June 26 2021 - Writing History

 

History is always written wrong and needs to be rewritten ~George Santayana What do you imagine Canada's history timeline should be?  I found the timeline taught when I was in school at dummies.com. By Will Ferguson Part of  Canadian History For Dummies Cheat Sheet  Canadian history is a lot of fun. There are heroes and villains, tragedies and triumphs, great battles and sudden betrayals, loyal refugees and long struggles for social justice. The interpretation of Canadian history may vary – radically, at times – but there are still core events from our past that every Canadian should know. Brush up on your Canadian history with the following timeline of important events. 30,000–10,000 BC Prehistoric hunters cross over into Canada from Asia circa 1000 AD Leif Ericsson leads a Viking expedition to the New World 1451 The Iroquois Confederacy is formed (aka Haudenosaunee) and so on for lots of rows and row of colonist events. Yes - Ferguson's history is about the colonization and then confederation of Canada.  It is so selective that the question immediately arises:  What are  all the events that took place and who are all the people that lived here? So I found a Canadian history timeline about Indigenous peoples HERE.  The Canadian Encyclopedia presents a storyline that covers the indigenous peoples and events. Here are samples: NOVEMBER 30, -1 ARCHEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES  Evidence of Human Occupation in North America Irrefutable archeological evidence of human occupation in the northern half of North America, including in the Tanana River Valley (Alaska), Haida Gwaii (British Columbia), Vermilion Lakes (Alberta), and Debert (Nova Scotia).   JANUARY 01, 1450 INDIGENOUS PEOPLES  Haudenosaunee Confederacy Try Resolving Disputes in Lower Great Lakes Region The Haudenosaunee Confederacy (Iroquois League), organized by Dekanahwideh (the Peacemaker) and Hiawatha, tries to provide a peaceful and equitable means to resolve disputes among member nations in the lower Great Lakes region JANUARY 01, 1493 LAW  “Doctrine of Discovery” is Decreed The papal bull Inter Caetera — the “Doctrine of Discovery” — is decreed a year after Christopher Columbus’ first voyage to America. Made without consulting Indigenous populations nor with any recognition of their rights, it is the means by which Europeans claim legal title to the “new world.” What draws me in is the Iroquois or Haudenosaunee Confederacy referenced in both history timelines.  I looked it up in Wikipedia - it has an extensive entry on the Iroquois Confederacy.  But I can see that there are two different storylines about Canada's events of the past.  And who writes these? Is the Wikipedia entry on the Iroquois another storyline from the colonist point of view? What might be the story from the Indigenous point of view?   I guess it is time to start somewhere  - at Raven Reads with Canadian History Books by Indigenous Authors.  It is HERE. It is time to find out what the Canadian storyline is.   Lilycrest Gardens blossom period has begun.  Here are two from the field yesterday.

June 10 2020 - How Many Flowers?

Irises come in every colour.  Yesterday's visit to the Laking garden at Royal Botanical Gardens was a tumultuous gathering of colours.  How many flowers were blooming?  There are over 1,000 types of irises in the collection.  There likely are least 20 stems on every planting.  Each stem has at least one flower in bloom.  So we were looking at something in the range of 20,000 flowers yesterday.  It is satisfying to see so many flowers. There are lots of theories on why humans love flowers.  One article says this: One clue is that flowers stimulate the same sensory apparatus that humans use for assessing the quality of fruits. Fruits often have colors similar to flowers, and one theory suggests that trichromatic color vision in primates has evolved to better detect and evaluate edible fruits. From an olfactory perspective, floral volatiles are chemically similar or even identical to those emitted by fruits, and thus smelling a flower may possibly bring to mind a ripe, sweet fruit. Psychology Today's article says  it more simply:  dopamine. Dopamine is triggered by the expectation of a reward. Flowers were a huge reward signal in the world our brain evolved in because they marked the coming of abundance after a hungry winter. Today we have enough to eat all year round so we don’t consciously link flowers with food. But the blossoming of a flower triggers the sense that something special is coming because it triggers dopamine. Isn't it nice to know we can look at flowers and get the same effect as a physical  fitness class. Here are two views of the Laking Garden.

