Wednesday, 29 June 2022

Edible and Available in Ontario

 The Pawpaw or Paw-Paw



   During my childhood (which extended into my 30s) I was incurious, or at least not curious about the things that counted. Those 'things' included just about anything not directly related to goofing off, playing around or drinking. In fact, I didn't even bother to learn much about the things required during those activities. If, like me, you were making spitballs during biology classes or aimlessly shooting your BB gun while walking through the woods, you may not know about the pawpaw tree. 
   I am trying to pay more attention now, and in doing so read this article which is why you are now reading about the pawpaw: "The Forgotten Fruit: Few People Have Heard of It. Fewer Still Have Tasted It. The Pawpaw, Ontario's Mango, Has A Rich Indigenous History, But a Vulnerable Future in the Province," Jade Prevost-Manuel, On Nature, Summer, 2022. The only thing I knew about the pawpaw was this lyric, which I probably remember from playing and goofing off: 
"Where, oh where is dear little Nellie?
Way down yonder in the pawpaw patch
Pickin’ up pawpaws, puttin’ ’em in your pocket."

   Did you know that a tropical mango-like fruit grew in Ontario and that it has been described as tasting like a custard made from a combination of mangos, bananas and pears - "nature's Creamsicle"? Did you know that a 'patch' of them could more properly be referred to as a 'grove', since the pawpaw grows on pawpaw trees and another grove of them has just been discovered in the Chatham-Kent area and you can find the PawPaw Woods near Wallaceburg. 
   Given that we have only recently noticed that most of our food comes from far away and may stop arriving, perhaps we should be paying more attention to things that can be harvested here (I will avoid for now the related subject which has to do with the fact that we have to hire people from far away to come and do the harvesting.) To assist you in learning more about our 'tropical' fruit, I will provide sources since most of what I know was revealed in the lyrics provided above.

Cricket Chow
  It was announced yesterday that our food security has been enhanced and that soon thirteen million kilograms of crickets will be processed annually here in London. The Federal government just provided $8.5 in assistance. You should know all about cricket eating because the subject was thoroughly covered in my post on ENTOMOPHAGY. I even mentioned the possibilities presented by the byproduct "Kricket Krap." Perhaps someone in the company or the government actually read it since I noticed in the article that: "Some of the byproducts from the Aspire operation processing will be sold back to area farmers as fertilizer..." ("By Jiminy! Feds Put $8.5M Into London Cricket Farm," Dan Brown, London Free Press, June 27, 2022.)


Sources:


   I skipped horticulture classes as well, but I have learned from my research that you need a couple of trees to start, the shelf life of the pawpaw is short and in Ontario they can only be grown in our "carolinian area." These sources will suffice:
   You can start, as usual with the Wikipedia entry. Then just go to Kentucky State. Cornell is also good - "Pawpaw - A "Tropical" Fruit for Temperate Climates," Guy K. Ames. Closer to home there is the Arboretum at Guelph and there is an Ontario Tree Atlas. If you want to grow your own see "Care and Stewardship of Pawpaw Trees," Ben Porchuk, Carolinian Canada. 
   There are many articles in sources close by. For example: “New Guide To Growing Forgotten Pawpaw Tree,” Sharon Hill, Windsor Star, May 29, 2020 and 
"Why an Ontario naturalist wants to Make Pawpaws Great Again: The once-popular fruit faded into obscurity in the 20th century. Now Dan Bissonnette is trying to bring it back, Daniel Sellers, Feb. 9, 2017, TVO Today. There is even interest among the Torontonians and this piece is quite good: "The Native Tropical-Tasting Fruit Can Be Foraged, But It's Easy to Grow Yourself," Edible Toronto.
Forage On!

Sunday, 26 June 2022

A Bridge Over Troubled Water

The Victoria Bridge (On Ridout Street)




   We live between two important streets that serve as passages for those going north or south by car here in London. A bottleneck on one of them (Wharncliffe Road) is going to be improved soon, but the improvements have been postponed for a bit while a new bridge is being constructed on the other (Ridout Street.) In early spring, construction began around the bridge on Ridout and the project seemed to proceed rapidly. Then one day, there was silence and the workers disappeared. 


