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wl w ww Of all the ridiculous claims made in favour of pesticide use on urban lawns, their use as a remedy against allergies is the most silly, misguided and downright outrageous. In response to Ban Limits Chance of Healthy Lawns, by Bill Anderâ€" son, published in the Chronicle on Feb. 13. In the first place, allergy causing weeds do not grow on urban lawns. Secondly, lawn chemicals cause allergies, rather than vice versa. When the Canadian military decided it wanted CFB Gagetown to be treeâ€"free, it embarked on the largest pesticide experiment in Canada. Using pesticides for medicinal purposes is like cutting off your nose to spite your face â€" equally ridiculous. My family was living there. The result today is a huge scar in New Brunswick which is visible from space. remedy for allergies a ridiculous claim Theory â€" the AMGWT if you will. It‘s not strictly calendar based, but it goes this way. (Enktam If we have a threeâ€" or fourâ€"week stretch of particularly poor weather, and by that I mean a stretch of no sun or lots of rain or plenty of snow or cold condiâ€" tions, then I pick myself up with a reminder that under the rules of the AMGWT soon we will have a few days of better than average weather. Of course this theory is almost always accurate for numerous reasons. First of all, the weather is always changing so even by pure luck I‘m going to get someâ€" thing. And secondly, if the weather is particâ€" ularly bad then any kind of improvement is going to look good. Isn‘t it? _ â€" \It really doesn‘t mean much except in a purely psychological sense. Really, I can‘t lose. If the poor weather stretches for a few extra days 1 can say to myself, "Well, we‘re due for a few good days." And if the good weather comes I can pat myself squarely on the back for subscribing to my theory. This is very healthy for me since, as is well known in some corners, I hate winter. I despise it. There is nothing good about it. I wouldn‘t care if it ever snowed. Sure, a nice light snowfall is pretty, but it would be a lot prettier to me if it was 20 degrees out when it snowed. In fact, give me 365 days a year of 20 degrees and I am quite happy. I‘m not interested in the change of seasons. (Side note: For those of you inclined to send me a _ anyone tell you it‘s not worthwhile. long, blustery letter about climate change and the ' *** importance of all that stuff, don‘t bother. This is my ‘ Brian Boil:lgrke, a meml;r of thhee; fi3 KO('I)L FM soapbox, not yours. I am a big fan of our | morning crew, can be reaci email at carbon footprints. I try to do it m bbourke@koolfm.com. Why my wife says I‘m a big loser ... and my theories on the winter Pesticides as a have this theory about the weather. It‘s completely unscientific, but I like it anyway. And it‘s mine, so there. I call it the Alternating Month of Good Weather A more immediate result was my asthma and severe allergies, but at least I didn‘t die like so many others. No sir Mr. Anderson, one doesn‘t obtain a healthy body or healthy lawn using toxic chemicals. A lawn that is sprayed is just another source of contamination for children. Iwas simply dumbfounded and annoyed to read in last week‘s Chronicle how the City of Waterloo managed to come out the loser in a negotiated lease for RIM Park faciliâ€" ties with the Kâ€"W Skating Club. RIM Park seems to be an unendâ€" ing source of problems for City of Waterloo taxpayers. Surely, the best form of lease is a simple lease which also includes a schedule of payments for use of How did city lose $750,000 in lease with skating club? Please don‘t do it Kelly Porter Franklin Nanaimo, B.C. COMMENT my recent addiction to fibre is causing a bit of a problem. This is about hating the winter, not the planet.) â€" s I have no place left to put the snow thanks to city planners who OKed subdivisions with small lots and people like me who buy those houses. nnprmmmmme I have tried very hard not to throw e the snow from one side onto the EQF | gigantic pile which inevitably spills RKE onto my neighbour‘s driveway, but it 8 still ends up, there especially when he‘s se not home. pronaan Really, I spent a significant amount AN of time doing this in the spring. I like RKE to think I am being a good citizen and a good neighbour. My wife says I am a big loser. But this is of no concern to me. I have canals to build and water to move. And I do go out several times a day to check on the progress, as if all my engineering will somehow make the snow disappear. s And yes, every now and then I will toss a small piece of paper into the system to ensure everything is flowing just right. _ â€" s And I do feel a swelling sense of pride when my driveway has less water at the end of it than anyone else, even though no one in their right mind really We