Do you remember the
first book written by Dr. Seuss for children?
“And to Think That
I Saw It on Mulberry Street!”
It was a delightful
story about young Marco who concocts
a colourful cast of
characters ~ literally “fantasy stories”
he dreams up to
relate to his father about his walk home.
And to Think That
I Saw It In My Neighbourhood!
(and these are not
“fantasies”)
My first observation of winter
was of the bare trees, void of their leaves, to now expose to us what their
well-dressed limbs protected and hid from our view. From spring to late fall,
we see squirrels scampering here and there hunting for materials from which to
build their nests...perhaps it'll be in a soil filled flower pot on patio or
balcony...perhaps it'll be built of grasses, straws and twigs...perhaps hunting for “food stuffs” (when overly kind
people feed them...which is a “No! No!)...or pilfering and storing nuts for
their winter provisions. With their tiny sharp claws, they can hastily climb
brick walls. Ever playfully, they jump
from branch to branch or from fencing to posts.
Now, displayed in the fork of
barren tree branches are sizeable comfy nests snuggly fastened and
supported against wind...where these cute little pesky creatures spend the winter.
THESE I Now See!
In the past few winters, snows
have diverted around us here in Southern Ontario. Often coming from winds and
blizzards generated by Lakes Huron and Ontario, these storms have churned a
path through The Golden Horseshoe...usually heading to Niagara and Buffalo
areas and into New York State. This
year, Mother Nature has inflicted us with cold frigid temperatures...tons of
snow (both gently falling and wind driven
blizzards). Traffic has been snarled...visibility at times almost nil...vehicle
accidents by the multitude...major delays at airports and other points of
travel. Truckers by the dozens were
unable to cross the Niagara River bridges due
to closures. Major highways are shut
down...the QEW, the 400 series of roads in Ontario...Interstate 90 in NY State
and Routes 190 and 290 out of Niagara Falls...for hours...up to a couple days.
My son, home for Christmas, was returning to New Jersey after New Year's
Day. Fortunately he had not rented a
car...fortunately he had not booked a flight...fortunately he had not purchased
a bus ticket...FORTUNATELY, he had
arranged an Amtrak train reservation!
His route was safe...but shortly thereafter, train service was
unavailable due to blizzards of snow and ice!
New to this area were
Snow Quakes!
The Ice Storm just prior to Christmas, downed many limbs, branches and
complete trees which caused excessive damage...power outages in vast areas of
Hamilton, Burlington and our rural areas.
Hardest hit was Toronto with thousands upon thousands of families
without electricity and heat….many depending upon wood stoves and BBQ’s. This storm, the worst in decades, extensively
damaged trees, roads and properties…although most services have been
reinstated, the clean-up of fallen
trees, limbs, branches is incredible.
Metropolitan Hamilton, due to last July’s massive wind gales and now
December’s Ice Storm, reports about 9000 city-owned trees have been lost. The average per year is about 1200 trees.
The Winter Beauty of Niagara Falls
has never been so dramatic ~ the American Falls, as it pours over the escarpment, forms
masses of snowy ice ~ the frozen mist from the cascades coats the landscape in
silvery frost ~ and against the azure blue sky, starkly stand numerous
silver-dressed trees The weirdly formed
ice sculptures along the coastlines of
the Great Lakes are highly frosted like angel cakes ~ ice crystals form
on frozen ponds. Even in Florida,
icicles hang from oranges on orchard trees!
A local photographer was lucky to photo a blue heron doing a “triangular
split” (2 legs plus long neck) landing on a frozen pond near Burlington
Bay…hoping to snag a fish for dinner! Another local photo shows a trumpeter
swan calmly resting (amid icy winds) on the frozen bay water near La Salle Park
Pier. A photo in today’s Spectator of a handsome red cardinal, showed him
snuggled on a tree branch ~ snow gently
blowing ~ his feathers wonderfully fluffed providing him a protective
eider-down coverlet to keep off the icy chill.
Some neighbours in Hamilton were vitally concerned about a mid-size-short
haired dog chained to his dog house (night and day…supposedly a “watch
dog”). He did have a dog house but
lacking proper conditions as set out by the SPCA. Frequently a neighbour lady
came by with bowls of warm water for this dog who happily lapped it all each
time. She and others reported this
neglect to authorities and the media (radio, TV and The Spectator); however
nothing was done to rectify this supposed cruelty. After much concern and the publicity, someone
must have “dog-napped” him! Now, I read,
he has been returned to his rightful keeper…the doghouse insulated and blanket inside to warm him.
Another good-will story is of a man, who caring for his dog, donned him
with a fitted coat…and placed boots on his feet covering his legs for their
daily cold winter walk His canine buddy,
stunned by this new winter wardrobe, tried desperately to remove his new foot gear, then resorted to using his
teeth to remove the velcro straps on his boots as if to say, “Are you nuts, Master???”
Today, driving home from my
physiotherapy session, I viewed a small truck plow with a snow blade attached
to the front bumper. SNOWWAY was
yellow lettered across it.. I’m
confident the driver has been busy with driveways and strip mall parking lots.
Words of Wisdom
“Think of all the beauty still around you.”
(Anne
Frank)
Merle
Baird-Kerr…written January 6, 2014
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