Full Buck Moon - July 2024

A White Party on the deck at BPYC set the tone for a beautiful evening of great food and dancing in the moonlight. It seemed everyone was relaxed and happy under the stars. Magical!

My granddaughter Nora was on her way! She arrived around 3 a.m. July 21, and the moon was full 6:17 a.m. A full moon baby!

Buck Moon - From the Field Guide to Insects

Mary Oliver, 12 Moons

Eighty-eight thousand six-hundred

different species in North America. In the trees, the grasses

around us. Maybe more, maybe

several million on each acre of earth. This one 

as well as any other. Where you ares standing

at dusk. Where the moon

appears to be climbing the eastern sky. Where the wind

seems to be traveling through the trees, and the frogs

are content in their black ponds or else

why do they sing? Where you feel

a power that is not you but flows

into you like a river. Where you lie down and breathe

the sweet honey of grass and count

the stars; where you fall asleep listening

to the simple chords repeated, repeated.

Where, resting, you feel

the perfection, the rising, the happiness

of their dark wings.

Launch!

 Launch this year was April 23. For the first time in two years, it wasn't delayed due to the pandemic.

However, Rob was down for the count with Covid, and for some miraculous reason (or effective booster shots), I was still testing negative.

So, for the first time ever, I was part of the launch crew, assigned to pads. On the previous shift, someone with the same duties had crunched their hand. I was pretty skittish to start with, and this news made me even more nervous. 

Pete M helped orient me to my duties and stayed until I had successfully managed 4 boats (so appreciated!). The pad part was easy, applying light pressure to keep them in place until the boat had lifted. It was the sling that was a bit more intimidating - grabbing hold while it was in mid air and then placing it on the bow of the hull so the vessel could be lifted. 

The shift was just 4.5 hours but felt like a full day's work. At the end of my shift, I was happy to have been a part of the successful operation. And Yondering was in the water! Mike P took the helm and motored her into the slip.

Yondering

July began with a sailing staycation on Yondering. Really, the first extended change of scene since months of lockdown at home. Such a sense of ease, of freedom, and open space!

On a windless morning we motored over to Toronto Island and dropped anchor at the water filtration plant for our first over nite. There were a lot of boats on the wall, but not as many as we expected to find. Spaces were opening up here and there every couple of hours, so those with patience could eventually land a spot.

The next morning, a dinghy ride along hidden shoreline to visit the island's resident blue heron, and then a walk on Centre Island's familiar paths. The Pier and gardens felt quite deserted. Although a few people had ventured over on the ferry, not many were afoot and the lifeguard was left alone to ponder the horizon from his high lookout.

A quick motor over to Ward island beach. Calm water and low wind meant we were able to stay overnight - a special treat. I managed my first swim of the season off the boat. Then, a beautiful return sail to Bluffers Park as the winds picked up.

Saturday and Sunday nights we anchored closer to home, right by the Bluffs. Between 4-8 pm on both days there was almost intolerable jet ski and powerboat traffic, tearing up the shore with noise and wake. Thankfully the stinkpots eventually relented. Swinging on a hook with Caroline on Ruby Tuesday and Aldo and Alex on Alcione. 

Moonrise was idyllic, the lake so calm. Sunrise a gift to start the day.

What joy! 

We didn't find out until May 20 that there would be a launch on June 20. Shakedown sail on June 27 and get away July 1 - July 6.

Rob has made some improvements that help make Yondering more comfortable. New cockpit cushions make for enjoyable lounging and travelling. Getting rid of the heater in the cabin creates more space because we can hoist up the table and get better access to shelves port side.

Happy New Year

Wendy staged a memorable Chinese New Year Celebration at BPYC. 

Beautiful cherry blossoms hanging from the rafters, Chinese lanterns. a signature cocktail, a zither concert, a feast, every guest's name transcribed to brush. 

It was months' preparation because she actually created the table centres with her own glue gun and strung each and every blossom. Baked all the cookies and cupcakes. 

Of course she did conscript her family, students, and fellow BPYC members. Truly memorable. 

I got to be a dragon lady! Taking a pole to hoist the dragon in a parade. What fun! I felt like a kid again.

Year of the Rat 2020 Ox Horoscope

Diane in Chinese

2020 will certainly be a lucky year for those born in the Year of the Ox. You’ll be relaxed and feel good about yourself, and this beautiful balance will have happy repercussions on your love life. The Ox is the 2nd of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac. Your chinese zodiac sign is Ox if you are one born in of these years: 1913, 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021. The Ox chinese horoscope 2020 predicts that in order to amplify the good celestial influences of the year and lessen the negative impacts, it will be in your best interests to take stock of your life and to hatch out new projects. Every time you have confidence in yourself and show yourself to be enterprising and innovative, luck will smile upon you.

