Our Vancouver Family – Days 5 & 6

• The kids arrived from Vancouver!
• Our Vancouver Family – Day 2
• Our Vancouver Family – Day 3 
• Our Vancouver Family – Day 4

I had a couple of videos from our Day 4 visit to the splashpad. 

I just have to show this again! It's my favourite of our sassy girl from our splashpad visit! The first video shows how nervous she was. She sure came around.

I've processed the videos I'd taken at the splashpad. At first, Bryony was a bit nervous of the whole thing.

splash pad: the intro from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Jesse gave her a bit of a tour, with hand holding, and she warmed right up to it! She had a blast.

 

splash pad 2 from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

We've heard so much going on in the world. The kids have friends trying to navigate Yukon highways, where they have both heavy rains and 160 active fires. There are road washouts impacting tourists.

It was a robust trip, spending the first few days in Ottawa with Caitlin and co. at their house.

Day 5

Saturday, I woke early (5:30), anxious to check and see if our Ottawa kids had landed in Istanbul. They had. Jesse and family were scheduled to have lunch at his friend and mentor's home in Kemptville.  

Again, Cluny was first up. Later today, though, at 8 a.m. She read her colouring book from the sugar shack. Bryony arose after that! It was a bit chilly.

There were several more games of UNO.

Bryony loved Muffin Muncher. 

Cluny is auditioning for a play: The Sound of Music. Jesse, Cluny and I did a musical rehearsal of ♩♪♫♬ Doh a Deer at the piano. It went well. We taught her the song. Later, We watched some TV, Grampa had taped some kiddie shows: Dino Dana, Stacie's friend is in it! 

Saturday afternoon I did laundry, and the kids visited their friends. They put on their summer dresses and off they went. 

I was watching the skies, feet up and reading on the back deck. A helicopter went over us on Saturday afternoon. It was headed to Napanee for an emergency, I found out on Twitter. The Ornge EMS helicopter headed from Ottawa to go to the scene of a vehicle/tractor crash which resulted in a fire.

The helicopter was called off, there was a convoy of emergency vehicles and victims were taken to Kingston hospital. The helicopter headed back to our neck of the woods for a fatal motorcycle crash on highway #511. The highway was closed, as emergency crews did their work. It was the second motorcycle fatality, there was one in Ottawa.

At dinner time, our family returned, we had a light macaroni dinner and bedtime routines. We wound down with another movie, an oldie: Thumbelina. The kidlets were suitably tired! They aren't quite comfortable enough with us for some things. I was called downstairs to read a story. That was joyful. Nutmeg came down, as well. 

Day 6

We eased into the morning, while parents packed. The girls were interested in the books I'd written with cousins Josephine and Isabelle. Jesse threw their sheets into the laundry for me. Cluny is going into gr. 2 and read them all.

Sunday we said our goodbyes, as their plane left Sunday evening for Vancouver.  Off they went around 9:30. Suitcases were stuffed into the car and there were hugs and kisses. They visited with Jesse's brother in Ottawa before their 6 p.m. flight. They had a big visit to the museum with their uncle. 

After doing some vacuuming, and tidying upstairs (they loved the art room), I ended up on the back deck reading. Jesse texted me around midnight, and they arrived home to Vancouver safely. I'd gone to bed by then! Good to read it in the morning, though. 

Our Ottawa kids in Istanbul and they are loving the sights (such amazing architecture), sounds (calls to prayer) and smells. They are in the middle of Eid al-Adha celebrations (in the rain). Josephine's camera isn't working, so repairs will have to wait.

The garbage was out by 6 a.m., and a new week begins! 

Early responders – they must be honoured: Heroes are human

Recovery, not rescue - very difficult.
The undercurrent is terrible at Bala Falls.

This new initiative (2014 Heroes are Human Tour) PTSD made me think about our crews, again:

PTSD affects at least 24% of emergency services crews in Canada

Having long been an advocate for our fabulous volunteer firefighters, as well as paramedics, local and provincial OPP, I have consistently written: Honour our First Responders!

Friday's Lanark County fire:
Fire in Rideau Ferry was rather scary.I've come across my fair share of good people. I remember when we called an ambulance for my late father, a neighbour (a firefighter volunteer), turned up even though he wasn't on duty. When paramedics turn up at the door, you have such a sense of relief, knowing the professionals have arrived. It is comforting. Someone else can take charge.

