibson's "Letters to the Editor".
Several years ago in one of his leuers to the edi-
tor, Mr. Gibson gave me the impression he thought
"blondes were dwnb". Should Kim Campbell who
was elected Prime Minister by the Progressive Con-
servative Party be called a "dumb blonde"?
Jean Chretien's speaking style is a consequence of
a childhood illness. Generally a person's physical
disability is only criticized as an avenue of last re-
sort. Across Canada Jean Chretien's speaking style
is being criticized -by the Progressive Conservative
Party and in Quebec by the Bloc Quebecois Party.
I hope the Progressive Conservatives do not dis-
play the same kind of bigotry in the next session of
Parliament as they did in the last. New Democratic
Party M.P. Steven Langdon's speaking style was
mocked by a Conservative M.P. in the last session
of Parliament. Mr. Langdon's speaking style is com-
promised due to a physical disability. This conserva-
tive M.P. was not publicly rebuked by Brian Mul-
roney, Canada's premier furniture salesman, who at
that time was Prime Minister.
Yours truly
Vince Ryan
RR 3 Dashwood
Peter's Point
By Peter Hessel
I casually mentioned some time ago that our
fence needed painting, and that I thought the
kids were now old enough to do it.
"Why pay an outsider when the money can
stay in the family?"
Alex and Duncan instinctively stayed out of
11 But Stephanie askalk
"1f I paint the fence, w much would you
pay me?"
We went out together, to measure. The fence
has 18 sections, each with two 8" boards, 12
feet in length, plus the square posts.
"How much do you think it would cost mefor
each section?" I asked.
"Do the beards have to -be painted on.both
sides?"
"Sure
"And on the top?"
"Of course,"
"And on the bottom?'
"No, the bottom doesn't need painting.
"How long do you think it would take me to
punt one section?
1
"The first section would take you a bit longer.
As you get experienced, you get faster. Maybe
two hours per section. I'll tell you what, I'll pay
you $10 a section, that's about $5 an hour, and
,that's almost twice as much as you get babysit-
i iling."
We had a deal. She wanted to start right
,,Away, but I only had a half a can of paint in the
thou se.
"That's enough for me to get started," she
said. I gave her a scraper, some sandpaper, a
brand-new paint brush, and the left -over can of
paint.
It was a hot and sunny day, and I insisted that
she wear a hat. I got her started on section No.
1, down near the currant bushes. I watched her
,do a few strokes, and then I went over to the of -
An hour later, 1 heard someone at the office
door. I looked and did not recognize the crea-
ture. It was someone Stephanie's size, wearing
Stephanie's hat, But surely that white face,
those white legs, those white arms and the
white hands holding a dripping brush and an
•
Ak®
'teP%
K t
•f.r 4
I :was:up.early Thursday moni-
_ing, admiring zny new meteor
Stan.
You couldn't caU dhe. 9014 ,
even of tans. With
-meteor's felling to:mjileft,Ilte
.left side :ofsmy'ace•bene:EU .
tthe:motst. iiftitbadn'tbeenso
milllyatat lorrison.Dam,1
• are:catightia:littlemore
on1ny.er:ms.
Justabout-everyone ):know
Wok some time,outlast Wednes-
dayto gaze up intothe.atmos-
phere .to spot the bits of cornet
blazing into oblivion.
I even brought.a camera With
. metin lhhe /emote posaibWty that
wer.:mlght show:up.on
speed film. As expected'
rmly saw meteors every couple
ofrninutes.or so, and there was
moway4he camera couldbe
aimed *knelt woulddo any
good. -
Was it worth:hiking all the
way out to Medan with dcck '
chairs to sit with -necks craned
up at the sky for an hour and a
half? I have to say it was. Most
of the meteors were larger than
anything I'd amen before. One
made such a big blaze across the
Meteor tanning
sky it's tail -took about.a minute
to fade. Another made a dra-
matic pop and flash before dis-
.appearing,•and:one burnt white
-.slot so low to the both= I Was,
sure it landed income Crediton
back yard.
It was certainly more impres-
sive thariMe meteor shower of
1980'when I •coincidartely hap-
pened to be sleeping outander
the:stars while working.at a
summer camp.
Most .celestial experiences
have been rather dull forme. I
remember getting up in the wee
hours of the morning to watch
an eclipse of the moon. All that
really happened was the moon
got a little dull, at,d more orange
than white - not really wasting
valuable sleep time over.
Eclipses of the sun have been
rather dull. I think I was in high
school when they were waming
us all not look up at the sun
during lunch hour for fearwe
would, go blind. The day was
cloudy anyway and no one saw
anything.
Halley's Comet? The chance
of a lifetime to see this most fa-
mous of comets resulted in noth-
ing more interesting than a
slightly triangular star. -
My grandfather, who is some-
dzing of an amateur, astronomer
;:can tell tales of truly impressive
'happenings in the /leavens. He
has seen meteor showers that
really did light the sky with the
glow of continuous trails, and
he still speaks in awe of a come
and tail that blazed across the
Irish sky for several nights.
How long do we have to wait
to see some really good stuff
like that?
Actually, I understand a come
is going to collide with Jupiter
next July and scientists arowid
the world are abuzz with theo-
ries about what will be the resul
of an icy ball crashing into a
planet made mostly of gas.
The sad news is the collision
will take place on the far side o
planet and we may see virtually
nothing, if anything. Just an-
other ho-hum day in the cos-
mos.
Brainteaser of the week:
How fast would you have to
drive for your license plate to
show up as a blur in a photo ra-
dar picture?
White fence, white girl
empty paint can could not belong to the clean
'girt I had left at the fence an hour ago!
"I'm out of paint, but my first section is done,
except for one side of one board and except for
the post."
I was speechless. When I realized Stephanie
was Wearing half a can of white oil paint on her
skin, I became horrified.
"Well, we've got to clean you up. Don't touch
anything!"
I took her into the shed. Fortunately I hap-
pened to have a large can of lacquer thinner.
"Is this going to hurt?"
"It might sting a little where you have a cut or
a mosquito bite."
She had four cuts and a hundred and seven-
teen mosquito bites. I now realized that she
also had a sunbum from being on the beach the
day before without adequate suntan lotion. I
had a sore girl on my hands.
I enlisted Elizabeth to help me in comforting
her, while I used up half a roll of paper towels
and a quart of lacquer thinner.
"(think I'm going to be sick." Stephanie said.
.4
No sooner said than she fainted on us. Passed
out cold.
We revived her with, ice water and TLC.
Then I sat her down in a lawn chair and contin-
ued the cleaning in spite of her wails and prot-
estations.
When most of the paint was removed, I sent
her to have a long, cool shower, and a half an
hour later she was more or less recognizable
again as our daughter.
1 paid her $ 10, and that helped to make her
feel better.
She's been at camp for four weeks now, and
the summer is coming to an end. Who is going
to paint the fence? I don't know whether Steph-
anie still wants to paint the other 17 sections
plus what's left on No. 1: But I don't think I
can go through the same agony again. Should I
paint the fence myself or hire someone else to
do it?
Maybe 1'11 put the project off for a year. Or
rip the fence out and pl ge. Or leave a
friendly open space betw us and the neigh-
tx;urs.
g