Taking the Falls on Victoria Day

Victoria Day celebrations along the great undefended border, 2012!

The fire works are always set off over the crashing water of Niagara Falls.

The tiny lights you see on the bottom left are on the American side.

I'm sure they wonder why we celebrate the birthday of a long dead Queen

 who, as far as I know,

never came here. 

But they've never asked

so we've never had to come up with an answer.

And who cares anyway.

It's our long week-end 

and it marks

the beginning of

SUMMER!

It wasn't a long display,

 (they don't want patrons away from the casino for too long),

 but it was one of the best I've ever seen.

This is part of the crowd walking back up Clifton Hill after the  display was over.

As you climb you will see many true Canadian artifacts

such as this fellow with his moving head and flashing red eyes.

Of course this is where Canadians go for fun, games, prizes and rides.

And if you'd like to join us, well pony up my friend!

We'll gladly take your American dollars, English pounds,

Euros, pesos, beaver pelts

 or whatever else you may have!

These guys work in a window

like some ladies in Amsterdam,

but this is Canada.

They are making fudge.

There is an open area at the top of  Clifton Hill.

Everyone in the world passes by.

It is a great place for people watching.

You can see the Casino tower at the top.

No I didn't go on it.

I'm sure you get a lovely view of the Falls

but I'm not one for heights.

And of course there are moose in Niagara Falls.

They don't usually wear their ceremonial red jackets,

but hey it's the Queen's birthday!

Hope you had a royally good long week-end!

Grave Faces III



Merritton, Ontario




This is the face I am most familiar with. He stands worn and weather beaten at the cenotaph in my hometown.

He is unusual because he is not on a pedestal. He stands almost at ground level, signifying to the working class men and women who gather around him on Remembrance Day that he is one of them - a son, father or a brother.

But his gaze is turned away from the people.

And he doesn't speak to the glory of war or to patriotism.

He simply represents the dead.

Port Dalhousie, Ontario

This young man came home.

The zoom lens on the camera has caught a pensive moment that the casual viewer from street level would not see.

As he places a wreath at the cenotaph is he wondering about fate? How it happened that he lived while others died? 

All we know for sure is that soon he will straighten his back and turn his face to the future.

This sculpture is not so much about mourning lives lost as it is about teaching us that life must go on.



Thorold, Ontario



This proud figure stands very high, so high it was almost impossible to get a view of his face.

The war never really ended for him, his work has continued.

He epitomizes the line in the national anthem, "Oh Canada, we stand on guard for thee".



Niagara Falls, Ontario



This soldier is also placed on a very high pedestal.

His helmet is off, he has taken a moment to remember his comrades.

We get the feeling however, that he thinks he will be able to rejoin the battle at any minute.

He does not yet understand that he is one of the fallen.



Welland, Ontario



This astonishing monument looms across Chippawa Park in Welland.

According to the plaque it was the last monument made in Canada commemorating World War 1. It was dedicated in 1939 on the day after World War II broke out.

The Canadian soldier is protecting a female figure from a terrible evil. His fighting stance tells us he will never give up, never retreat.

In 1939 the woman represented Great Britain and other European allies.

Today she represents Afghanistan.

***

Thank you to our veterans and thank you to the men and women who are in uniform serving our country today.

Spiders, Insects, Weeds and Birds - Yikes!

Nature makes the transition to autumn before we do. Here are four sure fire ways you can recognize the changing of the seasons.

The creepy crawlies are trying to get inside to find a cozy home for the winter.

I had to wrestle this garden spider to the ground last night - right in my bedroom! I wasn't about to snuggle up with the big fella till next April. A girl has her standards. He spent the night in this glass jar and in the morning was given a stern lecture and quickly ushered back outside.

The monarchs are congregating in the trees getting ready for the long trip to Mexico. I counted fifteen on this one branch.

I wouldn't mind visiting them in Mexico round about the middle of January, but so far, although I have hosted hundreds, not one return invitation has been issued!

The golden rod behind the barn is as tall as I am. I can't think of a plant that causes more misery.

Okay, okay, I suppose poison ivy and poison oak cause more misery. Oh - and what about that new plant that is now in Ontario, Giant Hog weed? It looks like Queen Anne's Lace, but, and I'm sure I heard this on CBC, it is so evil it sucks your brains out through your nostrils if you try to sniff it.

















And the last sign.

It is a bit of a dire warning.











It happened almost three weeks early this year.

 

The martins are gone.

Party Like It's 1812

Image via Wikipedia

Not long ago I read an interesting comment about the war with the Taliban. It was written by an American. He asked why his country hadn't learned from its experiences in Canada and Viet Nam that an enemy cannot be defeated in 'his' own country.

Canada?

It took me a minute. And I live in the part of the country that was occupied by American forces 200 years ago. A part of the country that is already gearing up for a big bicentennial celebration of the start of the War of 1812.

The other shoe fell yesterday when I was in Niagara Falls, Ontario with some friends from the Yukon who were passing through on their way to a hiking holiday in Iceland.

The night was sweltering, the crowds were enormous and as we shuffled down Clifton Hill looking like the throng of brain-fried zombies in Stephen King's 'Cell', my friends, Chris and Gary, commented about how much the place looked like an American theme park.

Later over ice cream, Gary, who is from Virginia but has lived in Canada for many years said he thinks that Canadians are going to be going to be disappointed. He thinks that because of all of the financial cutbacks in the US and, (mainly), because the War of 1812 wasn't a glorious victory for the Americans there isn't likely going to be much celebrating going on south of the border in 2012.

I sat there and looked look around at Planet Hollywood, McDonald's, Starbucks, Movieland, Marineland, Ripley's Believe it or Not, etc., etc.,

Jeesh!

Americans, I think, need to redefine 'glorious victory'.