I spent some time being a Victim Services Volunteer. That gave me an inkling into what that pager means; hearing those inevitable Friday afternoon sirens in Muskoka, knowing crews were being dispatched, waiting for a call, and wondering what was happening.

Bala Falls - a dangerous place to swim.
It took hours to recover the bodies.

I remember my first, and only, call: for a neighbour checking in on someone and found he had committed suicide.

I remember that fateful summer in Bala, when we had too many drownings, a father and an uncle, non-swimmers whose families were swimming at Bala Falls. This kids were wearing life jackets and drifted out with the current, but the men sunk in the undertow trying to bring them back. Such a dangerous practice, swimming there.

Most ignore the signage.

swimming at Bala Falls.
They is much controversy around
resurrecting this hydro dam!
See Bala Falls Hydro Project

Danger - fast water

The recovery was difficult for all involved.



People might wonder why I would create this video, but it demonstrates the fine work of our emergency personnel, as well as the number of female volunteers in Muskoka.

Also, it helped the families overseas, who failed to understand why the two men were not saved. A family member commented on my video:

You are right I talked to my cousin (Barad Bhais wife) and she told me that rescue team did best to get them out alive, but it was unlucky, we all are very sad. We can understand that how painful is this to lose your love ones. Thank you for giving us glimpse of that area which some how some relief. We wish we could do some thing. Lots of prayers and God bless you all.

Men and women work hard

PTSD is a concern:
You could see the impact on the faces and through the body language of the volunteers. The crowd, seemingly fascinated with the lurid event, were silently honouring the crews. I don't think the EMS crews understood this. We could empathize, and were grateful they were there to recover the bodies, and help the families, relieved the victims were not our family members.

Directing traffic in 2009
Many chose to watch the rescue effort.

Drowning Statistics 2008

This amazing volunteer went to his wife,
who was directing traffic, and gave and got a hug.
You can see the stress in his weary shoulders.
BLess his heart.
Bala Falls drowning 2009

Drowning statistics 2009
Drownings in Ontario - Statistics 2010
Drownings in Ontario - Statistics 2011

Critical incident stress management is an important part of preventing and/or identifying PTSD. Putting all the stories together, your realize the enormity of these tasks; this is terribly hard work.

Pros and volunteers work together.
Muskoka Lakes fire #3 and 4 were in attendance

We honoured their work,
even though they didn't sense
that the crowd truly respected them.

The poor family was distraught

BBDE critical incident first morning here!

fire and rescue

Kemptville incident

Merrickville demo

Bala: Muskoka Lakes fundraiser

Smiths Falls crew

Sometimes you laugh, sometimes you cry, but look for the helpers!

Winter is a time for deep respect for many people. Early pioneers bring many stories of fires in the 'good old days.'

Thankfully, we have many services, due to our municipal tax dollars, in infrastructure, to protect us.
Mr. Rogers told us a story (on YouTube):
My mother always told me, when there was bad news, to look for the Helpers!

It is the season when things really get tough for our EMS crews. There are many helpers we can focus on, instead of our trite problems.

We have had very cold weather in this part of the continent, and with cold weather, there are resulting fires, as people seek to keep their homes warm. There are families who are out of their homes, who have lost everything. There are injuries and deaths due to smoke inhalation.

There has been a horrible fire in Kingston, Ontario. It is a good news story, however.

The best photos can be found posted by Kingston Police on their Facebook page.
A beautiful structure, meant for student housing, had a worker on a crane rescued by a CFB military helicopter. Instead of blame, we can honour those who serve the public.

Here they are working in the wee hours, in the cold, to contain the fire. People were evacuated, hydro and gas were turned off, while they fought the fire. The Red Cross came in and provided help and an evacuation site, as well as a phone number for those worried about family and friends.

A retirement home, with 100 residents, was evacuated in a dense area of the city, in the middle of exams for Queens University students.
The hotels are putting people up.
Vehicles were on fire, from winds that spread the fire. Many will have lost much.

There were no fatalities, no serious injuries, which is amazing. They think it was a propane tank that exploded in the building, as they were working.


