#White River Ontario

[tigger-and-roo-corner]

[douglasdouven]

Canada geese, a.k.a cobra chickens, in flight over the Grand river. Kitchener, Ontario Canada. 19/11/17. D.e.D.

[herbalnature]

A serene winter moment by the Mississippi River in Ontario, captured in soft whites and vibrant reds. The snow-dusted branches with their bright berries stand out against the tranquil, icy waters.

[introvertedswimmer]

Daffodils

[joeiannandrea]

[rabbitcruiser]

The children’s book Winnie-the-Pooh, by A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard, was first published on October 14, 1926.

[molkolsdal]

Unknown photographer

Baby in a moosehide wrapper, English River, Ontario, circa 1925

[nuac]

Part of Toronto trip 2009

[at4-1anta]

[secretobsessionstuff]

Okay - here's a Riley request! Is he still emetophobic? I know he's been trying to overcome it, at least with respect to being able to take care of Madix, and I'd love to see Madix motion sick or something similar where the illness is temporary and not contagious, and Riley deciding that he really wants to sit with him through the entire episode, taking care of him. And he's just holding it together and holding down his anxiety until the end, and he's both proud of himself but also emotionally drained from keeping his emotions in check for so long. So hopefully this works with where they are right now - thank you!

Thank you Lis! This was totally inspiring! It did take me a long time to get the motivation to post it though lol. I wrote this like a day after you sent the idea!

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“Do you think we’ll see a real polar bear on this trip?” Riley asked excitedly as he boarded the train with a misleading name. Madix chuckled and followed along behind his giddy boyfriend, shaking his head. 

The Polar Bear Express—though unlikely to show passengers a glimpse of the white-furred animal—was still a wonder to experience especially during Christmas time. The evergreens sparkled with frost and the sky wore the colours of crystals. Unfortunately, Christmas was also the busiest time, meaning their tickets placed them in one of the last train cars. In hindsight, Riley should have known that the train ride through Northern Ontario held the risk of upsetting his boyfriend’s delicate constitution when it came to travel. 

Madix had successfully gotten sick from cars, planes, and boats; why not add a fourth mode of transportation. Neither he nor Riley thought to consider the consequences. They heard about a romantic Christmas train ride and jumped on board.  

Riley squeezed past other passengers to get to their seats. “I call the window seat!” He planted himself happily in the blue velvet-lined chair. The interior of the car was simple and spacious. It dared not distract from the beauty of nature. “Maybe we can switch on the way back.” 

The train began with a lurch, reminding the boys of the coffee they drank to wake themselves up that morning. Beginning at 8am, the ride took them past mountains and frozen waterfalls, ending where they began at 8pm that night. 

“We’ll probably see moose,” Madix remarked, taking the pamphlet from the pocket of the seat in front of him. There was plenty of leg room, though he still chose to press his knee against Riley’s thigh. All morning, Riley had not let go of his hand. They were stuck together like packing snow. 

The boys shrugged off their jackets and settled in. For the first two hours, they were content to look out the large window. The landscape was crisp and sharp, that was until everything began to blur together. The icy blues melted into a monotone white as the locomotive sped by. 

Their bodies swayed lightly from the movement. Riley found the train relaxing. He liked its gentle hum, the faint clicking sounds of the wheels on the track, and the soft rocking as they traversed the snowy area. They still hadn’t seen a moose, but he kept his eyes locked on the outdoors. 

Madix could not say he felt the same. The train’s friendly interior lulled him into a false sense of safety. But soon he had no trouble remembering that he was inside a giant, chugging, metal box. Perhaps a moose or a beaver did in fact wave to them, but he would never know. Everything became a blur. His eyes could not keep up with the speeding sights. He swallowed a bout of nausea and closed his eyes. 

Riley perked up when they came upon a flowing river. The water looked frigid, but pleasant enough apparently for the black bear that stood with all four paws in the stream. It wasn’t white, but it was still a freakin bear! He tapped Madix’s arm. “Babe, look, look! A bear! Did you see it?” He looked back at Madix with a massive smile. 

