The Aura of Orillia

 Wonder how places get their names?

 

 Wonderment more:

 Do these ring a bell?

 

 Happy Easter,

 

WOB 

Witness to a MIracle

 In the Spring of 2022(?) Sharon and Ron invited me over to see a Skunk cabbage, I saw it as a mild curiosity. However, a few months later I was in the high Arctic and was shown plants, small biotopes, where the plants managed to raise the temperature by many degrees above freezing. So I was anxious to see the Skunk cabbage again. Yesterday I was given the opportunity thanks to Sharon and Ron who made a trail in the snow for me to follow. And yes, "Volker" there was a lot of "Schnee von Gestern" on the ground.

 There are 2 leaves, maybe 15cm tall, apparently poking through the snow of comparable depth.

 

The next photos are taken from directly over the plant(s) and you can see for yourselves just how warm this biotope must be:

 

 Witness to a Miracle:

Exothermic life

Mother Nature excels here

Abundant displays 

 

 

WOB 

Winter returned - snowed during the night - no books in sight

 Little brown bird

Feasting off the green table

Until Winter comes

 Coffee and tea

Reduce dementia risk

If you remember!

 

WOB 

Spring Renewal

 Santa was caught off guard by the sudden melting of the snow pack.

However, several little birds :

 

(any idea who this one is? Eastern King?)
 

told him that this was a good time to look at the possible up and coming teams of deer to pull that or those  imaginative sleighs.

And don't tell me you don't believe in me - that will bring you bad luck:

 Not all the teams can have Rudolf , so I was looking for passive

lighting for guidance, a natural solution, maybe? Will have to consider night blindness?

 

 Here is a natural "8" for sticking together, although there is one already lying down on the job.

And ... ?

 Or ...?

 And they are all eating during the interviews:

 You might ask how I got here so quickly? This answer is for DM and DM_ I use worm holes in in the gravitational field tensor. One end is at what you guys call the "North Pole" and the other end is at any convenient worm hole exit - this was chosen for its convenience and camouflage:

 The deer are in the background quite unperturbed by my coming and going in my preferred means of transport for interviews.

 It is reassuring that they can move about even when there is no snow. That means I would be able to use them just about every time and place in the future. Maybe would not be able to use them in flooded areas like Amsterdam, Boston, Cologne - the Rhein would be backed up by higher sea levels, rising tides, stronger storms, etc,, London, Miami, New York City, etc. Might use Sea horses! More likely Otter - they can "fly" already!

 

Fleet in 2024:
1 Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX (9 seats), 14 DHC-2 Beavers (6 seats), 23 DHC-3T Otters (14 seats), 4 DHC-6 Twin Otters (18 seats)

 

Vancouver’s seaplanes will soon be flying with electric propulsion

Seaplanes are a normal means of transportation in Western Canada. Starting in 2025, the largest operator, Harbour Air, aims to fly sustainably using electric propulsion with the e-Beaver. 

 I have not been able to confirm this in this source but had heard a year or so ago that e-planes were flying along the west coast. I think a good script writer would have them flying as drones with 3-D printers doing the manufacturing en route and quadro-copters making the final delivery.

(Ah, to be this young again!) 

So I think if I can find good children, everyone will be good to go.

 

And if you received a book from me for Christmas, it is long over due at the library!

 

WOB 

Earth Hour - 1 year after the power-eating ice storm

 52 weeks after "The Ice Storm" and 4+ days without electricity, I wondered what I would see "this evening", Saturday, March 28, 2026?

 I calibrated my camera clock against a time signal from "Heavens-Above.com

The gibbous Moon was high above to brighten the sky - and also serve as a time piece:

 Note the shadows in the lower portion - not a full Moon in eclipse.

 

Let us walk around the building, starting at the West end:

 The left, North-west edge has 3 lighted openings. And the front:

 

The foyer is the brightest and then there are a dozen or so room lights. However, note the silver-blue hue to the building on the right edge. That is caused by lighting up the side stairs:

 I found this so blinding, so glaring that I only managed a couple of the stairs before having to grab the handrail. Solar lights at step level would have been much safer. And if I had wanted to mug anyone this would have been an ideal place to do so. 

 So some time later I returned to show you the side steps and the light.

Note that when you start your stairs the light is shining right in your eyes:

 

Next the East side:

 You can see the glare from the lighting around doors - not safe places to be standing search for a key. I did find the motion detectors worked fairly well. However, nobody was alerted to challenge me - so I expect they might not have been a deterrent.

Note, too, that the lights are at eye level, shining into the eyes, telling

the observer that the lines are on! Anyone can "see" that. However, one can nolonger see because one has been night blinded. So that means lights must be even brighter. Compare the scene if you can when small solar-powered

lights illuminate the ground from a height of 30cm. Knee-high or lower. More than adequate to see icy patches, clumps of earth or gravel dislodged by the snow plower or gardner. 

And now the North face/Eiger nord Wand:

I think this side is far worse than the opposite south side.

 

I was especially struck by what appear to be a string of lights:

 

- maybe Christmas lights?

So what to make of this: 100 hours with no power last year - equals out the energy wastage this year? Or status quo?

For comparison, Earth Hour 2025: 

 Without wishing to offend. without knowing the individual situations, it does appear that before the ice storm in March 2025, our condo presented a darker, energy-saving side, compared to 2026.

Earth Hour is not about saving energy . it is about being aware of where the energy is going. When I did a demonstration in Montreal about 10 years ago, I think the actual savings was just a couple of percent. The value might appear in a blog I posted at the time.

More to the point is to realize that this building is situated in the Lake Simcoe-Lake Couchiching flood plain. This are will flood soon. Are we

really insured about flood damage? Cars trapped in the garage? People trapped by the weight of water preventing doors from opening and allowing an escape? I don't know. A few years ago the corner of Atherley and Queen Street was under more than 30cm of water following a sudden rain shower and some blocked? drains. #12 bypass and West Street was subject to greater flooding one August day about 10 years ago. That created a very large traffic jam.

I feel we have been granted some time to remedy the problems - are we doing so?

 

WOB 

Lambs and Lions: Beware the Ides of March

 Et tu, Brute - Vocative case, Grade 10, 1958

March entered as: lamb/lion?

Last night the "wool" flew

white-out and aurora alert

Wool on fair ways

Bah, bah, 70 cm deep

Again - again often an

hours-long thunderstorm.

 Between 3 and 4AM we heard

the roar of the lion after a flash of  lightning.

Now I cannot see:

Hearing Life?

On his blindness ?

 

WOB