Quiz Nite Jan 2020

Rob and I hosted the first Trivia Nite of 2020 down at the club. We had been collecting trivia over the past few months so all we really needed to do was edit the selections. 

A very rainy winter night, and when we first showed up there were just 8 of us there (including the quiz masters) for the potluck. Six more turned up for the start of the game, so we ended up with three teams. A night of make-your-own-fun.

1. What did Larry Page and Sergey Brin create that made them very, very rich?
Google
Together they own about 14% of the shares and control 56% of stockholder voting power through super voting stock.

2. What salary did Mark Zuckerburg earn in 2019?
a. $1
Bonus Question: How much bonus did he receive in 2019
b. $0  However he did receive $22.5M in other compensation

3. What city Warren Buffett, the 4th wealthiest person in the world, call home?

Omaha Nebraska - Warren Buffet has a net worth of US $88.9 billion as of December 2019, making him the fourth-wealthiest person in the world turning 90 this coming August (Warren Edward Buffett was born on August 30, 1930, in Omaha, Nebraska)

4. What is the Latin phrase for, ‘something for something’?
Quid pro quo

5. What is the Latin word for the legal defence term, “elsewhere”?
Alibi

6. How many feet does a snail have?
a. One

7. What mammal has the highest blood pressure?
a. Giraffe

8. A group of clams is known as what?
a. Bed

9. Group of rhinos is called a
a. Crash

10.What is the only insect that can turn its head sideways?
a. Praying mantis

11.What is the little space between your eyebrows called?
a. glabella The glabella, in humans, is the skin between the eyebrows and above the nose. It also refers to the underlying bone which is slightly depressed, and joins the two brow ridges. It is a cephalometric landmark that is just superior to the nasion.

12.What is the number of playing squares on a standard chess board?
a. 64
BONUS: How many squares patterns are on the chessboard?
actual squares: 204 (64 + 49 + 36 + 25 + 16 + 9 + 4 + 1)

13.How many snakes on a Snakes and Ladders board.
a. 10
b. BONUS: How many ladders? 9

14.Multiple Choice question. In the London England edition of Monopoly, what property is equivalent to Boardwalk? : Park Lane, Regent Street, Mayfair or Fleet Street?
a. Mayfair

15.Barbara Millicent Roberts is otherwise known as…?
a. Barbie

16.What is the US currency value of a ‘sawbuck’?

a. $10 (believed to have been derived from the Latin X for ten, sawbuck or sawhorse legs)

17.Robert Plant and Jimmy Page were members of what band?
a. Led Zeppelin

18. What newspaper did Clark Kent, aka Superman, work for?

a. Daily Planet

19.What 2 colours make up the Cat in the Hat’s hat?
a. Red and White

20.Which character in ‘WKRP in Cincinnati’ uttered, “As god is my witness I thought turkeys could fly”
a. General Manager, Arthur Carlson

21.What is the highest pitched instrument in an symphony orchestra?
a. Piccolo

22.Is TURANDOT a pasta or an opera?
a. Opera

23.Is CAVATELLI a pasta or a composer
a. Pasta

24.Is ANTICO a pasta or composer?
a. Composer.

25.Is GEMELLI a pasta or an opera
a. Pasta

- BREAK – Over the break can you identify the botanicals (hint: all are used in gin). Smelling and tasting is okay!

26. cinnamon
27. Juniper berries
28. Cardamom
29. Coriander
30. Hibiscus flower

31.What was the purpose of this antique medical device?
a. Tooth extractor circa 1850’s

32.What US State names start with the letter N
Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota

33.Name an inventor of the rabies vaccine?
a. Louis Pasteur and Emile Roux

34.What is the middle colour in a rainbow?
a. Green

35.Which of our solar system planets is closet in size and mass to earth?
a. Venus

36.What events make up an Olympic winter biathlon
a. Cross-country skiing and rifle shooting

37.Where is the Masters golf tournament played?
a. in Augusta Georgia


38.Who wrote One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest?
a. Ken Kesey

39.Author Ian Fleming, of James Bond fame, also wrote a popular children’s story that also turned to film. What was it?
a. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

40.What Alcohol is the main ingredient in a mint Julip?
a. Bourbon

41.Which Prime Minister introduced the new Canadian flag in 1965
a. Lester B Pearson

Music - play a sample so people can identify

42.Name of song or artist – Zorba the Greek or Zorba’s dance – Mikis Theodorakis
43.Name of song or artist – Peter Gunn – Duane Eddy
44.Name of song or artist – Draggin’ the Line – Tommy James and the Shondells
45.Name of song or artist – Baby Elephant Walk – Henry Mancini
46.Name of song or artist – Common People – Pulp

47.Who won best actress in a drama at 2020 Golden Globes
a. Renee Zellweger

48.Which Beatle follows John Lennon crossing the road last on the Abbey Road album cover?
a. Ringo Starr followed by Paul then George

49.The Toronto Hunt Club formed in 1843 by British Soldiers garrisoned at Fort York. It acquired its first permanent home in 1895 on Kingston Road. What were the grounds primarily used for at that time?
a. Equestrian events (gymkhana events)

50.2019 was the year of the pig in the Chinese Zodiac cycle. What animal commemorates 2020?

a. RAT

Trivia!

