End of July and the Beginning of Southward Migration

Solitary Sandpiper

Solitary Sandpipers breed in the Arctic and have a sizeable migratory range. Unlike other shorebirds, they are unusual in that they nest above the ground. The male will select some old nests built by Rusty Blackbirds, Cedar Waxwings, Canada Jays or American Robins, but the female makes the final decision on which location is most appropriate. 

I saw this bird in a local pond this week on July 28. It has started its solitary migratory journey from the Arctic to Central or South America for the winter. Shorebirds start their southern migration as early as the end of June with adults making their way a few weeks before juveniles. August is a good month to visit ponds and sewage lagoons in southern Ontario to look for various wading birds. I still have a hard time identifying most of them. The Solitary Sandpiper has a very distinctive white eye ring and it is usually alone. It bobs the rear of its body in a unique way as it searches for food. It has olive-coloured legs unlike the similar Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs species. 

Young Great Blue Heron

A young and very skittish Great Blue Heron fished in the same pond. These birds arrive in March to start their nesting season earlier than many birds. This year's young birds are on their own now. We have a few who stay over the winter near water treatment plants where effluent keeps the immediate vicinity clear of winter ice. Flying Great Blue Herons remind me of winged pterosaurs.

House Wren

House Wrens are quite active and noisy locally in July. I watched a few Wrens filling nesting boxes vacated by Eastern Bluebirds and Tree Swallows. House Wrens raise two broods a season and choose a different site for the second nest. They should be done raising their young by the end of August. 

Painted Lady Butterfly

The Painted Lady butterfly also migrates thousands of kilometres southward each fall to the southwestern United States and Mexico. The migration is completed by several generations of butterflies as the adult only lives for about two weeks after emerging from the chrysalis. The entire life cycle of the Painted Lady is just a few weeks in length.

The halfway point between the summer solstice and autumn equinox is still a week away but seasonal changes are evident any time of the year. Observing the movement of birds and butterflies and watching the days slowly shorten are sure signs that summer is starting to wind down. 

July Drought, Pollinators and more

Raven is not impressed with being made to pose for photos in the hot sun!

Up until today, our region has received 15.7 mm of rain this month compared to 80 mm last year at this time. Other parts of Ontario have had abundant rain but the storm clouds seem to part and skirt many south-western counties. Corn fields are looking different and I learned that "pineapple corn" appears when the leaves curl inward in response to drought making the corn look more like pineapple plants than corn stalks. We visited a favourite lavender farm close to Lake Erie and while the plants have drip irrigation, they are smaller than usual this year. The ground is parched in between the rows of flowers. 

I sat on a bench between rows of fragrant flowers to wait for pollinators to land close enough for a photo. The farm, which also has an apple orchard, has bee hives so honey bees were not hard to find. In total, I saw only three butterflies including one Monarch that was high in the air. 

Black Swallowtail

Black Swallowtail (backlit) underwing

Painted Lady underwing (Vanessa cardui)

Three members of the Vanessa family of butterflies are found in southern Ontario;- Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta), Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) and American Lady (Vanessa virginiensis). I have to double-check the ID of these similar butterflies). A Painted Lady showed its unique underwing while feeding on the lavender.

It is alarming to note the decline in the number of butterflies in recent years. I read this month that Monarch Butterflies, the most abundant butterfly in my youth, are now considered endangered due to habitat loss, pesticide and herbicide use, and climate change. I have Milkweed growing in my garden but have yet to see any Monarchs in the yard this season. 

We have not had the degree of heat and drought others around the world have experienced this month. Hopefully we will get more rain this summer as crops mature. I water my perennial plants in the cool of the day to maintain the flowers for butterflies, bees and other pollinators. 

Searching for Christian Community

I was born on a Sunday and attended church weekly starting the next Sunday, a pattern which continued for many decades. Mom and Dad were involved in pastoral and lay ministry and there were no excuses accepted for missing a service. As we got older we participated in music, youth programs, Sunday School, missions conventions and more and attended several services a week. Our upbringing was strongly fundamentalist, rules were strict and doctrine was not questioned.

When I started dating my husband, he left his Lutheran church and joined the church my family attended. After we were married we attended another Pentecostal church for over 40 years where we raised our children and served in many capacities.

In the past few decades, many changes have occurred in evangelical churches across North America. Churches copied the marketing styles of megachurches with seeker-sensitive programming, prosperity gospel teaching, entertainment for children, music performance teams, and thematic lifestyle sermon series. Christian "self-help" books are published on multiple topics and are often used in small groups rather than Bible studies. Sunday Schools were disbanded, evening services stopped and mid-week Bible studies were replaced with small groups. In spite of these changes, church attendance dropped off gradually and the average age of many congregations became older. I taught Sunday School for over 25 years and few of the children who were in my classes attended church as adults. 

We became increasingly put off the self-centred focus of the songs and messages, the stage show, the increasingly casual demeanour of people running the services, and the focus on numbers, money and programs. By the time the pandemic started in 2020, we were attending church only a couple of times a month. There was little focus on prayer or scripture during the services. In the end, our pastor resigned in 2020 and the church property was taken over by another congregation. Many loving and faithful Christians attended our church over the years and we still count them as friends. 