   Although I have lamented the loss of local newspapers, I confess to not subscribing to the one in London since it is no longer a ‘local’ publication. If there was news reported about the stalled project, I missed it.  The rumour was that the city officials had failed to get some sort of permit and it likely spread quickly because of the irony involved, if it was true.


The temporary pedestrian bridge on pause

   The work has been stopped because the Department of Fisheries and Oceans fears that the habitat of two at-risk species (a minnow and a mussel) may be damaged. It is not clear if this problem should have been anticipated and by whom. It is clear that the Thames River is not in good shape, so it is best that the concerns are addressed. The bridge was supposed to be erected by May 2023, but it is unlikely that it will be. Here are some sources to go along with the rumours you may have heard.


Sources:

   This one explains what happened: “Tiny, Rare Fish and Mollusks Halt $23-million City Bridge Project: Federal Fisheries Officials Want the City to Come Up With a Better Way Forward”,  Colin Butler · CBC News · Posted: Jun 22, 2022.

“The presence of rare species of fish and mollusks living in the Thames River near the heart of the city has temporarily halted a $23-million bridge project. 

Construction on Victoria Bridge, more commonly known as the Ridout Street bridge, was supposed to start in the spring, but work has been temporarily halted over concerns heavy construction could disrupt the habitat of at-risk species of fish and mussels living in the water.” 

The presence of rare species of fish and mollusks living in the Thames River near the heart of the city has temporarily halted a $23-million bridge project. 


   Here is what was supposed to happen: “Here's What London's New Victoria Bridge Will Look Like: Work Will Close Ridout Street South of Horton to Vehicles for More Than a Year,” Andrew Lupton · CBC News · Posted: Feb 04, 2022 

“After almost 100 years spent carrying Ridout Street traffic over the Thames River south of Horton Street, the Victoria bridge replacement is set to begin this spring. 


The Upper Thames River Conservation Authority provides a lot of good information about the Thames. See for example these booklets on "Thames Topics." The Thames is a Canadian Heritage River.

Post Script:  
   There was some collateral damage. The tennis courts in nearby Thames Park are serving as the staging area (they are to be improved after the construction of the bridge, but are unusable for this summer.) Also, the Thames pool will remain closed because of an unrelated problem. The homeless people residing along the river will no longer be able brag that they have both a pool and tennis courts in their backyard.

The Bonus:
   
Those of you who think a silver minnow should not swim in the way of your commute,  might benefit from reading this. Once our rivers actually contained fish, mussels and clams and even supplied pearls for a robust button industry. See: Mussels and Other Molluscs

Saturday, 25 June 2022

The Misery Index

Feeling Miserable?

   Your answer to that question is probably "YES!"  To put our problems into some perspective, I present the chart below. Such a presentation allows me to quickly provide a post, the first one in several days, and it will show you that we have been miserable before. Actually our misery may be more inflated than the chart indicates since the variables in it relate to economic matters which are less troubling than the social, cultural and climate issues surrounding us. 

Click on the chart for a better view of it.


Sources:
   The chart was found in: "Remember the 1970s Misery Index? It's Back and On the Rise," Jason Kirby, G&M, March 23, 2022.  Here is how it begins:
"The index is a measure of financial distress. Born out of the 1970s, when consumers faced the dismal reality of prices for everyday goods surging at double-digit rates even as unemployment skyrocketed—a phenomenon known as stagflation—the index combined the inflation rate plus the unemployment rate. Over the years, variations of the index have added other factors, like interest rate changes and GDP per capita. Nevertheless, the core measure of prices and joblessness shown here remains a popular yardstick for economic hardship. And it’s on the rise."

   Once again Wikipedia does a good job of providing information about the Misery Index and various offshoot indices. 
   For some Canadian information see: "Ottawa's Pro-inflation Policies Fuel the Misery Index," Matthew Lau, Financial Post, Jan. 26, 2022. It is noted that: "Canada Ranked Sixth Highest on the Misery Index - the Sum of the Unemployment and Inflation Rates - out of 35 Industrialized Countries in 2021."
   For more see the Fraser Institute, "The Misery Index Returns," Jan. 18, 2022. 

