Rotzy is suffering from “I’m tired of winter” syndrome.
Paying It Foward (*see below)….
….here at #555 Park Road North…..aka Harris Place….’Rotzy style’. In the wake of 2 or 3 snowfalls here in Brantford over the last few weeks, which, by Nakina standards would amount to next to nothing, there has been enough of it to collect all around the property here….in the parking lot, between vehicles and on many walkways. Which have been almost totally neglected by Skyline Living, the kindly owners/landlords of our 3 buildings, as well as some 15 or 16 others in and around The Telephone City….tho I know not how well (or how poorly) THEIR snow is removed (or not removed), but I’m guessing Skyline pays their snow removal contractor to spread tonnes and tonnes of salt on them, then hope for mild/milder weather, just like here at #555. Sorry….no, I’m NOT sorry….but it ain’t working! Sorry….yes I AM sorry….’cuz I’ve already ranted enough about this previously in this space. Anyway, with the snow between parked vehicles being packed down and turning to ice folks started complaining, then one day last week one oldster decided to DO something about it on a nice sunny/mild day. Miz Jo called to me ”take a look at this….Toby’s dad is getting rid of the snow and ice”! Indeed he was, in front of the grey building….it’s #575 and adjacent to #555. BTW (by the way) Toby is a dog, a large, olde, black Bouvier….who yours truly calls ‘Bo’….clearly the biggest canine on the property. And in spite of being stiff-legged to the point of not being able to ‘squat’ to pee or poo, he somehow manages and goes for walks more often than ANY of the rest of them….including Joe the Jack Daniel and Daisy, a somewhat non-descript black ankle-biter. Toby’s mom and dad look well into their 70’s, and tho mom seems to get around quite well, dad walks with a very pronounced limp. However, it didn’t effect his handling of a heavy-duty scraper/shovel, and the next day Miz. Jo said to me “Here goes Toby’s dad again”!! If I recall it went today three when ALL the vehicles on this side of #575 were safe to approach. And yes, Toby still got his 7 or 8 walks daily. Well, Jo Ann and Rotzy weren’t the only who noticed this very unselfish/thoughtful act, because a different fellow….a tall guy, perhaps in his 60’s?….showed up (chopper and scraper in hand) on the (normally most used) dog walkway that circles the grey building, which Skyline….rather than clear it off….had set a red pilon in front to block its’ use. When I saw it I remarked….”Isn’t that just SO thoughtful”….or something like that. So, this guy moved the pilon and proceeded to clear the entire back half of the cement walk. I’m betting that he’d seen Toby’s dad in action. Well, folks, it didn’t end there, as we got some more snow here in Btfd….3 or perhaps 4 inches of it, the light/fluffy kind a few days before Family Day. I’d only cleared Norm The Truck initially, but the next day it was sunny and mild….probably +6 or 7C….I grabbed the wooden handle brush/scraper I got from Tap last year and I took a brown pop down with me, planning to clean off Miz. Jo’s Equinox….which I did, then decided to do a couple vehicles in the ‘Handicapped’ spots. Then I did the SUV owned by a lady who uses a walker to get around and fell heavily in the unplowed/poorly plowed parking lot last week. Actually, with the warmth of the sun the snow was coming off really easily. Then, two things happened….I spotted Toby and his dad walking around their building, which MAY have inspired a ‘pay it forward’ moment (*see above)….then I said (to myself) “Hey Toad….”let’s show these old folks how a couple old folks do/did it in Nakina!!!” And I did….methinks I did 18 or 20 vehicles in total…then realizing that I’d completed the job in less than an hour….’Nakina-style’! Well, since my brown pop was MT, I went up to #303, slid a full one into my coat pocket, back down to Norm The Truck in the parking lot, flopped down the tailgate and sat there enjoying the sunshine!! And the curious looks of an olde fellow….clearly wondering how his SUV didn’t have any snow on it??!! Actually, I have a bit of a tyme calling this stuff ‘paying it forward’ as back in the day it was known as ‘good deeds’….but call it what you want. It says here that it will always be here at Harris Place until Skyline Living learns how to move snow!! *Rotzy’s Snow Rant du Jour…..no more I promise. About snow that is.
Readers Write
Kind of a ‘thought-provoking’ message this week, and I for one plan on giving it a try before actually saying Yay or Nay about it. Check it out. *If you’re lost in the woods….I mean totally/absolutely and completely LOST!….start talking LOUDLY about politics. Someone WILL hear you, find you and start arguing with you.* Well, tho I would likely call myself a ‘fringe player’ at the very best, some of the s–t I’ve seen/read/heard over the last several years from others (who I would also refer to as ‘fringe players’) could very well give credence to that exercise ‘in the woods’.
I’m Pretty Sure….
….yours truly experienced a ‘Norman Thayer Moment’ one-day last week. For the unaware, Henry Fonda played Norman Thayer in the1980’s movie On Golden Pond alongside Kate Hepburn (as Ethel Thayer) and his real daughter Jane Fonda (as daughter Chelsea Thayer in the film). Anyway, there’s a part where Norman has big tyme memory loss whilst out picking berries by himself, and Rotzy experienced a similar thing a week ago while taking stuff to the re-cycle bin ….an almost daily chore. I only did it once. Stay tuned on this one as I try to see if I’m Norman or not?!
*Thought Of The Day…If you cut the brain out of a tortoise, it can survive another six months. (*are you thinking what I’m thinking?)
