We prefer Canada the way it is
by Robert LaFrance
Although Canada is by far the best
country in the world and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else, I must admit
that U.S. politics is or are more interesting.
And that is a
good thing to be sure. The Americans are living in “interesting times” as the
ancient Chinese curse puts it, and interesting times are not something we
should wish for here in Canada. Let them keep their guns and their Donald Trump
and his followers, who seem to get more hysterical every day.
Those 300
million-plus people who live over there must wake up each morning and turn on
their televisions with a certain sense of dread, or in some cases, thrill of
anticipation.
Has President
Trump, who has lowered the standards of political discourse to the bottom, been
impeached yet? If so, will he be found guilty? (A lot of people think
‘impeached’ means driven from office but it just means going to trial.) Have
FBI agents raided his office as they looked for naked playboy models? Has the
Fox News channel decided to hire actual journalists instead of their fascist
news hosts?
Anyway, I am glad
that it’s Americans and not Canadians who have to deal with that sewer called
the White House. During the War of 1812 the British burned down that building,
and I think it’s time to give them another call.
**********************
I’m sitting in my
easy chair in the living room and looking at a housefly committing suicide on
the windowsill. Not exciting as sports go, but better than nothing.
It’s raining and
it’s cold, typical late April weather. My sister in Welland, Ontario emailed me
that this weather was on its way but I didn’t believe her. She knew because she
had just said goodbye to a 2-day bout of freezing rain, ice pellets and stuff
like that. Planes hadn’t flown out of Toronto’s Pearson Airport for hours. I
pictured 400 planes sitting on the runways and waiting to take off, with
hundreds more circling the city in the vain hope of landing someday.
We received
several emails from a woman who was flying into Pearson from Europe and
couldn’t land because of the vile weather. She was on the plane that circled
around Toronto for more than an hour and finally went east to land in Ottawa
whose weather wasn’t quite so bad, but then in Ottawa there’s always a chance
she would see a politician.
(A side note: For
lo these many years I had thought that Pearson Airport had been named after a
family from Craig’s Flat, NB, but it turned out to have been named for Lester
B. Pearson, Canada’s prime minister in the early 1960s. He was famous for being
boring. It was not ‘interesting times’.)
**********************
Going to town
this morning, I saw seven deer munching away at dead grass in the partially
bare field along Manse Hill Road. They looked happy. Imagine my surprise when
one of them, a big doe, walked right onto the road in front of me and looked me
in the eye.
“Why don’t you
get out of that metal monstrosity and join us for lunch?” she seemed to be
saying. “Those stories about our carrying deer ticks that cause Lyme Disease
are propaganda put out by our enemies the raccoons.”
All kidding
aside, now that someone near and dear to me has Lyme Disease, I am finding out
more and more about that dread condition that is caused by deer tick bites.
Until my wife was diagnosed with Lyme Disease, I didn’t put a whole lot of
thought into the subject, because it affected other people, right?
I was recently
surprised to learn that the little insects are active right now, once there is
any bare ground showing up. As of today there is a lot of bare ground. I hope
everyone learns as much as possible about Lyme Disease and follows suggestions
of those who know what precautions to take.
Avoid the woods and high
grass areas if possible. If you do go into those areas wear a long-sleeve
shirt, long pants and tuck your pants into your socks or boots. Light-coloured
clothing is also a good idea because it allows you to spot ticks more easily.
Use insect repellent that contains 20 to 30 percent of the chemical DEET.
Check yourself for ticks after you’ve spent time
outdoors. The longer the tick is attached, the higher the risk for contracting
Lyme disease. Wash work clothes in hot water and then put them into a hot dryer
to kill any ticks present.
The symptoms of Lyme
Disease include a rash often called a “bullseye” because of the way it has with
red or purple rings, fever, body aches, flu-like symptoms, fatigue, headaches
and arthritis-like joint pain. Lots more information is available from Lyme NB
(www.LymeNB.ca).-end-
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