Nov. 19 : The Szpinner

Rotzy sounds like he’s longing for the near north…

Ho! Ho! Ho!
This is a shout-out to readers in Nakina/Greenstone to remind one and all that the (3rd?) Annual Nakina Parade Of Lights is set for Sat Dec 3rd at 6:00PM! Decorate your snowmobile, 4×4, side by each, pickup, pretty much anything that moves. I believe the number of entries almost doubled last year after the initial parade, so Lord knows how many they’ll have in 2018??!! Hot dogs, coffee and hot chocolate is being served up free/gratis at the Complex afterwards! Fone Louise at 329-5211 with YOUR entry. Somebody made an excellent video last year, complete with Xmas music….Miz Jo and yours truly are already hoping to see this year’s!

Got A Fone Call….
….early last week from Rob The Plowman, and among NASCAR update chatter and cetera, he mentioned it had been snowing there (on and off) since October 5th, so with somewhat of a smile/smirk I advised him we’d had ZERO snow in Brantford to that point. Well, it started last Thurs aft, and by 5:00AM Friday we had a 4 or 5-inch blanket of white…the kind one can make snowmen out of, altho whoever started to make it here for some reason gave up after forming the base. Anyway, Rotzy sold all three of our snow shovels at our Moving Sale back in August, but aside from a little, narrow strip on both sides of our vehicles in the lot, the walkways are done for us, hence there’s nothing to shovel anyway! So, here I am down there having a puff about 5:30AM, on a beautiful morning with no wind, the temp about +1C, surrounded by all this beautiful SNOW….and me without a shovel! Well, tho I can’t be sure, I’m pretty sure I started having ‘non-shovelling withdrawl symptoms’. So I reached into Norm The Truck for my wooden handle brush/scraper I got from Tap near the end of last winter, and proceeded to clear off Norm. With the mild temps it was too damned easy, so I did the vehicles on both sides of me….the little Fiat and the Kia SUV. Then the white Dodge van. Next, I went down the parking lot to do Jo Ann’s Equinox, figured I might as well clear off the Hyundai beside Edna, then cleaned off our friend Romy’s Chevy Mini-Van. Well, there sat Mary and Bob’s bright red Caravan (our fitness group co-members) right by the entrance in the ‘Disabled’ spot….Bob’s wheelchair-bound and Mary’s back is really bad….so I knocked it off too before heading up to #303 to freshen my coffee. All of several minutes before the clock struck 6:00, feeling pretty good about myself, and nary a sign of withdrawl!!

Readers Write….
….and some also send pics as well. This one caught my eye just before writing this “F/M” column Sun AM….a cute-as-a-button little girl, maybe two or three, long, shoulder-length, curly black hair, big round dark eyes and just a hint of a smile…she was wearing a white t-shirt that read: “Birthplace:Earth/Race:Human/Politics:Freedom/Religion:Love”. If only, eh?

Word Of The Week
This W.O.T.W. comes from Merriam-Webster, the ‘dictionary people’ (since 1820), as do 98% of our W.O.T.W.’s. This one was another ‘new-to-me’, and I hope to remember it and possibly even actually use it in a future “F/N” column. The word is ”exculpate”….’to clear from alleged fault or guilt’. Now we know, unless YOU have been reading the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Keep your eyes open….ya never know.

”The Rotz Nest”….
….is a sign that a friend made for Miz. Jo and Rotzy 35 or 40 years ago, and it now adorns our door here at Unit 303-555 Park Rd North….having been hung by a ‘professional interior decorator’ who was here Friday to hang all our pictures/paintings etc., etc. The decorator also happens to be my niece, and her husband….my nephew….was also here to lend a hand when needed, but back to the sign. It’s cut from a piece of brown wall panelling….24”x10”wide. Not sure, but I’d guess the font style to be Olde English, 14K gold letters with black trim. Our old friend had been a Sign Painter by trade, and believe me, he really did a great job! So….SO….initially it landed on the piano in the rec room at 71 Third St Bowmanville, the home (among other ‘events’) of ‘post-BMHA Hockey Dances ‘Choir Practices’. From there, it hung/sat/rested at two locations in Newcastle, then it was off to the smoking/music area at the family farm in Kirby for eight years, then off to Nakina, where it promptly found room on the living room wall at Rancho Deluxe, on Scenic Lower Twin. Anyway, unless you’re not paying attention to “From Nakina”, you know we sold the lakefront property back in August….and we basically sold it ”everything included”. Well folks, Rancho Deluxe isn’t ‘The Rotz Nest’ anymore, hence, the sign came down, made the three day trip down here in Jo Ann’s Equinox, to what we certainly hope will be its’ last address. It’s got enough miles on it already!