For a smile as wide as a country sunrise
Hi everyone and welcome once again to my journal. Today let’s turn the pages back a bit to a time in the past and see what we have for us to enjoy today.
It’s a sunny but frosty fall morning in October. I was thinking it would be a great day to go out and dig for old bottles. I mentioned this to dad, after all we don’t want to waste a nice day, there won’t be too many left before winter arrives. I was just thinking the same thing, he said, but why waste the day digging for old bottles, that’s a lot of work for nothing. And bottles are not interesting. Let’s go looking for insulators, something that at least has some historical value. And I know just the place too, remember that old road we saw last week? Looking on the map here it shows that it’s not far from the railway tracks, and it’s a new section for us to check out. Soon we were in the car driving to this new spot. It was close to an old townsite so maybe I can find some bottles too. It didn’t take long to drive to that old road, which was beside a nice little lake. There was a large rocky island right in the middle of that lake too, it looked kind of out of place on that lake.

The road was good, at the beginning, but that didn’t last long. We came to a steep hill and the road had been washed out badly by some rainstorms that summer. We can’t drive that, said dad, guess we’ll have to walk from here. Or we could go somewhere else, I said, there’s a great spot to dig for some old bottles and…off we went walking up that steep hill. Finally at the top of the hill we could walk on level ground for a while. After about 10 minutes dad says, we need to turn off and walk through the trees here somewhere, get out the map. What map?, I asked. Dad looks at me. You didn’t bring the map?, he asked. You never told me to bring it, I said. I said to bring our lunch and the map is on the dining room table. Right, I said, I brought the lunch, you just said the map was on the table, you didn’t say to bring it. Dad just looked down and shook his head. He used to do that a lot.

You said it wasn’t far, I reminded him, so why not just cut through the trees right here, we’ll likely hear a train soon anyway. Dad agreed. This time of year there were lots of trains, so we can just follow the sound if we are a bit off from where we want to go. Dad actually went first this time, usually he wants me to go first. It was easy walking through the pines, not much undergrowth along here. Soon we heard a train. We’re actually going in the right direction, I said. Dad just looked at me. It was quite a distance away though. We started going down a gentle slope with a lot of spruce trees. They have low branches, unlike the pines. You go first, said dad. Naturally. I made sure not to let go of the branches too soon this time, dad never watched for things like that.

AAAAAAAA!!! Ooooff, ohhhhh. Hmm, guess I should have mentioned that rock sticking up right there. Didn’t you see the rock?, I asked. No, I didn’t see the rock, dad said rather sarcastically. At least your glasses didn’t fall off this time, I remarked. Bonehead, said dad. (for my new readers, dad said bonehead a lot when we were together, I finally decided it must mean he’s enjoying himself. It can also be a nice way of saying, “you’re not very smart”, or, “you’re an idiot”, something like that, but I prefer my interpretation better). Dad got up okay and off we went again. Around here it’s basically a lot of rocky hills, lakes, rivers, not much flat land. We came to a spot where we would have to go down this rather steep hill. Not as bad as some we have climbed down, I said. Surprisingly dad agreed. You go first, he said. Naturally.
To be continued.
©2020 Steve McLeod.
It’s a wonder you survived to adulthood !🙄
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But it was my dad that always had the problems.🤔
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Uh huh…😏 pure coincidence it was always while you were there to help🤭🤭🤭😉
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That’s what I kept telling him, but he never seemed to believe me. Almost like he thought I had something to do with it.🤔🙄
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Really?? Huh! Go figure that one out! Where do you think he got that idea?🙄😮🤔
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Have no idea, very strange behavior.🙄
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Family tradition huh?😮🤭🙄
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How’d you know?🤔😳
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Hmmm… just seemed like it lol😉😁
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That was a good guess though.🤔🙄
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Thank you😁 That might be the nicest thing you’ve typed to me!😁
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I’m welcome. I mean you are.😄
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LOL 😁 😂😂
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Git my electronic ears today. Almost lost one walking out of the clinic.😳🤭😉
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Do they work good?🤔 Can you hear me better? Almost lost one?😲 Did it fall inside?😏😳🤭🤭
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Hahaha! Yeah! Theres a bunch of empty space in there! No when I went to remove my mask I forgot they we in and they came out and I didn’t notice one was gone until I reached my truck. Then I had to insulator hunting to find it. But I got it back!
