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 anthem, some don’t even know all the words or melody!
According to a study conducted by the University of Victoria in B.C., 30 per cent of choir students polled did not know all of the words; 46 per cent had the melody incorrect. And these were choir students! Perhaps this disheartening situation is a result of high schools choosing not to sing the anthem each day. Perhaps it is because music specialists are no longer valued in our educational system. Or, even worse, maybe we just don’t feel the patriotism. By the way, Newfoundland scored the best in the national anthem survey. Good for them!

View of a new Canadian
If I were a new Canadian, depending on my country of origin, I might be heard to say, “I am so happy and proud to become a Canadian citizen. Life in the old country was so hard. No jobs, no democracy, oppression everywhere. Canada is the answer to all my prayers. It is the best country in the world! I am so grateful and feel such a deep emotion toward her flag and her anthem. I am so proud to stand up tall and sing it out loud!”

View of war veteran
If I were a Canadian war veteran, I might be heard to say, “I am deeply saddened that our young people do not show respect to the Canadian flag and the national anthem. If it had not been for my fellow veterans, in all areas of the military, Canada would be a terrible place to live. Thousands upon thousands of Canadians gave their lives to protect us from the supreme evil; they fought tooth and nail for our freedom, for peace, and for democracy. Because of them, we live in the best country in the world! Many of my brothers and sisters who have gone before would be so sad and disappointed if they knew our youth didn’t care about our national anthem and had no sense of pride in their country. I think maybe they do know, and are rolling over in their graves. Something must be done to stop the ignorance and the sense of entitlement many of our young people seem to possess!”

Perhaps we could pause and take some advice from a truly great Canadian, none other than Stompin’ Tom Connors. The lyrics from the chorus of his song Canada Day say it all:

O Canada, standing tall together.
We’ll raise our hands and hail our flag,
THE MAPLE LEAF FOREVER!!

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 when I realized it was sparrow-sized; too small for the meadowlark, which isn’t even a lark. Editor Casey Lessard had recently mentioned some sightings of horned larks in the Grand Bend area, and so this species has become the topic of the April column.

The horned lark (Eremophila alpestris) is one of the most widespread birds in North America. It is a brown ground bird, seven to eight inches in length, with black sideburns and two small black horns on the top of its head. These, of course, are feathered tufts and only resemble horns. It sports a black bill, black bib, and pale yellow to white throat. The back and rump are tawny brown, and the tail is black with white outer feathers. All features combine to create a most handsome appearance. The female appears similar but is duller and lacks the black crown. The white underparts of both genders are noticeable in flight. The feet are black and the rear toe is quite elongated.
Behaviours
The horned lark forages on the ground, preferring open fields, golf courses, prairies, and tundra, etc. They sometimes group with snow buntings on graveled shoulders of the roadside. The lark walks and runs, as opposed to hopping, and is often found in agricultural areas.
Food mainly consists of seeds, grains, insects and small mollusks. The song of the horned lark, given from high circling flight, is a series of bell-like tones (tsee-tete, or zeet).
The nest is a shallow depression in a grassy meadow, either natural, or dug by the female and lined with feathers and other soft materials, and is often near clumps of dirt or animal manure. The female lays two to five gray or greenish eggs dotted with brown. The young stay in the nest nine to 12 days, brooded by the female and fed by both sexes. These young are classed as altricial, which means they are born naked and helpless, like most of our songbirds. This contrasts with another ground nester, the killdeer, whose young are precocial; this means baby killdeer are born fully feathered and ready to run off within a few hours.
The population of the horned lark is common and the eastern range has expanded because of agricultural development. Keep your eyes sharp for the black collar and the little black horns of this most attractive songbird in our area.
Recent Sightings:
– A bald eagle (just north of Ailsa Craig)
– Red-bellied woodpecker (both at the feeder and on roadside trees)

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 such individual is Ron Walker of Ailsa Craig. Ron is the founder, past chair, and now manager of operations and collections of the Ailsa Craig and District Historical Society. However, Ron is far more than a history buff. He grew up listening to the stories told by his grandfather, Elmer Walker (1906-1999), a man who genuinely cared about the value of history and the importance of understanding what has gone before. Like Ron, he believed that it is essential to understand your past in order to know where you are going. Ron embraced his grandfather’s stories and made it his business to ask questions of older community members. He has delved into the local community’s past for his entire life. As a result, Ron has become somewhat of an expert in the field of our community history.
Since the founding of ACDHS in 1996, the organization has grown to include two properties: the former Trinity Anglican and Ailsa Craig Baptist churches. These buildings house museum artifacts, archives, and the Marg and Leroy Walker Research Room (named for Ron’s benefactor parents). Multiple annual events serve to celebrate our heritage and to educate our young people.

