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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-11-28, Page 18Page 2 -Crossroads -Nov. 28, 1984 Bill Smiley No one to 'whine to 1 RiNsimimaiiii0001111° One of the worst things about being a widower and living alone is that there's no one to whine to when one be- . comes ill. One can sit or lie around feeling pretty ghastly, but there isn't much fun in it unless one can moan and groan and clutch one's belly and hack and cough and wipe away the sweat of a fever, with an audience. That's why I've been par- ticularly -frustrated for the past week or so. , What's the point of staying in bed to get over your illness when there's nobody to bring you hot lemonade, fluff up the pillows, and put a cool hand on your brow? You might as well get up, paddle down in bare feet, survey the desert of dirty dishes, scummy pots and greasy pans, pick up the mail and file all the bills, and pour yourself a medicinal potion. This week, 1 was about to go out on my first date in a year: a dinner date with a lady. When I called and told her she'd have to take a rain - check because I wasn't well, it was more like old times. She was even less sym- pathetic than my wife used to be. She didn't believe a word I said. Anyway, we patched it up, and I think she's going to bring her boyfriend along when we fix a new date. A bit down, I sought solace in the written word. Re- cently, I wrote a column including a couple of hate letters. After burning these, I dug out some others, which cheered me so much that I decided I deserved another medicinal potion. The only people who seem to like me any more are my former students. Nice, warm letter from Julie Noack, who has gone off for a year's im- mersion in French at Montpellier. She has discovered French bureau- cracy, balconies, bread, and bidets. She had to ask a boyfriend what the last was, and was properly embar- rassed. Any red-blooded Ca- nadian knows that a bidet is either a foot -bath or a baby - bath. Bill Jory, another old stu- C R 0 S 5 W 0 R D s ACROSS 1. How the wea- sel goes 4. Extend across 8. Stick (out) 11. Auditory organ 12. Tangle: hyph. wd. 14. Exist 15. Distorted facial expres- sion 17. Skier's hous- ing 19. Darner's item 20. Buy back 21. Monk's robe 23. Prod 24. Chain part 25. Intersection 29. Diamonds: slang dent, wrote a laudatory article about yours truly in the weekend edition of the London Free Press, where he is a reporter. Bill sat with me for an hour one afternoon and we chatted. In his story, he said my manner was "brusque but avuncular". That sounds pretty good, but when I taught him, he couldn't spell "brisk and uncle" so I don't know whether he knows what those words mean. At any rate, he did learn something from those boring English classes. He learned to back Ip general state- ments with specific references. I was amazed. He'd contacted other writers, syndicate boss, weeklies using this column. Twenty years ago, he was out in my backyard, helping to put together the annual yearbook, at the picnic table. And, despite my deep fear that nobody would ask me to speak' on Remembrance Day this year, I was wrong. Another former student, Bob Coghill, asked me to speak to his public school kids: "For all my years as a student, the most meaningful Remem- brance Day assembly was the one when you spoke of your feelings of that day." Thanks, Bob. Perhaps I shouldn't say only former students cheered me up. I had a couple of terrific notes this week. From Doris Senicar of Mil- ton comes a missive saying she met a cousin of mine, Kaye Thomson, who was playing in the band at her niece's anniversary dance in Saskatchewan. They got talking and Cousin Kaye sent along a card. I've never met her but she's a genuine first cousin. Hi, Kaye. Hi, all the Saskatoon cousins. Sorry I didn't make the reunion. And another note from Mary and Ron Hunt that warmed the cockles: "We were quite thrilled to dis- cover that Bill Smiley . . . lived here. We have driven by the 'big, brick house' frequently, and. I always crane my neck trying to see you - or some of your fam- ily. Lucky people who have met you - who have had 30. Rubbed -in dirt DOWN 31, Actress, San- dra - 32. Topographies 34. Subject source for a sermon 35. Swedish coins. 