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You have to learn to be careful now that you have those. And take them out before you go swimming next time.😬🏊♂️
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Yeah.. I know I hope it shouldn’t be too hard to remember. Now I xan hear what your writing😁🙄😂
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Hmm, guess Muffin and I will have to talk more quietly.😁😸🤭
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Yeah.. you don’t need to type so load now!😁
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That’s Muffin. I just dictate.😀😸
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So you’re a dictator?😮😳
You don’t seem like one!🤔
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Maybe I’m not, maybe I’m twins.🤔😬😱
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I thought the first one was scary! Two of you?? Yikes!!😂😂
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How do you know it was the first one that was scary, maybe it was the second one and you just thought it was the first one because you didn’t know that the first one could be the second one and the second one could be the first one since you didn’t know about the second one even though you might have been talking to the second one without realizing the the second one was the first one and the first one was the second one. On the other hand…
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Yikes ! There are 4 hands! This is going to be confusing! I can tell! LOL😂😂
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But I said it so plainly.😛😛🤪😂😹
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You’re a wood worker too?? Wow! You are a multi talented individual!
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You didn’t know that? I have mentioned that in my posts a lot! Caught you!😒🤨🤪
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I always said you were a tricky guy 👦
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You said it!😎
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I did!! 😳🤪
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Multiple choice are so confusing to me😬😬🤯
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That’s what makes it easy, whichever one you would choose, just choose the opposite instead.😁😛😵😜
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Yeah but theres 4 other choices🤯😳
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See how easy that was?
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Uh huh 😏😉
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I mean, you just learned how to count to 4.🙄🙄😂😂
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Yeah! Imagine seeing a glove with 5 fingers! 🤯
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That’s odd?
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It is if you can’t count that high! lol 😁
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That’s a good point.🤔😁
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Speaking of counting… did you remember how many bird feeders to take in tonight?
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Yep, I got them in before dark too!😁🌙
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Yay! Did slip on the ice?
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What ice?
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The ice you slip on bringing your feeders out. Don’t you read your post’s??😳😏🤭🤔
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I never mentioned slipping on ice this morning.🤔🙄
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Nope last week I think!🤔
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There, you see, that ice melted. We did get some flurries today though. Hey, we got all the way up to 27F today!😁🧊
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Brrrrr…… did you close the border door? I don’t want coming down here!😬
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I thought you already had it? Supposed to stay on the cool side for a few days. Or April, whichever comes first.🤔🥶
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Yeah, but that was just because of a window you didn’t close 😳 if don’t close the border door it could be a new ice age here!🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶
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But if we send some your way it may not be so bad here.😁😂🤣
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I’d hate for you to run out of cold air!🤭🤭🤭
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I never run out in the cold.🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🏃♂️🧊🧊🧊
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Why would you run out of a nice warm house and into the cold? You Canadians are an unusual bunch! 🤔🥴
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I think you need glasses too. I said I never do that. Very strange behavior you Americans.
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Can’t argue that one anymore!!!🥴😏😏
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What did you see?
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People acting like clowns!!
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Very good. Oh my, it’s late, better off to bed I get before no sleep for me and pet. So time to go here I am, I get up quick and go scram. Good night Dusty.
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Good Night Steve!
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Good night Dusty!
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Did You slip on the ice?
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I think you said this twice. Memory problems? How’s the ears?
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I can’t remember!🙄 what did you say?