Connecting with youth
Ron is the main impetus behind this society. He reaches out to the community by giving historic talks at local schools. Ron has the most amazing old postcard slide presentation; the pictures include everything from buildings and streetscapes, to bridges and other landmarks or landscapes. The kicker is that Ron knows the background of each picture in the greatest of detail and can go off on a tangent, sharing anecdotes about events that occurred 100 years ago and more. It is both fascinating and entertaining.
Ron came to East Williams Memorial Public School in Nairn on Wednesday, February 17 to present his slideshow of local history. One of the pictures he showed was of ‘Temperance House’, which later became the Pinewood Restaurant in Ailsa Craig. Coincidentally, two days after the presentation, that historic 1860 structure burned to the ground. The fact that Ron had shown that postcard on his recent visit to the school had a great impact on the students. They were able to understand a link to the town’s heritage far more easily because of that slide presentation.

At the end of his talk, Ron made two key suggestions:
- talk to your grandparents and elders, and ask them questions before they are no longer here; and,
- take pictures of local buildings, bridges and other landmarks

One Grade 8 student, Blake, approached Ron following the presentation and said, “Mr. Walker, would you like me to take pictures of some bridges? I have my own camera.” It was clear that Ron’s passion for history had made a difference in this young man’s mind. Even if Blake was the only student who took the idea of embracing the past seriously, it is likely that he will look at older buildings and structures with new eyes from now on. Ron makes a difference. For some it could be a life-changing experience.

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 eagle or even a turkey vulture. Unless the distinctive markings can be seen (which often depends on the light), identification can be tricky.
Both the common and scientific names refer to the fact that this hawk’s legs are feathered all the way down to its toes. The only other known birds to sport this feature are the ferruginous hawk and the golden eagle. The rough-legged hawk is 19 inches in length and has a wingspan of 52 inches. The beak is hooked (handy for ripping flesh) and it has long, broad, rounded wings. In flight, the underside of the wings shows large black patches at the wrists. The broad tail is white at the base with a dark terminal band. Adult hawks occur in both dark and light phases of colour.

Durable relationships
Rough-legged hawks are monogamous; pairs have been observed together over a period of many years. They breed in the Arctic tundra and taiga regions of Canada and Europe. There is one brood annually with a clutch of 2-7 eggs, depending on the availability of food for the nesting pair. Nests are built on the edges of cliffs or in the tops of trees. Some have been found to have the bones of caribou amongst the nesting sticks.
The hawk’s diet consists of small mammals, fresh roadkill, rodents, and large insects. It hovers over its prey like a kestrel, and then plummets toward it feet first. Puppies and kittens beware! The hawks love the open country and are frequently seen riding the air currents over the agricultural fields of Middlesex County. Fortunately, this species is not listed with any particular concern either in Canada or the United States. At one time, however, enormous numbers were shot in the U.S. because of the tame behaviour of the species. Numbers have increased in recent years as a result of more stringent hunting guidelines and regulations. The rough-legged hawk is also vulnerable while feeding on roadkill on local roads and highways. Just recently I was disappointed to see a red-tailed hawk that had succumbed to that same fate on county road 81.

Recent sightings
Keep your wits about you as you travel throughout the region. The bald eagle is definitely making a strong comeback. If you think you are seeing a large hawk, look again more carefully and you just may see the distinctive white head and tail of the bald eagle. I have been treated to several such sights near Ailsa Craig over the past few months.

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 teacher would dutifully record the number of lines memorized in her special record book. There was normally a prize for the person with the most lines memorized at the end of each term.
It seems to me that a certain amount of rote memory exercise is helpful to the learning process. We are, after all, still tested for some exams on our ability to recall thoughts and ideas. But poetry gives the memory experience a whole other dimension.
Webster’s defines poetry as “an imaginative awareness of experience, expressed through sounds and rhythmic language” – or – “an artistic representation of what it feels like to experience the emotions of a human being”. Robert Frost once wrote, A poem begins with a lump in the throat. Something would be missing in my everyday life if I could not call to mind a few lines of poetry, memorized long ago, when I find myself in certain situations.

