{"id":6726,"date":"2017-08-02T11:14:20","date_gmt":"2017-08-02T15:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=6726"},"modified":"2021-05-18T22:49:23","modified_gmt":"2021-05-19T02:49:23","slug":"6726","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=6726","title":{"rendered":"Tuesday, August 2, 2017 \u2014 Two Journeys, with Momos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not much has been pub\u00adlished on this site in the last year. Short\u00adly after my return from a trip to France, a series of events start\u00aded to mod\u00adi\u00adfy my per\u00adson\u00adal cir\u00adcum\u00adstances, begin\u00adning with my moth\u00ader\u2019s death. New per\u00adson\u00adal respon\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adties appeared, and changes of plan. For quite awhile, I remained in no mood for per\u00adson\u00adal com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adca\u00adtions. But while I have not had much time to write casu\u00adal\u00adly for the site, I have been in fact research\u00ading and writ\u00ading a great deal. Now I\u2019m begin\u00adning a new phase, since I have stopped out\u00adside work and expect to sur\u00advive entire\u00adly by writ\u00ading. This will mean some sac\u00adri\u00adfices \u2014 liv\u00ading fru\u00adgal\u00adly being one of them. But there are ben\u00ade\u00adfits. For years, now, I could rarely indulge in one of my great\u00adest plea\u00adsures \u2014 walk\u00ading the ravines and dis\u00adtant cor\u00adners of my city. I sim\u00adply did not have the spare time, and out\u00adside work that kept me on my feet ten hours every day left me too tired to do it. But now I will be sit\u00adting at a com\u00adput\u00ader for most of every day, and some walk\u00ading will be nec\u00ades\u00adsary to stave off a clas\u00adsic writer\u2019s per\u00adil: over\u00adweight. So, no longer walk\u00ading to make a liv\u00ading, I am free to walk for plea\u00adsure again.<\/span><\/p>\n

I had a month\u00adly sub\u00adway pass in con\u00adnec\u00adtion with that work, and it still remained valid until yes\u00adter\u00adday. Real\u00adiz\u00ading that I was let\u00adting it go to waste, I used it on Sun\u00adday and Mon\u00adday, to go to two remote parts of the city for some walk\u00ading. On Sun\u00adday I went to Old Mill Sta\u00adtion on the sub\u00adway, so that I could walk along the Hum\u00adber Riv\u00ader. Bloor Street and the Sub\u00adway trains cross the riv\u00ader that sep\u00ada\u00adrates the old City of Toron\u00adto from the Bur\u00adrough of Eto\u00adbi\u00adcoke [1] at this sta\u00adtion. But a short walk from it there is a much old\u00ader and quite hand\u00adsome lit\u00adtle bridge that was built in 1916. This was the point of cross\u00ading for the riv\u00ader for many cen\u00adturies. Here was the17th Cen\u00adtu\u00adry Seneca town, Teia\u00adiagon, at its peak hav\u00ading about 5,000 inhab\u00adi\u00adtants in long hous\u00ades. It was a major cen\u00adter of trade along the Toron\u00adto Car\u00adry\u00ading-Place trail that joined Lake Ontario with the