36. Inoculations 37. Highhanded request 40, - out, rescue 41. Cognizant 42. Associate (with) 45. "Of Mice and Stein - heck work 46. Circular 48. Sticky stuff 49. Snoop 50. Vermilion and ruby 51. Still 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 !AIJULItil 8 9 10 11 ■. LW�.lLI 12 1,30E1 13 i v 14 ■■ 3 3 15 ■U 16 .U� 0 0033 19 ■.■ o v oEl 3i 19 ■.■ U3 3 0 31I 20 ■■RU■ D 0 0 1 30vf 24 22 ■:�. d n X I 3 11113 - 2■■■■ MVOs d'OQ 26 27 26 24. �■ 25 29 ■. 30 ■■■ .. i - 31 ■■ 32 .�'3 ■■�■ 34 35 36 ■■■� 38 39 ■■■■ 40 ■■■ . 41 ■�■d6 _. 42 .■■.� 44 65 111 47111 48 49 ■■ 50 II 51 ' 1. Wooden pin 2. Paddler 3. Byron's "- of Chillon" 4. Loud kiss 5. Select . 6. Hatchet 7. Greek letter 8. Green gem- stone 9. Exhort 10. Abound 13. Would you kindly? 16. Jeer at 18'. Advantage, in betting 20. Chambers 21. Flutter (by) 22, Paddy plant 23. Broad smiles 25. - off, can- celed 26. Body of con-, cepts 27. Adjacent (to) 28. Obtains 30. Collect; gather 33. Sound of Nia- gara Falls 34. "- above all: to thine own - self be true" 36. Beaches 37. Humid 38. Large pitcher 39. Numerous 40. Ian Fleming's spy 42. Billiards need 43. Caviar base 44. Young child 47. Homonym of 2 -Down children taking English from you." I agree, Mary, about the latter, but thousands wouldn't about the former. She goes on, "Any chance of you writing an autobi- ography - incorporating a great deal of your articles? I would stand in line for one ... Thank you, Bill, for touching our heart strings and our funny bones. Please keep it up - and think about a book." Lovely lady, I think about a book all the time, but all I do is read one, Well, there. Somebody loves me, and I feel a lot better. I guess the reas- surance helps, though it seems selfseeking. It's just a year ago that my wife died, and to all those dim-witted people who go around nodding sagely and saying, "It takes a year; it takes a year," I say Phooey. ainstitam Canada A study from Mars By Tony Carlson Warnings are being sounded that too cosy a relationship between business and government means hard times for the man on the street. Dire predictions of class warfare, based on a citizenry made fearful and insecure by this "unholy alliance", have spawned calls for expanded social services, the nationalization of banks, more and larger Crown cor- porations and so on. One study blames the government for kowtowing to business at the expense of education, day care, nursing homes, you name it. It calls for the public sector- postal workers, teachers, bureau- crats and the like - to be the central component of economic recovery,. That kind of thinking is strictly from Mars and about as close to reality as the guy who bet the farm on Ottawa By Patrick Denton If you take a careful look at your houseplants at this time you may find that the soil surface in some of the pots appears slightly crusted. You may find bits of dropped foliage and dried flowers lying on the soil and around the plant containers. During the fall and winter, I try to build into my weekly routine an inspection tour of all our houseplants. Some sort of regular survey of the indoor plants helps the in- door gardener maintain the plants in a healthy, clean condition. Here is what I do on my weekly houseplant rounds: First of all, I pick up any fallen foliage as well as any dried foliage still clinging to the plants. Plants like geran- iums seem always shedding and renewing their foliage. Impatiens and some begonias also have this habit. This cleanup is a good disease prevention measure, as dead foliage left lying about, especially on a damp soil surface, invites all sorts of unwelcome molds and fungus problems. Some plants with long, arching leaves tend from time to time to develop dried, brown lead tips. This can be from a too dry atmos- phere around the plants or from passing people brush- ing against the leaves. Spider plants commonly develop this problem. Simply take a pair of sharp scissors and cleanly cut the browned area away. This greatly improves the ap- pearance of the plant. Next, I take a long nail or a slender table fork and gently stir the soil surface of each plant. I don't dig into the soil at all - this could damage shallow roots. Stirring the surface helps prevent soil compaction, disperses any developing crust and Im- proves water penetration. The next step is the water- ing. This, however, is not an automatic part of the weekly routine. Water should be given only when needed. On my weekly travels through the indoor plants, I water only those whose soil surfaces have dried. When