In Vancouver, B.C. they have made smoking on a public beach or in public parks illegal, and people can get fines from $250 for the first offense to up to $2000 for more offenses. Park rangers are giving people a chance to warm up to the new by-law that has been in place for 9 months.

OUTDOOR SMOKING BAN BYLAWS ACROSS CANADA

In Ontario, the smoking ban for public places took place in 2006, and in Quebec in 2008.

In Alberta their smoking bylaw requires smokers to stand a minimum of five metres away from businesses or doorways as well as patios. Local municipalities have the right to enact stronger smoke-free air regulations.

In B.C, smokers must stand a minimum of three metres away from businesses or doorways, as well as prohibition of smoking in vehicles where children under the age of 16 are present. Local municipalities have the right to enact stronger smoke-free air regulations.

In Nova Scotia, smoking is prohibited on all outdoor patios and within four metres of entrances. Smoking is prohibited in vehicles where there are children 19 and under. Local municipalities have the right to enact stronger smoke-free air regulations.

In PEI, people can smoke in public places in designated smoking rooms that are ventilated.

Other provinces have smoking banned in public places, but nothing states about outdoors, with the exception of the Yukon, who have the patios, doorways and entrances ban, as well as smoking ban in children under 18 present in vehicles.

~Echoes of a Home~

The ugliest words in the human language are Homeless and being homeless. What

comes to mind when the word Homeless is mentioned, in any regard? You

immediately get an image of what you believe homeless looks like… which is the

commercialized version, not the reality version… but have you given any thought to

what it actually feels like, to be homeless? The stigma that automatically comes with

the title and label…

the mis-perceptions, gross judgments and assumptions that hold no truth.

If you don’t look like a walking trash bin and smell like a sewer, then you can’t be

homeless.

The stereotypes cast into roles that have never fit, trying out for a part we were not

properly cast in. Living on the streets is challenging enough without the added labels

and stigma attached to it, immediately cast our way even before they actually see us,

actually set their eyes on us — cast into roles that have never ‘fit’, but condemned by

hear-say, not by the evidence of Truth. Too blind to see and too deaf to hear—

I didn’t choose to be put out here, yet I’m always being prosecuted for the actions of

others– it’s this response toward me that turns me ‘off’ to life– Forcing myself to

remember to breathe and remembering why I should bother to keep going. I often

wonder what it is that keeps me pushing, fighting and holding on (to what..??).

Transitional Living….

When you live your life, or merely an existence of a semblance of

what once was a life, on the streets,

your life becomes mobile in the truest sense.

Everyplace and any place,

using the resources around you for your temporary housing,

becomes your residence, at least for a few minutes, perhaps a couple

days, weeks at most, before you are forced to another

destination, but not one that takes you

any place.

Carrying your ‘home’ with you at every moment.

And the cycle repeats. Everyday.

You become an expert at packing, as this is a daily ritual.

Camping becomes your new sport.

Walking becomes your main form of transit, no matter if your body is able

to carry you or not, you are not given the choice or the luxury of just being for a time,

allowing some healing to unfold through your body. Putting more miles on your

feet than most people do their cars. People would be surprised the mileage we put

on our feet when your home is the great outdoors, they wouldn’t believe the

information listed on a pedometer if we had them attached to us.

They would insist they we had somehow rigged it, as the numbers showing

could not possibly be true. Follow us then. But then anyone following us

would fall to the wayside, they could not keep up.

Beginning my mornings by meditating before the chaos of the day unfolds.

It helps prepare my mind and heart for the day to come.

My companions of the night, furry and feathered, are the most

treasured friends I have and give me reason to breathe in, and out, and try to

remember to repeat the cycle.

Life in Transit…

Not given the chance to make a home, but we have many residences.

Never knowing where you might find your self at any point of the day or night.

What city or town you will be in, not usually by choice.

How long will you be given the chance to breathe, before you are forced to move?

How long before some home residing person calls the cops on us just for being

present?

And taking advantage of whatever resources are at your disposal at any given

moment… a sink, I’ll pull out my shampoo or

toothpaste out and get down to business.

