CHILCO, the Chesapeake Bay Retriever, with whom | frequently discuss politics and religion, also happens to be a seasoned traveller. He curls up in the back seat of our riceburner and sleeps happily, - half'a day at a stretch. He has put in more than 30,000 kiloinetres in the back seat during the past year, never complaining, never asking ‘‘when are we going to get there?’’ and not even once pointing out the red light on the gas gauge. -. Alt he asks is the chance to shake the dew from his lily onee every few hours and now and then, in the Mexican desert, a bowl of water. At aight, in a motel roorn or in camp, he wants his grub and when it is finished he will vigorously - wipe his mouth on my bed or on my sleeping bag. It is a bad old habit of his, and, now that he is nearing old age at 10 years, | know it can't be changed so I take the view that a smear of tuna oil on the sheets isn’t all that important. So it can be said that Chilco is a great travelling companion, far better than many humans J am not naming. If Chilco did nothing more than listen to me talk politics while | drive, he would not deserve space in this newspaper, Almost everybody has a dog he talks to or, if he doesn’t, he should, I write of him because he is; PAULITICS & PERSPECTIVES like so many of nature’s creatures, a mystery. He has depths | cannot plumb. One of these is a sense of place. Why should a dog, which has a brain about the size of a kiwi lruit and which can’t count beyond two, be able to recognize home ground so unfailingly? When we camp in Chilcotin or elsewhere, the Chesapeake is often so bone weary at the end of a day’s hard hunting that he Falls like one dead into the back seat when we start for home. But, one to two kilometres from the campground, he will sit or stand in the back seat, vatching for the place where his dinner pail abides. This ability to recognize home territory develops very quickly. Seniors’ public forum scheduled A PUBLIC forum to hear briefs on seniors’ issues will be held Wednesday, Feb. 10, at the Silver Harbor Centre, 144 East 22nd St., North Vancouver, from 1:30 p.in, (o3 p.m, The Seniors’ Advisory Council has invited several seniors’ organizations to make = pres- © entations to the session. The general public ‘is also en- couraged to attend «to hear the briefs and discussions. : “Public forums are a great op- portunity for council members to hear. first-hand from munity. on. important issues,’ said. council seniors’ chairman “© Howard Petch, “The recommendations that the com- — council makes should reflect the views cerns of us wide a-range of B.C. seniors as possible.’ He added that the issues ex- pected to be addressed at the forum include care for the elderly living in care facilities, affordable rental housing and financial secu- rity for seniors, The Seniors’ Advisory Council was established under the Seniors’ Advisory Act in 1989 to advise the health ‘minister and minister responsible ‘for seniors on current and future issues of concern to seniors across the province and to to government - provide a means of commurica- tion between seniors and the pro- vincial government. KBC DomINION SECURITIES IS PLEASED TO InvITR You To THis SPECIAL PRESENTATION RSP RATESHOCK! ‘Wuat To Do Wirn Your RSP In 1993 . Ir YOu: * are not satisfied with current rates being offered, * have funds maturing in GICs or your RSP and you want a higher rate of return, or ¢ are looking for some unique growth opportunities SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER i Mr, Jina Allworth, Vice-President - . Vice Chairman, Strategy Committee, RBC Dominion Securities 1 Date: Wednesday, February 10, 1993 24 years in the. invesunent field Time: 7:30-PM . PLace: . International Plaza, Presto Catering, Squamish Room 1999 Marine Drive, North Vancouver : Note: Admission to this special meeting is free, but as seating is limited, pre-rey- ; istration | is requested. ‘To book your place, please call 925-3131 - RBC DCMINION , SECURITIES “MEMBER OF ROYAL BANK GROUP and con * 44 / observed this mysterious ability Jirst in the dog I grew up with. OF At a motel room in Nevada, Arizona or Mexico, the dog has to be introduced to it only once. Should we drive away fora meal at Denny’s, he will sleep, but he rouses himself when we are within 100 metres or so of the place. There is a fairly simple explana- tion. All places on this earth have * distinctive odors, and the dog, ‘ with a nose 50 times more sen- sitive than ours, can distinguish - his territory way before we can, Perhaps there are also distinc- tive sounds, for his hearing is also better than ours, Itisn’t anything he sees. A dog's eyesight is poor, compared with a human’s and, in any case, this dog has his eyes closed and is snoring most of the driving day. However, the smell and sound explanation puts a stretch on cred- ibility. In the fall, after two months i in the Chilcotin and Cariboo, f took the trouble to find a different route to home from the Trans- Canada Highway, kept the radio loud and the windows up. He had his nose at the window, waiting for our house to show, while we were still two kilometres distant. Returning from Mexico, after another two-month absence, was an occasion to clock exactly when *he knew home territory. This time it was not two but 12 kilometres from our house that he got to his feet and started: whining. Why he should be so anxious is another matter. . ; Once home, he immediately tries to bore a hole in the living room carpel by spinning around GRANDS, VERTICAL PIANOS AND DIGITAL PIANOS TOO! OVER 250 PIANOS AVAILAI LE! ‘The Largest Collection of Pianos ever seen at the P.N.E. Spinets, Consoles, Studios, Grands - and Digital Pianos, all at unbelievable LOW, Ri PRICES A SALE SO LARGE WE HAD TO RENT THE PN.E.! MANY BRANDS BEPRESEN'TSD! NEW, USED, RENTAL, RETURNS, BEPOS. . Including Baldwin, Yomehe, Kawai & more f THE FORUM BUILDING SALB LOCATION four times and then thumps down on it and starts snoring again, Be- ing now old and deaf, sleeping takes up almost all his time. But beyond this strange ability is another, a stranger one. It oc- curs occasionally and randomly. This is when the dog appears to know that some member of the family is going to arrive home while their car is still four or five kilometres distant. Once, when Chilco roused himself from sleep and ran to the window and stood wagging his tail waiting for my wife to arrive, 1. pushed the timer button on the Casio watch as he sat, quivering. It was three minutes, 13 seconds before her car arrived, and it was not her regular time to come home, . . 1 observed this mysterious abili- ty first in the dog I grew up with. Then it happened in circumstances . that could only be easily explained by telepathy, but I don’t believe in’ telepathy and can’t accept that explanation. They are small mysteries. They have nothing to do with the course of empires. But | am grateful to have seen them. It re- minds p me how i ignorant lam. , _ PACIFIC NATIONAL EXHIBITION RENFREW & HASTINGS, VAN, B.C. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5TH, NOON - 9PM SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6TH, 10AM - 8PM SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7TH, 114M - 6PM - NO DBALERS PLBASB - ALL INSTRUMENTS MUST BE SOLD" ; Availability Subject To Pelor Sale LOOK FOR THE GIANT BALDWIN TRUCK!