share a secret dream boys â€" and don‘t let anyone tell you it‘s not worthwhile. And I know there are others, just like me, out There is only one particularly good thing about the snow and that hapâ€" pens when it melts. _ _ _ â€" That‘s the only time I enjoy getting outside with a shovel, and various other tools, to engineer some weird collection of canals which will help drain the snow off my property faster than anyone else‘s. How can this be misconstrued by anyone unless there is a lack of clarâ€" ity about intentions on both sides during the negotiations? specific facilities. James G. Linders Waterloo teaching life drawing at the Waterloo Community Arts mwrmflmmm "I wish my brother George was here," is what I shout across the street to my neighbour every once in a while. He smiles back and waves in response to my quirky greeting â€" and we connect. The phrase "I wish my brother George was here" is something I picked up from Bugs Bunny. In the 1955 cartoon Hyde and Hare, Bugs, dressed in a tuxeâ€" do jacket with tails, says this phrase as he sits down to play the piano. It‘s a reference to Liberace, who had a brother named George, who sometimes accompanied him on violin. My neighbour, George, isn‘t really my brother, but he is a good friend â€" and one of the first people I met when we moved into our neighbourhood five years ago this past January. _ Good neighbours, [ discovered, are the glue that ties a neighâ€" bourhood together. They‘re also an asset, as George has lent me his ladder numerous times, boosted our car engine and bravely took out the wasp nests under our deck. His wife, Angela, delivers biscotti and baked goods to our door with a smile and hugs for our children. _ 8 Neighbourliness, for me, describes and defines ageâ€"old patâ€" tems of human interaction â€" and its these patterns that help build a better community. A good neighbour is [ Te someone\rzhogamandlooksoutfor \l\[‘\H\l[ me, and for whom I do the same. It‘s a ARTS twoâ€"way street. | _ So far, developing relationships with our neighbours has been nothing but a good experience. Whether we‘re out flying a kite with our daughters, drawing with sidewalk chalk, shooting hoops in our nextâ€"door neighbours‘ driveway or simply going for a walk around the neighbourhood â€" the value of connecting with neighbours is immeasurable. While out for evening walks, we‘ve 1M MIOINERL made several new friends, including WARD one neighbour who now models for the life drawing classes I teach. Through a single act of kindness, we met our neighbour when she brought our daughter a bandâ€" age after she scraped her knee on the sidewalk, right in front of her house. And though I don‘t believe you have to be best friends with your neighbours, taking a moment to say hello when people are walking by can make for an enjoyable and comforting sense of community. f It can also make for a safer community, as my neighbour George â€" a member of the Neighbourhood Watch program â€" explained at one of our community association meetings. Makâ€" ing verbal contact by saying "Hi," both to adults and youth on the street, detracts from the anonymity which permeates crime. He says neighbourhoods that join the program see a huge decrease in incidents of mischief and property damage â€" a decrease of approximately 80 per cent. In addition, the Block Parent program, a volunteer child safeâ€" ty organization, has recently been revamped. Working together with educators and police, the program offers community eduâ€" cation to increase personal safety for children and teens, as well as seniors. Essentially, I think a good neighbour is willing to act. In the five years we‘ve lived in our neighbourhood, I have seen the benefits of neighbours working together toward a common goal â€" creating the building blocks of a healthy, functioning neighâ€" bourhood. When it comes to building a good neighbourhood, it‘s important to recognize the power of collective wisdom, and that successful neighbourhoods stem from community. A group has skills far beyond that of an individual. And yet, the actions of just a few good neighbours can cultiâ€" vate neighbourliness and make a community, like the one where I live, more socially enriched. Especially in these darker days of winter, helping someone whose car is stuck in the snow or taking a few moments to shovel your neighbour‘s sidewalk is a kind and neighbourly gesture. Just the other week, after one of the heaviest snowfalls of the season, and feeling the effects of several hours of shovelling in my back, my neighbour George crossed the street to help. Believe me, before he arrived, I wished my brother George was here. And he was. Marshall Ward is a visual artist and independent filmmaker, curâ€" Won‘t you be my neighbour? WATERLOO CHRONICLE + Wednesday, February 20, 2008 * 9 MARSHALL