Colourful winters

I felt like adding some colour to all bleak white days of winter, so I made these:

   

  

I can’t believe the amount of snow we’ve been hit with.  Perhaps I’m noticing it more because I’ve spent so much time moseying around the un-plowed sidewalks and streets these days. Apartment hunting by bus in -11C is NOT my idea of a good time.  I mean, apartment hunting at any time is pretty miserable, but it’s even worse in the winter.

That being said, I’m excited to find THE apartment, and move forward.  New place, new ideas, new school — yep, I’m going back to school in the fall.  (It feels so strange to say!)  This lady will be starting an 8-month post grad degree in communications & marketing.  Onward and upward!

Books: Peter Pan – J.M. Barrie & On Writing Well – William Zinsser

Music: Wintersleep – Weighty Ghost & Joni Mitchell – Both Sides Now

The Wilderness

A couple weeks back I had the opportunity to wander through the wilderness of Chatham-Kent. It was a work related adventure — a rail corridor that has long been abandoned by the iron horses is being transformed into a walking trail.  I was helping students from Western survey segments of the rail — they will be developing restoration plans, trail designs and interpretation ideas for the corridor.

As a part of the field trip, we visited a restored prairie and collected seeds from native plants for other restoration work in the area. I had the pleasure of collecting seeds from Dense Blazing Star and Wild Bergamot.  Dense Blazing Star is threatened both provincially and nationally, so it was neat to play a teensy role in it’s preservation as a species.  (It’s also GORGEOUS).  The Wild Bergamot was a pleasure to collect because the leaves and seed head smelled so lovely. Fun fact, bergamot and lavender are a part of the mint family (Lamiaceae)… and Wild Bergamot actually smells a bit like lavender. And like Earl Grey. Mmmm.

The day’s adventures made me a little bit sentimental for my university days.  I miss the self-directed research. Have time off in the middle of the day. Catching up with friends before class.

That all being said, I pulled out my undergrad ‘thesis’ the other day, and that brought back memories about the unpleasantness that final year of school. Stress & insomnia? No thank you!

Peaches & Cream

The world smelled of peaches & fermentation.

Bare winter orchards transformed into summertime jungles.

Breathing easier. The heady air. The open space. The wildness. The change.  The sense of place.

.

Reading: Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv; Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

Given a chance, a child will bring the confusion of the world to the woods, wash it in the creek, turn it over to see what lives on the unseen side of that confusion. Richard Louv in Last Child in the Woods.  True or false, a rather notion.

Listening: Change the Sheets – Kathleen Edwards; Open – Rhye

On Cycling the Shore

Seems as if much of the excitement in my life revolves around Lake Erie these days.  (Bad thing? Too much work? Good thing? Work provides adventure? Who knows?)

This past week I cycled a stretch of Lake Erie’s shoreline on the Great Waterfront Trail Adventure.  From Port Stanley to Fort Erie, I clocked over 260km in the saddle! TWO HUNDRED SIXTY KILOMETERS. I have one very sore ass and sick tan-lines to prove it. And some pretty pictures.

I don’t think I have done anything quite so physically demanding in my entire life.  And mentally demanding.  I was very anxious about the entire event & my role in it (cycling 260km AND representing my workplace). The last time I had ridden 75km in one day, I had been positively beat… and somehow I was supposed to travel even further (95km on day one), and then wake up and do it all again (100km on day two) and again (73km on day three).

 

But honestly the opportunity was too good to pass up. With a discounted registration and my work encouraging me to participate, it really was a once in a lifetime opportunity. (Though I fully intend to do it again next year!)  And I need activities like this — events I cannot back out of — to kick my lazy ass in gear.  And I have no regrets… except over not bringing a warm enough sleeping bag. (Nights in August should not get below 10 degrees Celsius!!)

Our “south coast” is gorgeous. The lake, Carolinian forest, fields of corn, tobacco & asparagus, Monarch butterflies and dragonflies, prairies and savanna’s with wildflowers in yellow & purple, crickets & cicadas, and fish & chips (mmm, Lake Erie Perch).

Through it all I cycled.  TWO HUNDRED SIXTY KILOMETERS. Boo Yeah.