the surface stirring is done, crossroads Published every Wednesday by Wenger Bros. Limited as the lifestyle and entertainment section in The Listowel Banner, The Wingham Advance - Times, The Mount Forest Confederate and The Milverton Sun. M tubers of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association, Ontario Community Newspaper Association, and the Ontario Press Council.; Controlled distri- bution in Ariss, Arthur, Drayton, Harriston, Moorefield, Palmerston, Bloom- ingdale, Breslau, Conestogo, Elmira, Heidelberg, Linwood, Maryhill, St. Clements, St. Jacobs, Wallenstein, Wellesley and West Montrose. Display and Classified advertising deadline - 5:00 p.m prior to publication date. Advertising and Production The Listowel Banner 188 Wallace Ave. N., P.O. Box 97, Listowel, Ont. N4W 3H2 Thursday week Accounting and Billing The Wingham Advance -Times Josephine St., P O. Box 390, Wingham, Ont. NOG 2W0 The Listowel Banner 291 -1660. The Wingham Advance -Times 357-2320. The Mount Forest Confederate 323-1 550. The Milverton Sun 595-8921 . it's easy to see which pots need water. Another sure guide is a finger poked into the soil. Never water soil that is still moist on the sur- face. More plants are -killed by overwatering in late fall and winter than by any other cause. Next, I spray -mist with tepid water all the plants except cactus, geraniums and fuzzy -leaved plants like African violets. On myweekly rounds, sometimes I'll notice certain plants have become straggly. They'll look better with a bit of chopping back. Two plants that seem to need fairly regular cutting are geraniums and impatiens. The pieces that 'are 'cut off to return the plant to some symmetry can be used to make new plants. Cuttings should be around 3 inches long. Tips left much longer produce too gangly a new plant. Remove lower leaves, and trim the cutting to just below a leaf node. Geranium cuttings should be inserted in light, sandy soil and kept in bright light and warmth. A south window, once the cuttings have taken hold, really suits geraniums best. Fertilizing should stop about now, as most plants head into a plateau or rest period. As soon as you notice that a plant is not putting on any new growth, that's your signal to cease feeding and to cut back a little on the water, as well. Many houseplants need a December -January quiet time before their late winter - early spring growth spurt. Intruding upon that need for a little neglect could cause problems like poor flowering the following summer. OIL RICH To keep oil rich whole grains their freshest, store them in a tightly closed con- tainer in a dry, cool place for up to five months, says Food and Nutrition Specialist Monica Beaumont of the On- tario Ministry of Agriculture and Food's rural organiza- tions and services branch. For longer storage, refriger- ate or freezein a tightly closed container. Rough Riders winning the Grey Cup. One can and should question the basic assum- ption that there is a close bond between government and business. But that is a secondary concern. More important is to put to rest this concept that more government spending is the solution to our malaise. Common sense tells us that the already burdensome deficit will not shrink if government continues to spend more than it brings in. The hard reality is we no longer have the luxury of making social policy without considering the economic facts of life. Because markets, pro- ducts, technology and so on, change so quickly these days, the best response is to be flexible enough to adapt. "Adapt or die" is not an empty catch -phrase. We either welcome change by adjusting to the worldwide entrepreneurial revolution or we will be overwhelmed by it. This does not mean a return to the free-for-all that produced sweatshops and child labor, as some would charge. - Interventionists do not have a monopoly on compassion: Rather, the average Joe would be better served by less government intervention and more business innovation. A wise observer has said that policy makers must consider three trade-offs when making decisions: efficiency vs. equity; private vs. public sector; decentral- ization vs. centralization. In times like these, when adaptability is paramount, the scales should tip in favor of efficiency, private sector and decentralization. Put another way, the balance must be struck between adjustment and security, although there is really no choice: in the long run, if we do not adjust there BOOR REVIEW PURITY AND DANGER. An Analysis of the Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. Ark Paperbacks, London. (In Canada: Oxford University Press, Toronto. $7.50.) 