test blog 8

Photos from our recent trip in Northern Ontario are here on Flickr . I'll also update the original post .

Our Ontario trip was a mixed bag of ups and downs, but mostly ups. Everything is pretty good with some not-so-good mixed in. Traveling with Diego. We loved it! It was so much fun having us with him all the time, and seeing him so happy and content. Downside: Traveling with a dog can be a bit limiting. We had planned to leave him alone while we explored Sudbury and Thunder Bay, but when we were actually there, we weren't comfortable with it. We had very limited time in those towns anyway; had we been there for more time, we probably would have done it. Balance: A huge 5 out of 5 leafs. The RV. I love traveling by RV. On a road trip, it's great to be so self-contained, to not have to go out for every breakfast and dinner, to have your own kitchenette and washroom, but still be in the woods. Ever since we traveled by RV in Alaska, about a million years ago (1996), I've dreamed of owning one. That's not very practical, but I hope we can rent one again soon. Downside: Onc...

We're going glamping! Allan, Diego, and I are hitting the road. Driving this: Going here: Killarney Provincial Park Lake Superior Provincial Park Sleeping Giant Provincial Park Kakabeka Falls Provincial Park Pancake Bay Provincial Park Grundy Lake Provincial Park Plus quick visits to Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, and Thunder Bay. Doing this: Hike, grill, explore. Watch dogs play on beaches. Read. Keep an eye on the Red Sox. Find used bookstores. Maybe hear some music. Take photographs. Be in woods. Feel nature do its magic. I love road trips and am in vacation mode the moment we get in the vehicle. See you in two weeks!

When we visited the Haliburton Wolf Centre in March - our second time there, to see the wolves in their winter coats - the alpha female was pregnant. In April, four healthy pups were born: two males (one black, one gray) and two females (one black, one gray). By June they were out of the den and coming into public view. My wolf-loving friend J and I went to see them in July. Once again, we were patient, waiting through many waves of visitors as the wolves relaxed in the sun. And once again we were rewarded. In the winter, we saw the wolves being fed; this time we saw the adult alpha pair join the pups, the whole pack nuzzling, vocalizing and playing. All these photos are by J. I usually post only a sample of photos, but this time I've posted the whole lot: Flickr set here (all photos by J). Older wolf visits: First visit to Haliburton Wolf Centre, July 2009 , some photos here . Haliburton wolves in winter, March 2011 . Wolf pups at Jungle Cat World , more photos here . Jungle Cat...

Haliburton Wolf Centre, March 27, 2011 Photo by JH Story and more photos below * * * * In the summer of 2009, Allan and I and two friends went to the Haliburton Forest Reserve Wolf Centre ; my post about it is here and a small sample of photos from that day are here . We all love animals, but J is extremely knowledgeable about animals and shares my fascination with wild canines. (These are the same friends with whom we've visited Jungle Cat World more than once.) Driving back from Haliburton that day, we vowed to return in winter, when the wolves are more active and sporting their gorgeous winter coats. Last year we were all set to go, when we discovered that the Wolf Centre is only open on weekends through the winter, when I'm working. Well, this winter I couldn't stand it anymore, and used a vacation day. Allan and C couldn't make it, but J, CB and I had a great day - driving and talking, and marvelling at the wolves. There are only four wolves now. Smudge, the old ...

For those uber-organized people who (like me) are already thinking ahead to 2011, or who (unlike me) have a list of holiday gifts to buy, I have a recommendation. The good folks at Across the Bridge B&B of Stratford, Ontario, have created a beautiful calendar showcasing their town's famous swans . Eric and Kelly are originally from the US, now Ontarians running one of the many family businesses that live around the Stratford Shakespeare Festival . I'm totally biased towards this calendar: I love Shakespeare, Stratford, Across the Bridge, and the swans, and Eric and Kelly are our friends. But even without that list, it's a lovely gift idea that helps support a local, family-run business in a beautiful part of Canada. You can see the photos and order a calendar here on their website .

