Niagara Whirlpool: Memories and a novel

Panorama of the Niagara Whirlpool 2023 -courtesy of The Becka. Google Maps aerial view below.

 

I drove from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Niagara Falls last week for the first time since the pandemic. I had a strong childhood fear of waterfalls and still don't like walking the sidewalk along the brink of the Canadian Falls. But the Niagara Parkway from Lake Ontario, up the escarpment to Queenston Heights and along the Niagara Gorge is a lovely drive. Grandma D. used to take us on a day trip to the Niagara region with her favourite spot being the area around Brock's monument on Queenston Heights. She would pack a picnic lunch of sandwiches, vegetable sticks, lemon cake or butter tarts and orange Fanta for me, my older brothers and cousins. Grandma felt the town of Niagara Falls was "trashy" and we never visited the souvenir shops and museums on the main drag. She would stop briefly in the angle parking by the falls so we could see them before going home. I have never been on the Maid of the Mist nor have I walked behind the falls, and that is just fine with me!

Grandma grew up in the era of Niagara Daredevils. People have gone over the falls in a variety of containers trying to survive the drop for notoriety. There were no laws against these dangerous stunts until 1951. The Falls have a macabre history that has drawn curious gawkers for generations.

Canadian author Jane Urquhart's first novel is called The Whirlpool. It is set in Niagara in the summer of 1889, just before Grandma was born in 1896. Each summer the undertaker prepared extra coffins for the bodies of people who would die in the river while trying stunts or underestimating the power of the rapids and whirlpool. The book is lyrical and the lives of the four main characters move in a circular and sometimes intersecting manner just like the water in the river. Fleda, a woman who spends the summer in a tent by the whirlpool, studies the poems of Robert Browning jotting down thoughts in her notebook. She references this excerpt from Browning's poem, Amphibian.

But sometimes when the weather
Is blue and warm waves tempt
To free one's life from tether
And try a life exempt
From worldly noise and dust
In the sphere which overbrims
With passion and thought—why just
Unable to fly, one swims!
Emancipate through passion
And thought, with sea for sky
We substitute, in a fashion
For heaven—poetry.

I really enjoyed the book and wanted to stop by the whirlpool again to visualize the setting of the story. The Niagara River speeds through the rapids and gorge below the Falls and then makes an abrupt 90-degree turn. The turbulence and change of direction create a natural whirlpool. A cable car travels between two points of Canadian land but it crosses the USA border in the river twice in each direction across the whirlpool. 

I understood the obsession of another character who was determined to swim across the whirlpool basin while taking advantage of the swirling currents to assist him to the other side. (Did he succeed? The book will tell you.) The picture on the left shows Whirlpool Beach and the seemingly benign currents at the edges of the whirlpool as well as the gorgeous October colours.

I did a quick drive-by of the falls before going home. The town is still seedy with the same cheap souvenir shops and museums, with an option to waste your money in a casino. I doubt Grandma would feel differently about its character. But there is plenty to see in the area and perhaps I can attempt the trail that leads to Whirlpool Beach. It is rated only 2/5 in difficulty which is doable for me. You can be sure my feet will be staying on dry ground.

Autumn Notes

This autumn has been wet and overcast and the leaves have been slow to turn to fall hues. In the past week, we have enjoyed more colour but with little illumination from the sun as drizzly, wet weather has persisted. Every October I watch the sunrise over the Grand River Valley from a vantage point high on a sandy cliff in Homer Watson Park. The view is stunning most years but it was muted his year. We have missed the cold nights that create mist over the valley in the morning and fall colours are dull in cloudy weather. 

Last week I walked in this park at sunrise and then drove to another natural area close to Paris, Ontario. 

The trails here are beautiful and traverse wetlands, hills and small lakes and streams. Many birds make their home in the FWR Dickson Wilderness Area with a few species willing to approach humans for handouts. 

A Tufted Titmouse was spotted here for the first time last November. It mated successfully and there were four or five of them last week along the boardwalk. I love Chickadees for their friendly and cheerful dispositions, but the Tufted Titmouse takes the prize for cuteness! 

After lunch, I hopped on my bike and explored the Huron Natural area close to our home.

The sun peeked out from the clouds from time to time. This trail leads to a recently discovered archeological dig of a Neutral Nation settlement that was occupied 500 years ago. Our region is located on the Haldimand Tract, an area that extends six miles on either side of the Grand River from its source at Luther Marsh to its mouth at Lake Erie. It was granted to the Six Nations in 1784 following the American Revolution in recognition of the indigenous people fighting as Allies of Great Britain. Our city is built on land traditionally cared for by the Haudenosaunee, Anishnaabe and Neutral Peoples.

Today, Six Nations of the Grand River lands comprise of less than 5% of what was originally granted. I was thinking of these things as I walked the trails. I also thought about the current conflict between Israel and Palestine. I am reading a book called The Hundred Years' War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance, 1917–2017 by Rashid Khalidi. There are parallels between the treatment of Indigenous people in North America and the experience of Palestinians in the Middle East. Our grandchildren are half Palestinian/Canadian and I owe them an understanding of their cultural history. 

