The “NHL” season is over and it didn’t finish quite the way I wanted

There are millions of other Canadians that are feeling downhearted

The “Oilers” put in a valiant effort only to come up short

They had this proud nation behind them for support

Coming back from three games down and tying the series up

Only to lose in the seventh game and the “Panthers” winning the “Stanley Cup”

“Connor McDavid” won the “MVP” of the playoffs even though he was on the losing side

Once again a team from north of the border has been denied!

It was the closest we have come to finally ending this curse

After what they accomplished it all seems so much worse!

For all the athletes involved it has been a long haul

They have a few months to recuperate before the coming fall

The “NHL” did their draft on this past weekend and free agency starts today

So many players could be moved before they all come back to play

So what do you do until “October” just to fill this empty space?

Do you pursue other sports in an effort to take hockey’s place?

I guess I could watch some “Blue Jays” baseball for a spell

Maybe turn my interest to football and watch some “CFL”?

So I decided that I would watch them pass the pigskin today

There isn’t a game on the schedule and it’s “Canada Day”!

This season will run until the “Grey Cup” game on the seventeenth of November

While this is proceeding, the “NFL” starts early in September

I know this month just started but remember it’s a “leap year”

On the 26th of this month the “Olympic Games” will appear

This year the games are in “France” with “Paris” being the host

We all we be watching and cheering from coast to coast!

These are mere suggestions, I don’t know if I am even going to follow my own advice!

I may abstain from all sports until my “Blackhawks” are back on the ice!

I may just enjoy the summer and put the “sports fan” part of me on hold

Get out and enjoy the warmth before we get back into the cold

Take in some more walking and get out for a bike ride

Do all that I can before I am forced to stay inside

Then I can take advantage of the summer that lays ahead

Not sitting in front of the television watching pro athletes instead

I will have all the long winter to watch my favourite sport

Get out and enjoy the sunshine because summer feels so short

It looks like one those days when I am forced to stay inside

They are calling for rain and possible flooding so my routine has been denied

Thousands of steps behind my fitbit goal and usually home from my walk

Already so far behind schedule and it’s only eight o’clock

There’s a mist on the window and it certainly isn’t bright

The room I’m in is so dim that I had to turn on the light

The forecast is calling for steady rain followed by scattered showers

Time it right and perhaps I can get out for an hour

If there is even a slight chance, I  will be on my way

I’m in no way trying to give in to this dismal Sunday

Yesterday, however was a different story, I got my early start

It would be six o’clock in the morning when I would depart

My dog and I would get our walk in and both were feeling great

There was an event that I wanted to go to that was starting at eight

It was still early and my morning routine was complete

I fed and gave the dog fresh water, then headed down the street

This time it would definitely be a shorter walk

The “Shriners” were having their annual “garage sale” located on the next block!

My wife and her cousin would meet me a little later on

We bought a few articles and then we were gone

We piled in the car and continued with our quest

We stopped and visited friends who have decided to move out west

They were having a yard sale and we stopped in to see

Purchased a few more articles then went to garage sale number three

The location for this was in a much further place

It was happening miles away at our “air force base”

This sale was going to be our final one

We stopped at three establishments on our coffee run!

Up the long hill we climbed and finally reached the top

We roamed around a few neighbourhoods and continued to shop

My wife ran into someone she hadn’t seen for many years

She was so excited, she was almost in tears

The bake sale at a Chapel would  be the last place we would roam

We filled a few bags and then headed for home

We stopped at my wife’s brother’s house to stop and say hello

Left a while later because her cousin “Kim” had to go

We packed her car, hugged and said goodbye

Then we had to make a delivery to a special guy

We spent more than a couple of hours talking to this close friend

It seemed like such a fitting way for this day to end

My wife and I have been doing some landscaping as you are all aware

It’s not set up quite the way we want, but we are getting there

Friday we cut the grass in the front and back yards for the second time this June

Then we proceeded to do some more landscaping on Saturday afternoon

The focal point for our garden was a solar light that we bought

We purchased it weeks ago and put it in a special spot

Attached a couple of hanging plants on it and put it on display

It has been sitting in this spot since the middle part of May

We had over forty pounds of rock loaded in its base

Both of us agreed it enhanced our outdoor space

The light shines bright at night and everything looks great

Then one very windy evening it met with a tragic fate

This would go on the record as incident number one

It sustained some damage and we both thought it was done

With all the wind blowing the leaves it made a loud rustling sound

We never heard the crash when the lamp hit the ground

I thought to myself that this is broken and is beyond repair

I walked over to my neighbour who was outside sitting in a chair

“Dave” looked at the damage and came up with a plan

He put it all back together and once again I thank this man

When I put it back in my yard I wanted to keep it out of the breeze

I decided I could reduce the surface area and turned the lamp ninety degrees

This meant the pots were behind and not much surface area to blow

Four days later it crashed again, this proves how much I know!