fer\u00adtile Huron lands to the north, and upper Great Lakes. But the Seneca town was the cul\u00admi\u00adna\u00adtion of a very long his\u00adto\u00adry, as there were peo\u00adple liv\u00ading along the Hum\u00adber as ear\u00adly as 12,000 years ago. The local his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans have been busy, and now there are sev\u00ader\u00adal plaques in Eng\u00adlish, French, and Seneca indi\u00adcat\u00ading this and that. The hand\u00adsomest one com\u00admem\u00ado\u00adrates \u00c9ti\u00adenne Br\u00fbl\u00e9, whose name has been giv\u00aden to the park\u00adlands along the riv\u00ader north of Bloor. This gave me great plea\u00adsure, because he is one of my favourite char\u00adac\u00adters in Cana\u00addi\u00adan his\u00adto\u00adry, and one of my cats (now adopt\u00aded by friends) was named after him. Arriv\u00ading in Cana\u00adda from France at the age of 16, Br\u00fbl\u00e9 chose to live among the local peo\u00adple and, after learn\u00ading the Algo\u00adnquin and Wen\u00addat lan\u00adguages, began a series of extra\u00ador\u00addi\u00adnary trav\u00adels that ranged over four of the five Great Lakes, most of present-day South\u00adern Ontario, Michi\u00adgan, Ohio, and Penn\u00adsyl\u00adva\u00adnia. It was in 1615 that Br\u00fbl\u00e9 arrived at this spot. The next record\u00aded vis\u00adi\u00adtors were in 1678 \u2014- Ren\u00e9-Robert Cave\u00adli\u00ader, Sieur de La Salle, the Sieur de La Motte, and the R\u00e9col\u00adlet Louis Hen\u00adnepin. Their ship was ground\u00aded and frozen at the mouth of the riv\u00ader, and they walked upstream to barter for pro\u00advi\u00adsions with the Seneca. In the next cen\u00adtu\u00adry the Anishi\u00adnaabe-speak\u00ading Mis\u00adsis\u00adsauga peo\u00adple had large\u00adly sup\u00adplant\u00aded the Seneca, build\u00ading a sep\u00ada\u00adrate vil\u00adlage on the oppo\u00adsite bank, clos\u00ader to the present sub\u00adway sta\u00adtion. Trade in the region flour\u00adished under the Great Peace of Mon\u00adtre\u00adal, and by 1730 there was a French mag\u00ada\u00adsin royale<\/em> and gar\u00adri\u00adson, sta\u00adtioned fur\u00adther down\u00adstream and to the east of the riv\u00ader mouth at Fort Rouil\u00adl\u00e9. A hand\u00adful of French came to live along the riv\u00ader. But all of these things van\u00adished dur\u00ading the vio\u00adlence of the Sev\u00aden Years War, and this por\u00adtion of the riv\u00ader, for which the Seneca name was Niwa\u2019ah One\u00adga\u2019\u00adgai\u00adh\u2019ih<\/em> and the Anishi\u00adnaabe name was Gabekanaang-ziibi<\/em>, was desert\u00aded until set\u00adtlers from York\u00adshire arrived and renamed it Hum\u00adber, after the largest riv\u00ader in that part of north\u00adern Eng\u00adland. A series of mills were built at the riv\u00ader cross\u00ading, the last of which, a grist mill, burned down in 1881 and remained a pic\u00adturesque stone ruin until its walls were incor\u00adpo\u00adrat\u00aded into a new hotel in 2001. \"17-08-01<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