Learning to clean up in the quickest time and measuring the time allotted,

for what you will do. If I have 3-5 minutes, I can wash my hair and

brush my teeth at the same sink, before heading out and moving on.

Always having what I need with me, since I never know when the opportunity will

present itself. Stayed prepared.

By Renee Bowen

Homeless since Sept. 1, 2000

© 11/2011

As the terror threats become more real, everyone needs to be alert and know what to do in case of an attack in their area. If an attack is by way of a dirty bomb, you need to follow the same steps as you would for a chemical attack. Consider 5 tips for what to do during a dirty bomb terror attack.

1. Remove yourself for the area. Do not travel across country. This can spread any problems among citizens. Contain yourself to a safe area and wait for further instructions on movement.

2. Dry brush any possible chemical or unknown items from your clothing. Brush carefully and avoid getting anything in your eyes or airway if possible.

3. Seek help at the nearest hospital, but stay in an outdoor area. At the time of any attack, hospital staff will be ready with an outdoor area in order to maintain control further exposure. Follow their instruction carefully.

4. Do not mix with people that were not exposed. You want to keep to a limited area among others that were exposed to prevent the spread.

5. If you begin to have problems breathing, call for help right away. The affects of a dirty bomb attack are going to depend on what you are exposed to.

Try to stay calm and follow all instructions. Help will arrive or you will be directed to help. If you have children in a different location, stay away from them. Call for help in protecting them from exposure and let someone else take care of them until you are cleared of all problems.

I can feel the goose bumps on my skin increasing. Then suddenly, as quickly as they came, the goose bumps disappear. I’m in a city, but I feel like I’m alone with the thunder. The storm’s getting closer now; more birds have stopped singing and are now waiting for the rain to come. Only a few brave soldiers sit out in the open on rooftops and phone poles.

However, the weather is no match for humans; rain, snow, or sun humans will not be stopped to enjoy a summer storm for what it really is: perfect. We jump into our vehicles and head out onto the open road. We go to our Shopping Malls and Supermarkets during storms. Families pass by in their SUV’s and head home to their ranch style houses. Nobody ever sits down and just watches nature anymore. Living in the country has opened my eyes to appreciate all types of nature including the corn fields growing in my hometown or the six trees that I can see out of my boyfriend’s apartment in the city. I try to enjoy it whenever and wherever I can.

I guess all I’m really trying to do is to be able to motivate someone to drop the game controller, put down the remote, get off the cell phone and go outside. If you really want to impress yourself go put on a pair of sneakers, and walk to the nearest park; if possible get into your car and head towards a state park and go hiking!

Becoming more closely aquatinted with nature can truly make all bad thoughts, persistent thoughts and worries, judgments disappear. You’ll return back to your apartment, condo, or house a more positive, happy, and sane person. No matter the location, nature should always be explored and appreciated; if that means sitting on a porch step in Scranton, Pennsylvania or going hiking, do it!

Sentence:

I had the exciting opportunity of traveling to the Netherlands and getting acquainted with the country’s customs and traditions.  I have never seen so many tulips, windmills, and wooden clogs in my life.  The people are super friendly and very hospitable. 

When I was walking through a field of multicolored tulips, I came across an elderly vrow who stooped over in the field to pick some tulips.  I said hello to her and she presented me with a bunch of beautiful tulips; I was very happy that she was cordial to me.  She really made me welcome in her country!

I visited the beautiful city of Amsterdam; there are a lot of bridges and many people riding everyone on bicycles; it truly is a carefree city.  I stopped by a cafe to take in a delicious coffee and many people were happy to see an American citizen visiting their city.

Before leaving the country, I stopped by an art museum and saw the wonderful pieces of artwork by various famous European artists; I had gotten myself lost in the sea of bright and vivid colors.  Simply amazing!

Mrs. Jones took great pride in seeing her vegetable garden grow; however, she was disappointed to see that her tomato and carrot plants were overtaken by thick, ugly weeds.  She called a pesticide company and they came over right away to spray the unsightly weeds with fenuron.

Days later, Mrs. Jones clapped her hands together in glee as the weeds had shriveled up.  She proceeded to rake up all of the weeds and now her precious plants had a chance to thrive in the nutrient-rich soil.  Weeks later, Mrs. Jones was able to pick a basketful of healthy looking tomatoes and carrots for her family’s delightful dinners.

