I’ve been told it’s the “additives” that gives the fire a Brazilian flavor.
Tag Archives: Canada
CN Tower
Toronto, Ontario
Completed in 1976, Toronto’s CN Tower stands at 1815 feet. Built on former railroad land, the CN stands for Canadian National. Don’t forget: the old round house at its base is now a brewery!
Currently it is the ninth tallest structure in the world, and it receives over 2 million visitors a year.
We joined the throng, and the lines, to get the view from the tower. It does offer some great visuals of the city of Toronto.
Ohsweken Speedway
Six Nations Territory, Ontario
The Curator, Brazil Lucas and I ventured into the Six Nation Territory in Ontario to watch some racing at Ohsweken Speedway.
It happened to be the Canadian Sprint Car Nationals weekend, which was no doubt purely coincidental.
The track was pretty dry and slick by the end of the night, but we saw some good racing.
The Americas Unite
What happens when the cool winds of Alaska meets up with the tropical breezes of Brazil, and a Yankee Clipper from New York State? I don’t know either, but we are about to find out. See you all in Eastern Canada!
”Now the Four Way Lodge is opened, now the Hunting Winds are loose,
Now the Smokes of Spring go up to clear the brain;
Now the Young Men’s hearts are troubled for the whisper of the Trues;
Now the Red Gods make their medicine again…
We must go, go, go away from here.
On the other side the world we’re overdue…”
—- Rudyard Kipling
Cheers, and by all means, Stay Beautiful!
Alaska Highway Closed
Lower Post, British Columbia; Photo credit: CBC/Danni Carpenter
The Alaska Highway has been closed due to an aggressive fire just south of the Yukon border in British Columbia. The community of Lower Post, BC has been evacuated. The town of Watson Lake is taking in displaced residents and stranded travelers.
The fire, which is believed to have been started by lightening, is approximately 4000 hectares in size. There were 14 firefighters and an air tanker working the fire as of the last update. Heavy equipment is currently being used to protect the community of Lower Post. The fire is not contained, and the highway is expected to be closed for several days. The road is closed at KM 823 near Coal River to KM 968 near the Yukon border.
The Alaska Highway has also been closed at KM 133 near Wonowan, BC and KM 454 near Fort Nelson, as well as between Fort Nelson and the Laird River.
Travelers can still drive to/from the Yukon using the Stewart Cassiar Highway. It’s a route I highly recommend! Absolutely beautiful country, but the services are even more limited than on the Alcan. I once took the Cassiar while driving a ’73 VW Beetle, so don’t be discouraged, although I suggest bringing an extra five gallons of fuel.
We are in a wet, bubble up here in Alaska, so the news that the Alcan is closed due to fire, came as a bit of a surprise. We had an inch of rain at my place yesterday alone, and the high on Saturday was 55 degrees. Our normal high this time of year is in the low 70’s. Currently, August 2018 has seen 3.54″ of rain fall in Fairbanks, which stands at the 10th wettest August on record.
Alaska had 399,000 acres burn this fire season, which is lower than the past three years. The total is 40% lower than the median over the past two decades.
Battle of Kiska
Operation Cottage:
15 August 1943
75 Years Ago
Kiska Island on the Aleutian Chain
The Japanese had occupied Kiska Island on Alaska’s Aleutian Chain since June of ’42. After the brutal Battle of Attu, Allied forces expected the same type of defense of Kiska from the Japanese.
Japanese Type A mini submarines on Kiska Island
Leading up to the invasion, the U.S. Air Force bombarded the Japanese positions on Kiska. In June of ’43, 407 bombing sorties were sent to the remote island, and even more in July. Japanese troop level was at just over 5100 men. Resupply of the island had become by submarine only.
Japanese tunnel to the beach
In August, bombing sorties increased even more. On August 4 alone, 135 sorties dropped 304,000 pounds of explosives on Kiska.* No Japanese troops were sighted by the bomber pilots, but that was not unusual, since the Japanese went underground during the raids.
Allied troops landing on Kiska Island
7300 combat troops landed at the main beach head. They were greeted by six dogs wagging their tails. One of the dogs was “Explosion”, the pup that was with the Navy weather station crew that was on Kiska when the Japanese invaded the island the previous June. In all, 34,426 Allied troops were a part of the invasion, which included 5300 Canadians.
As troops moved across the foggy island, occasionally a bomb or booby trap was set off, but no enemy soldiers were to be seen. Still, shots were fired into the fog by the jumpy soldiers.
The Japanese were no longer on the island. Realizing they could not defend Kiska after losing Attu, they had evacuated the island two weeks before the invasion.
92 Allied troops were killed, and 221 wounded. Most came when the destroyer Abner Read struck a Japanese mine causing 118 casualties. 4 Canadians and 17 Americans were killed on Kiska, and 50 were wounded, many by friendly fire in the fog. 130 men suffered from trenchfoot, of which only one was a Canadian due to their proper footwear.
Guns of Kiska
The Americans would not learn how or when the Japanese evacuated the island until after the war ended.
The Japanese Type A midget sub on Kiska today
Today, Kiska is part of the Aleutian Islands Wilderness, and the Japanese occupation site a National Historic Landmark.
The Navy Weather station crew on Kiska prior to invasion. Explosion is front and center.
*The Thousand Mile War
Photos courtesy of The Alaska State Library
The Tamarack
I have a soft spot for the tamarack tree. It’s a tough, ornery, slow growing tree, that can be found in the low, boggy areas of Interior Alaska. Our population is distinct, in that it is 430 miles from the closet neighboring tamarack grove in the Yukon.
Tamarack is the Algonquian name for “wood used for snowshoes”, which makes it even more endearing. It is a pioneer tree in the north. Often the first to take hold in a swamp or bog, or after a fire ravages through a lowland area.
In the autumn, the tamarack turns a brilliant gold, often long after the birch and aspen have lost their leaves entirely.
Humboldt Broncos
The hockey community throughout Canada and the U.S. was rocked by news of a bus accident involving the Humboldt Broncos, a Saskatchewan junior hockey team.
A semi-truck slammed into the charter bus carrying the team to the Game 5 playoff game against Nipawin in the SJHL semifinals. Of the 29 people on the bus, 15 have died and the other 14 are injured. Head coach Darcy Haugan,Broncos captain Logan Schatz, 20, and teammates Adam Herold, 16, Jaxon Joseph, 20, Xavier Labelle, 18, Logan Hunter, 18, and Stephen Wack, 21, along with Tyler Bieber, a play-by-play announcer, were among the known victims to have passed.
The Humboldt Broncos hockey team. Photo credit: Humboldt Broncos/Twitter
There were 24 players on the Broncos, between the ages of 16-21.
Curt Giles, the former North Star great, and current Edina High School coach, played for Humboldt back in 1973-1975. “It’s a great little farming town of around 6,000, and that hockey team is everything to the people,’’ Giles said. “It’s small town Canada at its best. I can only imagine the broken hearts in Humboldt this morning. Terrible. The hockey team is the anchor of that town. All the players live with a host family. I lived with the Grunskys for two years. Great people.”*
A Gofundme page has been started for the Broncos players and families. Within 18 hours, it has raised over $1 million of the $2 million goal.
Quote by Curt Giles was given to Patrick Ruesse
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