Madix jumped out of his queasy daze. He peeled his eyes open, squinting from the light that bounced off the snow. “Mmh?” he mumbled. He was startled just fast enough to see a micro expression of disappointment on Riley’s face. 

“A bear…it’s gone now.” Riley pouted. “Were you sleeping?” 

Madix sat up straighter and blinked hard. “No, I just had to close my eyes for a second.” The lump in his throat told him that he wasn’t going to be able to hide this. His palms were clammy, and his head ached. The breakfast he’d eaten hours ago churned in his belly. “I’m feeling a bit nauseous.”

“Oh.” Riley took his hand off his boyfriend’s arm and pressed himself up against the window. 

Madix swallowed thickly. “I’m sorry, honey.” 

“N—No, no don’t be,” Riley stuttered. He brushed a strand of Madix’s hair behind his ear. “You’re pale. What can I do?” 

“Nothing. I’ll probably go find an empty chair and wait it out.” 

Riley hated that answer. Nothing. There was nothing he could do? And Madix’s plan was to weather out the nausea alone? He couldn’t let this happen again. After all he had done for Madix in his time of need, this was easy, right? 

He grabbed Madix’s hand before he could leave their seats. “No, stay. Please. It’ll be okay. I want to help.” 

“Are you sure?” Madix scanned Riley’s expression, looking for cracks. “Because that was bullshit about waiting it out.” He exhaled shakily. “I really think I’m gonna be sick.” 

As if to test Riley’s resolve, Madix burped into his hand. He let out a groan and folded in on himself. He swore he could feel the wind rocking the train car, threatening to push it off the tracks. He squeezed his eyes shut and didn’t even open them when he felt Riley’s hand on his back. 

“I’m staying right here.” 

Madix hiccupped, causing his shoulders to jolt. “Ugh…you don’t have to, love.” 

“Hush now,” Riley said firmly. He reached into the seat pocket to grab a bag. “Look, they even provided a barf bag for just such an occasion.” 

Madix chuckled and took the bag from his boyfriend. He opened it, making the loudest crinkling noises that let all the other passengers know he was sick. “This is not the scenic trip you were hoping to have.” 

“Maybe not, but at least I’m by your side.” 

“Is your plan to be so cheesy that I throw up immediately and get this over with?” 

“Is it working?” Riley regretted his reply when Madix belched wetly into the bag. Strings of saliva dripped from his open mouth. “Shit, baby.” 

“I’m okay.” Madix did not look up from the depths of the hellish barf bag. “Just keep talking. I think it’ll help us both.” 

Riley’s heart chugged in his chest, like a train struggling up a mountain side. “Oh gosh, Mads. I don’t know what to say,” he whispered. “This is like when you ask me to talk dirty and I say something stupid about underwear.” 

Madix would have laughed at the specific memory that Riley was referring to, but his tongue was flooded with bile. He gagged and filled the bag with stringy ropes of vomit. The train car spun in his peripheral vision, but Riley’s voice remained constant and strong. 

“Oh dear, babe.” Riley rubbed his boyfriend’s back, unaware of the bite force he exerted on his teeth or the bouncing of his leg. “Deer! I hope we see some of those on this trip. Once you stop puking, of course. I can’t believe you missed the fucking bear. Isn’t your family from the east coast? You’re supposed to have fishermen blood in your veins. What is this motion sickness nonsense? I think you’re faking it.” 

A gush of sour vomit surged past Madix’s lips. This wasn’t so bad, he thought. Riley could be a comedian. He could almost enjoy the senseless drabble if it wasn’t for the gut churning sensation in his belly. 

“Speaking of underwear!” Riley said, still in his hushed whisper. This wasn’t so bad, he thought. Madix was looking better with every heave. “I wore the ones with otters on them today. Seemed like the closest thing to polar bears. Except, they’re wearing astronaut suits because, you know, otter space.”