This was our second incident and once again “Dave” saved the day

This now brings us to this past weekend on a Friday

We were building a raised garden of cedar posts and board

This is when the third and hopefully the final incident occurred

We had to move the lamp to get it into its spot

We removed all the rocks on the base but unfortunately we forgot

We tried so many configurations on how to make this garden bed

We weren’t making any progress and were falling behind instead

We went about our business and decided to take a break

This is when we made yet another mistake

This now brings us to incident number three

We weren’t even thinking as you can plainly see

This lamp crashed for the third time and was the worst of all

“Dave” once again was there to answer the call!

We took it home and placed it in our house to stay in overnight

We weren’t taking any more chances with this solar light

After all the broken pieces of cedar we had to settle on a design

We ended up with three squares and it looks fine

We planted petunias of different colours that match the ones hanging in the pots

With all the trouble we endured, it turned out better than I thought

We dug a deep hole and spiked down the base in the middle square

Filled it with all the rocks and finally this pole isn’t going anywhere!

Now that this was finally secure, we screwed on the solar light

This is now our centerpiece and looks great all day and night!

We started off with sixteen teams when the playoffs first began

This is the best part of the season for us die hard hockey fans

Viewing for all hours of the night because they are being played coast to coast

Everyone staying wide awake cheering for the team they love the most

Double headers to be seen and so many great teams to view

If the early game goes into overtime, some don’t know what to do

Do you stay with the game and see who finally wins?

Or change the channel and be ready when the next game does begin?

Once again the “Leafs” didn’t live up to the hype

Another off season to listen to their fans gripe

Will they make some major changes or just stay the course?

The rumours are that “Marner” is gone and that’s from a reliable source!

Three of their players are in the top ten of the highest paid

Shelling out all that money and not much progress has been made

They were screaming from the rafters last year when they made the second round

They lost to the “Boston Bruins” in seven games this year and are no longer around

That happened over a month ago if anyone is keeping track

“Craig Berube” is their new coach, who knows what players will be back?

The “Jets” lost in the first round managing only to win one

That means there is only one team from “Alberta” in the playoff run

Just the “Oilers” and the “Panthers” are the franchises that are left to play

No more getting to watch hockey games every single day

We slowly get weaned off when a series is completed

The real hockey fan continues to watch even though his team has been defeated

A lot of “Canadians” will be watching because we still have a team in the race

It’s been a long time coming and we won’t settle for second place

The team from “Florida” are the favourites, that’s what the “experts” say

I think “McDavid” and his teammates talents will be on full display

They will prove to these so called “experts” things are not as they appear

With all of “Canada” behind them, they will kick into another gear

Using this as an incentive, this team will have no doubts

“Edmonton Oilers” will finally end our “Nation’s” thirty-one year drought!

How was your weekend? Mine was okay

I’ve been taking it easy for the month of May

Not participating in any lawn care and had nothing to do

Saturday marked the first of June and my hiatus was now through

I stuck to my guns to let all those wild dandelions thrive

Seen so many bees taking pollen for their hives

The grass this year officially reached a record height

I took so many pictures of my yard, not a pretty sight!

Both the front and the back were in a state of disarray

It took a lot of patience to get through “no mow May”

I stuck to my guns right up until the bitter end

It looked worse than some properties that have been condemned

I was anxious to get started and get on my way

Not wanting to bother the neighbours too early in the day

After all it was the weekend and they might want to sleep in

It was a little before ten o’clock when I decided to begin

Checked out the mower and made sure the tank was full

Raised the height on it and gave the cord a  pull

It took some more priming but it finally did come around

Hopefully I didn’t wake up too many when it made that big sound

Seeing it is self propelled there really wasn’t much strain

It was just a matter of going forward and then backing up again

The setting was to mulch and the grass was very thick

This whole process wasn’t going to go very quick

Didn’t lose my patience even though it was slow

However it was real easy to figure out where you left off in the row!