With all this his\u00adto\u00adry in mind, I walked south towards the wet\u00adlands of the riv\u00ader mouth, and with\u00adin min\u00adutes I was out of sight of any build\u00ading. Occa\u00adsion\u00adal\u00adly, a canoe would drift by. The for\u00adest here is rich, an unspoiled rem\u00adnant of the Car\u00adolin\u00adian for\u00adest that cov\u00adered what is now Toron\u00adto before it became farms, then city. There are many tall and ancient oaks here. And these, link to more his\u00adto\u00adry. The largest clus\u00adter of them, about 150 trees, is known as the Tuh\u00adbe\u00adnah\u00adnee\u00adquay Ancient Grove, named after the daugh\u00adter of the Mis\u00adsis\u00adsauga chief Wah\u00adbanosay, who was the main nego\u00adtia\u00adtor and sig\u00adna\u00adto\u00adry of the 1805 pur\u00adchase of the lands that were to become most of Toron\u00adto. Tub\u00adnah\u00adnee\u00adquay mar\u00adried Augus\u00adtus Jones, the prin\u00adci\u00adpal sur\u00advey\u00ador of Upper Cana\u00adda. Jones was a long\u00adtime com\u00adpan\u00adion of Thayen\u00adda\u00adnegea (Joseph Brant), and was with him when he led the Loy\u00adal\u00adist migra\u00adtion of Six Nations from New York State to Cana\u00adda. Tub\u00adnah\u00adnee\u00adquay was one of his two co-wives, for Jones fol\u00adlowed native cus\u00adtom. Tub\u00adnah\u00adnee\u00adquay mar\u00adried him in a Wiidi\u00adgendi\u00adwin<\/i> [2] cer\u00ade\u00admo\u00adny, for she was a strict tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adist, but Jones\u2019 oth\u00ader wife, Sarah Tek\u00adere\u00adhogen was a Mohawk and a Methodist. One of Tub\u00adnah\u00adnee\u00adqay\u2019s sons, though raised by her in the Mis\u00adsis\u00adsisauga midewi\u00adwin<\/em> tra\u00addi\u00adtion, in lat\u00ader life became a famous Methodist preach\u00ader, tour\u00ading the world. The grove is named after her because at this spot, Mis\u00adsis\u00adsauga war\u00adriors, led by her and her father, took a stand, claim\u00ading that Eto\u00adbi\u00adcoke town\u00adship, on the west side of the riv\u00ader, was not part of the pur\u00adchase. The legal wran\u00adgling sur\u00adround\u00ading the Toron\u00adto pur\u00adchase went on until final\u00adly resolved in 2010!\"17-08-01<\/a><\/span>
\nNot only the oaks, but all the trees are espe\u00adcial\u00adly splen\u00addid. The land becomes wet\u00adter as you walk south, until it becomes broad marsh\u00ades. Here there\u2019s a wealth of bird life, and in a very short time I saw count\u00adless monarch but\u00adter\u00adflies and drag\u00adon\u00adflies, numer\u00adous ducks and cor\u00admorants, a tern, a red squir\u00adrel, a muskrat, and a mag\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcent white egret, perched on a limb with lord\u00adly dig\u00adni\u00adty. I had not been in this place for years, and for\u00adgot\u00adten its wealth of wildlife. There are beaver here as well, and fox, and even deer, but I saw none. A bit clos\u00ader to the lake, the west shore of the Hum\u00adber is blocked by a steep bluff, and one must make a detour away from the riv\u00ader to get past it. This detour took me into a qui\u00adet res\u00adi\u00adden\u00adtial neigh\u00adbour\u00adhood, known as Stonegate. It is part\u00adly low-rise apart\u00adment build\u00adings built in the 1950\u2019s, all very well-kept up, and part\u00adly hand\u00adsome hous\u00ades in tree-filled streets. Stonegate Road has some of the finest hous\u00ades I\u2019ve seen in the city, in the sense of good taste rather than wealth. Reach\u00ading the end of that street, dense woods began again, and I fol\u00adlowed a wind\u00ading foot\u00adpath down into the rather iso\u00adlat\u00aded South Hum\u00adber Park. Here I saw a for\u00adgot\u00adten item of 1950\u2019s Mod\u00adernism, the \u201cSun\u00adcatch\u00ader\u201d, a strange pavil\u00adlion inspired by sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion art of the era, serv\u00ading no iden\u00adti\u00adfi\u00adable pur\u00adpose, except per\u00adhaps to be the best local place to smoke a dube. After that, the tree-cov\u00ader thinned, a huge water treat\u00adment plant appeared on the right, and the the path\u00adway ran beneath the Queensway Avenue bridge, then under the CNR<\/span> rail\u00adway, then under the Gar\u00addiner Express\u00adway, and final\u00adly end\u00aded where the Hum\u00adber Riv\u00ader emp\u00adties into the inland sea we call Lake Ontario. There, a mod\u00adern foot\u00adbridge allows one to cross the riv\u00ader out of Eto\u00adbi\u00adcoke back into the City of Toronto.\"17-08-01<\/a><\/span>
\nAt this point, I was very hun\u00adgry. No prob\u00adlem. A short street\u00adcar ride brought me into the neigh\u00adbour\u00adhood that is com\u00ading to be known as Lit\u00adtle Tibet, and I love Tibetan cook\u00ading. Here, with\u00adin a few blocks, are most of the best Tibetan restau\u00adrants in Toron\u00adto \u2014 The Lhasa, Nor\u00adling, Shangri\u00adla, Tibet Kitchen, Tsam\u00adpa Caf\u00e9, Tashi Delek, Himalayan Kitchen, Le Tibet, Om, Kasthaman\u00addap. I set\u00adtle on Loga\u2019s Cor\u00adner, because there I could order take-out momos, those deli\u00adcious Tibetan dumplings, with the own\u00ader\u2019s fab\u00adu\u00adlous home-made hot sauce, and bring them home with me to eat at leisure. Soon I was back home, feet propped up, dip\u00adping momos into sauce, with no wor\u00adries oth\u00ader than keep\u00ading the cats from grab\u00adbing them.<\/span><\/p>\n