While walking in woods on a summer’s day, to recall the words of Joyce Kilmer’s poem ‘Trees’ seems most uplifting. Here is an excerpt.
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair.
Or in autumn, while in the meadow with Fergus the Lab, the ability to quote from Wilfred Campbell’s ‘Indian Summer’ adds to the tranquility of the experience.
Along the line of smoky hills
The crimson forest stands.
And all the day the blue jay calls
Throughout the autumn lands.

In the depths of winter, I call upon the words of Robert Frost’s ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ to enhance the sensory experience of silent snow.
Whose woods these are I think I know,
His house is in the village though.
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

The foregoing excerpts are only a few of the poems that often come to mind.
Even to be able to quote a bit of Shakespeare when words of wisdom are needed can be fun. Lines like “Something is rotten in the State of Denmark” (Hamlet), “Brevity is the soul of wit” (Hamlet), or “Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep” (Henry IV), bring metaphorical depth to certain situations.

On the very day my father passed on to eternity, Dad and I were able to recite together our favourite lyric by Robert Frost, ‘The Pasture’. It is a moment in time I will forever cherish. I was thankful that he had instilled in me the desire to both read, appreciate, and to memorize so many wonderful poems.
Our sons have been raised to be lifelong learners and have caught the same bug of using quotes in many situations. Our younger son, Andrew, recently took it to another level while he was outside on a very snowy day in early January. He carefully observed the behaviour of a white-breasted nuthatch for several minutes and subsequently found himself inspired to create the following poem that captures a beautiful snapshot of the little bird.

The Nuthatch
By Andrew Appleton

Oh little Nuthatch, upon the tree
His feathery throat ruffled by the breeze.
A proud pointed tail and little black hood.
With a slate grey back like the Maple tree’s wood.
His upside’s his downside.
While on the tree-side’s lea side
He sits inverted and safe
From the wintery wind.

For what he awaits
I’m not quite sure.
But the winter is sweet
And his heart is pure.

Recalling and creating poetry can definitely be ‘food for the soul’.

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 woodcock (Scolopax minor). It flew about 100 meters and landed in the dense brush. A little research renewed my knowledge of and interest in this most unique of game birds.
The American woodcock is nicknamed the timberdoodle. It is very similar to the common snipe, which is also classed as a game bird. I would think that there would be some very slim pickin’s if you wanted to make a meal of one of these birds, which weigh in at well under half a pound. The woodcock’s population is relatively common and its behaviour migratory.

Appearance
The American woodcock has a short, dumpy body, is short-tailed and robin-sized. The plumage is a patterned cinnamon on top and on its back, beautifully camouflaging it against the dead leaves of the forest floor. It is brown underneath and has black and brown barring on the crown of the head. The legs are short and pinkish and the bill is very long and also pinkish. Its eyes are located high in the head, affording it a visual field of 360 degrees in the horizontal plane and 180 degrees in the vertical plane. It is certainly adapted to seeing predators coming from overhead.

Breeding
During courtship, the male will circle in flight as high as 90 meters, hovering, chirping and then gliding in a zigzag pattern toward earth. The feathers make a sort of whistling sound during this courtship display. The woodcock female lays a clutch of one to four eggs, which are creamy buff with brown spots. The nest is on the ground (similar to the killdeer) in an open wooded location. Also like the killdeer, the young are precocial, which means they are fully fledged and ready to leave the nest almost immediately. They are dependent on the mother for the first week for food and begin probing for worms after three or four days.

A strange perambulation
When I was in grade school back in the ’60s, my father was the local public school inspector. A few times a year he would end up in my classroom to ‘inspect’ what the teacher and students were up to; much to the chagrin of the teacher. Usually I was delighted by his entertaining visits, but one visit sticks out in my mind as simply mortifying.
Dad was a naturalist and birder, and on this particular day he was talking about the American woodcock. He took it upon himself to demonstrate the unusual walk of the stocky little bird. My father would plant one foot firmly on the floor ahead of him at the front of the classroom, and then proceed to bend his knees and wiggle himself forward and backward. He would then proceed to do it all over again with the other leg in the forward position. He looked completely ridiculous up there in his three piece suit demonstrating the American woodcock’s silly antics. My classmates found it hilarious as I was trying to slide myself under my desk and out of sight. However, I have learned through my current research the reason why the woodcock elicits this behaviour.