Finally, Madix could give him a real laugh. The vomiting tapered off. He sniffled and chuckled at the same time, forcing him to clear his throat and wipe the tears from his eyes. “God, Ry. I needed that.” 

“Yeah, that was a lot of puke. Good job.” 

“No, I mean you.” Madix crumpled the top of the bag in his hands to keep the contents inside. “Thanks for making me feel better. You did a good job as well.” 

One of the train workers came by with a garbage bin for Madix to toss the used bag. They gave him water and tissues. His eyes were teary from vomiting, but he looked much better than before.

Riley was only just coming down from the adrenaline rush. His hands were shaking, and a cold sweat was drying beneath his shirt. He slumped back in the chair and let out a wavering exhale. “I think it’s my turn to close my eyes for a second.” 

“Yes, honey, rest,” Madix said softly. “You did good.” 

They fell asleep with their bodies falling onto one another. Madix’s head found the spot between Riley’s ear and collar bone, and Riley’s head came to rest on top. 

[fatehbaz]

Recent Chicago peice reminded me of the way Chicago north suburbs use military bases to divide and segregate in a manner that similarly matches connects to colonial actions. You always compile interesting stuff thank you.

Thank you for the kindness and support. I'm gonna riff on this a little bit. I'm sorry, I don't mean to distract from what you specifically brought up here.

Yea, we can add federal military base sites to the list of significant "innovations" Chicago has made in race-based labor segregation in service of wealth extraction. (For anyone following along, the article/essay we're discussing explores racism and white anxiety in Chicago, the fear and "anticipation" of Black migration from the South during Reconstruction and the Great Migration, and how between 1880-ish and 1910-ish Chicago then became a center of surveillance and policing beliefs and practices in response to this racial anxiety, refined to such an extent that Chicago's police/surveillance practices were then "exported" and employed across the US and also in the colonial plantations of the Philippines under US military occupation. By Jolen Martinez, in 2024, "Plantation Anticipation: Apprehension in Chicago from Reconstruction America to the Plantocratic Philippines".)

So Chicago is a wealth funnel, right? The node. The center of transportation networks. Extracted wealth channeled by the Great Lakes/St. Lawrence River waterway, channeled by the Mississippi River corridor, channeled by the railroads acting as tendrils reaching out into westward into "the frontier". For the United States, Chicago was the gateway to "the West". Over the course of the past two centuries: Furs from trapped mammals in Canadian boreal forest shipped through the lakes to French benefactors, mined metals from the Iron Ranges shipped through the ports, timber from Minnesota shipped through the waterway, cattle from Texas rangeland shipped to massive Chicago meat processing facilities, corn products from the tallgrass prairie ecoregion shipped to Chicago. And people, too. People diminished. People seen as mere resources. People as labor. People shipped to Chicago to work the processing centers, the docks, the restauraunt dish-pits. And so Chicago becomes a hub of the Great Railroad Strike of 1877. And because Chicago was a hub of labor unions and Black migration, it also becomes a hub of policing.

Chicago achieves the pinnacle of its spectacular reputation with its image as a glistening modernist metropolis after the construction of the railroad networks. But even before the city itself was formally established, the wetlands where the Chicago River meets Lake Michigan were kinda located in this general region that acts as a sort of bridge for French wealth, being both near the inland terminus of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence route while simultaneously also sitting near a sort of terminus of the Mississippi River route (uniting French Canadian fur trade and Ontario/Quebec settlement with French "Caribbean" plantations and settlement via New Orleans).

