May 1 It was our first Dirty Dozen golf game and as you can imagine it was a bit of a mixed bag, the weather was cold and windy but mostly sunny, thank god. I had a few good shots, quite a few bad shots and a lot in between. Despite never having hit a ball this year before the game I played to my handicap and our two man team was in the money.

May 2 Raccoon squatters took over my grandson’s squirrel house. Two years ago my grandson, who was ten at the time, came to me with a plan to build a squirrel house he wanted to install on the family’s back deck. He was hoping he could entice them, using peanuts, to take up residence. Well, they certainly liked the peanuts he put out and did check out the facilities but never established permanent residency. Despite the small entrance two local raccoons managed to squeeze in and started living there. My daughter was certainly amused and entertained by their antics but knew the situation couldn’t last. The family pool is attached to the deck and used frequently during the summer. The raccoons finally left 3 days later, probably looking for larger accommodations. As it was they were juveniles and would soon outgrow the little door which is barely big enough.

May 3 Canadiens beat Tampa Bay in game seven. I got to see the last couple of minutes of the game without my blood pressure spiking. All seven games were decided by one goal and although many say the Habs were lucky to win game seven, overall they were evenly matched - on to Buffalo.

May 4 Cool and wet and the club wouldn’t let carts on the course so for me golf was cancelled. I seem to recall last year started much the same way cool and wet. I went home and started to work on my US Taxes – not fun.

May 10 Mother’s Day and our annual lobster dinner. It starts in the morning with me shopping for lobsters at various super markets that have them on sale. Sometimes I have to hit three different places before I find any. This year I was lucky, the local Metro Store, which is very close, had some. There were only two people ahead of me when I arrived at 8:30. When it was my turn I asked for 7 but was told the limit was 4 per customer. Needless to say I was upset. The clerk then told to take 4, go pay, put them in your car and come back in and get 3 more. So I did. These lobsters are the first of the year harvested in the Gaspe and while a little more expensive than last year still under $9 per lb.

May 11 Got in a game but should have stayed home – I need practice.

May 15 Golf rained out once again but the forecast looks promising for next Monday, sunny and warm finally might even get to wear shorts.

May 16 I submitted my US tax filing to the accounting firm I use and now just have to pay the bill. The IRS will probably assess me about $1,000 which I can reclaim from Canada and Quebec next year. Sometimes I wonder if holding on to my US citizenship is worth it, especially considering my dislike for Trump and his enablers and what they are doing to US institutions.

Canadiens had a chance to win their series against Buffalo and move on to the Stanley Cup finals but it was not to be, they were blown away 8 – 3. Seventh and deciding game will be back in Buffalo Monday the 18th.

May 17 Trying to wrap up Trump & Republic shenanigans during the month is always fun and at the same time infuriating but it keeps me occupied. Let’s start with the Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act. Within days southern Republican States (racist) started redistricting campaigns designed to eliminate any and all black congressional members. It remains to be seen if these efforts will succeed and if white voters will fully embrace these efforts. Could it be that some will rebel against their party and vote Democratic? On the grift side Trump says he will set up a $1.8 billion slush fund, over which he has control, to compensate January 6 rioters and sympathizers who were unfairly targeted by a “weaponized”, Biden Justice Department – give me a break. It was revealed that Trump’s net worth increased by some $5 billion during his first year in office driven mainly by his crypto scams, bribes and promoting companies whose stock he had recently purchase. Oh, and have you ordered your new gold Trump Mobile T1 phone which some are referring to as a cheap knock off of a Chinese model. And then there was the China trip with Trump accompanied by about a dozen of his billionaire friends. Doesn’t sound like it went well as President Xi (his good buddy) did not promise to pressure Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz. Sounds like he might like to see his “friend” Donald twist in the wind for a while. And while the Donald didn’t overtly concede anything on Taiwan he did blurt out that the US was not interested in fighting a war 8,500 miles from home. Maybe that will be seen as a green light for China.

May 18 Rained out once more, that’s 3 times so far this month. Our group gathered at the club, decided it was too wet and then five of us went for a second breakfast at a little spot on Grande Allée – Special #1 2 eggs, bacon, fruit, baked beans, cretons, toast, coffee with refills and way too many home fries. I’ll have to skip lunch.

Canadiens beat and eliminate Buffalo in overtime, the city is going crazy with more cars than ever flying Canadien flags stuck out a rear window. They now move on to North Carolina to take on the Hurricanes. Go Habs go.

May 20 That is it for me this month, I’m trying to wrap up early so John Charlton can do his thing and then take off for Nova Scotia – good luck John.

Thanks to all who contributed this month, Stu Prest, Don Brown, the jokesters Jim, Baxter, Jim Groundwater, Rob Ellicott, Bob Wrigley and off course John Charlton who keeps making this thing presentable.

Once again I’ll make the plea, send me something to include in the Newsletter, a story, pictures, art work or a semi-decent joke. We truly do need input.

Take note we will not be publishing a July edition, but with your help and some more content contributions we will be back for August.

Please take care.

Harvey

Stay Strong Ukraine

Ukraine and Russia are still negotiating but are still far apart while Russia continues to bomb Kiev and other cities. This month they unleashed a massive attack of 800 drones and missiles. Trump is holding up a $14 billion aid package for whatever reason perhaps to help his buddy Putin.

The war in Iran is still in a stalemate and Iran still controls the Strait of Hormuz preventing ships from leaving. Oil prices are climbing and countries are tapping into their oil reserves to help keep ease the pain.

Turns out the US has dangerously depleted their stockpile of munitions making it less likely they will carry out massive bombing campaigns and it appears that Iran is a little more resilient than expected. Estimates are that 70% of their missiles, launchers and drones are still available.

Stu, thanks for the memories, I certainly recall both Motown and Expo 67 regarded by most as the finest World’s Fair ever. There were so many great features, the pavilions, some of them still standing, the mono rail which would give you a grand tour of the whole site at no charge, the amusement park which lives on today as La Ronde, the wonderful exhibits featuring so many different cultures and countries and of course my favorite, the German beer garden, which got kind of crazy every night. I think we had to drain our steins every 15 minutes.

And thanks most of all for the musical intro. I think we have exhausted our car feature that has been running for several months now and was looking for something else that readers could contribute to, perhaps musical memories will do the trick.

I look at back at these lists and realize how many great songs and artists I’ve omitted, and I am sure many of you don’t agree with my choices. But you can do something about it. Look back at the decade that defines your musical tastes and send us your selections, we will be happy publish them. Help us keep this newsletter going. And yes we will keep publishing any car photos that you happen to dig up.

Don, thanks so much for your letter and photos, I promise never to use your grad picture again. I guess the 1976 Year Book Committee didn’t give you a chance to submit a new picture - something that happened frequently when a photo didn’t look that great. In my case it is not the grad photo I worry about it’s the current edition.

LOL - Sorry Don, I never made that promise, but we will respect your wishes going forward. Just so you know, Harvey had nothing to do with the debacle above. Anybody else hate your high school photo? Let us know. I know I do.

SCHOOL NEWS

I visited the school to check on the status of our Alumni Association bursary selections. They hadn’t been made yet but while taking to the school’s administrative assistant I received some disturbing news. For the first time in the school’s history no Year Book/Annual will be published. Only ten students in the graduating class expressed any interest or were willing pay to receive a copy.

This does not bode well for our Association. If students don’t even want a year book how will they respond when asked to join the Association.