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About what?🤔
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I can’t hear you!🦻🦻 could you write it again?🤪
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it.
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Now you’re a clown too!! What a scary movie!! Don’t like clowns! Very creepy! Never know who’s under all that makeup!😳😬
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You mean like this?🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡
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Stop it! That’s just creepy!!🙈🙈🙈🙈
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You don’t like them funny faces?🤔🤭🤭
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NO! Very creepy!🙈
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I usually see clowns walking around, never creeping.🤣🤣🤡🤡
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STOP IT! 🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷
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That did it. There’s going to be every kid in town coming your way wearing clown costumes.😛😛😛😛😛😛😛😛🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡🤡
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😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😲😝😝😝😝😝😝😝😝😝😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
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oooo, nice bunch of emojis. You forgot coffee, need a lot for that crowd.
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You bring the coffee along with your Creepy Clowns!
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I don’t like clowns.
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Funny Thing.. neither do I!
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Do you like SPIDERS 🕸🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕷🕸
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That reminds me, did you buy candy for all the kids that come around on Halloween?
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Nope… I don’t think there will be any here this year!😞 I dont usually get any anyway. I like to see them all in their costumes!😁
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Clown costumes?
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No, acting creep like them though!
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That’s bad.
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Yeah.. you don’t need to type so load now!😁 I meant loudly
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I’m having one of those moments again. I’m sure I just read this already. Scary.😳
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WOW Deja Vu!!
What did I say? What did I say?
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I didn’t know you spoke French?
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I don’t! I type it! Lol😂😂
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Hey, that’s a good thought, I should try that.🤔😀
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Good thinking!
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Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!😁😁😛😛🥳🥳🤸♂️🤸♂️💪💪🎉🎇🎆✨🏆🏆
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Lol you’re welcome! Wait!! Yeah! You’re Welcome!
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Thanks! Getting late, time for bed, good night Dusty! Sleep well, you might want to take off your ears though, might hear yourself snoring.😁🤭🥱😴
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LOL 😳 GREAT POINT! Good Night Steve! Sleep Well!
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You were supposed to turn off the snow machine last night!! ❄❄❄❄ It’s snowing here!!🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶
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That’s good, not snowing here, it worked! Yay!😂😂
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Ha!😛🥶❄❄
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Nice to see you finally crawled out bed. 😉😁
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I don’t, I just fall out of bed. My bed is 39 inches off the floor.😁
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You need a step ladder to get in and out of that!🪜
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How did you know?😳Hmm, no ladder emojis.
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You need to update your emojis! 😉😂😂😂🤪
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Wish I could.
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I love insulators’ stories! ☺️😸
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Thanks so much Rossana!😀😺🌞
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Oh my! Your dad cracks me up! 😂
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So glad you like the story Tori! I always got a lot of laughs from our little outings too.😂😹
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I, too, love your adventures ! Keep them coming ! ☕️☕️😮😅🍩🍩
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Thanks Sharon!😁 More to come!😀😺☕
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Hahaha… AAAAAAAA!!! Ooooff, ohhhhh ….it reminds me of someone we know 😹😼😻
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I can’t imagine who that could be?🤔🙄😂😹
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I love your “dad” stories. I can just visualize the two of you tromping around in the forest. 🧣 🧤🧦🥾☕️☕️🥪 🥙
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We did have a lot of great times together! And it’s fun sharing them.
Thanks so much Eugenia, have a great day!😀😺🌞☕☕🍁🍂
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Always a pleasure!
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Ha ha ha✨ u forgot the map, but not the lunch, that’s nice of you 😝 ofcourse he didn’t mentioned to pickup that map 😂 So much fun filled memories 😍 ☺️Loved to read you both always ✨
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Thanks so much Simon! Yes, lots of fun memories, and there’s more to come on that hike!😁😂😹
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That’s lovely 😍 will definitely enjoy reading with smiles on face 😁
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