Thames in Southwest Ontario is the little brother

When the name Thames was originally considered for the river flowing through London, Ontario, the river was known mostly by reputation. The river was reputed to be big and long. It was said that it might well be the biggest river system in southwestern Ontario. It's reputation brought to mind its English namesake. It is long but big? I don't think so. The biggest river in the area is the well named Grand River. 

The picture shows the Thames River flowing out of London heading toward Chatham before it empties into Lake St. Clair. Head up river from here and after very few kilometres one reaches the Forks of the Thames in the core of the city. 

The North Branch of the Thames meets the Thames River proper at the forks but one would not know it from the local stories, mostly wrong. The North Branch is bigger than the Thames River itself. The North Branch tributary carries more water than the Thames River. This leads folk to call the Thames River the South Branch. Many believe the Thames River is the result of the merging of the two branches. Nope.

The Thames River flows east of the city to Woodstock and then turns north to its headwaters in some marsh land near Tavistock. In truth, the Thames River in southwestern Ontario is a slow, meandering, shallow river that picks up a little extra water at The Forks of Thames and then continues its lazy way west.

Cities often offer wildlife a perk or two

According to the New York Times, birds in North America are in decline. Numbers are down by almost 30% since 1970. This is not something one would think based on the number and variety of birds sighted in London, Ontario.

And North American is not alone. In Europe, as well, common bird species are in decline. And what is driving this decline? Habitat destruction takes a big toll. Pesticides and chemicals in general are big culprits. And, of course, there is urban sprawl. Dr. Young, of the University of California, says humans are overusing the world. 

And yet humans do offer wildlife, such as birds, some appreciated perks. Bird feeders, bird houses and bird baths are all very popular with the feathered wildlife found in cities.

Proposed tower is closer to being built

The tall tower on the left is not there -- yet. At this time it is only a proposed tower but it has cleared every hurdle tossed in its path. At 40 storeys, the tower will be the tallest building in London and a side benefit of its size may be that it will also possibly be the most hated building in London. 

Some of the oldest heritage buildings in the city are owned by the same developer and stand immediately beside the proposed tower. The developer claims the new structure will respect the much smaller, 1800s structures. Heritage activists find this claim hard to believe.

Many also say that the new tower will be built partially on floodplain. This is a strict no-no but it appears the tower is being given a waiver.

Although it is hard to see in this illustration, the tower overlooks the Forks of the Thames in London's core. A number of nearby high rises will have their lines of sight to the forks blocked or partially blocked by the new, proposed tower.

And then there are those who find the new tower design just plain boring and that in itself is enough not to build the monster in such a historic and valued site. The Forks of the Thames deserves something much better architecturally.

Once millionaires supported their hometowns

 

When I moved to London it was said that London had more backyard, in-ground pools per capita than any other community in Canada. This is another way of saying that London was known for wealth.

For a small city, London had more than its fair share of millionaires and these millionaires made the community a better place to live for everyone. One very wealthy family with deep roots in the town was the Ivey family, the family behind EMCO.

If the millionaire families had only given London jobs that would have been wonderful, but many of the families contributed generously to the city, their city, as well. 

That is why today when I had cataract surgery, I had the operation at the Ivey Eye Institute. The Iveys were a very generous London family. They left their mark in many ways on the city.

One often reads that Canada has socialized medicine. Technically, it doesn't. It has a single payer system. But I like to think that our system has benefited from the participation of capitalism and capitalists as well as government.

As a former photojournalist at the local paper, I met many of the Iveys. I especially liked Richard and Beryl Ivey. They were a classy, interesting couple and amazingly down-to-earth. I believe it was Richard's sister Lorraine Shuttleworth who was an original contributors to the clinic that carries the family name today.

Groundhogs love strawberries; groundhogs are not alone.

Most homeowners believe that if they have a problem with a wild animal making a nuisance of itself, they can simply live trap the nuisance, drive it out of town, the farther the better, and release it. Problem solved. In truth, it is not this easy.

For one thing, in London a live trapped animal cannot be moved more than a kilometre away from where it was taken. That is only about .6 of a mile and that's not all that far. Stay within the law and the animal essentially stays within its home range. The problem animal may easily find its way home and be back being a nuisance within a day or two. If it doesn't return it may be because it is now busy being a nuisance to a nearby neighbour. This hardly seems fair.

Put the idea of using a pellet gun or BB rifle right our of your head. Using a firearm within the city limits of many municipalities is strictly a no-no and a BB gun or pellet gun is classified by many municipalities as a firearm.

Leg holds are out and with good reason, as is poison as well. With pets and children all about in the city, the danger to other nuisances, like children, is just too great.

So buy a live trap, bait it with one of the suspect animal's favourite foods and, if you are lucky, capture the bothersome critter. Property owners are allowed to protect their property withing legal limits.

I have baited my large live trap with strawberries and some flowers. So far the only animal to show an interest has been a chipmunk. It nibbled on the strawberries from outside the trap. As of this time, no sign of a groundhog. Maybe tomorrow I will up the ante by baiting the trap with chopped up cantaloupe. If it doesn't find the strawberries enticing enough maybe a large helping a cantaloupe will do the trick.

Think of this not as a flower but groundhog food

It's a little late in the year to be shopping for garden flowers. My wife spent her gardening budget a month or more ago. Now, that investment is under attack.

Last night my wife notice the flowers in one of her patio planters were vibrating. Weird. She watched. A groundhog poked its head up. It was taking a brief break from having its dinner. And what was dinner? Of course, my wife's flowers were the main course. And it ate them all. Every last one!

And so today it was off to the garden centre to look for more groundhog food—uh, flowers, potted flowers.

The groundhog will return. Of this, I have absolutely no doubt. Will it again dine on potted flowers? If it does, I have broadened the menu. There is a new flower being offered. To sample this flower, the groundhog only has to venture into to live trap I have set in the backyard.

First sign of new subdivison: mountains of topsoil

 

The first sign that a new subdivision is about to be built are the mountains of topsoil tucked into a far corner of the development. The former farmland contains far too much organic material. It is good quality soil for growing crops but poor quality soil for "growing" homes.

Topsoil will not support a structure. It must be removed and in southwestern Ontario there may be a lot to remove. Sometimes the topsoil extends up to four feet down. Hence the veritable mountains of topsoil removed from construction sites.

And what happens to the topsoil that was bulldozed? A lot of it is put back when building ends. It can cost a lot to truck the earth away. It is easier and cheaper to simply use it to give the new homes the soil necessary to for grass and landscaping.

Soil not returned to neighbourhood land can be bagged and sold if the builder finds there is too much soil. After the homes go in and the roads are paved, it is not surprising that often there is some soil remaining when all the subdivision work has been completed.