When the skies of Nov. turn gloomy

FIFY

 

As a kid, I always found it fascinating to call the recorded weather and the Michigan Bell operator would say, "The forecast for Dee-troy-it and vicinity." Maybe Gordie was onto something.

 

One of the great traditions on this page, up there with Bobby Bonilla Day.

 

Curt Gowdy pronounced it that way as well. I am not about to argue with Gordie Howe and Curt Gowdy.

 

When Sid Abel did the Red Wings games on TV:
“De-TROY-it ARE moving over the blue line.”

 

One of his lines always pops up in my head on long drives, from “The Mountains and Maryann,” one of his great but obscure album-filler compositions:

"And the prairie towns go sailing by,
Saskatchewan, there's mud in your eye."

 

The Rhino compilation has the song list and Lightfoot commenting on each
In Alberta Bound, there’s a verse
“Oh the skyline of Toronto is something you’ll get on to but they say you have to live there for a while
“And if you got the money you can get yourself a honey with a written guarantee to make you smile.”
In the note he said he changed the line in concert because: “Well, I don’t do that.”
Left unsaid is he never had to

 

"It's good to be Alberta-bound," said no one, ever.

 

My then-16-year-old grandfather rode the train with two of his friends in 1905 to help build houses in boomtown Calgary. When he came back to the farm in Ontario, his mother had him wash off in the cattle trough with lye before she'd let him in the house. Or so went the story from his youngest sister.

I always think of "Four Strong Winds" by Ian and Sylvia when I remember that story.

 

The iconic Canadian song, imo.

 

I just saw something interesting in a documentary about the Great Lakes.
It said water that entered Lake Superior in 1715 still hasn't reached the Atlantic.

 

Speaking of Lightfoot, found this story in today's Buffalo News about a new song derived from Lightfoot's "Cabaret," a hidden gem on his great "Summer Side of Life" album.

Here's the story:

Erik Brady: A friendship that started with a magazine article led to Gordon Lightfoot's ode to Buffalo

Here's the video and song: