Peter Smith

Datchewbas?

TV and Radio are a little different now than they were back in my childhood. Now we have cable, or satellite, and hundreds of channels with nothing on them. Back then, at my house anyway, we got CBC TV from Port Rexton on channel 13 and, depending on the weather, CTV/NTV on channel 6. If you could see it for snow that is. Sometime later we got closer broadcasts on channel 10 and 7, but even then weren’t always easy to see. We had the old rabbit ears or outdoor aluminum antennas, with wire strung across the garden to get it, and we’d always be out adjusting them.

Radio was similar, there were no close stations till I got older when VOCM added CKVO to Clarenville (tho of course there were no people there per se, all the broadcasters were in St. John’s) and later on OZ-FM got a rebroadcast channel there too. Tho of course OZ-FM itself was a fairly new thing then too!

Most radio was AM radio in those days, with VOCM and for the life of me I forget the other larger stations name! One of the highlights was listening to the top 10 at 10. I’m old enough that one of the songs I remember from the countdown was Paul McCartney and Wings. Another highlight were the call in talk shows, the largest one hosted by Bas Jameson. I can hear the people saying “Datchewbas?” now. The topics were many and varied, and it always amazed me the difference of opinion, and of course you also got the real winners sometimes too. Bas had an acerbic tongue and had no problems cutting people off and hanging up on them!

One of the better memories I have tho, was that back in the day of analog radio, AM channels often skipped off the atmosphere, especially at night, and was a highlight to slowly dial through the channels seeing what you could find; I remember channels all over, and even listening to a hockey game from New York one night. Of course they’d fade in and out sometimes, and then disappear entirely, but was cool to pick them up.

Not so many analog radio dials now, and not so many AM channels either. Another passing thing that today’s youth may not get to experience.

May 24, 2015 by Uncategorized 0

Calling All Kids!

One of the major things that’s changed over the years, is the sense of safety we enjoyed as kids.  No we weren’t any less brave or less of risk takers than today’s kids, but there was a sense that everyone watched out for everyone’s kids, and also that there were no external dangers like stalkers and the like.

We often were told to go outside in the morning, and unless hungry, may not be seen again till the evening.  Wherever you were, whoever had food, usually got something for you, even if it was a slice of jam bread.

But we also had to listen for when we were called to come home, and were expected to come right away.  Sound carried far in those small communities, there wasn’t any background traffic, or industry.  You could hear a door close pretty much anywhere.  But some people could be heard even further!

My Aunt Vick had this call, I’m not sure what to call it, maybe the closest thing was a yodel, but whatever you call it, it was piercing, and we had no trouble hearing her up at bottom from their house a half mile away.

There was also Ralph Smith. Ralph didn’t call out for Lorne (his nephew, who lived with him) he whistled.  And did that whistle carry.  Once, during a wind storm, the remnants of a hurricane I believe, we were on the beach, quite a way from their house, but even with all the wind, and the lop breaking, we could hear Ralph when he whistled.

Remembering Ralph also reminds me of another story.  He had this big old car, of course I guess almost all the cars were big back then, but anyway… It had some weird wiring issue.  In those days, you could turn “back” the ignition to turn on accessories, listen to the radio, etc.  This old cars ignition was so worn that you could do that without the key.  Well for whatever reason, when you did that, and turned on the radio, pressing the brake pedal would start the car!

Of course time muddles memories, and the exact combination of actions may be mixed up, but the story is true!

January 18, 2015 by Uncategorized 0

Nar bit Contrary!
Dad (Willis), Hay, Mae (Litty), Lawrence, Lindo Smith

Dad (Willis), Hay, Mae (Liddie), Lawrence, Lindo Smith

Dad’s brother Lindo died in 1979, when I was 14. I don’t have a lot of fully fleshed out memories of him, but lots of little anecdotes I guess. From other people’s recollections, I’m pretty sure he was liked quite a bit, though some or all might say he was a teensy bit contrary. I really doubt that, I mean saying snow was black just to be contrary isn’t contrary right?

He was a carpenter, lastly working at Stanley’s in Clarenville. But besides that I know Aunt Vick had the post office in Snook’s Harbour (can still remember the mail slots in the old porch) and also they had a store (who didn’t?) with this huge old cash register.

Whatever he may or may not have been, I know he seemed to be good with kids, or me anyway. If Mom or Dad had to be away, we mostly always seemed to stay with Aunt Vick and Uncle Lindo, and if I was up in Snook’s Harbour playing ball or whatever, it was like a second home to me, always a place at the table.

One of my memories of Uncle Lindo was from when I was there eating. I have an odd delicacy I love. Trout tails! Yes, that’s what I meant. If you fry trout in pork fat and flour the tails become crispy and tasty, like trout bacon, and I love them. When ever I was up at Uncle Lindo’s and there were trout, he’d always cut the tails off and give them to me, remember that so vividly!

I have another memory of spending time with him down in his stage looking after the salt cod. Just me and him, I don’t recall much else, but something about it sticks with me and makes me feel…. warm.

Another was of his two dogs, Fuzzy and Fluffy, who, if I remember correctly would only eat cat food! And he’d feed it to them from a fork or spoon.

Another was his love of wrestling, he’d watch it in the dark in the living room up in Snook’s Harbour, where all I could make out on the screen was snow. We used to go to Clarenville stadium in those days to see the likes of Sailor White and Mad Dog Vachon.

Datsun 620

I also remember he had this Datsun B210 for a car, I can hear the beep beep now. Was unusual to see a Japanese car back home in those days. He also had at one point, I believe, a Datsun pickup. It was white, and seemed to have all these compartments in the side of the box, or at least I think it did.
One of the more vivid memories though was a camping trip we took at some point when I was a boy. Mom and Dad, Keith and I, Uncle Lindo and Aunt Vick. We did a lot of booting about, places I don’t recall really. I remember one spot where him and I were trouting from this little rocky point. I also remember a fire one time where we roasted flings (those curved cheesie things) – they were made with real cheddar and tasted like yummy melted cheese.

But the best, or the worst part was one night we made camp after dark. It was wet, the old canvas tents would leak easily if you touched a point of canvas, and we were all pretty miserable. After getting to sleep, at some point during the night we were wakened by the unholy racket of a train passing by a few feet away. In the dark, we had set up tents right next to the train track without noticing!

December 29, 2014 by Uncategorized 3

Show and Tell
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Tool drawers from Santa, cap gun from Santa, Chimpy Puzzle from ?

One of the things that was common in my community at least during Christmas, was show and tell. This was more for adults than your elementary school show and tell though.  But I remember we used to always visit Aunts and Uncles, Cousins, and sometimes just others in the community during the week or two after Christmas.

We’d have a cup of tea (ew) or coffee, or purity syrup some cherry cake, or fruit cake (again ew) or my personal favorite, gum drop cake! Often there was shortbread with a cherry on top (the dried candied cherries used for baking).

But the highlight of these visits was the show and tell.  At some point the host would get down under the tree, and pull out all the gifts, tell what it was, and who it was from.  Often the same thing was done with all the Christmas cards.  In a a way it was showing off I guess, but it didn’t seem so then, it seemed natural to do.

Probably an odd tradition, but something I miss now, heading to Aunt May’s, Aunt Mary’s, Uncle Hay’s and Ralph’s for the show and tell.  RIP all of them, Merry Christmas to you all, and hope your traditions bring back fond memories as mine do.

PS: Dad still had that chest of drawers for nails and washers and things when we moved away from Newfoundland in 1996 I believe.  It lasted a while!

December 28, 2014 by Uncategorized 2

Rigging up those Lights!

We put out the Christmas decorations a week or so ago, doing it in dribs and drabs as its easier to pick at things than do it all at once. Such different decorations now than there were when we were kids.

We really only had strings of lights, and these were the old fashioned ones with screw in bulbs that burnt your fingers when they were hot.  And rather than patterned fancy blinks and things like today, if you wanted blinking lights you had to buy a “blinker” and plug the strings into it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4NlR5KQLQ8
And of course, the worst, as noted in the song linked above was “One goes out they all go out!” A lot of the old strings were wired that way.  If a bulb blew, the whole string went out and you had to test every damn bulb till you found the right one.

Also, who remembers going to the Chain Store and buying replacement bulbs? Only to find some savage had taken all the green ones? Or pulled apart the assorted packages to make up their own assortment! Bastards!

A few years later we got the “mini” lights.  These were neat in that they had a “blinker” bulb you could take out and replace if you didn’t want blinking.  But they were still one goes out they all go out, and even worse, there were about forty leven different sizes! Getting replacements was a pain in the butt! And, and and…. the little wires! They’d bend and twist and make it impossible to get them right, plus on top of that, some of the bulbs would just not stay in!