Mrs. Jones says that the key to a successful garden is love and patience.  The more work in which you put into growing a garden, the stronger will be the fruits of your labor.  Mrs. Jones had an overabundance of vegetables from her garden; therefore, she decided to take her goods to the local market, where she was able to sell her vegetables by the pound.  With the money that she made from her produce, Mrs. Jones had purchased more seeds to plant in her garden.

Here is a cool sentence with the word Brackish

Jill enjoyed her summer days lounging at the beach in Cape Cod.  She has come to the same place for 20 years and she swore that each year got remarkably better.  She opened her mouth to yet out a yawn and absorbed some of the brackish ocean spray; she licked her lips as she diluted the saline mixture on her tongue.

Yes, Jill was finally at home where she belonged; nobody could pry her from her castle.  She looked back on her childhood and remembered building tall sand castles on the warm and crumbly beach with her loving father.  She loved her father so much because he had spent all of his free time with her after Jill’s parents got divorced.

Jill would giggle as her father and her would promenade down the long beach and ultimately ending up at an ice cream shop at the end of their wonderful journey.  Her father would treat her to a small hot fudge sundae and watch in delight as she greedily gobbled up the delightful dessert; oh what wonderful memories!

Hope you enjoyed this short story; Has anyone been to Cape Cod?  I haven’t, but I have heard wonderful things about this charming place.  Have a great day!

I jog and walk the park a few times a week, so I’m fairly accustomed to being outdoors. I’ve decided to take it a step further and try to spend time outside daily. The Earth is beautiful with many sites to see. Many of us don’t take the time to appreciate Mother Earth and all she has to offer. Instead of doing my workouts inside, I’ve recently started doing them outside. I feel more energetic being outdoors and working out. I’m working on getting a laptop for myself, so I can surf the net outside. It may give me more inspiration to write on more topics. We need to make more of an effort to get away from that caged in mentality and appreciate the outdoors. There is a lyric from a song called “Greater than the Sun” that goes, “You can laugh if you like, you can cry if you want, but you must realize that nothings greater than the Sun”. Appreciate those beautiful sunrises and sunsets. They are numbered for all of us. 

“It was about ten years ago when I run into the Bigfoot creature, or whatever it was.

“At the time I lived in a trailer up near the Virginia line, not too far from South Boston. I was going to college at Duke University in Durham at the time, and it was about an hour’s drive to get to campus every day. Thank goodness most years I only had classes two or three days a week, because that’s not the most exciting drive to make.

“For morning classes, I had to get up real early, usually by about four (a.m.). First thing I usually did was get a shower and eat breakfast. Then I had to feed my dog, she was an old beagle, and then I would take her outside for a good walk before I would have to leave for school.

“One morning I was out walking her, I guess I must have been about four thirty or five o’clock, when we heard something tearing through the woods behind my place. Now I know even a squirrel can make a lot of noise, especially in the middle of the night when there’s no other sounds, but this was a lot louder than that. There were tree limbs cracking, and whatever it was sounded real heavy as it stomped through the woods.

“Now I’ve heard stories of black bears in that part of the country, even seen a few pictures, but I’ve never personally seen any. My thought at the time was that it must be a black bear. So I rushed my beagle inside because I didn’t want her to get hurt.

“I was standing there in the trailer door unleashing my dog when the sounds from the woods got closer, as if something were tearing through the trees coming toward me.

“I didn’t think. I shoved the dog further into the house and reached for a rifle that was hanging in a rack in a little closet across from the washer and dryer. I should have just gone in the house and shut the door, but that didn’t occur to me for some reason.

“I grabbed the rifle, it was only a .22, a Marlin I think, and pulled out the clip to make sure it had ammo. It did, so I put the clip back in and jacked in a round. Then, as that noise was getting louder and closer, I stepped out onto the back patio and kicked the door closed behind me. If it was a bear or something, I didn’t want to chance it getting in the house and I didn’t want to chance my dog running outside to attack this thing.

“I didn’t raise the rifle to my shoulder, but it just sort of hung from my right hand, ready in case I needed to bring it up.