On Mon\u00adday, the last day I could use the pass, I chose to go east\u00adwards, into the part of Met\u00adro\u00adpol\u00adi\u00adtan Toron\u00adto called Scar\u00adbor\u00adough by its inhab\u00adi\u00adtants, but \u201cScar\u00adbe\u00adria\u201d by peo\u00adple down\u00adtown. It is large\u00adly the prod\u00aduct of post-WWII sub\u00adur\u00adban expan\u00adsion, and is most\u00adly on flat land, but at it\u2019s east end there is a major, heav\u00adi\u00adly wood\u00aded riv\u00ader, the Rouge, and along the lake it is a long series of sandy cliffs, known to the explor\u00aders as Les grands Ecores, and today as the Scar\u00adbor\u00adough Bluffs. These are as high as 90 metres [300 feet], grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly dimin\u00adish\u00ading in height as one goes east. They are always erod\u00ading, and hous\u00ades and streets are now kept away from their edge \u2014 after a few end\u00aded up tum\u00adbling into the lake. There has been con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00adable new ero\u00adsion this year, since the lake is at it\u2019s high\u00adest lev\u00adel on record, and there have been a num\u00adber of storms. I took the sub\u00adway out to it\u2019s east\u00adern-most sta\u00adtion, Kennedy, then took a bus that wound slow\u00adly east\u00adwards, through var\u00adi\u00adous neigh\u00adbour\u00adhoods, lit\u00adtle \u201cstrip malls\u201d of Tamil, Afghan, and Caribbean shops, and final\u00adly left me off on a qui\u00adet street. A short walk led me to the entrance of a park. It had few park\u00adish ambi\u00adtions, for it was noth\u00ading more than the space between the back sides of the sub\u00adur\u00adban hous\u00ades and the edge of the cliff, ran\u00addom patch\u00ades of mowed lawn and woods, most\u00adly just a place where the locals could walk their dogs. The only peo\u00adple I met were a cou\u00adple doing exact\u00adly that. Their retriev\u00ader frol\u00adicked about hap\u00adpi\u00adly and came over to me to make friends. There were numer\u00adous signs warn\u00ading peo\u00adple not to stand on the edge of the cliffs. They are only about 30 metres high in this part, but the soil is very loose, water\u00adlogged, and slip\u00adpery, and some of the warn\u00ading signs no longer exist because they were once locat\u00aded in what is now air full of swoop\u00ading seag\u00adulls. As I walked east\u00adwards, the patch\u00ades of grass dis\u00adap\u00adpeared, and I fol\u00adlowed a nar\u00adrow path through the woods. This turned abrupt\u00adly, because I had reached a point where a creek had erod\u00aded through the cliff face.\"23839904\"<\/a> I fol\u00adlowed this inland to a point where I could scram\u00adble down, to the creek that would take me down to the shore. But there was no trail going down, only a dense tan\u00adgle of trees, brush, and mud. One has to be care\u00adful, since sting\u00ading net\u00adtle abounds in such places. Sting\u00ading Net\u00adtle has a rec\u00adog\u00adniz\u00adable flower in the spring, but at this time of year it looks like any oth\u00ader ran\u00addom weed. When its leaves brush against your skin, thou\u00adsands of micro\u00adscop\u00adic hairs stick to you and release his\u00adt\u00ada\u00admine and acetyl\u00adcholine, caus\u00ading burn\u00ading and itch\u00ading for hours after. There\u2019s also plen\u00adty of bur\u00addock, this\u00adtle, poi\u00adson ivy and poi\u00adson oak. But I avoid\u00aded these per\u00adils and found myself down below, on the shore of the lake. It was grow\u00ading late, and for the last hour I had been hear\u00ading dis\u00adtant thun\u00adder. East\u00adwards, out above the lake, dark clouds were pil\u00ading and roil\u00ading. Noth\u00ading of the city was vis\u00adi\u00adble from this part of the shore, only the bluffs trail\u00ading west\u00adward and east\u00adward and the vast extent of the lake. Lake Ontario is the small\u00adest of the five Great Lakes, but it is still about the size of the whole coun\u00adtry of Slove\u00adnia. Though at mid\u00adday its waters shone their famous bright blue, cel\u00ade\u00adbrat\u00aded by Walt Whit\u00adman in his poem By Blue Ontar\u00adi\u00ado\u2019s Shore<\/em>, but now they were a cold gray. In fact, Whit\u00adman sailed by this very spot on the lake steamship Alger\u00adian<\/em>, on July 27, 1880. He specif\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly men\u00adtioned, in a diary [3], that the ship kept close to the shore, and the bril\u00adliant blue\u00adness of the lake. He was a keen observ\u00ader, always quick to notice and iden\u00adti\u00adfy a par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar flower or tree, keen to eval\u00adu\u00adate the farms, notic\u00ading house-styles and how well or poor\u00adly made a street, a build\u00ading, a train or a boat might be. Here are sam\u00adple entries:<\/span><\/p>\n