I was finally finished with the mower and put it in the shed

Then I found more tools that I required instead

I took out the trimmer to finish the job right

I have to admit, now my yard’s a pretty sight

This whole experience took over three hours in all

It will now go much swifter from here until the fall

Just days away from June and the end of “no mow” May

There are lots of dandelion seeds poised to blow away

The grass is nice and thick and certainly is tall

Who knows how many times my mower will start and stall?

The mild weather we had in April can be blamed in part

This contributed to the growing season getting an early start

There is just a few of us neighbours who continue to wait for June

The majority of the block will be happy to see this job done soon

The only thing I’ve done so far is to rid the garden of its weeds

Once the grass has been cropped I will be able to proceed

Saturday I went to a plant sale and came home with quite a few

Hopefully everyone will appreciate the thing I’m trying to do

The trees in the front yard produce a lot of shade

That’s the reason a change of plants had to be made

The ones that I purchased are supposed to do alright

These species I selected don’t require a lot of light

They need proper spacing in the garden bed

They are more like bushes and need room to spread

It will be looking pretty sparse when I first begin

Within the next few months it should all fill in

This should take care of the front yard and shouldn’t take much time at all

The bonus is that there should be less cleaning up required in the fall

This should definitely enhance our outdoor space

Give our friends a view that they can finally embrace

I’m looking forward to the challenge and seeing the outcome

Gardening is a challenge, I don’t possess a “green thumb”

Every spring I make the effort but seldom attain my goal

Yard work is something that I don’t enjoy as a whole

I usually strike when the iron is hot and go full steam ahead

The feeling eventually wanes and I find something else to do instead

This in turns puts my “horticultural” phase on hold

Could this be the year I finally break the mold?

I listen to podcasts as I meander along my way

I go through quite a variety each and every day

This morning’s topic was about the history of the film hero being cast

How since the advent of “The Soparanos” they are now a thing of the past

Sure you have your “Marvel” and “DC Comics” franchises raking in the dough

Since the emergence of “Tony Soparano” the “Anti-Hero” now steals the show

“Dexter”, “Walter White”, “Don Draper” and “John Dutton” all have special skills

These certainly couldn’t be considered “Role Models” who used to fit the bill

“The Sopranos” premiered in 1999 and became a great success

Just go out and watch the reruns and it will continue to impress

Twenty five years ago and this series hasn’t lost any appeal

“Tony” had a lot of issues that he tried to conceal

That goes for all the rest of the characters that this genre has produced

Based on all this information, here’s a theory I wish to introduce

All these kids have grown up watching these “Role Models” on their TV screen

Think of the amount of villains that they have probably seen

These were the shows they viewed each and every day?

Do you think this would have affected them in any way?

These kids are now voting age and the future is in their hands

There is something happening in the “States” that I can’t fully understand

“Trump” is cutting into “Biden’s” youth voters and gaining some ground

“Donald” is the closest thing to a “Mob Boss” that ever could be found

Maybe they look up to him and don’t consider him “suspect”?

Perhaps these years of “series binging” is having an effect?

“Trump” being in court may not be bothering them in the least

Maybe this is the very reason that his popularity has increased!

This is just another episode of the something they’ve seen before?

Not believing it’s reality and just choosing to ignore?

This is not just the youth, so many seem unaware

Some know him for being a fraud and refuse to care

I am going to close with a hypothesis or maybe it’s just a hunch

“Trump” and his “MAGA” followers are all “Out To Lunch”

Game seven is in “Boston” and being played today

The opening faceoff of this event is less than five hours away

I started writing this early so I could have my night free

Just like so many others, this is a game that I must see

“Vancouver” and “Edmonton” are still in the chase

Will the “Leafs” be joining them or like the “Jets” be eliminated from the race?

“Toronto” seems to be in the driver’s seat even without “Matthews” scoring touch

They won both games since he’s been gone, not missing him too much

Once again we want the “Stanley Cup” to go to a “Canadian” team

For the past thirty one years it has been a recurring dream

We had four teams that made the playoffs and now were down to three

Will the “Leafs” continue? We have to wait and see!

