John Keefe, and old-timer and I were talking this morning over coffee and we both do not remember Tchesinkut Lake not freezing over.
Lots of time for it to freeze but it’s still open. I well remember one winter in the 50s we had a very mild winter and no snow. Our family went to the Christmas service wearing Oxford’s and no coats. Between Christmas and New Year’s it dropped to 40 below and stayed there well into the winter. It turned out to be a really tough winter.
A little story
This was in the 70s and it was a long winter, lots of snow and very cold. We were running about 15 head of horses on the old J.P. Ranch on the east Francois Lake Road. There was good feed as they hay had not all been cut. It kept snowing and kept about 40 below. We had a couple of older mares I was concerned about. So I dressed warm, chaps and all, took my saddle horse and road all afternoon and no horses.
Came home about froze. Dennis Remanda had a new snow machine he bought from Jack, a dealer in town. Dennis said let’s try my new machine and find your horses so away we went. It was just too cold to be safe but we went to the J.P Ranch an found the horses about two miles back.
They were ok but the two mares were fading and I would have to get them home in a few days. As Dennis was turning his machine it quit dead. Due to the cold the plastic float had broken in half so we headed for the truck on the main road on foot where we left it.
There was about a foot or more of snow and we broke through every step and the cold and the deep snow played us out. We just made the truck and if it had been another half mile we would not have made it for sure. That two mile walk in those conditions was just too much. Next week it warmed up and I got the two mares back home and safe. Dennis and his brother got the machine next day.
Big rigs
Last week I was in the eye clinic, I was in his office maybe a half hour. As I was facing the main street I started to count the big transport trucks going east and in my 30 minute wait there were eight big rigs and a couple of smaller ones. There must be something booming some where. This heavy traffic they say by all reports will triple in three years, or is this an out and out estimate. I guess we will all have to sit back and wait and see. Burns Lake is going to boom yet, just you hold tight.
When the mills get going again that will also increase the truck traffic. That’s going to be good news.
Quite a tale
I spent all my growing up years in Evesham, Sask. Our home was the Eyehill Creek. Our uncle Will filed on a joining section joining our dad’s as they were partners.
They also bordered a section of Hudson Bay land which we used for range for as long as I can remember. Uncle Will and his young wife Gulie died before Peter and I came along so our dad took over all the land. The Hudson Bay section was Sandhill, good range but that was all.
Lots of wildlife in the Sandhill. Dad came to Canada in 1904 worked all over and the last place a big ranch in Calgary. In about 1912 this rancher was shipping 22 car loads of three year old steers to England and asked if Dad would like to go with them so he and 10 other guys left Montreal with 22 car loads of steers. They had a terrible ocean trip. On arrival in Liverpool, England Dad went to visit his family and while hunting rabbits he fell with a 12 gauge shotgun and lost his left leg.
He once more came back to Canada with one leg and a peg leg, that’s how I remember him all my life. What a man and what a life. He married my mother in 1921, I was born in 1922, Peter in 1928 so that’s the start of our family.
In Evesham, Sask. living in the Eyehill Creek ranch and farm was a great life growing up there. Lots of stories some good and some not so good.
The Great Depression for one and then the typhoid outbreak which was a disaster which killed so many. And last but not least the sleeping sickness that killed hundreds of horses. We got caught up in that too and lost our share of good horses. We just seemed to have trouble and not the only ones either.
Slow down
The roads are icy and dangerous and everywhere you go it’s icy. Us old folks have to tread with ease as one fall could be curtains for us.
Lots of bad car accidents causing death all the way along the Yellowhead. It’s been very hard for the road maintenance crews to keep the roads safe. I for one like the colder weather and more snow.
It seems we have had our share of serious accidents so far this winter and it’s hard to believe. It came over the radio this morning reporting 14 deaths between Prince George and Prince Rupert.
This is hard to believe but it’s true. Then the big question comes up, is it drivers, weather conditions or road conditions? This is too serious to be passed up without an answer.
This kind of thing scares a person from wanting to travel the highway. As I always say “Slow down and live as the life you save could be your own.”
It’s Friday morning and the start of another beautiful day, sun shine and a lovely bright blue sky. Makes a body glad to be alive.
Little Joke
Three old retired pilots are walking down a ramp, first one says “Windy isn’t it?” Second one says “No, it’s Thursday.” Third one says “So am I, let’s go and get a beer.”
The first thing about getting older is eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.
Always remember God loves you a lot and so do I.