I am in the midst of hay\u00admak\u00ading, and, though but a look\u00ader-on, I enjoy it great\u00adly, untir\u00ading\u00adly, day after day. Any hour I hear the sound of scythes sharp\u00aden\u00ading, or the dis\u00adtant rat\u00adtle of horse-mow\u00aders, or see loaded wag\u00adons, high-piled, slow\u00adly wend\u00ading toward the barns; or, toward sun\u00addown, groups of tan-faced men going from work. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

To-day we are indeed at the height of it here in Ontario. A muf\u00adfled and musi\u00adcal clang of cow-bells from the grassy wood-edge not far distant. <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

In blos\u00adsom now: del\u00adphini\u00adum, blue, four feet high, great pro\u00adfu\u00adsion of yel\u00adlow-red lilies; a yel\u00adlow core\u00adop\u00adsis-like flower, same as I saw Sept. \u201979; wild tan\u00adsy, weed from 10 to 15 inch\u00ades high, white blos\u00adsom, out in July in Cana\u00adda, straw-col\u00adored hol\u00adly\u00adhocks, many like ros\u00ades, oth\u00aders pure white \u2014 beau\u00adti\u00adful clus\u00adters every\u00adwhere in the thick dense hedge-lines; aro\u00admat\u00adic white cedars at evening; the fences, veran\u00addahs, gables, cov\u00adered with grapevines, ivies, honeysuckles\u2026<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u2026 I spent a long time to-day watch\u00ading the swal\u00adlows \u2014 an hour this forenoon and anoth\u00ader hour after\u00adnoon. There is a pleas\u00adant, seclud\u00aded, close-cropt grassy lawn of a cou\u00adple of acres or over, flat as a floor and sur\u00adround\u00aded by a flow\u00adery and bushy hedge, just off the road adjoin\u00ading the house, \u2014 a favorite spot of mine. Over this open grassy area immense num\u00adbers of swal\u00adlows have been sail\u00ading, dart\u00ading, cir\u00adcling, and cut\u00adting large or small 8\u2019s and s\u2019s, close to the ground, for hours to-day. It is evi\u00addent\u00adly for fun alto\u00adgeth\u00ader. I nev\u00ader saw any\u00adthing pret\u00adti\u00ader \u2014 this free swal\u00adlow dance.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

I rose this morn\u00ading at four and look\u2019ed out on the more pure and reful\u00adgent star\u00adry show. Right over my head, like a Tree-Uni\u00adverse spread\u00ading with its orb-apples, \u2014 Alde\u00adber\u00adan lead\u00ading the Hyades; Jupiter of amaz\u00ading lus\u00adtre, soft\u00adness and vol\u00adume; and, not far behind, heavy Sat\u00adurn, \u2014 both past the merid\u00adi\u00adan; the sev\u00aden sparkling gems of the Pleiades; the full moon, volup\u00adtuous and yel\u00adlow, and full of radi\u00adance, an hour to set\u00adting in the west. Every\u00adthing so fresh, so still; the deli\u00adcious some\u00adthing there is in ear\u00adly youth, in ear\u00adly dawn \u2014- the spir\u00adit, the spring, the feel; the air and light, pre\u00adcur\u00adsors of the untried sun; love, action, forenoon, noon, life \u2014 full-fibred, latent with them all.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

By Blue Ontar\u00adi\u00ado\u2019s Shore<\/em> was the poem in which Whit\u00adman most deeply explored the tri\u00adumphs and tragedies of his own coun\u00adtry, the Unit\u00aded States, which is almost vis\u00adi\u00adble from this spot on the shore as a thin line on the hori\u00adzon to the south. What one is see\u00ading is not in fact, the actu\u00adal shore of New York State, but the white\u00adness of haze float\u00ading above the land. As one\u2019s eyes turn toward the east, length\u00adwise along the lake, the hori\u00adzon shows only the sharp line of sky meet\u00ading water.\"17-08-01<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