If they come out with a victory, they are still in the fight

A lot of anxious “Canadians” will be watching this game tonight

Here’s hoping they will be successful and don’t register a defeat

It would be nice to see this team competing in the “east”

The “Canucks” and the “Oilers” now go face to face

This could mean that we will have only one dog left in the race

We are guaranteed a semi finalist to continue in this quest

One of them could very well be representing the “west”

“Dallas” and “Las Vegas” still have one more game to complete

If the “Stars” are victorious, the “Stanley Cup” champion won’t repeat

We are no way near the finals and so many things could come about

It would be nice to see an ending to this “Canadian” drought

So many contests to be decided before we get to the final two

Watch as many games as we can is what most of us will do

A lot of late night hockey for those who live in the east

Being a loyal fan, it’s just the nature of the beast

There will still be double headers with eight teams in the race

If they go into overtime, it will be hard to maintain the pace

This annual crusade for us is really nothing new

“Hockey is our game”, that’s what “Canadians” do!

Sunday morning was pretty foggy, but I am not going to complain

The forecast for the weekend was nothing but rain

It was supposed to sweep in on Friday and continue right through to Sunday night

Thankfully their prediction didn’t turn out quite right

Sure we got some precipitation but not near in the amounts they predicted

They were saying that damage to the shoreline was going to be inflicted

I was prepared to be a shut in and took everything in stride

That’s when I decided to take the old bicycle out for a ride

I was supposed to meet up with a friend but he had to postpone

I ended up venturing on this trek all alone

I had already taken my doggy walk earlier in the day

So I continued to contemplate as I pedaled along the way

Then a thought came to me now that I recall

 To check out the new business that opened in the “North Bay Mall”

I walked into this new establishment and couldn’t believe its size

It was very expansive and came as quite a surprise

Will have to go back again to really check out this store

Was only in there for a few minutes then headed out the door

Since I was already on “Lakeshore Drive”, I decided to explore

Took the shortest path to the “Sunset Beach” shore

There I saw the sandbags all ready to be put in place

Cottage owners were well aware of the dilemma that they might have to face

I then headed back to the four lane traffic but took the sidewalk on the side

Then I had to take a left on “Birch’s Road” and continued with this ride

Finally got on a bicycle path on “Booth Road” as I was heading back

After drinking a bottle of water I now required a snack

Then I went to “Marshall Avenue” and continued on my way

Looped “Memorial Drive” then arrived at home to stay

Made myself some supper and fed the dog his food

This however wouldn’t be the way my evening would conclude

Put the dog on his leash and decided to go for a short hike

I ended up totaling 30 kilometers between the dog walking and the bike

We were all short of money and required some much needed riches

So it was decided we would go out and gamble, just me and my bitches

Were we going to “Las Vegas” or perhaps to “Reno”?

“Hell no”, we were hightailing it to the “Cascades Casino”

A thriving establishment located right here in the “Bay”

My wife was entitled to some free “moolah” because it was her “Birthday”

She had ten dollars up front to do what she wanted

So the three of us piled into the car and quickly departed

Our friend would get some cash because she was a “newbie”

For registering she also would get ten dollars for free

They now had twenty dollars between the two of them to blow

After the procedures were done, off to the slot machines we would go

As for me I had no claim whatsoever to any free chances

I was solely responsible for my own finances

Around each of our necks we sported a card tied with a long lace

This would keep track of our totals as we ventured from place to place

If you were winning you might choose to just stay there

When things started to head south, you would soon be out of that chair

Needless to say none us sat too long in one seat

We all left short of funds and admitting defeat

For me, free money on your birthday just doesn’t seem fair

Mine occurs on “Boxing” day so I don’t think I’ll be venturing there

We all left late in the afternoon and had lots of fun

We bought lottery tickets so I guess our gambling wasn’t officially done

Days later we were at the mall and roaming around that great space

Proceeded to one of the ticket kiosks that can be found in this place

We took turns checking each ticket to see if we won

We scanned each individual ticket one by one

My wife went first and with her four tickets not one cent was made

I then proceeded with mine and every one of them paid

I ended up with four free tickets and thirteen dollars playing these games of chance

That adds up to more money that the casino gave the two of them in advance