Winter is Back!

March is playing with us, as it always does.  It's been snowing lightly but steadily for hours now, and the world outside is white again.  The only saving grace is the forecast which says it will be up to 8 or 10°C tomorrow and the rest of the week.

We've gone from what I hoped was the last major snowfall early last week,

to watching all those remnant patches of snow disappear,

to waking up one morning to a very light drift of snow that disappeared by the end of the day.  You'll have to take my word for it because I failed to get a picture.

And this morning it looks like we're back to winter.  I'm waiting for those nice clear sunny days when the snow is entirely gone and I can get out for a ride!  I wish March, with its ups and downs, would just go away!

Even our Heron/Crane/Ostrich is feeling the chill!

Sandhill Cranes and Tundra Swans

On our way back from Barrie we turned off the highway to check out the huge empty corn fields where we had seen the Sandhill Cranes last fall.  We were wondering if they congregated in the spring like they do in the fall.

Looking across this huge corn field I was sure I spotted a small group of Sandhill Cranes in the distance, looking like dark dots even through binoculars.

Similarly in this photo, I was sure I was taking a picture of a pair of the birds in the distance.  But no luck when I enlarged the pictures.

We drove some distance down the pothole-filled gravel road and then stopped beside another pair of birders.  They pointed out these Swans on the other side of the road.  We're looking at the west edge of the enormous Minesing Swamp here, one of the largest swamps in southern Ontario, which floods widely every spring.

We had seen the high water level earlier, where the highway crosses the Nottawsaga River.  The actual river is over beyond those trees on the right.

These Tundra Swans have already started pairing up, though further south you can see fields of thousands of them.  Tundra Swans mate for life.

With a heavily cropped photo, we did see a few Sandhill Cranes with a mixed flock of ducks and gulls in the far distance.

I was more surprised to spot a section of old pine stump fence!  Decades ago when I was growing up in Woodstock, Ontario, I read the story of these fences after seeing some in the townships east of town.  Archeologists have concluded that these represent former areas of White Pine forest, growing on sandy soils.  White Pine are an early successional species if growing naturally, so they concluded that these represent in turn former areas of native settlement.  Sandy soils would have been the easiest to clear for growing their staple crops of corn, beans and squash.  Archeological finds have confirmed this, leaving me wondering if there was native settlement nearby.  There are hardly any old pine stump fences left in Ontario now.

Meanwhile here on the home front a cold front went through late yesterday, leaving a dusting of that white stuff this morning.  But it's been a bright sunny day today and it's virtually gone now.

No Skiing Today!

We took a long drive to Barrie yesterday.  I just stayed in the car but Mrs. F.G. had an errand to run.  Picked up a few pictures along the way to keep you (and me) amused.

It's the public school March Break this week, normally one of the most popular weeks of the season at our ski clubs.  But all this is shut down, so no skiing today!  These are two of the runs at Georgian Peaks.

Not even the ski lifts were running and the parking lot was empty.

You get a very brief clear view of the bay for a minute, uninterrupted by cottages; it was looking pretty gray.

How's this for a perfect photo fail from a moving car!  Ah!, but did you spot the lighthouse!?

Once we got east of Stayner, we were driving through a perfectly flat landscape of farm fields.  I doubt that one in a thousand people recognize that this is the flat bottom of glacial Lake Algonquin, which extended far inland south of Wasaga Beach 12,000 years ago.

Here we're looking down from the ancient shoreline bluff over an eastern extension of the old glacial lakebed as we got closer to Barrie.  I mention this because archeologists have discovered that the paleo-era native peoples in southern Ontario tended to follow these ancient beachlines (in what was then a sub-Arctic landscape) to hunt caribou.  The glaciers were still only 1-200 miles to the north  I find this ancient history fascinating.

And here at home the snow is now virtually gone, at least looking out the back windows.  I watched the one tiny patch of snow out there (just behind the red hanging birdfeeder) finally disappear this morning.

I almost forgot, it's the first day of spring today, the earliest in 100 years!  Wouldn't you know it, the temperature has been plunging down to sub-freezing levels all day!

Self Isolating

We decided about a week ago to just stay home and avoid any gatherings like church and coffee, mainly because I tick all the boxes for high risk.  With a compromised immune system, compromised lung function, and being over 70 (just) I really need to be careful.

Since then, advice to 'self-isolate' has spread like wildfire to the point where many here are just staying home.  All the other events we might have gone to are now cancelled anyway, including church, lecture series, and doctor's appointments.  We just have one appointment left to go to which involves a drive to Barrie tomorrow.