A feeding strategy
The woodcock eats mainly earthworms and arthropods, and sometimes plant material. Its long bill is somewhat flexible and acts like a pair of tweezers. In order to procure its meal of earthworms, the woodcock will step heavily on the ground with one foot forward (possibly causing earthworms to move). It then rocks its body back and forth without moving its head. This may make the worms move around in the soil and make it easier for the bird to probe around and catch the worms in its tweezer-like bill. So the antics of the woodcock (and my father) have a purpose after all. Watch for this interesting bird at dawn or dusk near thickets and young forests.

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 to indulge in the luxury of just plain fun. October 31, or All Hallows’ Eve, gives us a legitimate excuse to dress in costume and pretend to be something we are not. Even the Appleton boys, well into their 20s, celebrate the occasion with some highly creative costuming, and perhaps a little tipping of the elbow along Richmond Row in London.
And now to the children. Hallowe’en is perhaps even more exciting than Christmas to some! Turning out the lights and listening to a scary (but not too scary) ghost story, dressing up as their favourite character and wearing the costume at school, going out for trick-or-treat and bringing home all that candy! All that candy can often present problems for the most diligent and organized parents. Perhaps we worry too much about the amount of sugar that our children consume at this spooky time of year.

Sugar and hyperactivity
Sugar has had a bad rap for decades. It seems to have begun back in the ‘70s when the Feingold Diet proclaimed that food additives were the main culprits in contributing to hyperactive behaviour in children. Certain food colourings and preservatives can certainly cause erratic behaviour, but is sugar also responsible for the same actions? According to some studies in the 1990s, sugar does not affect behaviour. Let us not forget that sugar is a natural product; its source is either sugar cane or sugar beets. The fact that it is refined simply makes it more readily absorbed into the blood. However, this may not mean that a child is going to behave in a hyperactive manner.
When children finish dessert and finally get to leave the table after a family gathering, all the running and expending of pent-up energy may be simply that they have been sitting too long. The sweet dessert takes the blame for the ensuing behaviour. One study explained that a group was given foods containing real refined sugars and the other group was given a placebo (no sugar ingredients). Both groups consistently reported hyper behaviour after the consumption of the foods. The conclusion was that the placebo group of parents had the expectation that their children would be hyper and that expectation influenced how they interpreted what they saw.

Caffeine, chocolate and cola
Cola beverages, hot chocolate, chocolate bars, etc. not only contain high levels of refined sugar, but also high levels of caffeine. The latter is the more likely culprit for any hyperactivity following consumption. Kids often associate soda beverages with a party atmosphere and will act accordingly. In support of this theory, I have seen many groups of very hyper children in a social situation who have not consumed any sugars at all.

Tips for Hallowe’en Survival
You can either suffer through your child eating their Hallowe’en candy within the first few days, or you can have them ration it into Zip-loc bags and stretch it out over a longer period of time. Either way, they are not getting enough of the right kind of foods if the focus is on the sweets.
Your dentist would likely rather that they eat it all at once. That way they will not be subjecting their teeth to multiple acid/sugar attacks which could result in many more cavities. Having it over and done with, then brushing well, is better for their teeth.

The Bottom Line
When all is said and done, children should be eating a balanced diet and consuming only a small percentage of refined sugars. While the sugar may not be responsible for the hyperactivity, it is most certainly responsible for much of the obesity, diabetes and heart disease so prevalent in our society today.
Happy Hallowe’en!

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 Campbell of Kitchener

The nights are chilly and the misty mornings bring the sounds of migrating geese and the barbwire fence screeching of Mr. Blue Jay. The sugar maple in our back yard is quickly turning its foliage to a glorious crimson.
What is the cause of all this colour change in our trees and forests? It all gets down to two key components: pigments and chlorophyll.
We associate autumn with reds, oranges, yellows, and browns. All of these pigments exist within the deciduous leaves. However, they remain unseen because of the presence of chlorophyll, which is green.