I think about how suburbanization, and its attendant racial segregation, is especially blatant in something I kinda think of as "the southern Great Lakes industrial corridor and its economically, ecologically, culturally similar satellites" (Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Omaha, etc.). Some writing that I enjoy about this, which you might enjoy checking out if you haven't yet, is Phil Neel's work, particularly the book Hinterland (2018). Neel's book is largely about suburbs/suburbanization; the environmental construction of Midwestern cities as hubs of industrial extraction and racial segregation; and how these Chicago-esque traditions of designing physical space (whether it's residential, "rural", "urban", whatever) to best isolate/subdue people for extraction are now widespread and typical of US space in general. As another example, Neel discusses how the "revitalized urban core" of Seattle's utopian "infotech metropolis" of tech companies is actually dependent on the corridor extending southward towards and past Tacoma, "this logistics empire" of "warehouses, food processing facilities, container trucks, rail yards, and industrial parks" while "the poor have been priced out" and "can also be found staffing the airport and the rail yards [...], loading boxes in warehouses [...]." So that the power of such a major city does not end at the technical city limit boundary, but extends beyond into the "rural" hinterland. (You can see this when looking up an "urban megaregion map".) This is of course pretty obvious with the Great Lakes cities, if you consider all of the corn fields, the farms, the Rust Belt manufacturing sites, many of which use railroad and/or highway corridors to funnel that wealth ultimately to a place like Chicago. And Chicago, in many ways, was a sort of "pioneer" of these techniques of organizing space with racially-segregated labor compartmentalization.

So perhaps unsurprisingly, urban/neighborhood segregation is very ingrained/formalized in the Great Lakes cities. Chicago's Lake Michigan-based sibling Milwaukee is especially notorious (2018 research found Milwaukee had the most extreme Black-white segregation of any US city with a million or more people). Including banking, home-loan denial, insurance practices engineered specifically and efficiently to isolate/segregate/prey upon Black people (all kinds of academic research on on these practices). Redlining ("other side of the tracks"), especially 1930s-1940s, made use of the region's many railroad tracks as physical barriers and hostile environments.

And part of why I liked Martinez's take on it was that we can see more evidence that Chicago's techniques of organizing space/life did not just establish ways of being in the Midwest, but also established ways of being across the United States. And we can kinda see that this power is not just physical/material.

I think Chicago is interesting, especially in the time period of the research we're talking about (1880-1910), because this Gilded Age, Edwardian era, turn-of-the-century-opulence kinda moment is sort of singularly important for (European) empire-building. British imperial power being exercised in Southeast and South Asia. The Scramble for Africa. French Algeria. European power reaching outwards. But it also corresponds to United States empire-building both domestically and globally. 1889/1890: Wounded Knee and "the closing of the frontier", the West has been won, from sea to shining sea, now the US thinks it owns the continent or whatever. And the US didn't waste any time. Immediately, the US moves on to Cuba, to the Philippines, etc. And it's like, at first, to target Indigenous people and the Wild West, there are obvious physical/material reasons why Chicago (geographically, as a railroad and telegraph hub, as shipping hub, as the destination of Great Migration) is like a homebase or an epicenter for westward expansion and domestic empire-building. And with Martinez's writing, we can see Chicago is not geographically a convenient hub of colonization abroad in Central America or the Philippines (it's not close to those locations, the railroads of Chicago don't reach Manila, etc.). And yet in a very scary way Chicago still actually did function as a hub of empire-building across the globe due to Chicago's ideas, imaginaries, beliefs. Chicago's imagination itself. Chicago's racism, channeling the earlier racial hierarchy of the antebellum South, reached out across the planet. Chicago authority figures trained police and administrators from elsewhere. Chicago-style police data-collection and record-keeping inspired surveillance approaches across the United States. The ideologies, the "personality types", the filing cabinets, the "intelligence cards", were adopted elsewhere. What white Southerners believed and practiced in antebellum Louisiana, would carry over into Gilded Age Chicago, would influence twentieth century US domestic surveillance, and would then affect the rest of the planet. The beliefs, practices, the very emotions of white US residents could transform plantations in the Philippines. Disturbing.

[douglasdouven]

Dark clouds appear over the river. Kitchener, Ontario Canada. 20/09/03. D.e.D.

[herbalnature]

A serene winter scene captures the stillness of the Mississippi River in Ontario, Canada, framed by snow-kissed branches and vibrant red berries. The contrast between the white snow and red accents creates a picture-perfect moment of natural winter beauty.

[shamandrummer]

The World is Running Out of Water

The world is "running out of water," Makasa Looking Horse says, and if we don't take action soon, it will be too late. Looking Horse, from Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario, Canada, is one of the hosts of the Ohneganos Ohnegahdę:gyo -- Let's Talk about Water podcast, which won a 2021 David Suzuki Foundation Future Ground Prize. The prize recognizes youth-led movements. It's a podcast created, the Suzuki Foundation says, to "engage Indigenous communities and disseminate research findings by facilitating meaningful discussion about water issues and climate change."

Looking Horse points to Aberfoyle, Ontario, where BlueTriton Brands, Inc., an American beverage company based in Connecticut, has permits to take 3.6 million litres of water a day out of an aquifer there. BlueTriton is the new name of the giant corporation better known as Nestlé Waters North America. The name was changed to BlueTriton Brands in 2021.

She says "they're making millions off our water and selling it. And the thing about aquifer waters that it takes 6,000 to 10,000 years for that water to filter through the ground. We'll never see that water within our lifetime again and that's why it's so important that we stop water extraction."

BlueTriton says, in a report from November 2021, that it has conducted "extensive testing and studies over the years to ensure that their operations do not diminish the availability of water for other users or the environment." The company says "permit conditions require BlueTriton to monitor the natural and pumping-related variations in groundwater and surface water levels." The permit was renewed by the Ontario government in 2021 and runs until November 2026.

Looking Horse's commitment to protecting water was passed down from her parents. Her mother is Dawn Martin-Hill, one of the founders of the Indigenous studies program at McMaster University and the winner of the University of Oklahoma's International Water Prize, for her commitment to improving water security for the people of the Six Nations of the Grand River.

Her father is Chief Arvol Looking Horse, 19th Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe. He was given the responsibility at age 12, the youngest keeper in history. Looking Horse  says her path into activism and water sovereignty didn't happen overnight. It was a long and encompassing journey full of passion for earth, prayer for water and everything on earth.

Similar to Looking Horse, the United Nations (UN) also has concerns about how much water humans can access. According to a UN report, by 2025 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two thirds of the world's population could be living under "water stressed conditions."

In June of 2019, Looking Horse hand delivered a cease and desist letter from the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council to Nestlé Waters in Aberfoyle. In 2021, the council sent another letter to BlueTriton, after the company changed its name, saying "the majority of our people at Six Nations do not have access to clean drinking water... we declare your activities to remove [aquifer] waters under our territories unpermitted and demand that you cease your activity immediately."

The fight for water sovereignty and for clean drinking water continues for Looking Horse. "The urgency worldwide is huge because the world is running out of water. This is only one example of exploitative extraction by a big corporation. This doesn't include all of the pollution and micro plastics that are living in waterways and systems across the globe," she said.

"I've been praying for water and working with water for a very long time, and that's where it started," she said. "You start to learn how valuable water is on a spiritual level, but also on a statistic level. The world is really in a water crisis. So, it's in our culture to protect the water and have a responsibility."

[joeiannandrea]

[rabbitcruiser]

National Teddy Bear Day 

The teddy bear is one of the most popular toys for children, and holds a special place in many adults hearts, too. This lovable stuffed animal has a day all of its own, Teddy Bear Day. It gives a chance for people to get teddy out of the cupboard and make him the center of attention.

It’s an ideal time to get together with others for a teddy bear’s favorite activity, having a picnic, as immortalized in the classic song, ‘Teddy Bear’s Picnic.’ This was written in 1907, shortly after teddy bears were first manufactured in Europe and America. The American toy bears were named Teddy, in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt, who had refused to shoot a small captured bear on a hunting trip. Many teddy bears have become famous over the years, including Paddington Bear, Rupert Bear, Pudsey Bear and, of course, Winnie the Pooh.

Learn about Teddy Bear Day

In a world where everyone seems to be larger and louder than yourself, it is very comforting to have a small, quiet companion

Teddy Bear Day has been created so that we have a specific date whereby we can pay tribute to one of our favorite childhood toys. Most people reading this will have fond memories of playing with a teddy bear when we were younger. In fact, some of you reading this may even have your favorite childhood teddy bear today. It may be tattered and even missing an eye or some stuffing, but it will be the most precious teddy bear in the world to you!