It has been said that borders are drawn in blood and this is true in many areas of the world. I am increasingly grateful for the peace and security we enjoy in Canada. I recognize the privilege of being able to wander around our local countryside by myself in safety. I pray for a world that is not driven by vengeance, hatred or greed, where justice, truth and love are extended to people everywhere. 

Thornbury and Meaford Family Connections

 
My mother's father's family came to the Meaford and Thornbury area of Ontario from New York state in the late 1700s after the American War of Independence. My grandfather and grandmother moved to Aurora when they graduated from medical school at the University of Toronto in 1919 but Grandad never lost his love of farming. He planted apple and pine trees and kept bee hives and sheep on a property he bought near Stouffville. The farm had sandy soil like the soil along the shores of Georgian Bay. 

Thornbury is between Collingwood and Meaford on Highway 26. It is a picturesque village with a vibrant main street. The Beaver River enters Georgian Bay here and Chinook Salmon and Rainbow Trout move upstream to spawn in the spring and fall. There is a fish ladder beside the Thornbury Dam and the river below the dam was loaded with salmon and trout. We watched workers from the Ministry of Natural Resources as they netted fish at the ladder to weigh and measure them before releasing them again in the river. 

Meaford is about twelve kilometres northwest of Thornbury. The mascot of the town is a scarecrow called Shubird. The town was decorated with dozens of scarecrows which sat on benches, steps, and chairs and dangled from every lamppost in the downtown area. One lady I talked to said she made 25 scarecrows for the Scarecrow Invasion celebration. 

The Meaford area has many apple orchards but the trees today are all dwarf varieties that make picking much easier. Both towns have stunning vistas of Georgian Bay and have retained the architectural history of the past. We stopped at Goldsmith Orchards, a farm market between the two towns where an abundance of local produce was available. I bought a half bushel of Courtlands in memory of Grandad Devins' love of orchards and apples. 

The market sold a pie called the "Thornberry Pie", a play on the town's name. I looked online for a recipe and couldn't find one but found a list of the fruit ingredients on the market webpage. I bought one and baked it for Thanksgiving dinner and it was rich but delicious!! One pie could serve 10 to 12 as it is so full of fruit. It contains a fruit mix of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and apples with a crumb crust. I must try to recreate it sometime. 

I like to think of the "what ifs" when I visit places like this. What if Grandad had returned to Thornbury or nearby Clarksburg to start his medical practice instead of Aurora? My parents met in Aurora so I assume I would not be here today.

Grandad was supposed to graduate in 1918 but was delayed a year due to his assignment with the Canadian armed forces during World War 1. He did graduate in 1919, a year after Grandma. 

This picture is from the University of Toronto yearbook from 1919 when he was 24 years old. His "main hobby, bees" helped pay for medical school.

DEVINS, CLIFFORD J.

"Steady, calm, and self-possessed, His hands, his feet, could never rest."

"First saw light on a cold 9th of Nov. day, 1895. Matriculated at Meaford 1911. Wielded the hickory*, and a drummer for two years. Started Medicine with '18, hope to finish with '19. Main hobby, bees."

Here is the link to a post I published a couple of years ago that contains more Devins' family history.

(* I assume that "wielded the hickory" refers to his 2-year stint as a teacher before he entered university)

Thanksgiving 2023

Looking West at Sunrise: Spectacle Lake, Madawaska ON

We drove to Ottawa one week ago and then slowly headed home over three days across central Ontario through Algonquin Park and toward Owen Sound. The weather was warm and sunny providing perfect conditions for a car trip. Fall colours are variable this year and we were surprised to find significant leaf fall had occurred in Algonquin Park by October 4th. But lower altitude areas east and west of the park were very colourful, particularly between Eganville and Barry's Bay. We spent a night at Spectacle Lake Lodge, a rustic but beautiful and peaceful location. I enjoyed the night sky without light pollution and a spectacular sunset and sunrise.

 

Looking East at Sunset: Spectacle Lake

The best way to appreciate fall foliage is with illumination from the setting or rising sun and water to reflect the light. Lighting is key to a good photograph!

Midmorning light over Bark Lake, Madawaska

I had time to sit quietly to read and meditate on scripture in the mornings and evenings. My gratitude list this Thanksgiving is very long. However, I am aware that many people are suffering from illness, loneliness, and economic and social insecurities. My cousin's husband is facing a new cancer diagnosis. Others in my family are dealing with chronic health issues and friends are grieving unexpected deaths in their families. 

I read through Jeremiah and Lamentations this week and was reminded of the struggles and sorrows of "the weeping prophet" as he was called to prophesy the coming destruction of Jerusalem. We all travel through valleys of tears and despair in our lives. Poems of lament in the Psalms and Prophets can bring comfort during difficult times. 

Chapter three in the Lamentations of Jeremiah is one of those meaningful passages and I read some verses from it every day. 

"But this I call to mind,

and therefore I have hope:

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,

his mercies never come to an end;

 they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,

“therefore I will hope in him.”

The Lord is good to those who wait for him,

to the soul that seeks him.

 It is good that one should wait quietly

for the salvation of the Lord...

...For the Lord will not reject forever.

Although he causes grief, 

he will have compassion

according to the abundance of his steadfast love..."