Grand Bend, Ontario community newspaper and entertainment events guide. Also serves Zurich, Dashwood, Port Franks, Exeter, Parkhill. Casey Lessard photos.
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Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton Do you stand tall and proud for the Canadian National Anthem? Do you sing it out with a sense of pride in your country? If you are wearing a hat, do you remove it? Apparently we are living in a time when many people not only avoid singing the [...]
Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton In early March, while visiting Fort Rose Maple Company, I spied a horned lark from my perch on the hay wagon. It was skittering across the expanse of diamond-crusted snow, and at first glance the bird’s black collar suggested it might be a meadowlark. This idea was quickly dismissed [...]
Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton Have you ever met someone who makes you wonder at his or her energy and enthusiasm? Someone who is passionate about something and follows through on this passion with unremitting effort? When these people share their enthusiasm with others, they can really make a positive difference in society. One [...]
Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton While cross-country skiing in the field behind our property, I have frequently been treated to the majestic sight of a soaring rough-legged hawk (Buteo lagopus). During summer, they can be regularly seen in their flight patterns over farm country and can be easily mistaken for a red-tailed hawk, golden [...]
Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton What’s wrong with a little memory work anyway? In past decades, a requirement of learning English in Canadian elementary schools was a certain amount of memory work. It usually was in the form of poetry. One would be asked to choose a poem and commit it to memory; the [...]
Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton The back section of our three-acre property is an expanse of wonderful thickets, shrubs, and hedgerows. In late October, while walking just before dusk, Fergus the Lab managed to flush up a stocky, short-bodied bird with a very long beak. I knew immediately that it must be an American [...]
Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton October 31 is upon us. The shops have had their Hallowe’en wares on display for weeks now, and the children are beginning to make their plans for costumes and trick-or-treat destinations. Heaven help us parents, grandparents, and teachers alike! Hallowe’en is a wonderful time for people of all ages [...]
Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton The leaves are beginning to change with each passing day. It brings to mind some lines of poetry from my youth. Now by the brook the maple leans In all his glory spread. And all the sumachs on the hills Have turned their green to red. Excerpt by Wilfred [...]
Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton Algonquin Park beckons us each year; we have just returned from our 21st camping trip. And I mean camping. No RV, no pop-up camper. Sleeping in a real tent on the ground with a little help from an eggshell mattress and Thermarest. You can hear everything from within a [...]
Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton During the summer months, plenty of hawks and falcons are on the prowl for rodents and smaller birds. Red-tailed hawks, the rough-legged hawk and goshawks are seen perched in dead limbs, on wires, or soaring over the fields. To identify a rough-legged hawk in flight, look for a large, [...]
Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton ‘A change is as good as a rest’. The old adage carries much truth. A short getaway during the summer months can be just what the doctor ordered. Whether you choose a local day trip, or a few days in or out of province, the benefits can be outstanding. [...]
Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton (The following is a justifiable divergence from the usual topic of ‘our feathered friends’.) As a member and co-director of the Ailsa Craig and District Historical Society, it was recently my turn to open the museum and attend to any tourists who might happen by during an afternoon. The [...]
Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton The killdeer Charadrius vociferous, a member of the plover family, is named for its piercing call. On a leisurely walk at the back of our property, I heard the familiar “kill-dee!” and noted a female killdeer sprinting away from her nest. In an effort to divert my attention, she [...]
Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton East Williams Memorial School (where I teach) has been moving forward in an eco-friendly way for some time. We were excited to learn just this week that we will be certified as a bona fide Ontario Eco-School in June of this year. One of the six components of becoming [...]
Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton Our children have a vested interest in their collective future. In my experience, they are not only interested in how their future will play out, but also care enough to try to make a difference in the outcome. My students at East Williams Public School range in age from [...]
Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton On the last Saturday in March at 8:30 p.m., people around the world will be turning off their lights, computers, TV’s, etc. for 60 minutes. Why, you may ask? This eco-friendly gesture shows a global awareness of the importance of saving energy. The goal for Earth Hour 2009 is [...]
Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton Snow, snow, and… more snow! Long stretches of intense cold! Sounds like a good old-fashioned Canadian winter, just as the Farmer’s Almanac predicted. However, it can be hard on people and animals alike. In mid January, during one of the cold snaps, I was outside shoveling snow – no [...]
Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton Indeed the crow is common, but never underestimate its abilities. The correct name is American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos), and it is entirely black except for its brown eyes. Studies of these very intelligent birds show that they can actually count, solve simple puzzles, learn symbols and retain information. They [...]
Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton We are all too familiar with holiday feasting and what it can do to our waistlines (let alone our cholesterol levels). After the holiday season we begin to see the ads for fitness and weight loss programs: “Lose 20 pounds for 20 bucks” – or something like that. Many [...]
Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton Most people choose their wines by bouquet, an eye-catching label, or price. The true connoisseur uses terms like ‘oaky’, ‘peppery’, ‘fruity’, or ‘earthy’. Our outdoorsman friend, Gary Russwurm of Muskoka, chooses his wines by the birds pictured on the label. His choices come from Pelee Island, the southernmost point [...]
Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton “There’s a hairy woodpecker on the suet feeder.” “No, that’s a downy!” This is the sort of banter you hear around our place. Truth be told, the hairy and downy woodpeckers are pretty much identical in appearance except for size. Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish which is which [...]
Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton It is commonplace for us to refer to certain groups of animals by their correct term: herds of cattle, schools of fish, pods of whales, swarms of bees, litter of puppies, etc. In the avian family, the names for species groups are indeed quite unique, if not intriguing. Three [...]
Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton Summer was gone but the good weather lingered on into golden September. It was one of those lovely, almost autumn weekends that found us at the cottage on Three Mile Lake in Muskoka. Saturday passed pleasantly and dusk came relatively early. There was a slight chill in the air [...]
Living in Balance By Jenipher Appleton Family TYRANNIDAE, scientific name Tyrannus tyrannus. Sounds like some type of dinosaur, doesn’t it? It is not what you might expect; this scientific name is that of the Eastern kingbird. You will commonly spot this handsome bird perched on a wire, or high up on a tree or weed [...]