Along the way variations of  'self-isolating' have become clearer, from those who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 who Public Health can force to stay home, through all those who have been travelling or otherwise possibly come into contact with the virus and are asked to stay home for two weeks.  We're in the simplest category, simply choosing of our own accord to stay home.

My biggest concern in all this is for the low income population, who fear staying home because they can't afford the lost income.  And with businesses closing their doors for the duration, many will be forced to stay home.  Thankfully our government has announced a series of programs to help.  Thankfully too the costs of treatment and testing will be covered here.

I do find myself really annoyed by the panic buying.  The elderly, disabled and those barely scraping by from pay cheque to pay cheque can't fight crowds in the grocery stores, and can't afford to buy extra.  I hear of young mothers not being able to buy the baby formula they need because people are buying it as a substitue for milk!  This is plain and simple selfish!  But our local grocery store has just announced early hours when shelves are fully stocked only for seniors and disabled.

This is a testing time, testing to see if we turn out to be all selfish, protecting our own families first, or if we turn out to be generous and kind, supporting those who need it as well.  Take care and good health to you all.

Our Destination

After three days of barn photos as we drove through the countryside, you're probably ready for something else, so here it is, our destination - the Kemble Women's Institute Monument and Lookout.  On a sunny day like last Saturday, the view was spectacular!

The Kemble Women's Institute was formed in 1897, the third in the world.  That makes it the oldest remaining active, after 123 years.  This monument was placed in 2007, to mark the 110th Anniversary.

It's the view that makes it such a spectacular setting.  Sitting on the upper escarpment bluff, it provides a very wide view overlooking Owen Sound Bay of Georgian Bay.  The water was a deep blue on the day we were there.

It took me three photos left to right to show the entire view.  You can see the two bluffs of the Niagara Escarpment in the second photo.  In this area it's often separated into two by the underlying geological formations.

The sculptor Marnie Cheyne designed and sculpted the unique tea service and open book which seems very appropriate when you read the story of how the women's institutes operated and what they accomplished.  The open book has the words of the Mary Stewart Collect, the official Women's Institute Creed.  When I read it I'd interpret it to say 'Quit complaining and work to make a difference in your community!'

I think this farm must have a tremendous view!

At the end I did remember to use the wide angle and got one shot of the entire view.  A beautiful place to pause and take a break when you're driving by.

One Last Post of Barns (for now)

We kept on driving, up to our destination near Kemble, and along the way I got a lot more pictures of barns.  Actually a lot of the landscape is rolling fields and fencerows, with no barns in sight.

As I said, a lot of rolling fields and fencerows.

And a couple of valleys.

Many views of distant barns across the fields, and one right beside the road.  It looked largely unused.

I think that's enough for now!  I hope you've got an idea of what our countryside looks like around here.

Plus a few willows turning yellow; early signs of spring.

More Barns

Continuing our country drive, we passed farm after farm.  Barns seem to be a winter photo target for me, and they're usually back far enough from the road that the new camera can get a clear focus even though we're moving.  I'm really pleased with the focusing ability it has.

A lot of these are shot facing west, partly into the sun, so the barns themselves look dark.  I can lighten them up but then you lose the bright blue sky.  Did you notice the second big barn behind the trees toward the right?

This has long been one of my favourite, with the giant Canadian flag painted on the barn roof.

And this illustrates the cropping I can do with shots from this camera - the same photo cropped to a tiny little square around the barn.  Look at how clearly the individual trees show up.

Another of the old schoolhouses that dot the countryside, often with their belltower and sometimes the original bell like this one.

One of my favourites because buried under that snowbank is a beautiful old drystone fence. that extends all the way across the front of the farm..

Here it is, in the summer several years ago.

I find it's hard to photograph a valley we're driving through and show the feeling of depth that you get in the car.  There are two big hills we go up on this road, and looking ahead is one of them.  Notice the big snowbank on the west side of the road only, because that's the side the snow drifts from.

I found it was fun trying to crop these photos both to get a closer view of the barns and to level the horizon while making an interesting picture.  I could have got quite close pictures of the barns, but these show the landscape just as you'd view it from the car driving by.  I think keeping the fences in front and showing a wider view than just the barn makes for a more interesting picture.  These are still cropped quite a bit.

This is the last barn before we turn west south of Walters Falls.  This farm, which has no house left,  is used as a community pasture when farmers need extra during a dry year.

Still lots more barns to go, but there is a great view of the bay at the end!