How it works
Leaves are food factories for trees. The leaves take on water from the roots of the tree, and also carbon dioxide from the air. The tree then uses sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into glucose, or sugar, through photosynthesis. Chlorophyll helps make photosynthesis happen. As long as it is present, the leaves remain green.
In autumn, as the days grow shorter and the temperature begins to drop, mother nature helps the trees to take time out for a rest.
As the trees begin to shut down their food factories, the green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves. This in turn allows the other coloured pigments to shine through and give us our beautiful autumn palette.
If the weather is cold and rainy, the colours tend to show mainly yellow and brown hues. On the other hand, if it is warm and sunny with crisp nights, the brilliant reds and oranges are more prevalent.
Evergreens and the like
In autumn you may notice changes in our coniferous (evergreen) trees as well. If needles have been on the pines or spruces for two to three years, they no longer receive as much light. The tree will withdraw the chlorophyll from the needles, which in turn will change to a yellowish hue and eventually be shed from the tree. The remaining needles will stay on the tree through the winter. New needles will grow in spring. Some trees like the tamarack and European larch will shed their needles every fall and are not a true evergreen.
So, get out for a walk in the autumn vistas. It will undoubtedly calm your nerves and lift your spirits!

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 tent. Some of us have to get up in the middle of the night when nature calls. Standing in the bushes (as if anyone could possibly be watching you at 4 a.m.), you can detect snoring from just about everyone’s tent in the campground. I could even hear the steady drone of a camper about five sites away from ours. I’m sure his sleeping partner was thrilled.
Of course I cannot leave out the sound of zippers. Yes, I said zippers. In order to get out of a tent you have to zip-zip at least three times; one for the sleeping bag, one for the tent door and the last one for the tent porch. Then you have to do it all over again when you return to your resting place. That’s a lot of zipping.
Our son Andrew was two when we began camping with him and his older brother Tommy. They loved it from the start. As a result, they have continued to pursue this annual camping trip ever since. Now that Tommy is the proud father of a baby boy, he had no intention of missing this year’s trip. Yes, you can camp with a six-week-old baby. As a matter of fact, it worked out really well.
Oscar Thomas Henry Appleton was born on June 29th of this year. That makes us grandparents, if you hadn’t already figured that out. Oscar’s mother Sonja also shares a love of camping and was very enthusiastic about preparing for this year’s sojourn. Oscar’s sleeping accommodation was a red laundry basket lined with a bed pillow. He was swaddled up in a bunting bag each night around the campfire and went to sleep willingly in the laundry basket. He was shifted into the tent when his mommy went to bed and would proceed to sleep soundly, five nights in a row, until around 6 a.m. At that point Sonja would feed him and he would return to his slumber until well after 8:30 a.m. Must have been the fresh air. I would be up making coffee and starting breakfast long before Oscar thought it was time to awaken.
So, you can camp with an infant. Who knew? The benefits of camping the old-fashioned way far outweigh the hassles of the packing, and pitching of tents. A good cook tent or dining shelter goes a long way as well. So give it some consideration if you haven’t already made the plunge. Your family memories will be worth it.

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, dark patch on the underside of each of its wings. The red-tailed is very easy to identify because of its large size and the distinctive rusty tail feathers that stand out against its white underbelly. I have actually witnessed a red-tailed hawk swoop down on an unsuspecting black squirrel perched in a maple tree. The hawk then proceeded to sail away into the distance, squirrel in talons. You’ll also see Cooper’s and sharp-shinned hawks visiting back yards in hope of scooping up an unsuspecting songbird.

Giving the sparrow hawk a bad name
The smallest hawk in our area is the sparrow hawk, or American kestrel (Falco sparverius). The name is actually a misnomer because it is neither a hawk, nor does it consume very many sparrows. The sparrow hawk is actually a member of the falcon family. The American kestrel is a mere 9-12 inches in length, or about the size of a blue jay. It is the only small hawk with a rufous back and tail. The combination of the blue-jay wings and rust back makes for a very attractive bird. Both male and female have a moustached black-and-white face pattern. The little falcon would fit nicely into the poetry of Edgar Allan Poe or other medieval lore.
I often see kestrels perched on roadside hydro wires. They hover for prey on rapidly beating wings, much like a kingfisher. The voice is a rapid high “klee-klee-klee!” Foods include rodents, insects, bats, small birds, small reptiles and frogs.
The kestrel is a solitary nester and will readily nest in bird boxes built especially for them. During breeding season and courtship, the male gathers food and feeds the female in the air. Both parents nurture their single yearly brood, which consists of three to seven creamy to pale pink eggs, which are heavily blotched with brown, and measure 3.6 cm in length. Their population is common throughout North America. You can spot the American kestrel throughout the year in our region, but most likely in spring and summer months.
The fact that we have so many hawks and falcons in our region suggests that they are well fed. Therefore, the rodent population would appear to be in good shape as well.