“I think I walked out to the end of the patio where there was a short wooden fence, and I stared into the woods. I couldn’t see much because it was so dark back in the trees, but there was one of those big lights that the electric company provides up a pole over the trailer.

“Then suddenly there it was in front of me, no more than twenty yards away. It tore out of the trees and came to a standstill right there, not moving, just staring back at me. It’s chest was heaving up and down a little, as if it had trouble breathing or something, but other than that it did not move.

“I don’t rightly know how to describe it. It was huge, taller than me, and covered in hair from head to foot. For a second the idea of it being a grizzly popped into my head, but I knew there weren’t any grizzly bears in that part of the world. But I had seen penned grizzlies in Cherokee, North Carolina, and this thing was every bit as big as they were.

“It’s fur was a dark brown, and it’s face was sort of like that of an ape, but it didn’t have the big mouth of an ape and its eyebrows protruded more than that of an ape. It’s eyes were the scariest thing. They were real human, just like somebody looking right at you.

“But the thing didn’t seem mean or angry or threatening. It just stood there staring at me, sort of as if it were sizing me up, but not as if it were going to attack. More like it wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to attack it, be a threat to it.

“I couldn’t move. I just stood there staring at it, frozen.

“Then it turned and walked back into the woods, slow this time, not making near as much noise as it had earlier.

“That’s when I noticed my dog was howling its head off inside the trailer. I stood outside a little longer, but soon I couldn’t hear anything in the woods, so I went back into the house.

“I was pretty shaken up. I didn’t go to Duke that day, but stayed home. Part of me didn’t want to leave the house because I was afraid that thing might come back and break in and hurt the dog. But I never saw it or heard of it again.

“I’ve asked around a little bit, and no one else around here that I know of has ever seen such a thing in these parts. But I don’t like to tell too many people what I’ve seen, because then they think you’ve gone crazy or you were drunk or high when it happened.”

Outdoor links

10 bear safety tips

10 things hunters should never camouflage

• 1-4 to 5 foot long stick with a “V” at the end of it, 1 to 1.5 inches thick, straight
• 1-2 to 3 foot long stick, straight, .75 to 1 inch thick
• 3 to 3.5 feet of cordage, must be strong enough to have a weight limit of over 40 pounds, but must be less than 1/4 inches wide
• 4-.75 to 1 foot long sticks, .5-.75 feet thick, straight
• 30 to 35 pounds of clay

Procedure:

•  
  1. Make a base using 10 pounds of clay on the non-forked end of the stick
  2. Put 20 pounds of clay on 1 end of the 3 foot long stick in a sphere shape, this will act as the counterweight
  3. let the clay harden for a few days (put a towel over it so that it won’t dry out too quickly and crack)
  4. make a bowl on the other side of the 3 foot long stick using the remaining clay (if you have too much you don’t have to use all of it)
  5. Let the entire thing dry for another week (remember the towel so it doesn’t crack)
  6. Now you will need the cordage. Tie the 1st end of it about 4-6 inches away from the large bowl side of the 3 ft. stick. Make sure that you tie it very well so that it won’t come undone when you need it most.
  7. Now tie the other end of the cordage about 8-10 inches away from the forked end of the stick. You will also need to have this tie be pretty strong as well, as it will be receiving a lot of shock when it is used. Now if you want to you can put clay around where you tied the cordage to the sticks to make it stronger and more durable. Don’t use too much clay, as that will impair the entire machine.
  8. Let the entire turret dry for about another week with a towel over it. After this, you can put it in the sun for a little while it is dry outside, as well as hot.

Usage:

1. Place the 3 ft. stick on the forked end of the longer stick so that about 2.5 feet of it (the side with the bowl end) are on 1 side. The other .5 feet will be the side with the large sphere on it.
2. Now pull the bowl end back so that the side with the bowl is pointed down at an angle of about 45 
3. Now load the bowl with small stones, pebbles, or something else like that.
4. Let the bowl side go and watch the stones fly at the target (please no people or animals)
5. Repeat steps 1-4 to reload and reuse the mechanism.

Congratulations! You have now made a trebuchet!