The Bonus:
   More bad news, the political situation is also terrible. This is a headline in the G&M:
"The Vacuum at the Centre of Canadian Politics: An Incompetent, Unethical Government Faces an Intemperate, Unhinged Opposition," Andrew Coyne, June, 24. 2022. 
"Over the last few weeks and months it has become impossible to escape the feeling that Canadian politics has come loose from its moorings. There is a manic edge to it, as if the inmates had suddenly and collectively declared themselves absolved of any remaining obligations to common sense, or the ordinary routines of democratic politics, or the rule of law."
   South of the border these sentiments recently were expressed by Bret Stephens:
In answer to a question he says: "Which sort of brings us to the nub of the problem: Conservatives want policies that don’t work in practice and liberals want policies that don’t work in politics." (NYT, June, 6).  The following week he notes: 
"Every time I think of Democrats and lose my hope, I think of Republicans and lose my lunch. The same conservatives telling us that we have a mental-health crisis, particularly among boys and young men, see nothing amiss with giving them almost unlimited access to weapons. It’s like sending a loved one to a Betty Ford clinic while insisting that there should be an open bar out front in the lobby on Tuesdays." (He is, by the way, a 'conservative.')

At least it is sunny outside and the days are still long.


   Apart from the various economic misery indices, there is one for that other miserable event - the pandemic. It shows how Canada ranks among other nations in terms of managing the response to the coronavirus. 

Friday, 10 June 2022

Wolverines, Spartans and Books

 University Presses

   This is the sixth post in a series dealing with University Presses. They are offered to provide you with alternative reading if you are not happy with "Heather's Top Book Picks" or can't wait another two days for James Patterson to publish a new book. They also show that some colleges produce books as well as athletes.

   I have generally focused on the more "popular" titles offered by the university presses and stayed away from the scary, scholarly ones. So far, my attention has been on those campuses closest to our border. The first one listed books of environmental interest published way out in Washington state. Another dealt with the University of Minnesota and  I also offered a group of travel titles published at Northwestern University in Chicago. Closer to home, Penn State University Press has been dealt with as has Wayne State University Press.

    Two more Michigan publishers are now offered: the University of Michigan and Michigan State. The university presses closest to us are useful since they typically publish titles of regional interest. For example, if you look through this series you will find a lot of books about the Great Lakes. 

    Eleven examples are provided below, seven from Michigan and four from MSU.  The first two have some relevance in relation to some unfortunate current events, involving school tragedies and the troubles of Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer. The others cover subjects ranging from music and sports to botany and cruising on the Great Lakes. The samples were chosen by me and you should look at the websites provided below for the complete catalogues. For example, I did not provide this title from MSU: Rhetoric, Ecofeminism, and Animal Rights Law
"But is legal personhood the best means to achieving total interspecies liberation? To answer that question, Impersonating Animals evaluates the rhetoric of animal rights activists Steven Wise and Gary Francione, as well as the Earth jurisprudence paradigm. Deploying a critical ecofeminist stance sensitive to the interweaving of ideas about race, gender, class, sexuality, ability, and species, author S. Marek Muller places animal rights rhetoric in the context of discourses in which some humans have been deemed more animal than others and some animals have been deemed more human than others."


                                          University of Michigan Press



Bath Massacre: America's First School Bombing
New Edition, Updated and Expanded Edition
Arnie Bernstein
On May 18, 1927, the small town of Bath, Michigan, was forever changed when Andrew Kehoe set off a cache of explosives concealed in the basement of the local school. Thirty-eight children and six adults were dead, among them Kehoe, who had literally blown himself to bits by setting off a dynamite charge in his car. The next day, on Kehoe's farm, what was left of his wife—burned beyond recognition after Kehoe set his property and buildings ablaze—was found tied to a handcart, her skull crushed. With seemingly endless stories of school violence and suicide bombers filling today's headlines, Bath Massacre serves as a reminder that terrorism and large-scale murder are nothing new.



Right in Michigan's Grassroots: From the KKK to the Michigan Militia
JoEllen McNergney Vinyard
Throughout the twentieth century, Michigan became home to nearly every political movement in America that emerged from the grassroots. Citizens organized on behalf of concerns on the "left," on the "right," and in the "middle of the road." Right in Michigan's Grassroots: From the KKK to the Michigan Militia is about the people who supported movements that others, then and later, would denounce as disgraceful—members of the Ku Klux Klan during the 1920s, the followers of Father Charles Coughlin in the 1930s, anti-Communists and the John Birch Society in the post–World War II era, and the members of the Michigan Militia who first appeared in the 1990s.

