Dear Canimites,
Our favourite constellation, Cygnus (The Swan), that ushers in the warm summer, high above us in the Milky Way, is coming under some intense scrutiny lately. The new Kepler space telescope is scanning a sliver of deep space just under the left wingtip. Kepler is looking for near-earth-sized planets orbiting in the habitable zone of their star, ones that may contain liquid surface water and so harbour life as we know it. So far it has found 5 candidates that may meet the criteria, out of 1235 planets found so far.
Considering there are billions upon billions of galaxies, each with hundreds of billions of stars, I’m betting there’s a comfy planet out there with no mosquitoes.
Community club
Ralph Fossum, the well-known Notary Public from 100 Mile, will be giving a presentation to club members about Wills, Estates and Powers of Attorney on March 17 at 2 p.m. at Margo’s Cabin. Everyone in the community is welcome. Non-members can buy a $5 membership at the door.
The book club is tackling The Brain that Changes Itself, Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science on Tuesday March 15 at 10 a.m. at the home of Leona Hurrell. The book describes the recent discovery that our thoughts can change the very structure and function of our brains. The New York Times highly touts it as a book with “implications for all human beings, not to mention human culture, human learning and human history”. If you are interested, call Sheila Hart at 250-397-2645.
The race for golden crown of crib is heating up as players sense the waning season. Margo Wagner holds a firm but not invincible lead, while Sheila Hart, Marga Hausmann and Don Hewitt wrestle for second in a see-saw battle of skill and luck. Who will prevail?
The Community Dinner this month premiers in its new time slot on Saturday, March 19 at the Red Rock Grill at 6 p.m.
People News
George Hausmann celebrated his 80th birthday recently. Famously independent, George still cuts and splits the many cords of wood he and Marga need for the winter. Lately murmurs have been heard of a motorized splitter replacing the trusty iron wedge and sledge.
Heavy snows have piled drifts to the top of the chicken coop fence at the McWilliams’. The local fox thought this a marvellous development, until he found the top was wired in too.
The Hawkins Lake fire fighters ran a ‘cold weather drill’ recently, successfully pumping the 900 gallon load of the yellow engine, and then refilling from the creek, all at temperatures pushing minus 10C. The heated extension to the Hall is proving its worth, allowing the engine to remain in a totally ready state.
Cougar Forecast
Art Remple woke up recently to find fresh cougar tracks around his house, soon after the deer had been through. This prompts me to offer a ‘cougar forecast’ for our area, at least as accurate as my weather forecasting: ‘Periods of cougar sign associated with the presence of deer. Scattered brief sightings, with risk of sudden encounter. 100 per cent chance these will be difficult for dogs. Presence becoming less evident as the snow melts.’
Tough Birds
A new record for Redwing Blackbirds – two of them at Vickie Shirran’s place on Feb. 14 – not celebrating Valentine’s Day, just hunched over the feeders staving off the cold, praying for the insects to wake up.
That’s all for now. Until next time, here’s wishing you many blessings.