The stories continue to be grand:

100.5 Kruz FM ‏@KruzFM

Pete's Cousin Vinnie says the rescued crane operator was also a hero himself. #ygkFire http://bit.ly/1jhHRcY 

While the building was on fire, the crane operator picked someone off of the burning building and plucked his fellow worker off of the roof, to put him on the ground. He was on the crane, in the cold, waiting an hour to get off of the crane.

Yes, it was windy, blowing bitter cold. The crane operator wasn't dressed for the weather, since he was in the crane cab. They had to pry the guy off of the crane, as he was in shock.

They have worked all night on the fire

There was a gas station near-by

Kingston, Ontario

UPDATE:

Mayor Mark Gerretsen ‏@MayorOfKingston

#ygkfire what ppl don't know: If helicopter couldn't get crane op, @kingstonpolice tact team were ready to use alt crane to attempt rescue.

Kingston police dog handlers

Police canine officers and their service dogs share a very special bond. Cst. Jeff Dickson of the Kingston Police explains the relationship between himself and PSD Indy.
Produced by Justin Tang

I snapped photos of the police trainers in Gravenhurst, ON.

They're driving me batty!

Look what Buster caught!

No, not the bat Buster caught, plucked out of the air at 3:50 a.m., but the loud music that went from 4 p.m. until at least 12:15 a.m., when I popped in my iPod ear buds. The Otty Lake BLues Cruise, with tourists on the lake having a loud party with an amplifier system.
I caught the bat with our butterfly net to get the screaming, scared, little creature in the net. Wish I could capture the noise makers as easily!

This morning I was listening to On the Dock, with Megan Thomas in Sudbury: summer long-weekend radio.
They interviewed three cottage country politicians:
Kawartha Lakes: Ric McGee
-75,000 permanent; 40,000 seasonal residents.
Haliburton/ Algonquin Highlands Councillor: Carol Moffat
-16,000 residents; 40,000 seasonal
Camden County in SW Ontario: Bill DeLoughy
-11,000 residents; up to 40,000 on a visiting weekend
Muskoka, where I used to live, would get nearly a million people up on a long weekend.

Charlie Green Road - very remote!

Beautiful cottage country

They spoke of the difficulties of meeting the municipal wants and needs of seasonal visitors. They spoke of gravel roads, remotely going around the lake, with poor EMS access.
Local Taxes Pay for Local Services
With waterfront properties having higher taxes, they demand better services, yet delivering firefighting crews to an island, for example, is difficult. Volunteer firefighters need jetskis, as well as snowmobiles as tourist season is no longer confined to summer, or the shoulder seasons.

Milford Bay , Ontario,Volunteer Crew Equipment

Lanark County

While the interviews with mayors of cottage towns are illuminating, they leave out the conflicts between summer residents, renters and permanent residents. We moved from a lovely retirement home on a lake, where we had cottaged for 50 years, to a lovely rural piece of land.

Renters have no love for the land, for peace and quiet, nor respect for land, lake and environmental laws. Fireworks every night for two weeks in a row. Children driving jetskis, 40-something jetskis drivers doing figure eights for hours, teens racing their powerful machines, some running alongside water skiers. Bonfires during fire bans. I have a photo of a man urinating off of his boat into the water while we sat with our afternoon coffee.
Adult children, or teens, will take over the cottage on a weekend, and bring booze and ATVs, and loud partying into the night. I praise our EMS crews, the OPP that I call in the wee hours as the drunks loudly party on the lake, and our volunteer firefighters who work tirelessly. Critical Incident Management is a whole new level of training for hard-working crews who respond to these tragic situations.

The near-misses of 2011 were frightening. But 2009 was the worst. More drownings in Muskoka

Drowning statistics for Muskoka are appalling (2009) 

Bonfires can so easily go wrong,
this one on a property with boat-only access.

Our Ontario Provincial Police (OPP): 25% policing calls are related to crime; 75% mental health, escort mentally ill, noise violations, handling nuisance bears, they do it all!

Bonfire on a hot summer day

Bonfires
Unfortunately, the maximum fine for illegal brush burning is $300. A pittance.

Fire destroys Muskoka Lakes boathouse

We see bonfires all around the area. Brushfires, bonfires, burning of wet leaves.