The Great Lakes Region







Floating Palaces of the Great Lakes: A History of Passenger Steamships on the Inland Seas
Joel Stone
A lively history of the most majestic ships to ever ply the Great Lakes
Through much of the nineteenth century, steam-powered ships provided one of the most reliable and comfortable transportation options in the United States, becoming a critical partner in railroad expansion and the heart of a thriving recreation industry. The aesthetic, structural, and commercial peak of the steamboat era occurred on the Great Lakes, where palatial ships created memories and livelihoods for millions while carrying passengers between the region’s major industrial ports of Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, Buffalo, and Toronto. By the mid-twentieth century, the industry was in steep decline, and today North America’s rich and entertaining steamboat heritage has been largely forgotten. In Floating Palaces of the Great Lakes, Joel Stone revisits this important era of maritime history, packed with elegance and adventure, politics and wealth, triumph and tragedy. This story of Great Lakes travelers and the beautiful floating palaces they engendered will engage historians and history buffs alike, as well as genealogists, regionalists, and researchers.



Michigan Shrubs and Vines: A Guide to Species of the Great Lakes Region
Burton V. Barnes, Christopher W. Dick, and Melanie E. Gunn
The essential reference for identifying shrubs and woody vines in Michigan and the Great Lakes Region
Shrubs and vines are some of the most diverse and widespread plants in the Great Lakes Region. Michigan Shrubs and Vines is the must-have book for anyone who wishes to identify and learn about these fascinating plants. Presented in the same attractive, easy-to-use format as the classic Michigan Trees, the book gives detailed descriptions of 132 species, providing concise information on key characters, habitat, distribution, and growth pattern. Precise line drawings accompany each species description and illustrate arrangement and characteristics of leaves, flowers, and fruits in addition to stem structure to assist with reliable year-round identification. A thorough introduction covers the features and forms of shrubs and vines as well as their natural history, their role in landscape ecosystems, and their occurrence in regional ecosystems of North America and plant communities of the Great Lakes. This long awaited companion to Michigan Trees will appeal to botanists, ecologists, students, and amateur naturalists alike.

Music



I Hear a Symphony: Motown and Crossover R&B
Andrew Flory
Investigates how the music of Motown Records functioned as the center of the company’s creative and economic impact worldwide
I Hear a Symphony opens new territory in the study of Motown’s legacy, arguing that the music of Motown was indelibly shaped by the ideals of Detroit’s postwar black middle class; that Motown’s creative personnel participated in an African-American tradition of dialogism in rhythm and blues while developing the famous “Motown Sound.” Throughout the book, Flory focuses on the central importance of “crossover” to the Motown story; first as a key concept in the company’s efforts to reach across American commercial markets, then as a means to extend influence internationally, and finally as a way to expand the brand beyond strictly musical products. Flory’s work reveals the richness of the Motown sound, and equally rich and complex cultural influence Motown still exerts. 

Sports


Football U....J. Douglas Toma
Description
It's the great debate again: who's winning, college sports or higher education? For anyone passionate to settle that score, Football U. presents a new direction—that maybe it's time for the two sides to shake hands and call a truce.
J. Douglas Toma makes a case for dialogue and mutual benefits. In short, at some major institutions of learning, academics can learn a thing or two from spectator sports, particularly football, and vice versa.
Still, a lot of people don't see it that way, and the very mention of this subject can start a heated discussion in some circles. Even if you don't pay special attention to college sports you've probably heard the arguments, usually anti-athletic, which run from the dumbing-down of America to the commercialization—hence impoverishment—of everything in our culture.
Toma argues that football underscores the collegiate ideal, and highlights the unique forms in which some institutions express that ideal. He's trying to heal an old wound—the separation of town and gown. Spectator sports do this in part, he believes, by creating a "national brand" that adds distinctiveness to otherwise commonplace campuses. "Teams and games," he writes, "provide a convenient vehicle through which external constituents relate to institutions and thus identify with them—coming to think of the institutions as their own."