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May 4 2020 - UFOs on May the Force be with you Day

What happened last week on the UFO front?  The Pentagon declassified three well-known UFO videos and acknowledged their existence as interactions with UFOs. Did you know that those who think that UFOs are proof of extraterrestrial life are known as 'believers'.  Tom DeLong, former guitarist and singer for Blink-182 is likely the best known believer -  he founded a private company that collects and researches the area.  He weighed in on the release of the information last week as monumental. I listed to the Matt Galloway interviews on the CBC radio as I travelled around taking pictures of orchards.  I probably haven't thought about UFOs since Close Encounters and ET.  I decided this was a wonderful hopeful topic, compared to our current crisis. So here's the believers 'sub channel' on  redit at https://www.reddit.com/r/UFObelievers/ with this mission: 🛸r/UFOBelievers👽 is a community made up of Ufologists, Astronomers, Researchers and other professionals from Europe, Canada and the United States. UFOB has a single goal in mind - to provide information and educate individuals who have an interest in the subject of Ufology but cannot fulfill it on the mainstream / establishment media. Our mission is to make disclosure a reality. Our Discord - https://discord.gg/Pa7SGQm Our Subreddits - r/UFODisinformation r/UFOAstronomy  The Washington Post's article is titled UFOs exist and everyone needs to adjust to that fact and looks at the issues involved in treating UFOs as meaning extraterrestial life in comparison to being security  and safety questions/issues. "The question with the announcement is why official organs of the state are now acknowledging that UFOs exist. They are doing so because enough pilots are reporting UFOs and near-air collisions so as to warrant better record-keeping. They are not saying that these UFOs are extraterrestrials, but they are trying to destigmatize the reporting of a UFO." The Navy has retitled UFOs to UAPs - unidentified aerial phenomena.   I don't know the significance of this - it makes me think the 'things' may not be 'flying' - scientifically curious. Likely it signifies that the sightings don't involved any objects. The press thinks this announcement lacks newsworthiness and that it provides a distraction  to current problems.  The 'threat' of extraterrestrials seems to be considered a low security risk.   The skeptics and others alike are fascinated by the possibilities.  Being able to explore these phenomena as signs of extraterrestrial life is to explore "bigger, more philosophical questions". Nick Pope who spent years investigating UFOs for the U.K. ends the Matt Galloway interview with: "Let's have that conversation. It would be interesting and it would be fun." Here's a section of Stewart Road at Seaway Nurseries with its peach trees blooming as far as you can see in both directions.  And then a closer view of a John Street orchard's very old trees.

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If In Doubt

The expression is "when in doubt"... Here are some of the expressions that are paired with this: When in doubt wear red. ~ Bill Blass When in doubt, don't. ~ Benjamin Franklin Wise men, when in doubt whether to speak or to keep quiet, give themselves the benefit of the doubt, and remain silent. ~ Napoleon Hill A conservative is someone who makes no changes and consults his grandmother when in doubt. ~ Woodrow Wilson When in doubt tell the truth. ~ Mark Twain These are from Brainyquotes, you have to go over there to see them all - they aren't easily copied.  When I look through quotes, I am amazed at the diverse range of people being quoted.  From Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain to current comedians to names I don't recognize.  So I chose one randomly - Ken Thompson. Ken Thompson - When in doubt, use force.   Ken Thompson is a computer scientist who worked on the Unix operating system.  Here is my favourite: Ken Thompson was once asked what he would do differently if he were redesigning the UNIX system. His reply: "I'd spell creat with an e."

Trout Lily in Spring

Hi everyone,

This is one of the early spring bloomers - Trout Lily.  It is Erythronium americanum.  It's also known as Dogtooth Violet and Yellow Adder's Tongue.  It is in the Liliaceae family.  I didn't realize that it is an edible plant.  At the same time, it seems to be an emetic (makes you throw up), so it is not recommended that one eat a lot of it.  I guess I wouldn't add this one to the menu with guests coming.