Rainy Sunday

Mr.K laughs at the words, " Put 'em up, put 'em up!... Lions and tigers and bears. Oh my...." Ha ha ha...  What fun! The CBC is showing the Wizard of Oz (1939). Buddy is enjoying it too. As long as he's been able to watch movies he's admired this one. An annual classic! And he remains an admirer. And I watch with them, admiring them! What a loveable way to spend a rainy Sunday evening together, the last one this June. Thunder claps. It pours. We share some food and drink, thankful for our time together. "There's no place like home", right  Kleinste Motte?

Jingle and Quiver

As I was sitting at my laptop preparing for another blog my chair started to shake. So did the screen in front of me. The mobile hanging from a lamp beside me shook, it's bell began to jingle. The realization hit me, the ground under my house is shaking! Quivering! It's not my usual feeling of dizziness. WOW! So what should I do? I yelled to my daughter who was upstairs,
"Are you noticing anything weird happening up there?"
"Yup the stuff in my room is rattling."
"Do you think it's a tremor?"
"Maybe."
"Do you feel it?"
"Yes."
I wait a bit(seconds) and then have the idea to sign into twitter to see if anything appears there. It does. Yes there are tweets about the shaking. Next I google the date and the word earthquake. The answer is instant. A tremor at 5.1 on the Richter scale occurred just north of Ottawa, north east of Toronto. Wow.! The shaking was scary but the speed at which I was able to get information was magnificent. Clearly the damage must be very insignificant because the networks kept working. Thank goodness. I guess the news at six will have more details Kleinste Motte.
PS.Did you feel it too? The six o'clock news said it was felt in many far away places.

RAIMUND

October 17, 1954 Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    

  The passport said June 21st, 1920 but my grandfather told me about the clerical error. It happened at the birth registration office. And it stayed that way. So on June 22 my father was born into the neighbourhood of Aussig, a city that was renamed at the time the Czech Republic took over the area. I never saw his birthplace but he told me about it. My Dad loved the mountains and the Elbe River that flowed right by the city. He spoke of pirate ships that were stopped at a bend in that river. He spoke of his cat the walked across the piano keys in the middle of the night. He loved playing piano. He enjoyed his youth. He studied English and dreamed of a life in America after completing his studies. But a war broke out and when it ended he was a refugee in British occupied Germany near Hannover. That's where I was born and where he worked with the British. His English German language instructional newspaper, The World and Press Sprachzeitung, was launched in 1949 in Bremen at the Carl Ed Schuenemann Verlag (www.schuenemann-verlag.de). In June of 1952 he was invited by the USA government to launch his concept of a language instructional newspaper as a teaching tool. His travels spanned from coast to coast with a budget of $15,000 and lasted over six weeks. A visit to Niagara Falls with a border crossing was on the tour. There he was charmed by the life style and the future possibilities for his family so in the fall of 1953 he decided to emigrate to Canada.
  He choose Toronto because he had a friend who had preceded him and could help him to get started in his new venture . Once he found a job and a place to stay he had my mother join him and together they worked hard to get the rest of us to his side. My brother and I joined them in the fall of 1954. Raimund continued with language education ideas and local newspapers in ethnic languages. He collaborated in the translation (German to English) of one of the first coloured picture dictionaries, Witte Kinderlexikon, by Wilhem Berger. Raimund worked with doctors and photographers to develop medical teaching books illustrated with coloured instructional material. They were created with collaboration of the Ryerson Press Publishers and the University of Toronto. He was not happy with the colour print technology in Toronto so he found a way to import very modern German rotogravure colour printing press in 1958. He accomplished this expensive venture by merging a German company with the Harding Brothers, creating Harding Trini Gravure and Co. The new plant located in the modern Golden Mile of Scarborough was used to house the machine and to print some great colourful soap boxes ordered by Lever Brothers and others Colgate Palmolive. I recall seeing Crisco boxes too. From Ottawa, the federal government ordered beautiful coloured travel posters of Canadian scenes. Over the machine's required specially imported ink was deemed too expensive to operate in Toronto profitably. The project failed and the machine was sent to New York City in 1963. My father did not see it all dismantled and shipped but I did.
  He died suddenly of a heart attach in the early hours of September 10,1962. On the 9th we had been in Niagara Falls for a day trip. That evening he played his favourite music. He always played a bit on his piano before settling down to sleep but that time he chose his old Hohner accordion, the instrument that had helped him through tough times especially the war and post war days. It was a rare treat to hear him play it. Perhaps he knew something felt different and he wanted one last chance to play it? That was the last time I heard a live performance from him. I still miss him. I will always be his Kleinste Motte.