By blue Ontar\u00adi\u00ado\u2019s shore,<\/span><\/em>
\nAs I mused of these war\u00adlike days and of peace return\u2019d, and <\/span><\/em>
\nthe dead that return no more<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The poem is prac\u00adti\u00adcal\u00adly schiz\u00ado\u00adphrenic in it\u2019s unre\u00adsolved dual\u00adi\u00adties. He seeks to under\u00adstand, embrace, and take respon\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty for all the wild lib\u00ader\u00adty and youth\u00adful\u00adness of his coun\u00adtry, and its trag\u00adic failings.<\/span><\/p>\n

O I see flash\u00ading that this Amer\u00adi\u00adca is only you and me,<\/span><\/em>
\nIts pow\u00ader, weapons, tes\u00adti\u00admo\u00adny, are you and me,<\/span><\/em>
\nIts crimes, lies, thefts, defec\u00adtions are you and me,<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

most of all, the still bleed\u00ading wound from its great\u00adest, most shame\u00adful evil:<\/span><\/p>\n

Slav\u00adery \u2014 the mur\u00adder\u00adous, treach\u00ader\u00adous con\u00adspir\u00ada\u00adcy to raise it<\/span><\/em>
\nupon the ruins of all the rest<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

When Whit\u00adman vis\u00adit\u00aded Ontario, he was com\u00ading to a place where slav\u00adery had been abol\u00adished in 1793, and inter\u00adnal polit\u00adi\u00adcal and social con\u00adflicts were so tame that they would bare\u00adly be on the lev\u00adel of bar-room scuf\u00adfles in Whit\u00adman\u2019s home, Brook\u00adlyn. But the coun\u00adtry that he came from was not in good shape. After the slaugh\u00adter of the Civ\u00adil War, the Repub\u00adli\u00adcan Par\u00adty quick\u00adly sold out the inter\u00adests of the African-Amer\u00adi\u00adcans it had fought to free, and the elite of the South was allowed to use sys\u00adtem\u00adat\u00adic ter\u00adror\u00adism to dri\u00adve them back into the semi-slav\u00adery of share-crop\u00adping, with the poor rur\u00adal whites kept only slight\u00adly above them, while every com\u00adpo\u00adnent of democ\u00adra\u00adcy was dis\u00adman\u00adtled. On the Fed\u00ader\u00adal lev\u00adel, a few large cor\u00adpo\u00adra\u00adtions, known as \u201ctrusts\u201d had come to con\u00adtrol almost all of eco\u00adnom\u00adic life, while a con\u00adclave of wealthy financiers and indus\u00adtri\u00adal\u00adists had sim\u00adply laid out cash to pur\u00adchase the gov\u00adern\u00adment. Polit\u00adi\u00adcal and finan\u00adcial cor\u00adrup\u00adtion were omnipresent, uncon\u00adcealed, and all-per\u00advad\u00ading. Stock mar\u00adket and rail\u00adway swin\u00addles, and \u201cpay for play\u201d pol\u00adi\u00adtics were the norm. The rich boast\u00aded that they were super\u00admen, and a small class of pros\u00adper\u00adous pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adals act\u00aded as a cho\u00adrus to them. The wealth\u00adi\u00adest 1% owned 51% of the prop\u00ader\u00adty, while the bot\u00adtom 44% claimed only 1.1%. Most Amer\u00adi\u00adcans had just strug\u00adgled through a severe depres\u00adsion that last\u00aded sev\u00aden years, and had just reached recov\u00adery the year Whit\u00adman was here. The rich hired pri\u00advate armies to vio\u00adlent\u00adly crush strikes and the cities had erupt\u00aded in repeat\u00aded riots, all of which were fol\u00adlowed by ruth\u00adless police repres\u00adsion. The rich could always rely on their bought politi\u00adcians to deliv\u00ader the booty, and on ingrained racism, reli\u00adgious fer\u00advor, and hatred of immi\u00adgrants (at that time most\u00adly Irish and Ger\u00adman) to keep the \u201cpeas\u00adants\u201d in line. Farms around the coun\u00adtry were falling under cor\u00adpo\u00adrate and elite con\u00adtrol, land, cred\u00adit and agri\u00adcul\u00adtur\u00adal reforms des\u00adper\u00adate\u00adly need\u00aded, but these reforms required poor white farm\u00aders and black share\u00adcrop\u00adpers to rec\u00adog\u00adnize their com\u00admon inter\u00adests and work togeth\u00ader\u2026 some\u00adthing the rich could eas\u00adi\u00adly pre\u00advent by press\u00ading the racial, reli\u00adgious, region\u00adal, and xeno\u00adpho\u00adbic but\u00adtons on their con\u00adtrol con\u00adsole. How\u00adev\u00ader, the Amer\u00adi\u00adcan peo\u00adple did, even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly, pull them\u00adselves out of that hole. The next gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion curbed the pow\u00ader of the trusts. This was known as the Reform Era. It would take sev\u00ader\u00adal cycles of such \u201creform eras\u201d to build a mod\u00adern coun\u00adtry\u2026 work that is still unfinished.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