On this date, we pay tribute to this amazing childhood toy, which has stood the test of time. It does not matter what new crazes or toys come onto the market, they will never surpass the global popularity that the teddy bear has attained. With every decade that passes by, we still see children clutching onto their teddy bears, and it is a beautiful sight to behold.

This is because our teddy bear is usually the first friend that we have. It is the first ‘person’ that we share all of our thoughts and experiences with. We even cuddle our teddy bear when we go to sleep at night because it provides us with comfort. It is only right that we take a day to reflect on just how amazing teddy bears are, right?

History of Teddy Bear Day

It’s too bad we’re not all teddy bears. More stuffing would only make us cuter and cuddlier.

To understand the history of Teddy Bear Day, we need to roll back the clock to something that happened more than 100 years ago. In 1902, Theodore Rossevelt was the President of the United States. During this year, he refused to shoot a bear cub while he was in Mississippi hunting. The incident spread around the country via the national news. There was even a cartoon of the event that was published in the Washington Post by Clifford Berryman on the 16th of November in 1902. It became a classic right away.

Morris Michtom, a store owner in New York, was inspired by the cartoon and he decided to create a new toy. He then sent a letter to the President, asking Mr. Roosevelt if it would be possible for the new toy to be called “Teddy Bear.” The rest, as they say, was history.

Since then, there have been a lot of famous teddy bear characters, and this toy has become loved by children all over the world. No matter their upbringing, culture, or any other differences, one thing that all children can agree with is that there is nothing quite like the comfort and friendship that a teddy bear provides.

We have since seen the famous teddy bears from Briton, like Paddington and Winnie-the-Pooh. You also have the famous Care Bears series. In the United States, Radar, a teddy Bear from Sesame Street that belonged to Big Bird, hit the screens. Of course, Garfield, a lasagna-loving cat was also a big hit in the United States, and consequently around the world. Plus, we can’t forget Fozzie Bear from the Muppets either!

Our love affair with teddy bears has not ended. You only need to look at the new releases on TV and at the cinema to see that new teddy bear characters are being invented all of the time. In recent years, we have seen the Ted films become exceptionally popular. While aimed at adults rather than children, these films are still based on the premise of teddy bears being a best friend. Ted may be funny, but he is lovable, as all teddy bears are. If you have never seen the film, which stars Mila Kunis and Mark Wahlberg, we would definitely recommend watching it on Teddy Bear Day if you want to have a good old laugh!

How to celebrate Teddy Bear Day

There are a lot of different ways that you can celebrate Teddy Bear Day. One option is to dig up your favorite childhood teddy bear and take some photos of it. Share the images on social media and encourage your friends, family members, and followers to share images of their favorite teddy bear from when they were a child. Even if people do not have any photos of their bear, they will enjoy sharing stories of how they used to take their teddy bear everywhere with them.

Another fun way to spend this day is to go out and buy yourself a new teddy bear. Even as an adult, there is something cute and comforting about having a teddy bear in your home. As time has gone on, there have been a number of different companies that have popped up that enable you to purchase your own teddy bear.

You are able to choose the different fur and other unique characteristics that really make your teddy bear your own. If you have children, this is definitely a fun way to spend the day, but it is also fun and exciting even if you do not have any kids. After all, who does not love the idea of building their own teddy bear? If you are a particularly crafty person, you could even make your own teddy bear from scratch.

There are lots of different instructions online that enable you to do this, and it will be a fun way to spend the day. Plus, there is something amazing about having a teddy bear that you have made from scratch. It makes it feel even more like a real friend and companion. It is your own, and no one else in the world is going to have the same teddy bear as you. That is pretty amazing! Make sure that you share photos of your creation across social media if you’re the sort of person that uses Instagram and such like. We bet all of your followers will be super impressed!

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