The event was hosted by The Hintonburg Economic Development Committee and featured performances by members of Samba Ottawa; but it almost didn’t take place.

There was a severe thunderstorm watch that day which generated a volley of phone calls between members of HEDC and Samba Ottawa. However, the decision was made to go ahead with the event. By the end, one of the organizers, Lorrie Marlow, expressed happiness that the thing wasn’t called off.

As the crowd started to gather, the sky was clear. As they waited for Samba Ottawa to arrive, they were entertained by the HB-Breakers – four Hintonburg youths between the ages of five and 12 years old.

The crowd cheered as the boys showed off their break-dance moves.

Meanwhile, members of Samba Ottawa assembled in the parking lot beside the Connaught Public School. Someone started warming up with a bit of drumming. The crowd in McCormick Park heard it and got excited.

A couple of minutes went by. Finally, the full sound of samba music could be heard approaching in the distance. Drums, whistles, tamborims, shakers, and agogo bells blended together to produce the unique Afro-Latin rhythm.

Lead by founder Mike Atyeo, members of Samba Ottawa marched the sort distance to McCormick Park under a police escort. For the next 90 minutes, the sounds of samba filled the air around the park and the lively beat made the crowd dance. Even during the intermission Samba Ottawa continued to engage the crowd by allowing people, children in particular, to try the instruments.

Atyeo said he got involved with samba music when he lived in England. He loved it. When he moved to Canada, he brought that love of samba with him. He said he raved about it to friends and they convinced him to introduce them to the music.

He started out with a very small group at first. But in 2000, he decided to start what is now Ottawa’s only samba school. He explained there about 12 samba schools across Canada, mostly in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.

But he tries to model Samba Ottawa after samba schools in Brazil. There are about 25 members currently, but Atyeo said that number can vary. He pointed out that none of the members are professional musicians and that he had to learn to play all the samba instruments so he could teach others.

He also said samba has two main attributes: performing and community. Samba Ottawa plays many gigs of various types throughout the year and some members are attracted to the group because of its social aspect. Atyeo also mentioned that Samba Ottawa has performed at several events put on by HEDC to raise funds for projects in the Hintonburg community.

This event raised a modest $212.00 for the HEDC fund for youth programming and the Connaught school breakfast program. For more information about Samba Ottawa or about their new beginners’ course, visit their web site at www.samba-ottawa.org.

“We’ll be getting some much needed elbow room at Elgin,” said Director of Police Facilities, Carol Roper. The OPS has realized significant growth since 1999, due mainly to two initiatives: a strategic staffing initiative, launched in 2002 and a strategic growth initiative, launched in 2006. As a result, the OPS has grown by about an average of 44 sworn officers and civilian fulltime equivalents each year.

In a report to the Police Services Board, it was pointed out the lack of space at the Elgin Street headquarters has reached critical status. This is in spite of significant investments made to renovate the building in an effort to maximize use of space and accommodate new staff.  As of last year, there is simply no more room.

Since it’s not possible to expand the Elgin Street building, Police Facilities staff analyzed the situation and determined 25,000 square feet would be needed to remedy the shortage of space and provide for future growth. With the help of the City’s Real Estate Services Division, the search for lease space began in March 2008.

Ideally, they were looking for a downtown or Centretown location within walking distance from the Elgin Street headquarters, with street level space for servicing the public, and with parking close by. 59 sites were identified and later shortlisted to four. Of the four, two were of interest to the OPS, but one of them was already leased.

After several months of negations failed to yield an agreement between the OPS and the landlord of the last building, the search area was widened to include locations within the entire City of Ottawa. This time, over 500 potential sites were shortlisted to 21.

The building at 19 Fairmont turned out to be the best value that met OPS requirements. It is west of downtown, about 5 kilometers from police headquarters. It is a 26,918 square feet three storey building, with parking for 33 vehicles included in the rent – the OPS will need and is seeking 70 additional parking spots close by. In addition, the building is in a state that will reduce fit-up cost.

The agreement is for a 10 year lease. Rent for the first year will be $52,742.83 per month and will increase annually to reach $57,076.92 per month by the fifth year. Rent for the remainder of the lease will be negotiated towards the end of the fifth year. The cost to fit-up the building and install IT infrastructure will be around $1,375,000.

Roper said the OPS is still deciding which functions it will move to the new location, but she expects about 100 to 150 OPS staff will be affected. She pointed the first and second floors are currently occupied by the federal government until the end of September, but the OPS will begin moving some functions to the third floor from the beginning of March until the full lease term starts in November – the landlord will not charge extra.