Do you remember these guys? This was in Jungle Cat World in June, only four months ago. Look at them now! We weren't there, but we sure wish we had been! In the US, despite the court ruling re-listing the gray wolf as an Endangered Species , wolves are still in grave danger. At least four states are attempting to pass laws that make an end-run around the Act and single out the wolf for extermination. Read about it here: "New wolf bills: bad science, bad policy, and bad legislation" .

Yesterday my mom and I drove to St. Jacobs, Ontario , a Mennonite community in the Kitchener-Waterloo area. It's a tiny little village, dolled up for tourist shopping and spending. I've been told by many people that it's a great place to see craft work, especially glass and quilts. Turns out that's overstating it quite a bit. There are two glass studios in town, and two quilt shops, and a small room called a Quilting Museum - and that's it. There's also an old mill that's been converted into shops. The shops are mostly independently owned and feature handmade work, so that was nice, too. In a converted barn - photo above, taken with my cell phone, so poor quality - we watched two men making brooms with hardwood handles and corn-stalk bristles, using heavy iron machinery that they worked with both hands and foot pedals. It was really interesting. In the back of the barn, an artist was making Tiffany-style lampshades and leaded glass panels. In between was a j...

My mom comes in today for her annual visit, staying until Friday morning. I would have ordered last week's weather - cool, dry and autumnal - rather than this week's heat and oppressive humidity, but no one had the courtesy to ask. I hope the heat won't be prohibitive, as we have a much better time if we are out doing things. This year the plan is Mississauga and St. Jacobs. There are a few cultural and historical things to do in Mississauga - which proves that there's culture everywhere - and I thought we might drive around and do them all in one day, plus maybe a park or a lakeshore stroll. St. Jacobs is not for the outlet stores or the cutesy factor, but for quilts and glassware. My mom loves handwork of all kinds, especially glass, and St. Jacobs has a quilt museum and several glass studios. (Last year we went to the Textile Museum of Canada ; we both loved it.) We'll probably hang out in St. Jacobs, or perhaps in nearby Elora , for dinner and miss the traffic...

We had a nice, relaxing trip to Stratford, maybe less exciting than last year, but only because my first time was a revelation, and this year I knew what to expect. Stratford is a lovely little tourist town, and I highly recommend the Across the Bridge B&B owned by our friends Eric and Kelly. It's a beautiful old renovated house in a great location; you can leave your car at their place and walk everywhere. But the real reason to stay there is Eric's incredible breakfasts, which will keep you going til dinnertime. Besides theatre, none of our other plans worked out. We didn't meet our friends for dinner and didn't go to St. Jacobs. But we hung out with Eric and Kelly, walked along the Avon River and took photos of birds, browsed in bookstores and generally decompressed. Neither of us particularly liked the production of As You Like It , but The Tempest was excellent, a real treat. The productions couldn't be more different. AYLI was crammed full of gimmicks, m...

Today we are off to Stratford, Ontario for two Shakespeare productions and two nights in a bed-and-breakfast. We did this last year during the baseball All Star break, and I liked it so much, I thought it should be an annual tradition. We're staying at Across The Bridge B&B, owned by two great US ex-pats. Last year they contacted me through this blog and we stayed there as their guests , amazingly enough. Now we are regular customers - and friends. I have met the best people through wmtc. In fact, before I got back into activism and met people through the War Resisters Support Campaign and the peace movement, everyone I knew in Canada, I had met through this blog. So while I might write more about wmtc's persistent trolls, the real payoff from wmtc has been an amazing network of friends. We've met great friends through Allan's blog , too, and there's a small subset of folks who read both, or at least read Joy of Sox and are not strangers to wmtc. One of thos...

Our photos from Jungle Cat World are up. This guy in his winter coat in March... ...is now dressed for summer. This guy as a newborn... ...is this guy as a toddler. This little guy who we met in March... ...is now a young adult. There are also pics of a tiny baby lynx who we met in advance of the public (he lives in the owner's house!), some baby birds in a nest at the bottom of a trash barrel, some otters and a beautiful silver fox rescued from a fur farm. Go here.