SIGNS OF THE TIME

Hand-Lettered Sign

          I don't know why I keep getting signs to letter way out here in the boonies at the base of Green Mountain but I'm grateful for the work.  It's odd, even though I have a computerized size machine, which actually makes the jobs easier, I'm glad to be going back to my roots as a sign painter, when I taught myself how to handle a lettering-brush about 50 years ago.  In comparison to the first signs I lettered around 1960, which took me so long to complete, I just pretty much bang them out now.  This "Mason 66" sign is a take off on Route 66 (although there is an actual Route 66 in the US) which was made famous by an old television program.  It's about 2' square in size and in the beginning, I was just going to letter it on a square board but I think it looks better cut out in the shape of a cop's badge.

                                               Baby-Barn - Soon to be my new Art Studio

          The baby-barn I've been renovating seems to be coming along just fine - managed to get a couple of windows in place and two of the walls are partially completed, along with some of the electrical wiring.  I have to admit, not being much of a carpenter and my electrical abilities are even less than satisfactory, I'm still making some headway.  Today, I hot-wired the baby-barn to an outside outlet on the garage  - of course, I blew a breaker and received a wee shock.  However, after a wee bit of fiddling around, I tried it again - the electrical plug-ins work just fine but the lighting system doesn't - I think I double-backed the wrong wires so, like a lot of things in life, will have to try a little reverse psychology.  There's still a lot of work to do in the inside such as take out a large rear window (as much as I would like to keep it) so I can build a loft inside - give me quite a bit more room to work.  The roof still needs to be insulated and then of course, the remainder of the walls and ceiling need to be boarded in - lot of work for an old guy - no wonder I'm tired or is it partially due to Sarah's daughter, Rachel phoning downstairs in the middle of the night asking her to come upstairs to talk to her - probably a combination me thinks.

          Due to another rainfall that's supposed to occur tomorrow, I mowed the lawn amidst a load of mosquitoes that were hell-bent on sucking my blood - not quite sure which of us won the battle - received quite a few bites as I swatted at the little kamikaze insects left and right like King Kong as they were circling around my head.   One thing I've noticed about the mosquitoes - as much as they like me - they like Freya, the goat, even more.  Her little tail just keeps flicking like crazy while I milk her and since she sometimes flicks the side of my head with it - she keeps the little beggars off me.   I should have gave the barn and chicken coop another good cleaning today too but am thinking that Saturday will be best - I want to buy a sanitizing solution to wash down the place - hopefully rid the place of any wee critters that like to cause havoc with the chickens and other livestock.  

          And speaking of chickens, those fine-feathered raptors, which somehow have adapted rather well from the dinosaur era, I'm beginning to think they are smarter than us humans.  Occasionally, just before dark, when there is a couple of lingering chickens outside and I'm trying to herd them into the chicken coop and they go every direction other than I want, I angrily call them "stupid".  However, upon saying that, in the big picture so to speak, the human race to my way of thinking is stupid.  The raptors of old didn't cause the environment to change but we sure as hell are doing a good job of it at the moment and not in a good way.  The future to me is looking more than a little bleak as I watch Alberta becoming a toxic wasteland and I hear our own New Brunswick premier, David Alward and his followers pushing for fracking.  Also, when whole islands are disappearing because of the rising oceans, I would say the writing is on the wall, something that not even a Noah's ark will be able to rectify - no animals two by two walking aboard his vessel - shoot - most of them are now extinct or are on the endangered list.  Some scientists believe that we may destroy the planet and it will become like many of the other lifeless planets in our solar system.  It's hard to believe that we're actually destroying our home, especially since there's no place else to go.  I know, I know, many people think I'm cynical because I don't put much faith in hope - it's not like I've lost hope, I just don't seem to be able to see us humans changing our ways in the very near future - cheers, eh!