The lights are much fancier now, and leds to boot, not burning half the electricity.  I used to imagine the meter man rubbing his hands in glee come December and January!

We used to put them out on our old front bridge, and sometimes on the little (or not so little over time) fir that grew out of the rock wall by the old gate. Even with the freezing cold, the old fashioned clips, and driving many staples through the wires, it was still kinda fun, and part of the season.

Think I’ll take Mom out this weekend to look at all the lights.  Love to see pictures of yours too!

December 17, 2014 by Uncategorized 1

Time for the Tree!
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I didn’t cut this one!

Christmas has changed a lot over the years, the result of changing times, commercialization, and different lifestyles I guess.  Plus living in a larger center than before, and also some factor of selective memory as I get older too.

One thing here in the city is the Christmas tree.  We currently use an artificial one, for a couple reasons, one being its easier as we are older, and a second being that the trees you buy at the lots are cut so long ago that they just make a huge mess of needles.

I’m sure there are some cut your own lots, and I guess I could drive out of town and cut one, but its not like home; the land here all belongs to someone, it isn’t crown, and I can’t just walk off the side of the road and start cutting!

Nowadays you see some people with their trees up already, and if not, will be soon.  And we will have ours up in the not too distant future as well, as it just is easier to pick at things than it is to try and do everything at once.

But I remember when I was small, the tree was one of the last things. It mostly didn’t go up till Christmas Eve, and likely wasn’t cut till the day before.  When I got old enough to do the cutting, I’d take the saw (usually the old bucksaw) and walk up over the hill, and size up a few likely looking firs.  We never wanted too big a tree, and nothing looked worse to me than a tree with the top cut off, so I’d generally go for one around 4-5 feet tall.  That was plenty by the time you got it in the stand in my opinion.

It was usually December 23rd, and usually was a bit of snow on them (of course that could be part of the selective memory).  I’d usually cut two or three and bring them back to the house and into the basement to dry, letting Mom pick out the one she liked best.  The others would be used as outside decorations, or a tree for the old school for the Christmas concert, or just firewood!

Next morning we’d put it up, and decorate it through out the day, though I seem to remember some people didn’t even decorate till the kids went to bed, making the tree “magical” when it seemed to just appear Christmas morning!

Christmas season ended pretty much at the same time every year as well, January 6th, old Christmas day, it all came down, and the season was done.

Traditions are nice, and I miss a lot, but I do have to say seeing the excitement my niece gets from the tree being up, and the season in general, I’m happy to start things a little earlier for her sake (and yes mine too, she makes me young again).

 

December 8, 2014 by Uncategorized 1

Give em the Slip!

Was reading through some old posts the other day, and seeing mention of my buddy Eric, and also of my Uncle, Larry Leawood, I was reminded of tailing slips.  I think pretty much every young boy has experienced this back home, and likely most continue to do so as long as they can.

For the non Newfoundlander, or perhaps for some of those too, you CFA’s know them as rabbit snares, but they’ll always be rabbit slips to me.  Essentially, they are a loop of wire tailed in a rabbit trail used to catch rabbits for eating.

Back in older days, slips were always made out of this…. braided? not sure the right term right now, but was made up of many many filaments, and was nearly impossible, for me anyway, to keep it in a loop shape without it twisting.  I still remember buying it, and the newer aluminum? wire at Handy Andy’s back in the day. Part of the fun I think was interacting with Stan and Dennis, but you could buy the wire and the licence nearly anywhere.

I also remember playing with the old filamented wire on the old flashlight batteries, and having the little ends glow red hot, but I digress.

Often times, you could tell who owned a slip in the woods, just by looking at it, as they were often as unique as the person who tailed them.  Uncle Larry for example always tied his on with a granny knot, while others made their loops in slightly different ways or shapes.  You’d often see them tailed in the same rabbit run year after year, and others you’d see someone make a spot to tow the rabbits, chopping down some tasty young birch and making a run of your own to tail your slip in.

This wasn’t done for fun, though it can be fun too, but rabbits were and are a big addition to the winter food store.  And quite tasty to boot, I’d like to have a freezer full right now!