A Friday's winter night down at the club. Trivia night! I volunteered to host and Rob helped with editing the questions, playing the music on cue, and then delivering the answers.

It was fun preparing questions, and surprisingly a fair bit of work to research & verify. I actually ended up lifting the whole cocktail section from the trivia questions I'd prepared a couple years ago, and no one was the wiser! The first five were the toughest for the players there that night, with a fair bit of grumbling about providing multiple choice on harder questions. Oops! I actually didn't think they were that hard but then they aren't, not when you know the answers. I can't say Rob didn't warn me of a few of my selections.

Overall feedback was positive. People really like guessing the smells, seeds and objects; enough to forgive the nerdy lit bits.

1	Q. Name the Pulitzer Prize winning poet who died in January 2019 at 83.  Hint:  Here’s a  line from one of her poems: “What do you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?	Mary Oliver	She was called the ‘people’s poet’ and derided in some literary circles
2	Who won the Nobel prize for literature in 2016 but didn’t accept it until 2017?	Bob Dylan or Robert Allen Zimmerman	- Although he was awarded the prize in October 2016, he did not accept until April 2017
3	What novel about an eleven-year old field slave won the 2018 Giller prize?	Washington Black	- Washington Black by Esi Edugyan was also a finalist for the 2018 Man Booker Prize and the 2018 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize
4	What is an ambigram?	Reads the same when turned upside down	- Swims,  - and depending on cursive font: Yeah, chump
5	What is a pangram sentence?	pangram sentence is one that contains every letter in the English alphabet	- “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”
6	Who won Best Actress at the 2018 Golden Globe and for her role in The Wife?	Glenn Close	- Among her films are World According to Garp, The Big Chill, Albert Nobbs, and of course the bunny boiler, Fatal Attraction with Michael Douglas
7	What movie was mistakenly awarded the Oscar for best picture in 2017?	LA LA LAND	Moonlight won the award.
8	Which two actors presented the 2017 Oscar for best picture?	. Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty
9	What material was used to make an Oscar in 1943, 44, and 45	Plaster	Due to the wartime metal shortages the Oscar was made of plaster and painted gold. Recipients were able to trade up later.
10	What actress said of Marilyn Munro, “She thinks if she wiggles her ass and coos away, she can carry her scene----- well, she can’t!"	Bette Davis	Bette Davis intimidated Marilyn Monroe so badly on the set of All About Eve that Monroe went into the bathroom to vomit after their scenes together. After one particular scene, Bette whispered to her other co-stars-- within poor Marilyn's hearing-- "That little blonde slut can't act her way out of a paper bag!
11	What is this object?	Absinthe spoon	a sugar cube is placed on the spoon, and water is dripped through and into the glass of absinthe beneath
12	What is this object?	Edison Record
13	What is this called?	Wearable sundial or shepherd’s watch
14	Who was the oldest Marx Brother	Chico	There were 5 brothers that made up the troupe, Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Gummo and Zeppo.
15	What flower variety produces the spice saffron?	Crocus (or saffron crocus)	It takes 70,000 crocus flowers to produce one pound
16	What is the most common day of the week for heart attacks in the US?	Monday	I hate Mondays!
17	What is the most common day of the year for heart attacks to happen in the US?	December 25th	Christmas day is the most common day of the year for heart attacks to happen.
18	Where did the Sidecar get its start? Paris, London or New York? One bonus point for knowing the 3 main ingredients.	Paris - brandy, Cointreau and lemon juice.	The sidecar took off in Paris during the early 1900s.
19	What cocktail was invented in New Orleans in 1838 and is known as the first American cocktail?	Sazarac.	The Sazerac named for the Sazerac de Forge et Fils brand of cognac brandy that served as its original main ingredient. Wikipedia Ingredients: 1/4 oz Absinthe, One sugar cube, 1 1/2 oz Rye or bourbon whiskey or Cognac, Three dashes Peychaud's Bitters
20	What cocktail was invented and named by Ian Fleming in the 1953 James Bond novel Casino Royale  a Corpse Reviver b Vesper c Ladykiller d Martini	A Vesper - “Shake or stir as you prefer, and garnish with an olive or a lemon twist”	“Three measures of Gordon's, one of vodka, half a measure of Kina Lillet. Shake it very well until it's ice-cold, then add a large thin slice of lemon peel. Got it?"