She pointed out this will help with the transition and final move in October. Roper said she’s pleased with the location. She doesn’t anticipate any logistical issues particularly with increase traffic. She also said community groups in the area have been keen to work with the OPS and she certain those groups will welcome the police headquarters annex into their neighbourhood.

Or, what is working in your community that makes you feel safe, connected, inspired, supported and at home? And who contributes to making you feel this way?

These are some of the questions Hintonburg residents were asked on Thursday, May 14^th at a meeting in the Hintonburg Community Centre. Dubbed ‘let’s chat coffee shop,’ the town hall style meeting was hosted by Ottawa Police Services Board to celebrate the 10^th anniversary of Partnership in Action and to mark Police Week – May 10^th to 16^th.

Chief of Police Vernon White was in attendance, along with members of the OPS board and other police officers. Community groups that represented Hintonburg included The Hintonburg Community Association; West Wellington Business Improvement Area and Hintonburg Economic Development Committee. The event was facilitated by Leadership Ottawa.

Superintendent Peter Crosby explained they were three other meetings held around the city that week and they will serve as part of OPS three year strategic business plan. The purpose of these meetings is to give OPS a sense of how the Ottawa community feels about security and policing issues.

 “I think it’s incredible that people take the time to come out; because it’s really important for this community and other communities to tell us what’s really on their minds,” he said. Crosby went on to say the next step in the process will be to make an analysis of the information gathered.

The central messages of the Hintonburg voices at the meeting were about developing a more neighbourly community with residence actively involved in the security of the community. And having more community related policing and more programs that would allow police officers engage or even mentor to the youths in the community.

The point was made that deterring potential criminals when they are young is more beneficial to the community. A comparison was made between the costs of implementing programs that would allow officers to engage and mentor young people and the cost of putting a criminal through the justice and penal systems. Another point raised was the need for sustainability of community policing programs.

Constable Nathan Hoedeman, the only uniformed officer in attendance, said he liked the ideas he heard; however, he was more concerned about another important issue.

Here’s how Hoedeman explained himself: “I get the sense we’re preaching to the converted. The people who are here are definitely part of the solution. They have great ideas. I know a lot of the people here are already engaged [in the community].”

“I think one of the challenges is how do we make it relevant to all the people who are not in the room. As an officer myself, I look around the room and it would be nice to see some of my colleagues, who are not into community policing, here as well cause they need to hear this more than someone like myself who works in the field of community policing all the time.”

“And for the community members as well, how do they go out and make this relevant to the people who are not involved in mobilizing things in the community or getting engaged [in community activeness].”

Superintendent Crosby agreed with Hoedeman in principle. He too thinks more police officers need to get involved in community policing. He pointed out the current trend in policing is a shift towards law enforcement and away from community engagement.

“We need to push the envelope a little bit as a police service. We have to take on more of a community development role. We have to be more connected to the community; we’re part of the community,” Crosby said.

He also addressed one aspect of the issues around the sustainability of community policing by admitting that OPS has done a poor job of training and mentoring new community police officers to replace an officer that has been moved to another assignment or has been promoted.

He said there needs to standards created within police services that will allow officers who enjoy doing community work, like Heodeman, to remain in the communities they serve. One idea he mentioned would be to allow a six month period for the relinquishing officer to mentor the replacement officer.

Scrambled eggs and toast, raw vegetables, pancakes, juice, French toast, fruits, cereal, yogurt, milk or even grilled cheese sandwiches. We’ve heard about the benefits of starting the day with a good breakfast; however, not everyone follows this advice.

At the Connaught Public School on Gladstone Avenue, the message is well understood and taken seriously by breakfast monitor Jackie Barratt. That’s why she provides nutritious meals for every pupil; and the children are encouraged but not obligated to have breakfast.

Principle Irene Cameron pointed to the well known fact that children need good nourishment to learn well and make it through the school day. She added that during the provincial testing, the school makes sure all the children have really good meals.

“Even socially, they play better and they’re in a better mood. They can do their physical education better and they have more energy. They are more productive all around, intellectually and physically,” she explained.

It was 8:00 a.m. on a Thursday morning and Barratt, had breakfast ready. The kids trickled in slow at first, but eventually there was lineup. In turn, each child surveyed the spread she had laid out, before making a choice. Barratt greeted each one of them by name as she served them. A couple of older schoolgirls asked individually: “Jackie, can I help you?” She let them help serve.

On that morning, Barratt was handing out cold cereals like Life, Shreddies, and Raisin Bran. She had also put out water melon, honey dew melon and orange slices; as well as, yogurt and milk.

It was a healthy breakfast, high in fiber, low in fat and sugar, but the kids ate it up. The water melon went especially fast and Barratt had to cut some more. “I didn’t think they’d go for the water melon so much,” she said.

She advised them not to take more than they can eat, but some pupils asked for double portions of cereal right away. Others returned for a second helping of fruits or cereal. They socialized as they ate, but the crowd was not as big as usual that morning.

One reason was that the school bus was late. Barratt explained another reason: there was no smell on that morning, and the smell of typical kids’ favourites like grilled cheese, French toast or pancakes draws them in.

A few pupils were still eating when the bell rang; Barratt told them they can finish eating in class, provided they bring the dishes back to the kitchen later.

As the kids headed to class, a parent walked into the kitchen offering to make a donation. She and Barratt entered a dialogue about what would be the best thing to give.

Principle Cameron indicated this is not unusual for parents to do, as many help with and fund raising for the program. “Parents are very happy about the breakfast programs because it’s support for them as well,” she said.

Most of the funding for the program is handled by The Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation – or OCRI for short. Manager of education initiatives, Christine Lauzon-Foley, said OCRI coordinates the breakfast program for all four school boards in the Ottawa area.

145 elementary and secondary schools take part, offering meals to about 10,000 children. Which school gets a breakfast club is up to the school boards and the decision is based on the number of children of low income families attending each school.

Lauzon-Foley said contributions come from a number of sources: The United Way/Centraide Ottawa; Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth services; City of Ottawa; The Food Bank; Breakfast for Learning; St. Vincent de Paul Stores; individuals; plus a few other organizational and cooperate donors.

Visit OCRI’s website at (www.ocri.ca/schoolbreakfastprogram) for more information on partnerships, contributors or to make donations.  

This year, the proceeds from the annual tulip festival put on by the Hintonburg Economic Development Committee were donated to Connaught school’s breakfast program. The idea for making the contribution was put forward by Crystal Veinot, a member of HEDC whose son attends Connaught school. She also volunteers there as well.

Veinot said she was inspired after a series of conversations with Principle Cameron; Barratt’s daughter who teaches at the school and Barratt herself. Veinot learned that the breakfast program has grown considerably since Barratt became breakfast monitor; she learned that Barratt is paid for one and a half hours when she works for three or four.

But Veinot was impressed when Barratt showed her the numbers representing the increase in kids served by the breakfast club and also by the quality of the food. “I think a little of it is that she’s just a wonderful lady; the kids really love her,” Veinot said.

The kids themselves had positive things to say about Barratt and the breakfast club. “Jackie makes the best food. She makes really good grill cheese sandwiches and she makes sure everyone that’s hungry has enough food, so they can have a good day,” a grade five girl said.

The kids also explained how the breakfast club benefits them. “At my place I eat some, but we don’t have a lot of food so the breakfast club is here. It [the food] makes me have more energy and I just like it [the breakfast club] because there are all the good things that I like,” said a grade six boy.

Another grade five girl explained how the breakfast club can benefit a busy family: “Usually I don’t get to eat breakfast at home because I wake up at 7:00 and I have to get ready by 8:00 so I’m really rushed,” she said.

It is important to note that the breakfast club at the Connaught Public School provides more than just breakfast. Barratt also prepares sandwiches for lunch and healthy snacks for children who may have missed breakfast or may become hungry during the day.

Principle Cameron commented that Barratt often volunteers to help with activities outside of the breakfast program. She helps some of the pupils with their math, she reads to the kindergarteners, and she goes on field trips to fulfill the requirement of one adult for every eight pupils.

Cameron also wanted to make a statement of gratitude to all involved with supporting the breakfast program in Ottawa. “I Thank community for all their support; thank you for caring about our children,” she said.

Veinot said she believes Barratt would probably run the breakfast club even if she wasn’t paid anything at all. As for Barratt herself, she had a simple explanation: “I have a job to do and it requires that I do it well. I love coming; I love seeing the kids.”

When Chief White and Deputy Chief Larochelle arrived, they ardently mingled with the crowd. “The strength of Hintonburg is what you see in the faces here today. There are about 50 different demographics. It’s like the United Nations here to support the Indian community in their celebration. That’s exactly what community is all about,” Chief White said.

The small square was modestly decorated with Christmas style lights on the trees as well as orange, green, yellow and white streamers blowing in the wind. Two canopies were setup: one for the ceremony and one for serving snacks and refreshments. The weather wasn’t ideal. It was windy and rain threatened all afternoon, but the enthusiastic crowd came prepared.

Some danced to modern Indian music while many others lined up to sample Indian snacks and sweets, caringly prepared by Indian Express – one of the sponsors of the event located across the street from the Somerset Square. There was no charge for the refreshments and snacks, but donations were accepted. The proceeds will be used to beautify Someset Square.

Inside Indian Express there was an impressive display of Indian sweets laid out on a massive table. There was constant foot traffic between the square and Indian Express, and many people commented on the vibrant colours and large variety of sweets in the display. Not to be confused with candies or chocolates, Indian sweets are more like small, desert pastries. At the door of Indian Express, a drummer thumped Indian rhythms on his traditional dohl drum.

Around 6:30 p.m., Philar announced the ceremony – known as a puja – would begin and asked the crowd to draw closer to the canopy. The priest – or pujari as he’s called – invited Chief White and MPP Naqvi, as well as Rakesh and Karuna Walia of Indian Express to assist him with the puja. Pujari Sharma performed some chants as he conducted the ceremony. By this time, it was drizzling, but the crowd looked on attentively.

Pujari Sharma explained Diwali is celebrated on the darkest night, when there is no moon. “The most significance of this festival is that we human beings spiritually can overcome our darkness or ignorance with knowledge of light,” He said.

Mayor O’Brien arrived shortly after the puja and gave a short speech. He then mingled with the crowd before crossing the street to Indian Express. Later, Mayor O’Brien, Chief White and Deputy Chief Larochelle socialized with members of Hintonburg Economic Development Committee.

The festivities ended with the lighting of sparklers. The adults seem to enjoy the fireworks as much as the children. As it began to rain heavier, the crowd slowly dissipated until all that was left were a few adults and a handful of children running around with wet streamers.

Diwali is a major, five day festival in India. Although it was originally a Hindu celebration dating back 4,000 years, “it’s perhaps the one festival in India where everybody comes together,” explained Philar. Diwali is also observed by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains around the world. But each group has its own religious reasons for celebrating at this time of the year. Each reason is backed by its own ancient legend

 Best known as the festival of lights, Diwali’s central theme is the victory of good over evil or light over darkness. Some of its traditions are similar to western Christmas. In fact, some people refer to it as ‘Indian Christmas’. It’s a special time for children as sweets and fireworks are a big part of the festivities. “As a kid, I couldn’t wait for Diwali,” Philar said. “It’s a time when you could be at your most mischievous,” he added. Much like Christmas, there’s a great atmosphere of peace and good will. So much so that parents may hesitate to punish their children.

In Indian culture, this is when business start a new fiscal year. Many people will choose this time to start a new business as well. It’s also a time when people visit relatives and friends, and families buy new clothes. It’s a time when people with grievances will offer each other sweets and try to patch things up.  It’s a time when people do a post monsoon season cleanup, and decorate their houses with lots small clay lamps. Infact, the name Diwali is derived from the Sanskrit word Deepawali, which means rows or lines of lamps.

Those involved with producing the event were pleased with the turn out. They wish to thank Hintonburg Economic Development Committee; Wellington West Business Improvement Area; Beament Green Lawyers; Advantage Audio Visual Rentals; Carleton Tavern; Dirienzo & Saikaley Automotive; Dovercourt Community Centre; Adam’s Apple Cafe; Parkdale Market; Mirch Masala Radio (CHIN); Beacon Lite; and Indian Express for their sponsorship. The organizers are looking forward to doing it all again next year. “Every year we’re going to make it bigger and bigger,” Walia said.

This is a view taken somewhere on Golden Lake. However, this is not the area where we ran into trouble.

My friends and I were enthusiastic about our fishing trip on this particular weekend; more so than any other fishing trip. None of us had ever gone night fishing on a boat before, and we spent a good deal of money on fishing gear and on the trip itself. “I’ve been excited about this since I heard they closed the lake and re-stocked the walleye,” Sid said.

The sun was setting when we shoved off from shore. We knew we couldn’t go very far with the six horse power aluminum boat we were using. Especially not when there were four of us. “So who’s going to be the first one to bring in a biggie,” Peter asked. Kim, our host, recommended a couple of areas where she had caught some large walleye; we picked one and set course. Our destination was a channel near an island that some of us camped on a few years before. It took about 15 minutes to get there.

On arrival, we noticed a pontoon boat trolling in the area. I had to use my LED headlamp to alert them to our presence, because our boat didn’t have any fixed lights on it. We also had a 1,000,000 candle power flashlight which wasn’t fully charged and started to die soon after we started fishing.

As per common fishing strategy, we tried several spots. At first, we kept to a zone not too far from the shore, but we weren’t having any luck. So, when the pontoon boat moved on, we expanded our range to include the open water it was covering. That’s when the engine refused to start. I tried it many times to no avail, giving it time to rest in between attempts. We all thought it would start eventually, so we kept fishing.

Still no luck, we thought we’d try another spot. Sid offered to row. Peter thought we should focus on getting the motor going as soon as we reached the new spot. He remembered Kim said there was a crack where the gas line connected to the tank, and air sometimes gets in the line if the bulb is pumped and the crack isn’t pinched. So, he wanted to make sure air wasn’t getting into the line while I tried to crank the motor. But Peter is a diehard angler; he was the first one to cast as soon as the anchor was dropped.

“We’re stranded and the engine won’t start, but if your priority is fishing, go ahead,” I snapped. “I didn’t think you needed me to help with that,” was his reply. Nevertheless, he reeled in his line, and we got down to the futile business of starting the motor. The tank was in the middle of the boat where Sid was sitting, so he had to move so Peter could work with on the tank.

Sid sat beside me as I cranked the motor. I didn’t think much of it, except when I noticed about eight or ten inches of the tip of my rod hanging peculiarly beside him. “Sid, did you break my rod,” I asked. He looked down and answered. “Oh s*** I think I did.” I was upset; it was a new rod, and it I hadn’t caught a fish with it yet. But I knew I couldn’t blame him. It was dark and we were in a dire situation. However, none of us realized something else had happened and we were in serious jeopardy.

Earlier in the day, I tried unsuccessfully to get the motor started, and in doing so, my foot knocked the drain plug out of the drain and water started spouting into the boat. It wasn’t in securely to begin with, so I forced it back into the hole as tightly as I could. The water stopped, and I bailed out what had got into the boat.

Because of that incident, I was mindful of the plug’s precariousness, and I kept my feet away from it. Now since we still couldn’t get the motor started, I switched off my headlamp and gazed at the stars while the others continued to fish. It took a few minutes but the thought hit me like a hammer; a sudden fear radiated from my stomach through the rest of my body. I promptly switched on my headlight.

“Sid you have to move,” I yelled. He looked at me, somewhat shocked by my sharp tone. I looked down and saw the water pouring into the boat, but I couldn’t see the plug anywhere. “Sid, move now”, I reaffirmed. I pointed to show him what was happening. There was already about four or five inches of water in the boat. He swung his legs up and over the seat so swiftly that he rocked the boat. He then leaned over to put his finger into the hole, while I fished around till I found the plug and forced it back into the hole. Peter was in the bow of the boat and Hass was a little further back. They both continued to fish, oblivious that the boat was on the way to sinking. 

I kept trying the motor periodically, Peter and Sid continued to fish. Hass and I were getting fed up. We weren’t having fun. My rod was broken and his line was badly tangled. We argued with Peter and Sid about rowing back to the cottage. There were no other craft in our vicinity to give us a tow. Rowing that distance seemed daunting to me, and I was in denial, thinking I could get the motor started.

“We’ll have to row back anyway, but since we are here, we could as well fish”, Peter argued. Hass and I conceded to let the other two continue fishing. We’d be leaving the next day, and this would be the only chance to fulfill the purpose of the trip.  But Sid and Peter didn’t continue fishing for long. There was another hazard on the horizon. “Hey, that looks like rain coming up behind that island over there. Let’s get to f*** out of here”, Peter yelled.

A sudden sense of urgency filled the boat. Sid manned the oars. He dipped the oars with powerful strokes and rowed at a frantic pace. We were desperate to escape the incoming bad weather. But he couldn’t keep his heading. As the boat zigzagged towards and away from the shore, the rest of us constantly directed him back to the right heading. Because he was facing backwards, he couldn’t see the campfire that was still burning in front of Kim’s cottage.

Next, on the oars was Peter. He thought he could do a better job, but he was wrong. “It must be the wind that’s blowing the boat like that”, Peter said. “There’s hardly any wind at all, but somehow it’s the wind”, I rebutted. Not that I was able to do any better either. I also caused the boat to meander when I took a turn at the oars. The only one who didn’t seem to have a problem was Hass. But that’s because he rowed about 10 feet and gave up, saying it was too hard and he was too out of shape.