208 pp. Paper. Review by PERCY MADDUX Discussion books are seldom very informative and generally come to no unmis- takable conclusion. So it is - with the book by Mary Douglas called "Purity and Danger." This discusses religion and cleanliness, religion and pollution, pollution and purification, and religious and social taboos connected therewith. It concentrates on Third World countries and thus takes the discussion away from our immediate society. This book may interest people who are curious about customs in strange places, as it tells of obscure tribes and communities. NAVAL BASE Chieftains in the Samoan Islands granted the United States on Feb. 17, 1872, the right to -establish a naval base at Pago Pago, but the treaty was not ratified by the Senate; FREE SEMINAR IF YOU'RE RETIRED, APPROACHING RETIREMENT OR WANT TO RETIRE EARLY...FIND OUT YOUR OPTIONS AT THE Regal Capital Planners Seminar. They'll discuss RRSP's, alternatives to annuities, reducing tax in retirement and how to create extra income. AND ALSO If you are earning interest income - Regal can show you how to reduce or eliminate taxes on that interest income. The seminar will be held at the Farm Informa- tion Centre Inc., 317 Josephine St., Wingham, Tues., Dec. 4 at 7:30 p.m.. For more information phone 357-1101. • No cost or obligatiorl Find out how! Accessible for wheelchairs will be no security. Is it credible, then, that the monolithic public sector, en- cumbered with militant unions, can move swiftly and decisively enough to lead the way? In theory it seems unlikely and in fact, research by the Canadian Federation of In- dependent Business has shown that small firms are the most flexible, creating a majority of the new jobs even in the toughest times. Asking the government to spend more will create no jobs. Ask them to spend less - including fewer business - oriented programs and bail- outs - and pass the savings on in the form of tax cuts. That's how to stimulate demand. a 3 0 O X s Qu axao1 a num rjuu 1303303 !AIJULItil s a o i S 10 3 11 LW�.lLI 1,30E1 s x i v a 11 3 a 3 3 a 301110 331 0 0033 03,! '1 o v oEl 3i O u 3 U3 3 0 31I X EI0 3 D 0 0 1 30vf I so 33V d n X I 3 11113 ©ng MVOs d'OQ LATRINES FOR LESOTHO The 38 -household village of Ha Motsehi has completed its new water system, financed by local con- tributions. Villagers are directing their efforts toward raising funds to pay for the installation of latrines in a concerted effort to improve sanitation in the village. Squatting under a tree will become a thing of the past - as will gastro- enteritis, thanks to help from USC Canada, 56 Sparks, Ottawa K1P 5B1. Perth County Soil and Crop Improvement Association Annual Meeting Tuesday, December 4, 1984. 10:30 -3:30 p.m. EIma Community Centre, Atwood Features include: •Ken Stevenson, Ridgetown College (High yield research at Ridgetown) •Corn High Yield Competition Results • Perth & Huron County Corn Hybrid Trial Results • Perth County Conservation Award • Reports on several other farm trials and projects Soil and Crop Newsletter $6°00 For Reservations or Information call 271-0280 (Stratford OMAF Office) 18 11 ti' Lunch $4000 Perth County Management For Profit 'Seminar Wednesday, December 5, 1984 Stratford Fairgrounds Program Starts 9 a.m. * 9:30 a.m. - Carl Moore, Pork Producer, Embro Topic: "Capital Budget, Making the Big Moves" * 10:30 a.m. - Bruce Shillinglaw, Cash Cropper, Londesboro Topic: "My Approach to Management Decision" *11:15 a.m. - Clarence Diefenbaker, Dairy Farmer, Elmira Topic: "The Little Things That Can Improve the Bottom Line?' * Lunch 12 Noon - Catered by Quehl Catering, Tavistock *1 p.m. - Keynote Speaker - Dr. John Ikerd, North Carolina State University Topic: "Manager Risk: The Game of Profit and Survival" ' *3 p.m. - Panel of Morning Speakers react to Dr. Ikerd's Presentation * 3:30 p.m. - Adjournment To Reserve Tickets Phone or Write OMAF Office, Stratford 413 Hibernia St.', Stratford 271-0280 1-800-265-8502 Cost - $20 for Farm Managers, $10 for Spouse 1 i We'll reward you with.. . $ OR 3,000■ MORE For your clean, full size 1979 Pickup - any make. 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