The Nineth

Maureen Forrester may you rest in peace.
On June 17th Mr.K and I went to the last symphony performance of
the season. The second half of the program was Beethoven's 9th symphony with a full 300 member choir,Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, for the final movement,
Ode to Joy.
Maureen was often one of the lead singers in the chorus.
How appropriate that it was commemorated to a great Canadian operatic singer.
Maureen had passed away on June 16th, just one day before this performance.
This slide show is quite spectacular and a fitting tribute to her.
(This is my first Youtube import.)

Hummingbird

This tattoo was done this past weekend by SMK, the tattoo artist in my family. She's a beginner and is still apprenticing. Her client wanted this bird. Now there's a twist to this post. Yesterday a former student and friend of mine found me on Face Book. She also found my daughter and became her friend. I have fond memories of TFB. She used to babysit Buddy after school, a big help for me and some pocket money for her. After my daughter was born we moved away. Now years later we are together again. Having four grown sons her oldest son(23)expressed a wish to join the two of us at a reunion luncheon. TFB thinks my daughter should give her son his first tattoo. With three other potential clients my daughter is excited to get started. I guess we'd better schedule the luncheon soon Kleinste Motte.
PS. Paramedic micro-pigmentation is a cosmetic procedure to touch up scars.

Red-winged Blackbird

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Today I will show you my first attempt at a bird shot. Buddy and I spotted this fellow on our stroll. We thought it would be a great idea to click a picture of him. As we got closer to the tree we began to whisper in hope that he would remain on his perch. I readied the camera for the shoot. He was not intimidated. I clicked twice. Wow! There was a sense of achievement. But when I downloaded it on iphoto I realized that I needed more zoom!! Maybe a better quality camera would help? But then maybe it's the camera person that needs to learn how to take pictures? Yet best part of this experience is that I had captured a picture of a bird that I actually recognized, a red-winged blackbird.  How? During my years in Girl Guides for a badge I did a bird project. Then I reused the work for my school science fair project  Kleinste Motte.

Wild Grass

              
Wild life is all around the pond. Buddy and I enjoy watching everything sprout. We took a blade of grass to create a whistle but we didn't get a sound. The right type of blade is important. Next time. This is my first attempt at posting a close-up Kleinste Motte.

Recorder

                                                          
RECORDER .. This image was found on an SD card from a rescued camera. When I look at this photo I am thankful. On March 6,2008 our home had a fire from which Buddy and I were rescued  We lost the piano and the books. Yet what a lucky family we are! We have each other. We have opportunities. All of us were able to get the education we wished for. Images. See the three university graduates' photos? SJK is to the left of the lamp. She is completing her masters in creative writing. SMK is to the right. She is very artistic and is mastering tattooing. Next to her Mr.K, a CA, recently completed a two year masters in tax law degree at the age of 67. That's quite an achievement. He enjoys his work. He is the proprietor of his accounting practice and still provides for us. He loves going to his office. Buddy likes joining him because he gets his own room to keep himself busy and feel important and the clients greet him with respect. Many have watched Buddy's growth and admire his abilities. He reads and writes. He graduated too. He was one of the first intellectually challenged to be integrated into the regular school system to complete a special high school program. He worked at a local seniors' home until his health prevented it. More about that later. Remember. We are so fortunate Kleinste Motte.