Fun facts:

• Carolinian Canada is the most biodiverse region of Canada, with over 2000 plant species, 70 types of trees, 400 species of birds and 50 types of reptiles and amphibians.  Many of these species and their habitats are found no where else in Canada!
• Carolinian Canada makes up less than 1% of Canada’s landmass.
• The north shore of Lake Erie is 592 km long.
• Lake Erie is the 4th largest Great Lake according to surface area, though the smallest by volume and by far the shallowest of the Great Lakes.
• Lake Erie’s average depth is 19m and has a maximum depth of 64m. This contrasts quite remarkably with Lake Superiors average depth of 147m and maximum depth of 406m.
• Lake Erie supports on of the largest freshwater fisheries in the world, which isn’t all that surprising when you consider that it is the 11th largest lake in the world (according to surface area) and is the most biologically diverse of all the Great Lakes.
• Lake Erie’s watershed is home to over 11 million people! (The lake is bound by Ontario, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Michigan.)
• Lake Erie has it’s very own legendary lake monster, very cleverly (NOT) named Bessie!
• #nerdrant

Oh, and here are the tan-lines I have to prove it. #bikeshortsftw

An actual tweet from the trail: Drinking a St. Thomas beer called Dead Elephant, a nod to the dear departed Jumbo. Yum!

Stripes, Polka Dots & True Blue

Oy! This post has been sitting in my draft folder all week long… and my life is just not interesting enough!  Pen to page, nonetheless.  Not much has changed. I spent much of the week sipping on lemonade, iced coffee, water garnished with mint and lime juice, plain ol’ water… anything cool (it has been warm in this neck of the woods!) and banging my head against my keyboard. (Oh, work!)

Last week I went stand-up paddleboarding for the first time. I wish I had snapped a picture of me doing this, because I probably looked (and definitely felt) about as elegant as a fish out of water. Balance is not really my thing. On a good day. On solid ground.

I’ll be participating in a 25 kilometer long stand-up paddleboarding trip in July… (Which might be rather tough. Basically it involves standing on a surf board and paddling with an extra long canoe oar).  So perhaps some photographic hilarity will show up on this blog in late July. (I need to get my hands on a GoPro!  That would be so marvellous!)

I also may have just signed myself up to ride the entire north shore of Lake Erie in August? End to end? Well over 600 kilometers of cycling in 7 days?  For a self described couch potato, I’m signing up for a lot of exercise-y things.

Things I Like:

washing machines & clean clothes  |  summer dresses  |  stripes, polka dots & true blue  |  iced coffee |  sourdough bread  |  on Netflix: The Hour  |  Sesame Snaps & PC’s decadent chocolate chip cookies  |  Lego Harry Potter (for Xbox)  |  ART  |  storage solutions  |  Dominion (the board game)  |  Canada  |  rainy nights

Oh, check out the size of these flying squirrels! (No, that was not a euphemism!) ;)

Ciao darlings!

Madly On

You can now purchase {In Paper Dreams} cards at The Truth Beauty Company, a cute boutique in Uptown Waterloo.  We’re kinda shooting in the dark… we have no idea if the arrangement will actually make us money, but we had to give it a shot.

We have also received an order for one of these lovely Canada cut-outs.  So far all our sales have been to people we know (this one not excluded), but it’s exciting to know that other people are excited about our products.

It’s going to be a busy, exciting week.  Tues: volleyball, Wed: staff meeting in Guelph, Thurs: sushi with friends, Fri: reunite with the Boy, Sat&Sun: off to Toronto for the Earth Month Youth Forum & hangouts with my sister and friends.  And on that note, I should be fast asleep!

Reading: Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman

Exotic Earthworms

Did you know that there are 19 species of earthworms in Ontario and not one is native to the province?  While earthworms once existed in the region, they were extirpated during the retreat of the last glaciers (in Ontario) and never recolonized naturally from the southern parts of the continent. So until the introduction of earthworms in the 1700s from Europe, ecosystem developed without their influence.

Earthworms are considered ecosystem ‘engineers’ because of the significant role they play in structuring an ecosystem, particularly their ability to influence nutrient dynamics and soil organic matter.  Earthworms consume leaf fall and increase carbon loss from soil and can contribute to nitrogen turnover and leaching from the forest floor. And while the contribution of earthworms is by no means inherently negative (they’re great in your vegetable garden), they become problematic when they enter and influence an ecosystem that evolved outside of their influence.  (Is there a metaphor for the human condition in there somewhere?)  Particularly when those ecosystems are being managed for conservation.

