A colourful, beautiful memory

The man and his wife used to sell lilies. Lovely lilies. They had a small farm but they didn't raise one of the usual cash crops. They grew lilies.

The farm was very popular and folks came from hundreds of miles to visit their acres of lily beds and place orders for their favourite blooms, many of which were unique or at least rare.

But time marches on and a few years ago the couple got too old to continue and they retired. The lily beds were emptied of flowers and today the land is devoid of lilies. And yet, the memories linger and come to life in the thousands and thousands of beautiful blooms in flower beds across the province.

Strawberry picking is back

Strawberry picking is a family outing for many London area families. Unfortunately, the pick-ur-own strawberry fields were closed last year. Why? COVID-19. 

This year the strawberry farms are again open for business. Is a pint of pick-ur-own strawberries less money than buying them in the local grocery store? This may surprise you but the answer is no. In fact, locally grown berries are often cheaper in the stores.

Families with little kids are not very efficient. Having fun, not saving money, is the goal and most folk would tell you that this is inexpensive family fun.

A symbol of a richer, more diverse, Canada

When I was a boy back in the early '50s very few folk would have been able to recognize Thai summer roll accompanied by a peanut dipping sauce. Canada was very much a meat and potatoes place seventy years ago, at least in the town where I lived.

Fast forward to today. Thai summer rolls with rice paper wraps are a favourite appetizer to be enjoyed at the neighbourhood Thai restaurant. There were no Thai restaurants seventy years ago in most Canadian neighbourhoods.

For the past year and half there were again no Thai restaurants. In fact, there were no restaurants at all. COVID-19 saw to it that most restaurants have been closed for months on end except for the occasional periods when patios have been allowed.

With more and more Canadians getting their second vaccination, the restaurant shutdowns are becoming a feature of the not-too-distant past. Our local Thai diner is again open, at least the patio. Soon, it is hoped, inside dining will also return.

Repurposed

The shop in St. Jacobs has carved out a special niche in retail. It sells used goods, often quite old, some might say heritage items, and buyers are encouraged to take this stuff and repurpose it.

My wife saw the fancy Victorian wooden columns supporting spindled arches and immediately thought of our backyard. I immediately thought of the difficulty of getting this large structure home. It wasn't going to fit in the trunk of our car. It might even be hard loading it onto a truck.

It stayed in St. Jacobs. Once back in London, we both had another thought: what was that beautiful, intricate structure originally? Was it used inside an old, Victorian home? It didn't look weathered. An indoor use now seems reasonable.

St. Jacobs is about an hour east of Lonon

The old diesel engine and what appeared to be long out-of-service passenger cars carried a unknown (to me) moniker—Waterloo Central Railway. I had to stop, look around and grab a picture.

I have since learned that the Waterloo Central Railway is a heritage railway offering historic passenger train rides between Northfield Drive in Waterloo, the St. Jacobs Farmers’ Market, Village of St. Jacobs and Town of Elmira. Clearly, it is not running at this time thanks to COVID-19 restrictions.

The WCR is operated by the Southern Ontario Locomotive Restoration Society (SOLRS), a not-for-profit, registered charitable organization.  All ticket proceeds go toward supporting operations and restoration programs that the group's volunteers complete at its restoration and maintenance facility in St. Jacobs.

Squall line: more huff and puff than real danger

The sky looked very impressive. Threatening. Downright frightening to some. The hot day had turned cool and the quiet, humid air was beginning to move. Soon trees were bending in the fast increasing wind. London was about to be hit by a quickly moving squall line.

Squall lines are impressive. Lots of wind and rain and sometimes, like today, hail. But squall lines pass quickly and rarely result in a tornado. Residents of southwestern Ontario learn these facts as they must contend with more tornadoes than any other region in Canada. Southwestern Ontario is Canada's tornado alley.

St. Jacobs streetscape

The outlet mall at the far end of the downtown in St. Jacobs has closed and reborn with a completely new use and no retail is involved. None.

Today St. Jacobs, once possibly the biggest, best known outlet mall destination for southern Ontario shop-a-holics, is settling back into its old groove: an artsy, colourful, Mennonite community: a place to buy unique products and enjoy Mennonite sausage on a bun.

Thanks to COVID-19 the main street in St. Jacobs was exceptionally quiet last Sunday. The loss of the town's two outlet malls has not helped. But the province wide shutdowns are nearing their end and with luck St. Jacobs will again be a popular, quaint destination for weekend excursions and short vacation visits.