The eagle-eyed among you will no doubt have noticed that the “accessibility” project at the Dunvegan Recreation Hall is coming to an end. Over the course of the past few weeks, the new automatic front door has been installed which opens at the push of a button. Ben Williams and his Committee are trying to decide what colour to paint the door and frame, but they are to be commended for their portal selection. It is well in keeping with the look of the 100-year-old structure and includes a transom where I hope we can install the etched glass-like panel with the DRA’s logo that we discussed when renovating the building a number of years ago. I also wanted to single out Brien Campbell, backhoe maestro, for special mention. He deserves our gratitude for filling in the moat at the bottom of the front steps and the gap at the start of the wheelchair ramp. Thank you.
A “tieing” time
While a few of the regulars were missing at last Friday’s euchre luncheon in Dunvegan, new players from the Maxville Manor helped take up the slack. Here’s “Lisa’s List” of winners, as recorded by volunteer Lisa Chapman:Our “50/50” prizes went to Don Lapierre, Geraldine MacKinnon, Helen Bellefeuille, Isabel Maclennan and Cecile Cuerrier.As for top scores, Jenny Laforest captured first prize for the second month in a row, this time with 84 points. Then there was a three-way tie for second place. Lorraine Lanthier, Helen Bellefeuille and Isabel MacLennan each had 78 points. And we had a two-way tie for third place. Susan Baxter and Geraldine MacKinnon each chalked up 77 points. Isabel MacLennanand Helen Bellefeuille shared the “Most Stars” prize, and Lorraine Lanthiertook home the door prize.
In addition to acting as official scorekeeper, Lisa helps Linda Burgess and me prepare the lunch. Thanks are also owed to Ann Stewart for overseeing the tournament, month in and month out … and to Robert Campbell for dealing with the card tables and chairs. Robert also steps in when we need extra transport to and from senior residences. We don’t know what we’d do without him.
Next month, euchre at the DRA Hall (19053 County Road 24) will take place on Friday, August 16thfrom 12:00 noon to around 3:30 PM. Admission is only $5.00 and includes great food and a very friendly gang of card enthusiasts.
How many points?
Junior, the plucky peacock that has come to call Dunvegan home must have sensed my scepticism. It stopped by our place recently to strut its stuff, before dragging its iridescent train off towards Marie-José Proulx’s farm to the east of us. MJ inherited the bird when she purchased the property from Louise Vininsky and Mike Ferron. Sightings of Junior have become more frequent of late. Allan Walker spotted him “wandering along our lovely new smooth, quiet road in front of the horse ranch.” Allan acknowledges that Junior is a beautiful bird, but “if he keeps walking on the road, he may become a beautiful historic bird.”
Dunveganhenge
Mike Helm, a loyal reader from Ottawa, sent me an article by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, the American and science celebrity, entitled Manhattanhenge.In it, Tyson describes a Stonehenge-like moment “when the setting Sun aligns precisely with the Manhattan street grid, creating a radiant glow of light across Manhattan’s brick and steel canyons, simultaneously illuminating both the north and south sides of every cross street of the borough’s grid.”
While ‘Dunveganhenge’ doesn’t have a Neil deGrasse Tyson to sing its praises, each year I quietly celebrate (and bemoan) a similar annual phenomenon. It takes place early in the morning around the end of June when, if all the weather factors align, the rising sun is perfectly aligned with the eastern horizon of Dunvegan Road. It transforms the mundane early morning task of retrieving the daily papers from our mailbox into an almost mystical experience. On the flip side, it’s also the day when the sun starts its inexorable journey to the south and the long slippery slide to winter begins. As we used to say in the 60s… bummer.
Ersatz sunrises
Another fascinating thing I came across in the article by Dr. Tyson was a tip on how to spot fake sunrises in moving picture shows and the like. As Tyson points out, anywhere north of the 24thparallel,the rising sun always travelsup and to the right, and sets down and to the right.So, if the path of a movie “sunrise” is up and to the left, you know the dawn-adverse filmmaker shot the scene as old sol was setting and then played it in reverse.
Possum pie anyone?
Honourary Dunveganite Shashtin Winchester (former cast member of the DRA’s Music & Mayhem revue) dropped by Saturday morning for visit with Terry and, while here, showed me the seamless knitting technique she learned this spring in Germany. While the fancy footwork required to knit a one-piece sweater was impressive, it was the “wool” she was using for her second project that caught my eye. A product of New Zealand, the yarn was a blend of 40% fine Merino wool, 30% organic cotton and 30% Brushtail Possum. Yup, you read that right: possum.
It turns out that the Brushtail Possum is a real problem Down Under and to the right. Imported from Australia in 1837 to establish a fur trade, these possums have a bushy tail, thick bodyfurand are marsupials. In other words, likekangaroos, wallabies, koalas, possums carrytheir young in a pouch. Moreover, as relatively recent immigrants, they have no real predators. So the non-native species is reproducing like mad. In a small island nation with a human population of only 4.4 million, there are 70 million Brushtail possums, which is having an enormous impact on New Zealand’s ecosystems. As no millennial or progressive in their right mind will wear a fur coat today, what does one do with 70,000,000 fur-bearing possums? Strikes me New Zealand better lay off the NZ Spring Lamb and start knitting winter socks like mad for the Canadian market.
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