I’ve been researching exotic earthworms for a report I’m writing and couldn’t help but be fascinated with the creatures. And considering I have a degree in environmental studies, I’m surprised it has taken me this long to learn that the earthworms around here are exotic… So, of course, my natural inclination was to share this information!  (I sense a “THINGS YOU OUGHT TO KNOW even-though-they-won’t-really-matter-all-that-much-to-you” column visiting this blog.)

On another note, THINGS I LIKE as a weekly update has been put on hold. I’ve done this for a number of reasons: (a) because I’ve (obviously) been failing to post weekly, (b) I want to curate a list of the finest things, not just EVERYTHING I can think of at the last minute, and, (c) I want to occasionally blog about OTHER things, and two posts a week may be stretching my mental capacity. (Now I just need to think about what those OTHER things will be.)

Some housekeeping-ish things:

I noticed that I haven’t officially announced the opening of In Paper Dreams, a shop where my friend (and now business partner) Danielle and I are selling our hobby-crafts.  (You know, the shop I’ve been posting about to NO END!)  At this time we’re only selling greeting cards, but we’re hoping to soon delve in to postcards, miniature art, and other paper craft goodies!  If you want to keep track of our shenanigans, (a) get a Tumblr and (b) FOLLOW US!  Or like our Facebook page!

 

(You can find a printable template for your very own paper deer head trophy on our website under the ‘templates‘ tab.)

And,

My work contract has been extended for a full year! (And I will be moving back to KW!)

To obscured moments

I could try and describe this
This coordinates, compass points, the quick step of contour lines
Slip into these karst cave holes in our memories of moments
That occurred here
And here

But a forest of metaphors only obscures the trees
So lie down now
Belly spooned to dull stone spine
The collected seductive sedation of sediments

–  Excerpt from Tanis  Rideout’s Reclamation

I like her beginning. I could try to describe this.  (Whatever this is.) But my metaphors only obscure the trees. Or in this case, the Lake. And the sky. 

I was looking for poetry about Lake Ontario (there is not enough. If you know of any, please direct me to it!), and came across the name Tanis Rideout (poet). I could only find this video, of her performing the piece “Reclamation” on Sarah Harmer’s (singer-songwriter) “Escarpment Blues” tour/documentary film. “Escarpment Blues” promoted the protection of the Niagara Escarpment and protested proposed quarry development.  (I’m only learning about this now, so I’ll have to do more research, and look up Rideout’s and Harmer’s other work!)

To walking with wonder

“I’ve walked with eyes wide open to the wonder of the world.”

– Robert Service in Wanderlust

For many years I used that stanza from Robert Service’s poem Wanderlust in the signature of my emails.  I think it’s a wonderful mantra for life. It gives me chills. I’ve walked with eyes wide open to the wonder of the world.

  

I can only imagine living each day with eyes wide open to wonder. It’s something I most definitely aspire to doing.  Trees are something that always fill me with wonder — so I wanted to share a few of my favourite tree pictures with you. I admire the way they give and take and give — always seeming to give so much more than they take. Their root systems, branches, leaves; trees provide metaphor for everything. Family. Life. Death. Being. Moving. Sharing.

I suppose at the heart of it, I’m just a tree hugger. I admire the tenacity of trees. Their resilience. How they hold ecosystems together.

They really are the glue. They stop everything from eroding into oblivion.

  

To the hawk’s cliff

Today I visited Hawk’s Cliff — I love that possessive ‘s’ — the cliff really does belong to the birds.

Looking out over Lake Erie, the bluff stands several meters above the blue. It was a sunny, still day, and only two bald eagles were spotted; but on a day with the right kind of winds, hawks can be seen in large  numbers.

On days like that, this lowly road allowance* is inundated with birders hoping to catch a glimpse of these majestic soarers.

If you’re ever in Elgin County, I definitely recommend this little treasure. Hawks or no hawks, it’s a lovely place for a picnic.

*The property belongs to the municipality, because it’s where a road would have gone, had it not dead-ended on the lake.  The properties surrounding the road allowance are both privately owned, and therefore birders cannot use them for hawk watching.