November 30, 2014 by Uncategorized 4

Lion’s Fall Fair

It’s not quite fall yet, but school has started and the nights have started to cool off (thankfully, need it for sleeping!) so it’s getting closer. Back before I moved away, and quite possibly still, the Random Lion’s Club used to put off a fall fair as a fundraiser, and for that matter a fun raiser!

Its amazing how time flies by, and I can’t even remember much about it now, but I do remember there being games of chance (crown and anchor anybody?), food (fish n brewis I think? Moose burgers maybe?) and the highlight (for some anyway, young boys/men included) a queen of the fair competition.  I can still see Warren Brooking, Bert Crummey, Allison Bugden, and many others I’ve not seen (and in some cases won’t again) in years.

I am pretty sure there was also a vegetable show and sale, perhaps with prizes? I don’t rightly remember, but I do remember seeing some nice Newfoundland Blue potatoes (mail me some!), and of course carrots, turnips, cabbages etc.

But most of all, it was a social event, a “time” if you will, a time for everyone, young and old to get together and shoot the breeze, have fun, and celebrate.

Anyone have memories to share?

September 14, 2014 by Uncategorized 4

Brush that Stout off your Back! And Mind the Hornets!

Berries

Its that time of year, or it was when I was younger anyway, berry pickin time!

Really I guess there are multiple berry picking times, we go for Bakeapples in July usually, and Partridgeberries in September or even October, but when you mention berries to me, the first that come to mind are Raspberries and Blueberries, probably because they were so plentiful so close to home.

We’d sometimes go as a family, but often as not, I would go alone, or me and Eric would go off somewhere. We didn’t have to look very far usually. I loved picking blueberries, not sure why them since there was more bending over, but I did. There was a patch just to the right of the old road leading from the old school garden in Apsey Brook, and there was no trouble to pick a gallon or more there in a short time, some as big as marbles.

Whats odd to me, is that I never really cared for raw blueberries, I find the kinda tasteless, but still loved picking them. But once they were home and in a blueberry pudding, well then, yum!

Raspberries on the other hand, I loved raw, but disliked picking. There were a couple of reasons for that I guess. One, they were hard to pick clean (ie: with no leaves and all good berries) mainly because they ripened fast and spoiled fast and you’d always have some ones with spots on them. Another reason was there were always stouts around. Anyone from Newfoundland knows what a stout is, annoying as hell, always pitching on your back, bites as hard as hell when they do, and nearly impossible to swat. They have a black bar across their wings, and apparently are properly known as deer flies.

And lastly another reason I hated picking them was because a lot of the bushes grew amongst old dead falls back home, or at least the easily accessible ones, and there was always a hornets nest somewhere around. Even if you didn’t step in a nest, you were likely to get a sting from a hornet somewhere along the line. nasty bastards, they are mean, and like to sting just for pleasure I think.

The thought of stouts and hornets always reminds me of Lloyd Colbourne and Newfoundland Outdoors. There was an episode where I can remember now Lloyd saying “Brush that stout off your back there Bryce!”

August 16, 2014 by Uncategorized 0

The Afterglow

Maybe I heard it somewhere else, or maybe I can attribute it to me, but the recurring thought I’ve had since yesterday is: Some people are a candle, a flame burning brightly. I am not one of those, but I hope that the light illuminates me, and I gain something in the afterglow.

Many people have come and gone since the advent of social media, may celebrities, sports stars, and ordinary people have lost to their demons or just the normal part of life that is the ending, yet, for me at least, I’ve never seen an outpouring of sustained sadness from everyone, without dissent, that I’ve seen for Robin Williams since yesterday (and dissenters need not show up here and now).

I’m no celebrity expert, heck I’d not know most of them if the bit my ankles (which I’ve heard they are inclined to do). But Robin Williams was special, he had a gift, a gift to lift us, to make us smile, no matter how we felt. I don’t know anyone who didn’t find at least some of his material hysterical, and his ability to improvise was amazing.

Its unfortunate them that he had no soul that could lift him. We’ve all had our Robin’s in our lives, those whose demons became too much.  We are learning more about them every day. Support often seems hard to find, but it’s there, sometimes in the unlikeliest of places.

For what its worth, I’m here, for whoever.  I don’t have answers, I don’t have solutions, but maybe, just maybe, we can share a laugh, or a cry.

Rest in Peace all you flames, and those who you’ve illuminated.

August 12, 2014 by Uncategorized 4

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