Dear Bird Talk, We are in Mesa, Arizona amid many snowbird resorts. I’ve yet to see one Canadian flag at half-mast since the recent slaughter of innocent Canadians and legal immigrants. We spend a massive amount of money here, as well as our national trade, yet little to no respect is ever displayed. Earl Rhode Penticton, BC Ed.: We are in total agreement with your comments. Americans are a culture unto themselves and we are foreigners, and are usually treated as such. Even though there are hundreds of thousands of us visiting every year and spending billions of dollars, I doubt that things will ever change. Our goal is to enjoy our snowbird years, so let’s do that and remember our many U.S. friends. BirdTalk Featuring the letters & concerns of our members SEND YOUR LETTERS TO Bird Talk, c/o CSANews 180 Lesmill Road Toronto, Ontario M3B 2T5 or by e-mail: csawriteus@snowbirds.org Bird Talk Dear Bird Talk, As a snowbird in Arizona, I am getting conflicting information regarding whether or not to unplug my refrigerator when I return home. We keep our house at 90 degrees Fahrenheit while we are not there. Hoping maybe you can provide an answer. Thank you. Janet Brunton Edmonton, AB Ed.:We have done both, and have never had an issue. If you do unplug your fridge, make sure that it is totally empty and leave the door open. You should put something between the door and the fridge to make sure that it does not close accidentally. If you leave your refrigerator on, which we often do, it will cost a little more in electricity. The issue here concerns an extended power outage, which could rot things left in the fridge. To know whether this has happened, put a bowl or glass of ice cubes in the freezer. If, when you return, the ice cubes are still there, the frozen food is fine. If the ice cubes have melted and there is now frozen water instead, I would throw out all of the food as it may be contaminated. We primarily leave drinks and non-perishables for the summer and it is sure nice to pull up to the door after our long journey south and crack a cold coke, or a beer or a glass of chilled white wine. We also leave an opened box of baking soda in our refrigerator at all times, to reduce any offensive smell which might linger. Dear Bird Talk, I’ve long admired Michael Coren’s commentary on TV and in print but does he, or anyone for that matter, really think that anyone takes the Bible literally? Before instinctively replying in the affirmative, does anyone think that Jesus is a vine, a door, bread, light, a lamb, a rock, etc.? The Bible is full of metaphors and stories. No two people likely interpret it exactly the same, yet many sincerely consider it to be theWord of God. Some of it is literal, some isn’t; knowing the difference isn’t always easy. Please keep Michael as an Opinion writer. Sincerely, John Hush Ed.: I thought that we should print this just for Mr.Coren. He takes a lot of heat for his ideas and opinions and I certainly do not always agree with him. But he makes you think and that is a good thing. We’ll keep him! CSANews | SPRING 2020 | 9
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