                                   Michigan State University Press

The Great Lakes



Checking the Pulse of Lake Erie
Ecovision World Monograph
Edited by M. Munawar and R. Heath
The progress of research on Lake Erie has been marked by several milestone publications during the long struggle to restore the system. The reports of the U.S. Federal Water Pollution Control Administration (1968) and the International Joint Commission (1969) described Lake Erie in the depths of degradation. “Lake Erie in the Early Seventies” (1976) recorded the status of limnology and fisheries in the lake before remedial programs were implemented. “State of Lake Erie” (1999) described the state of the lake in response to remedial actions and at early stages of the invasion of dreissenid mussels. Checking the Pulse of Lake Erie is an update of “State of Lake Erie” in light of continued efforts at restoration and impacts from nonindigenous species. This book contains twenty papers contributed by authors from a broad spectrum of disciplines and research interests.

Pandora's Locks: The Opening of the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Seaway
By Jeff Alexander


AND


The Muskegon: The Majesty and Tragedy of Michigan's Rarest River
By Jeff Alexander
Muskegon is a derivation of a Native American word meaning "river with marshes." Jeff Alexander examines the creation, uses of, devastation, and restoration of Michigan's historic and beautiful Muskegon River.
     Four of the five Great Lakes touch Michigan's shores; the state's shoreline spans more than 4,500 miles, not to mention more than 11,000 inland lakes and a multitude of rivers. The Muskegon River, the state's second longest river, runs 227 miles and has the most diverse features of any of Michigan’s many rivers. The Muskegon rises from the center of the state, widens, and moves westward, passing through the Pere Marquette and AuSable State Forests. The river ultimately flows toward Lake Michigan, where it opens into Muskegon Lake, a 12 square-mile, broad harbor located between the Muskegon River and Lake Michigan.
     Formed several thousand years ago, when the glaciers that created the Great Lakes receded, and later inhabited by Ottawa and Potawatomi Indians, the Muskegon River was used by French fur trappers in the 1600s. Rich in white pine, the area was developed during the turn-of-the-century lumber boom, and at one time Muskegon Lake boasted more than 47 sawmills. The Muskegon was ravaged following settlement by Europeans, when rivers and streams were used to transport logs to the newly developing cities. Dams on rivers and larger streams provided power for sawmills and grain milling, and later provided energy for generating electricity as technology advanced.
     There is now an ambitious effort to restore and protect this mighty river's natural features in the face of encroaching urbanization and land development that threatens to turn this majestic waterway into a mirror image of the Grand River, Michigan's longest river and one of its most polluted.



Fresh Water: Women Writing on the Great Lakes
Edited by Alison Swan
Fresh Water: Women Writing on the Great Lakes is a collection of nonfiction works by women writers. These works focus on the Midwest: living with the five interconnected freshwater seas that we know as the Great Lakes. Contributing to this collection are renowned poets, essayists, and fiction writers, all of whom write about their own creative streams of consciousness, the fresh waters of the Great Lakes, and the region's many rivers:



Sources:
   There are Wikipedia entries for both the University of Michigan Press and Michigan State University Press.  For the university press websites see: U of M and MSU

The Bonus:
 If you prefer to read something by James Patterson and his helpers, you should know that he has just published a new memoir. From a review of it, I learned this:
"Patterson is among the world’s best-selling and most wildly prolific living authors. His books have sold more than 300 million copies. His new memoir is the 10th book he’s published so far this year, and one of four books he has slated for release this month. A checklist of books on his website includes nearly 400 titles, comprising thrillers, true-crime books, contributions to various children’s and YA series and collaborations with a variety of celebrities including a former president and a former Fox News host. Patterson, 75, insists he’s responsible for at least outlining every last one of these literary creations."
(From: "James Patterson Shares His Formula For Success. It’s Pretty Simple," Mark Athitakis, Washington Post, June 6, 2022.)

Wednesday, 8 June 2022

Match Making

Factlet (13)

   This is not about what you think, it is about matches. Back when many people smoked, matches were needed and the line uttered by Lauren Bacall to Humphrey in To Have and Have Not, "Anybody got a match?," was often heard.  One of my sisters had huge glass containers and vases full of colourful matchbook covers. Now you rarely seen them and only infrequently get asked, "Buddy, got a light?"


   I thought of those match-filled days of long ago when I ran across this paragraph which provides the Factlet(s):

"For this tree [Western White Pine], almost exclusively now [c1949], yields us our wooden matches. Formerly they were made from the Eastern White Pine, but as the first growth of that species approached exhaustion, the western species, its closest relative and similar to it in the physical and chemical properties of its wood, began (from about 1914 on) to bear the whole burden of matchwood production. This may not seem a great drain - a match so slight a thing - but remember that twelve thousand wooden matches are struck, by the American people, every second. That makes more than 103 million in twenty-four hours. To produce a year's supply of matches, three hundred thousand mature pines must yield up their lives. If grown to a pure strand, they would cover an area 2 miles wide and 10 miles long."


   I suppose that one could view all of this as "progress" since fewer trees are being cut down to provide matches.  On the other hand, less trees are being used to produce newsprint and that is not good. Trees grow back, but newspapers are unlikely to return, even in digital form.

Source:
   That paragraph will be found on p.38 of A Natural History of North American Trees, by Donald Culross Peattie. It's a much more interesting book than the title indicates. See my post about Peattie
   If you are interested in the disappearance of the ordinary objects we grew up with see: Going Going Gone: Vanishing Americana by Susan Jones & Marilyn Nissenson. Among the things that have gone: Bank Checks; Carbon Paper; DDT; Girdles; Men's Garters; Nuns; Slide Rules; Tonsillectomies and Typewriters and Wedding Night Virgins.
All of those topics are covered in the book and I have a copy if you want to borrow it.

Post Script: 
   If you are more interested in the subject of "Match Making," see my post - "Lonely in London."
Remember these?

Tuesday, 7 June 2022

Lepidoptera in London

 


    It is a rainy day so I will attempt to catch up on my blogging. If the weather continues to be dreary you might consider a trip up to the campus at Western where you will find at the McIntosh Gallery the exhibit "Insect as Idea." It is on until June 18th and the Gallery is open from 10 til 5 from Monday to Friday and from 12 to 4 on Saturday. 
   It was on a Saturday that I visited and I was the only visitor at the time. The campus is especially pleasant at this time of year and you will also find it so, as long as you avoid the convocation ceremonies.
   That is a picture taken by me at the top and the text below is part of a description found on the wall.

Insect as Idea: Carl Beam, Christi Belcourt, Catherine Chalmers, Andrea Cooper, Aganetha and Richard Dyck, Jude Griebel, The Institute of Queer Ecology, Jennifer Murphy and Amy Youngs:Featuring insect specimens from the Zoological Collections, Department of Biology, Western University

  You may have noticed in the CBC piece that "insects are under threat." That is true and a serious problem. For more see these three posts: "Insect Elegy;" "Insect Apocalypse" and the bottom portion of "Birds and Bugs."

The Bonus:
   The McIntosh Gallery used to have in its collection, "Backwoods of America" by Jasper Cropsey, the sale of which was rather controversial. See: Jasper Cropsey

    If you are an older alumni you will see some changes on campus and not just those related to the buildings. You may have noticed above, for example, The Institute of Queer Ecology.  I happened also to find this mysterious (to me) lengthy initialism mentioned on the Western website and will explain it for those who are as ancient as I. Apparently Mental Health Support is available to all, including those who are: LGBTTIQQ2SA+. I assume the + means there are more to come. 
    To translate: LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENDER, TRANSSEXUAL, INTERSEX, QUEER, QUESTIONING, 2-SPRITED, ASEXUAL. And to translate further - "2 Spirit"  "a term used within some Indigenous communities, encompassing cultural, spiritual, sexual and gender identity. The term reflects complex Indigenous understandings of gender roles, spirituality, and the long history of sexual and gender diversity in Indigenous cultures."
  I am not sure what this means in terms of bathroom facilities. There used to be rooms for "Males" and "Females" and I do know there was some controversy about bathrooms specifically for "Faculty." I think they have all now disappeared.  I didn't have to go, so I can't help you. In the old days, this could have been an example:
Now here are some suggestions you might find on the bathroom doors:


Or: