For many years people have tuned into Cops. It’s a show where the cameras follow the action and see how the police deal with problems ranging from car chases and drug busts to snakes in a closet.
Most of these shows are state-side, where the activity is a little more intense, more often. After all they have a population almost 10 times that of Canada. What does ring true is that anywhere police are deployed they face danger and often take on roles from which most of us would shy away.
Settling disputes, catching bad guys, bringing peace where they can – it’s all in a day’s work.
Whether a matter of being in business or that we spent some time on the local police services board, what really gets us scratching our head is the cost involved. For criminals, or those who abuse the services, we suppose cost is inconsequential.
Last week the Royal Bank in Drayton was robbed, as was another bank in Milverton. Within a relatively short period a suspect has been charged.
One would have to think in this day and age, with the number of surveillance cameras around, that robbing a bank would seem a fool’s errand, but apparently not. There is always someone willing to take a chance and see if they can get away with it.
Similar thoughts could be expressed for drinking and driving, which is more or less a case of hoping to beat the odds that a cruiser is in the area. Most would believe the risk of losing their license to be enough of a deterrent to risk driving impaired, but there’s always someone thinking they’ll beat the odds.
Many crimes seem to have a basis in substance abuse. It’s painfully obvious that it’s a tough business to be in – with gangs fighting over turf. What we find very disturbing as of late, is the introduction of fentanyl and other synthetic poisons that are causing overdoses and death. It’s a real crapshoot and we find it hard to believe people will even take the chance with it.
There will always be those willing to gamble with their health and safety. Luckily, for the majority who try to run a respectable life, the police are watching out for us.
An old proverb
“Make hay while the sun shines” is one of our favourites.
While the phrase is second nature to us, it really gets Toronto-types scratching their heads when they hear it for the first time.
For farmers this year, they themselves are scratching their heads, wondering when enough sunny days will show up to make hay.
From Wellington to the tip of Tobermory, we saw hay laid flat in the swath, desperate to be baled up. But the rain keeps coming. Some spots were so bad this year, there are actual ruts filled with water where equipment sank during cutting.
The answer of course to such a poor harvest is to chop it up and blow it back into the field. Unfortunately, few people have forage harvesters anymore. So it’s a case of rake and round bale to get it out of the way.
It’s been a horrible year to make hay.
For those of us lucky enough to get the first cut out of the way, now we are waiting on the second cut, which hasn’t really had enough time to generate much volume.
Back in our youth we seem to remember long hot summers, with two weeks or more of hot crippling sun. There would be periods of stress hoping to get the crop off, but it just seems this year those stretches of sun are not so often.
It’s one of those years to remember. It’s been a tough one in the hay field.