A free online version is available here

I transferred to a new unit at the hospital when Mom was in her final illness in 2012. One of the unit physicians was a devout Anglican and the other doctor was an ordained Lutheran pastor. They both ministered and prayed with me as I struggled emotionally and spiritually with the fall-out from Mom’s death. The “fall-out” was significant and a trigger for questioning everything I believed. The Anglican doctor gave me a wonderful devotional that followed the church calendar. I have used it every year since and it was my introduction to liturgical worship. I also started using the Book of Common Prayer. In May 2020, I attended an online prayer school hosted by Word of Life Church in St. Joseph, Missouri. It combined elements of liturgical prayer and scriptural reading into a framework for daily worship. I would not have made it through the stress of 2020 and onward without this daily prayer focus.

Since things have opened up again, we have been looking for a new congregation to worship with. I attended a couple of evangelical churches but made no connection with anyone in the darkened seating areas. The “worship” left me cold.

A couple of months ago we decided to attend the church my husband was confirmed in. It is a liturgical Lutheran church and we have been warmly welcomed and absolutely love the services which have a Christ-centred focus on scripture and prayer. We have started attending catechism classes where we have found more similarities than differences in our Christian faith. This congregation is sponsoring several refugee families including a lovely young Ukrainian couple and their toddler who arrived in Canada this month. I have learned a lot about the struggles of the Ukrainian people in a time of war. Whether we stay here or not, it is the right place for us to grow and share at this time.

Christians in North America are increasingly divided along denominational and political lines and in too many cases, hatred has supplanted love toward people who are marginalized in any number of ways. In too many instances, the church does not look like Jesus. For these reasons, I find it difficult to identify with the charismatic and evangelical arm of the Christian church. But I can see how God has been with me on my spiritual pilgrimage, bringing me to where I am today. And for that, I am very grateful.

Twenty-eight Months and Then...

I have worked in a hospital Covid-19 environment for the past 28 months and this week I finally became infected with the virulent BA.5 variant. I returned to work on Monday after a lovely 11-day vacation break and likely encountered an infectious, but undiagnosed patient. By Wednesday my symptoms were well established as this variant infects quickly. I always wear a surgical mask and face shield at work but did not wear my N95 mask with this patient. As of yesterday, the unit I work on was declared an outbreak with seven staff members and six patients infected. I knew this would happen eventually and the timing was as good as it could be. Our grandchildren were here earlier in the month and are not affected. Last week my husband was 100 km north of Cochrane enjoying a fly-in fishing trip. By the time he got home last night. we had an excellent isolation plan in place. 

I am doubly vaccinated and boosted but still have significant symptoms, the worst being extreme fatigue with muscle pain. But this infection will give me good immunity to Covid variants for at least the next three months. The Public Health Unit contacted me this morning to review my contacts over the past week. I was at church on Sunday where at least 75% of the congregation were unmasked. I went to a Bible study Monday evening and was in a room with ten people, eight of them unmasked. Thankfully, in both instances, I wore a mask. I don't know why a mask did not protect me at work, but my contact with the patient was much closer than an average community contact. 

I am not one to stay indoors all day. The warm weather allows me to stay on the deck for a few hours and I have been taking a short bike ride early in the morning before people are at the park. I have seen far too many patients develop blood clots with Covid infections and while the virus does cause blood clotting issues, inactivity doesn't help either. 

Infection rates are rising in this 7th wave and caution is still required, especially for the more vulnerable people in our communities. To repeat something I said in a recent post;- wear a mask if you are in close proximity to people for even a short length of time. 

We are going to have to adjust to living with Covid for the foreseeable future, but like all viral and bacterial infections, there are ways we can protect ourselves and others with things like vaccinations, a healthy lifestyle, proper personal protective gear and isolating when we do get sick. 

Happy Canada Day!

Cape Spear NL

I have travelled from Cape Spear NL, the most eastern point in Canada to Mile 0 of the Trans Canada Highway in Victoria BC, visiting every province between these two landmarks. Yet I have only seen a small fraction of our large and diverse nation. 

Victoria BC

I didn't choose Canada but was born a citizen of one of the best countries in the world. I am truly grateful for this fortune of birth. I have only known peace, freedom, opportunity, security, good health care and safety. My father was born a first-generation Canadian in Toronto, Ontario 90 years ago today. Our family enjoyed the benefits of Canadian citizenship even when living abroad.

 

View from Sulphur Mountain, Alberta

The geographical and cultural diversity of Canada would take years to explore. I admire the Rocky Mountains but am drawn more to the long sight lines of prairies and oceans. I would visit Newfoundland and Vancouver Island again in a heartbeat. My current proximity to the Great Lakes gives easy opportunity to visit and enjoy large bodies of water.

RCMP officers join an indigenous dance, Calgary AB

Canada is not perfect and we continue to work toward reconciliation in regards to colonial abuses and disrespect of Indigenous nations. I have much to unlearn and even more to learn about Canadian history from the perspective of First Nations people.

The Butchart Gardens near Victoria BC

Canada welcomes immigrants from many countries and our multicultural communities, particularly in the larger cities have brought the world to us. I do not have to travel far to hear other languages, try new foods, and learn about other cultures.

A large, diverse nation is prone to regional differences and disagreements. Our personal rights and freedoms are shared with other citizens and as such, respectful dialogue and democratic problem-solving is necessary to make sure that our children and grandchildren continue to live in peace, prosperity and safety.

O Canada!

Our home and native land!

True patriot love in all of us command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,

The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.