21-25	What are these smells? 1 point for each correctly guessed, so 5 points in all. Come check them out during the break	rose water spritz, orange blossom spritz,  apple cider vinegar,  eucalyptus, scotch
BREAK
26	Play Song 1  Name the band	Beatles/Besame Mucho	- This is the first song the Beatles recorded with George Martin
27	Play Song 2 Next 3 are all eighties synthesizer openings	Cars / Gary Newman
28	Play Song 2	Heart of Glass/ Blondie
29	Play song 4	Skin Deep/ Stranglers
30	Song 5  not the eighties anymore!	King of the Road/ Roger Miller
31	Which Beatle crosses Abbey Road last on the famous album cover?	George Harrison	John leads followed by Ringo, Paul and then George
32	Yusuf Islam is commonly known by his stage name Cat Stevens. Was he raised a Muslim or did he convert?	Convert	His father was Greek Orthodox and his mother Baptist. His brother converted to Judaism.
33	Who commissioned the building of Casa Loma	Sir Henry Pellatt
34	What is the only musical instrument registered as a weapon of war	Bagpipes	Many pipers died in both world wars; until 1996 the bagpipes were classified as a weapon of war.
35	How many keys on a full size piano? Bonus. Point….how many are black?	88/36
36	Which point upwards, stalactite or a stalagmite	A stalagmite	- grows up from the floor of a cave from the mineral drippings of a stalactite. The world’s largest known is located in Ireland and is 24 feet in length, in a cave in County Clare
37	How many hearts does an octopus have?	3	a systemic heart that circulates blood round the body and two branchial hearts that pump it through each of the two gills
38	What’s the plural of Octopus?	Octopuses	According to the Oxford dictionary and Octopi…is incorrect
39	Approximately how many times does the average human heart beat every day? - 65,000 times each day - 82,000 times each day - 108,000 times each day	108,000 times each day
40	What 3 groups make up the new Canada’s food guide?	vegetables and fruits whole grains  protein foods (lentils, lean red meat, fish, poultry, unsweetened milk and fortified soy beverages, nuts, seeds, tofu, lower fat dairy and cheeses lower in fat and sodium).	Dairy lobbied hard against dropping Milk but was unsuccessful. Previously the food groups were: dairy, meat and alternatives, grains and fruits/vegetables
41	What are the traditional three meats from sheep are found in haggis?	heart, liver and lungs	In her book, The Haggis: A Little History, Dickson Wright suggests that haggis was invented as a way of cooking quick-spoiling offal near the site of a hunt, without the need to carry along an additional cooking vessel.[5] The liver and kidneys could be grilled directly over a fire, but this treatment was unsuitable for the stomach, intestines, or lungs.[5] Chopping up the lungs and stuffing the stomach with them and whatever fillers might have been on hand, then boiling the assembly — probably in a vessel made from the animal's hide — was one way to make sure these parts were not waste
42	Q. Name the following spices –   ¼ point for each (circulate and allow tasting)	A. coriander B. cumin C. fennel D. - caraway
43	What famous African American woman was honoured by a Google Doodle at the start of 2019’s Black History month?	Sojourner Truth	She published her memoir, The Narrative of Sojourner Truth: A Northern Slave, in 1850, and gained national acclaim as a speaker, delivering dozens of speeches and lectures on women's rights and abolitionism. A year later, she delivered her famous "Ain't I a Woman?" speech in Akron, Ohio, in which she advocated for equal human rights for women as well as African-Americans.
44	What planet is known as the morning star and the evening star?	Venus
45	What financial index is known as the footsie?	The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index	Accept acronym or full name- also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally,/ˈfʊtsi/, is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with the highest market capitalisation.
46	What products do Aurora, Canopy, and Namaste sell?	Weed, marijuana, etc
47	According to the Chinese zodiac cycle, 2019 is the year of the what?	Pig	Pig  symbolises wealth.  Famous pigs:  Amy Winehouse, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Stephen King 1947, 71, 83, 2007
48	Where would you find your Hallux?	On your foot or the big toe
49	In what city was the last Canadian penny minted? Bonus – what year?	Winnipeg, 2012
50	Who is on the Canadian $10 bill	Viola Desmond	On Nov. 8, 1946, Desmond was arrested after refusing to leave a whites-only section of the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow, N.S., in an incident that has since become one of the most high-profile cases of racial discrimination in Canadian history.