Hot, Hot summer days…..and the agony of the feet
Am writing this after scraping paint off a back fence for an hour and a half this afternoon, with temp showing 30 and the humidex who knows where. If it’s global warming, complete with more and deadlier hurricanes, and air that is hardly breathable (in Kingston?), we no doubt deserve it with all of the effluence of affluence we are putting into the air. Saw three SUVs idling (!) this morning adjacent to the market on Clarence Street — packed this Saturday!! — but that’s what I mean. No one thinks. We need to ride our bicycles, walk, or take public transport. One day — in the not too distant future — we shall have to do the latter. There will not be sufficient oil for the individualized madness we now call driving.
But what can I say about Kingston in the summer? I love the heat, the sweat pouring off the body when engaged in honest work or at the gym, along with a few pounds! There are moments I am sure when all of you want simply to jump into a large body of water nearby. And, fortunately for now, we have one, albeit it is becoming dirtier and dirtier. Still swimmable, however, on the hot days.
One of the byproducts of the ice storm of January 1998, I suspect, is an electric grid that remains fragile in places. A transformer on William blew the other night, for no good reason, save I suspect that too much electricity was being demanded by customers of Hydro I or whatever they call it these days. That’s another big issue for the future–with the increasing prices on oil (Wasn’t Bush at one point telling us that the war was all about keeping oil prices down??), home heating in the winter will become interesting. More wood stoves? Less trees? More pollution yet? Oh, well, stop griping.
The thing that struck me about the ice storm and the Kingston grid — twice in the last two days — is the fact that several of our connectors to homes on that grid are–for lack of a better term –”live”–as squirrels are finding out right and left. Anyone recall the film “Magnolia,” which if I recall correctly ended with a plague of frogs raining down on Los Angeles? (That’s a marvelous thought, incidentally). Well, in Kingston, on Regent Street and Earl Street, I have been seeing dead squirrels in the same places, with their whiskers singed!! Now two days ago, driving north on Regent St., I actually saw a squirrel fall from the sky–did not stop, but if I did I am certain that I would have found singed whiskers. Singed whiskers, folks, as Danny Finkleman used to say, are a sure sign of electrocution. Now I don’t like squirrels at all, having applied for and been refused a hunting licence to prevent the little schmucks from eating my tulip bulbs, but this is a great idea–have Kingston open up several more lines as “live” wires, and just electrocute the little rat-cousins right and left. No? Send me your ideas….(I feel about squirrels in my garden the way my folks and relatives in Hillsborough used to and still feel about deer: and that is helpless. My dad once spent 2K to construct an electrified fence around his acre of paradise; great fence, six feet high, and deer jumped it. And squirrels, folks, can jump anything.
But how about some good news and happiness. One of the best-kept secrets in Kingston is the woman known as Sheila Doyle, who hangs out at her establishment called Momentum at 151 Yonge. Sheila does just about everything a body needs–won’t go into everything a body needs because this site has standards, you know? But I have now been to see Sheila twice about my feet, espcially my toes. Guys have never been able to take care of their feet properly. Tell me the truth, guys. When you clip your toenails, you often think of the butcher! While playing basketball there were always blisters, athlete’s foot, and a number of other items one doesn’t mention in polite company. Things like bunions, corns, calluses, etc. Now though, as I head for age 65, I realize that I need expert advice. You see, when I was born, I had arches higher than either McDonald’s or Utah’s Bryce Canyon. Indeed, the attending physician noted that I had feet fit for a chicken. And then there were the hammer toes–my brother got them, but I had two that could pass for claws. So toes and toenails have long figured as big items on my health list.
Moreso after talking to a couple of friends in CA who mentioned their toe trouble (infections) that had led to heart problems? What’s that?? I said. After listening to the exegesis of ill-health through toes, I said, hey, I need help.
And that’s where Sheila Doyle came in. And comes in. People, if you have any problems with your toes and feet generally, Sheila Doyle will give you relief. Cleaning, clipping (smartly, with insight), and a foot massage that would soothe the savage beast in all of us.
Here I am sitting with my feet cleaning and tingling……
Here is Sheila Doyle, smiling because she knows that I will be a very happy camper in a very short time…….
Here is the site of Momentum–doesn’t look like much, but, hey, looks are deceiving!
When I left Momentum, I had momentum. And my feet, my God, they were in heaven!
Take a hint………………Get Momentum! Feet ARE important!!
That’s all for now — have a great weekend.