Neil Dring Visiting with William Thomas

www.williamthomas.ca Search William Thomas or stop at The Neat Little Bookshop.  We carry Thomas' books, including The Dog Rules -- Damn Near Everything!  You may have met the author when he visited The Neat Little Bookshop or you may read his weekly column in the local papers.  Whatever, he never fails to make one laugh.  "...a three-year-old Great Dane from Portland, Oregon was found to have eaten 43 1/2 socks.  His owners starting asking questions when the family budget revealed they were spending more money on socks than water, heat and hydro.

"One day Hamlet [dog's name changed] just started writhing and retching and was immediately rushed to the nearest animal hospital.  The vet was certain it was something the dog had eaten but he had no idea at the time it was the argyles.  Argyles disagree with everybody." *

*"All The World's A Circus," William Thomas.  The Haldimand Press,  10/1/14

Photo:  The Neat L'l Bookshop, Cayuga St. location.

HALL OF HONOUR

"The great Hall of Honour is destined to change as Canadian history unfolds.  Additional marble carvings will be added to the current collection which commemorates events and distinguished Canadians.  In 1932, the Dominion Memorial commemorating the 60th Anniversary of Confederation, was unveiled by the Earl of Bessborough, then Governor General of Canada.  The memorial was a presentation to Canadians by Canadian countrymen residing in the United States.
The figures and symbols represent past and present Canadian resources and development.  Here the story of Canada is revealed in a series of fascinating plaques and statues ~ a fitting tribute to a vast country with a great past and a bountiful future.
Among the many commemorated events is the Canadian Nurses' Memorial which represents the years of service to country and humanity from 1639 to 1918."

~ THE PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS, Grant-Mann Lithographers Ltd.

 

Entrance to the Houses of Parliament

Confederation Hall into the Hall of Honour

[Photos: files lbw]

"One friend in a lifetime is much; two are many; three are hardly possible.  Friendship needs a certain parallelism of life, a community of thought, a rivalry of aim."

~ Henry Brooks Adams (1838 - 1918) American novelist, journalist, member of the political Adams family.  The Education of Henry Adams [1907, ch. 4.

"The most effective way to learn bird songs is to listen to recordings made in the field and produced commercially as cassette tapes or discs.  The best ones are made by the Cornell University Laboratory of Ornithology and published by the Houghton Mifflin Company.  [Check other sources; update this information.] 

A lot of ornithologists write lyrics for bird melodies ~ actual words and sentences that birds would use if they could talk instead of just whistle. 
"Here are a few of the more famous results:  Drink your tea ~ (rufous-sided towhee), Old Sam Peabody Peabody Peabody! (white-throated sparrow), Teacher Teacher Teacher! (oven-bird), Sweet, Sweet Sweeter than Sweet! (Yellow warbler), Quick Three Beers! (olive-sided flycatcher), Pizza! (Acadian flycatcher). "

Our Mum always heard Polly, Polly put the kettle on when the oriole sang.

~ Wild Birds of Canada, Tim Fitzharris, Toronto Oxford University Press, 1989.

Neighbouring Caledonia

Travelling in Haldimand one observes village downtown improvements.  Dunnville, Hagersville, Caledonia were extensively revitalized.  Small hamlets have experienced new sidewalks and curbs.  Rural roads have been up-grated.

This summer Cayuga saw Talbot Street, Hwy 3, torn up and modernized with provision for future underground cables.  Construction of the new bridge is complete.  It will be moved into place in 2015 on new foundations.  Perhaps the most visible improvements will be the planned Cayuga Street changes ~ the old business section.  Watching neighbouring villages,  we wonder with excitement what the new Cayuga will look like.

Oh for a book and a shady nook,
     Either indoor or out,
With the green leaves whispering overhead,
  Or the street cries all about,
Where I may read all at my ease
     Both of the new and old,
For a jolly good book whereon to look
Is better to me than gold.

~ John Wilson (1785 - 1854)  Scottish poet
[pseud. Christopher North]