At one point when Peter was rowing, we saw something in the water ahead of us, but we couldn’t see clearly to identify what it was. Peter thought it was weeds, and that was a reasonable assumption because there was a large patch of weeds in that direction. By this time the big flashlight was completely dead. As we got closer to the object, I turned on my LED headlamp. What we thought were weeds turned out to be a very large rock, directly in our path.

We managed to shun another hazard, but we still had a long way to go. As the boat laggard forward, I could hear the sound of the water causing the propeller to turn; so I lifted to motor out of the water to reduce drag, and make it easier on whoever was rowing. “Wait a minute, there are no more stars in the sky at all”, Hass said. We all looked up to see the sky was now over cast with dark clouds. Shortly after noticing the clouds, we saw a couple of lightning strikes, which appeared to be just behind the island where we were fishing.

Sid, Peter and I already had a close call with lightning, earlier in the summer on another body of water. Another friend, Donny, was with us as well. It was a nasty storm, but at least that incident happened in daylight. There had been periods of light rain most of the day. But when it started to rain steadily, we decided to head back to the dock to wait it out. As we rounded a point, we saw the full brunt of the storm over the open water. “Is that what we have to go through”, I asked rhetorically.

Although the rain was getting heavier and coming straight for us, we kept our heading. It was only when we saw lightning strike the open water a few hundred yards in front of us, we knew we had to get off the lake immediately. The first strike held us awestruck; we each sat staring with our eyes and mouths wide open. The second strike caused sudden hysteria. 

We decided to pull up to the nearest dock. I turned the boat hard to the left. Peter’s hat flew off into the lake. I offered to turn the boat so we could retrieve it, but the others scolded me for suggesting such a thing at such a time. “F*** the hat, I’ll get another one. Just get us off this lake,” Peter said. There were a few private cottages with docks on the rim of a nearby bay. We pulled up to the closest and waited out the storm there. That was a bad enough experience during the day. None of us wanted a similar ordeal at night, especially not on a boat without a working motor.

But Mother Nature granted us a reprieve. We made it all the way back to the cottage and it hadn’t rained yet. As we go close, Peter joked about continuing to fish. Knowing him, there was seriousness behind that joke. Nevertheless, the rest of us weren’t interested. The warm camp fire looked more inviting, so we headed to shore. As we got closer we realized it was the wrong cottage. For the entire two hours or so, we’d been rowing towards the wrong campfire. We thought our friend, Dave, who remained at the cottage, had kept the fire going. But no such luck for us.

Now we couldn’t tell how far back the other way we had to go. And while paddling around trying to figure out where exactly we were, we ran into a very nice boat that we didn’t see until it was inches away. It was anchored a few feet from shore, and luckily, we didn’t hit it very hard.

As we looked back up the shoreline, we noticed several campfires we somehow overlooked before. After all, it was summer and cottages by a lake. Lots of people found pleasure around a nice campfire, not just us. As we debated which of these fires would likely be ours, we notice another one that looked like somebody was reviving it. We thought Dave had heard our chatter on the water as we passed by the cottage. And since he didn’t see us come ashore, he must’ve realized were in trouble.

So, we headed towards that campfire. This time we stayed a few feet away from the shore. That turned out to be the smartest move of the night. “Hey, what about this one”, Sid asked. We all turned to see what he was talking about. It was Kim’s cottage. There was no campfire; it had gone out long ago. There were not even any lights on in the cottage. Dave was fast asleep. It goes without mention that we were very glad to be on dry land. And it wasn’t very long before we were all fast asleep too.

“I caught that,” he said.  “Did you?” she replied.  “That’s not supposed to catch your eye.”  The fact is it didn’t catch his eye; he didn’t see the person she was referring to.  But her response confirmed she was checking out a man.  “I mean I saw what you said to her,” he explained.  The lady turned slightly red with blush.  The co-worker at the other end of the counter broke into a giggle, but stayed out of the conversation.  The customer commented he thought it was the other way around and the construction workers did the ogling.  There was a brief exchange about how women are more subtle and discrete when they are checking out the opposite sex, followed by the woman expressing her attraction to the boys in hardhats. “Oh I don’t mind the construction one bit,” she said. 

Both ladies working in the meat shop were reasonably attractive.  They were the typical girl-next-door type.  One might wonder what the construction workers would make of it, if they knew they were the ones being gawked at.  These same workers on this construction site have been witnessed in the act many times.  One guy sees a ‘hot chick’, whispers something to the others and four or five heads turn in unison to look at her.   Well boys, the ladies are gaping back at you.