Damn dam

 

In use it looks like a flood control dam but it isn't. It's a dam alright but it's for recreational use only. With the gates in place the Springbank Dam controls water flow, turning the Thames River into a small reservoir—a reservoir with enough water depth to float small cruise boats and support a rental paddle boat business. But today the gates are not in place and the river supports turtles and rich mix of birds. The rental paddle boats are just a memory.

The engineers said the new dam with huge, heavy gates lifted into place by hydralics was a great improvement over the ancient dam it replaced. The old dam used simple stop logs. In time the logs would begin to rot and need to be replaced. Not so the new gates. The new gates will last indefinitely.

There was only one thing wrong with the new design. It didn't work. Never did. Failed before it was even officially in use. But the engineers did get one thing right. The new dam was a big improvement over the old, functioning dam. The river, left to flow free, left to be a true river and not technically a reservoir, was a healthier river. Turtles, one endangered, are back. Fish and amphibians and birds and mammals are all flourishing thanks to the cleaner, faster moving river.

It is even possible that the one mammal that seemed to benefit most from the old dam, the human animal, may be surprising everyone and learning to love the undammed river. 

Walks along the river are popular and kids find it exciting to spot a heron overhead, a deer in the woods or a fox darting across the path running from one wooded area to another.

Some folk have even learned that canoes and kayaks don't need all that much water. Recreational paddlers are often spotted in the river starting in the spring and not to disappear until late fall.

Portage season is ending

 

It has been such a wet fall that the Thames River is flowing fast and deep through the city. Usually, by November the river is dropping fast and some areas of the river bed are lying exposed and drying. This cannot last and soon the river will be too shallow for even most canoes. Portaging season for this year is just about at an end.

Oddly enough, portaging around the Springbank Dam is hardly necessary. The gates of the dam have not been operational for years. The gates sit in the open position on the bottom of the river. A faulty gate design doomed the reconditioned dam before it officially entered service. The city sued and won a decision against those responsible for the design and construction.

Mushroom looks like Jeff Bezo's rocket

When this uniquely shaped mushroom appeared in a neighbour's front garden, those who saw it admitted to being mildly embarrassed when they tried to describe it to others. I feigned ignorance at first and then I said, "Ah ha! It looks like Jeff Bezo's Blue Origin rocket. You know, the one that carried William Shatner into space." And it did.

But I have to admit, I was filled with questions about this oddly shaped mushroom. For one thing, why are there flies all over it? Answer: It is a member of the stinkhorn mushroom family. This particular stinkhorn smells a lot like dung or maybe decomposing flesh. It depends upon whom you ask. But don't ask me as I didn't get that close.

I was able to discover its true name but only after multiple confirmations am I willing to report it is called, wait for it, phallus impudicus. Not a great name. Maybe we can get the name changed. I was thinking of caeruleum eruca or Blue Rocket in Latin. It may not be great Latin but it is a better name.

Happy Halloween is the way to go

"That is the happiest, most upbeat ghost I have seen today," I told the gentleman decorating his porch for Halloween. The blue, inflatable bat was also one happy critter. Why I wondered out loud would the fellow hanging the stuff choose these? They were so oh-so-very-cheerful. Almost sugar coated.

He smiled and told me he had young kids. If he wanted them to sleep, scary characters, even inflated ones, would keep the frightened little one awake and they in turn would keep the whole house from getting to sleep.

My granddaughters are in tune with this fellow's children. Happy is the way to go.

Fall colours reaching their zenith

 

With November just around the corner, it seems a little late in the year but the fall colours are just now beginning to hit their maximum intensity here in London. What is most interesting is that with some of the trees, such as the one pictured, not all the leaves are turning. The ones closer to the ground are holding onto their green colour. Why? I cannot say.

A simple display but kids say it's effective

The large spider web spun over the front porch and part of the driveway seemed a pretty simple Halloween decoration to me.The kids from who I sought an opinion agreed it was simple but it was also very effective. Spiders are frightening and anything that brings to mind spiders, especially large ones, is a fine Halloween decoration.

Extensive Halloween decorations: something relatively new

Many homes are extensively decorated for Halloween in London and elsewhere across North America. The decorations appear a week or more before the trick and treat event. Rain and high winds may damage the installation in the days leading up to Halloween but the homeowners take all this very seriously. All is soon repaired.

In the '50s when I was a boy, this degree of decorating in anticipation of Halloween was unknown. A few home had a carved pumpkin on display but that is it.