33 and a Third

The Death of a Remarkable Neighbour

We were very saddened to learn of the death of our neighbour, Bernie. His death was unexpected, and left his neighbours in quite a shock. Bernie lived on his own, sometimes sharing his home with borders or friends in need. Although I didn’t know Bernie closely, his death will leave a gaping hole in our neighbourhood.

I first met Bernie when I moved into our home 5 years ago. He made an excellent first impression on my two young boys as he made a point of offering freezees to them whenever they wandered by. We noticed his door was always wide open, and my boys could often be found hovering by his door, taking advantage of the seemingly limitless supply of freezees, and of the bubble gum machine in the kitchen with the required coins placed in a bowl nearby.

As my kitchen window faces his house, I soon noticed that his front door was left open all day, sometimes even in inclement weather, and well past midnight in summer. He had a number of chairs on his porch, and would welcome neighbours for a chat, always offering coffee. As my boys have become older and more responsible, I have often mentioned that should an emergency arise, look to Bernie as he might be right out on the porch, or at least, that his door would be open and they could run in.

Bernie had been involved in a number of car accidents some years ago and was no longer able to work. Although he had chronic pain, and had lost the use of one of his arms, he could often be seen working away, sitting on a little stool with wheels, in his garden. He had a way with flowers. He often cared for the yards of his neighbours by trimming the lawn, watering, or cleaning their driveway.

I realize now how much satisfaction it gave me to glance out my kitchen window and notice his door wide open and welcoming, to see the neighbourhood children playing in his driveway, or find him sitting out on a chair, often with a neighbour or friend. It’s so very sad now, when I glance out the window and see the door shut and the lights off at night.

This little corner of our street will never be the same again.

Reid’s Birthday

Today is Reid’s birthday!! Not that he’ll be able to celebrate much. He has a work deadline, which means he’s been working himself to death these past few weeks.

Since I work in the IT world, too, and I know that nothing is ever ready in time for a deadline, I try to be as patient as possible. But I do admit I’m a little tired of doing everything around the house and for the kids. I especially want a break from cutting the grass and cleaning the pool!!

I used to hate his deadlines with a passion. Not so anymore. I find that the age of the kids make all the difference in the world. When the kids were little, it was so very hard for me to not have any help, no breaks. Now, it’s pretty much a piece of cake. The kids pretty much amuse themselves.

Well — Reid was up very late last night and he’s going to sleep in a tiny bit extra this morning. I’m presently trying to keep the kids quiet while he sleeps (it’s impossible, really). I don’t expect they’ll get a chance to say Happy Birthday to him before they’re off to school. I also expect he’ll work late and we won’t even be able to celebrate over dinner. Oh well - Happy Birthday anyway, Reid!

Who Let the Dogs Out?
For some reason, Luisa has foolishly given me access to her blog.
Of course, it’s not that big a deal, since you can tell my posts from hers pretty easily.
And now let’s see if she posts anything to *my* blog.

Got a kick out of Debbie’s blatherings for today. I had just planned to write a “looking for work” log.

I started looking in earnest a couple of weeks ago. My sabbatical has drawn to an end, and I’m anxious to get back to work. I have to admit things got off to a slow start, as life got a little distracting (see my last log entry). My previous employer was kind enough to hold a position for me, but I decided to try to look for work a little closer to home. This is going to be difficult, as there aren’t that many offices out where I live, in Scarborough (Ontario!). So — if anyone reading this knows of companies with head offices, or at least large IT departments, in the Scarborough area, please Email me!!

The picture above is of Ronnie’s pikachu pillow. He loves to cuddle up to it every night. I liked the way he looked out my living room window as he dried from his latest bath (in the washing machine).

Thorold

I decided to take the kids to Thorold and let Reid have the house to himself while he works to meet his deadline. I brought our new digital camera this time, so I could take a couple of shots of my parents’ garden. I spoke about their garden a few logs ago — despite the shots below, their garden is winding down. Lots of things have been ripped out, having finished producing for the season. I should note that among my relatives and Italian friends, this is often a typical garden.

Tomatoes! The plants are winding down and the ripe tomatoes have already been picked. But there’s more to go!

Ronnie running down the path along the back of the yard. To the left, is a fence the green beans grow on. They’re done now and they’ve been ripped out, but when they’re at their peak, they reach the very top - maybe 10 or 12 feet!

My parents somehow planted tons of spaghetti squash when they meant to plant a variety. We did find the occasional one that was of another type, but somehow, the spaghetti squash took over. My Dad and I counted between 40 and 50 of them!! Those are pepper plants in the foreground.

What a rude looking squash! It’s my parents’ favourite type. I think it’s really a butternut squash, but because it’s grown vertically, it turns out elongated.

Here are a few unique trees my Dad grows: on the left, the shortest, is a lemon tree. The middle one is a fig tree, and on the right is an olive tree. We had an orange tree for 15 years, I think. They all produce fruit. Other than the fig trees, they’re all put indoors for the winter. The smell that the citrus trees give off when they’re in flower is incredible.

The grapes over the driveway are beginning to ripen, and are just beginning to give off an aroma. My Dad’s been having trouble with opossums eating his grapes. And he has various things up to scare the birds away, like pie plates. You can just see my dad, relaxing in a lawn chair, off in the distance. We sat out in their shade a lot this Sunday. It was lovely.

I remember when I was a little girl and my Dad convinced me to climb to the very top of the ladder (boy was I scared), and I poked my head up above the grapes. I remember my delight at looking at the cloud of grape leaves and how beautiful it looked. The photo does not do it justice, of course. This time I got a little surprise, too. He had put up a scarecrow (you can just see it off in the distance), an owl and a fish kite (??) to scare off the birds.