If all this sounds famil\u00adiar, it\u2019s because the Unit\u00aded States is going through much the same thing today, and we in Cana\u00adda, as then, are stand\u00ading in rel\u00ada\u00adtive safe\u00adty observ\u00ading it with the same mix\u00adture of hor\u00adror, sym\u00adpa\u00adthy, revul\u00adsion and pity as we did then. We have our own prob\u00adlems, but they pale com\u00adpared to night\u00admare that our Amer\u00adi\u00adcan broth\u00aders are march\u00ading into with a trai\u00adtor, work\u00ading for their ene\u00admies, con\u00adtrol\u00adling the White House, mil\u00adlions of their num\u00adber insane\u00adly embrac\u00ading a total\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan ide\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgy no dif\u00adfer\u00adent from Com\u00admu\u00adnism or Fas\u00adcism, and a pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion so eas\u00adi\u00adly manip\u00adu\u00adlat\u00aded by exact\u00adly the same sort of con\u00adtrol con\u00adsole as pre\u00advailed when Whit\u00adman was sit\u00adting on the deck of the Alge\u00adria, prob\u00ada\u00adbly look\u00ading intent\u00adly at the swal\u00adlows fly\u00ading about the very place I was stand\u00ading 137 years later.<\/span><\/p>\n

For the swal\u00adlows are still here. They nest in great num\u00adbers in the cliff face, and behave exact\u00adly as Whit\u00adman described them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"17-08-01<\/a>The sky was, by this time, per\u00adform\u00ading the func\u00adtion of the pathet\u00adic fal\u00adla\u00adcy<\/em>, by which nature mir\u00adrors the polit\u00adi\u00adcal con\u00addi\u00adtion of soci\u00adety. Very dark clouds were rolling in from the Amer\u00adi\u00adcan side, and flash\u00ades of light\u00adning. I did not want to be stuck on an unin\u00adhab\u00adit\u00aded beach below a con\u00adtin\u00adu\u00adous line of cliffs, 15 kilo\u00adme\u00adtres long, fac\u00ading a lake whose storms can be extreme\u00adly vio\u00adlent, and waves extreme\u00adly high. The path I had tak\u00aden down was dif\u00adfi\u00adcult, and retrac\u00ading it upward would have been more dif\u00adfi\u00adcult. So I walked east\u00adwards along the beach, look\u00ading for a bet\u00adter egress. I even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly found a spot which was suf\u00adfi\u00adcient\u00adly clear of veg\u00ade\u00adta\u00adtion, and had secure enough foot\u00ading to let me climb, and I emerged on the man\u00adi\u00adcured prop\u00ader\u00adty of a large, futur\u00adis\u00adtic-look\u00ading water treat\u00adment plant that I did\u00adn\u2019t know exist\u00aded. [4] This was com\u00adplete\u00adly desert\u00aded, though the city had duti\u00adful\u00adly filled a large expanse with park bench\u00ades and pic\u00adnic tables, and kept the grounds as neat as a hos\u00adpi\u00adtal scrub room. It was being enjoyed, how\u00adev\u00ader, by two very large brown cot\u00adton-tail rab\u00adbits. One of them quick\u00adly hopped away as I approached, but the oth\u00ader strange\u00adly stood his ground, and stared me down with that pecu\u00adliar aris\u00adto\u00adcrat\u00adic con\u00adtempt that I have seen in wild Kan\u00adga\u00adroos in the Aus\u00adtralian bush. Per\u00adhaps he had read Water\u00adship Down<\/em> in his spare time, if rab\u00adbits can be said to have spare time.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was now in the first stages of twi\u00adlight, and I had no idea how far I would have to go to get to the near\u00adest bus. Out\u00adside of the fil\u00adtra\u00adtion plant there was noth\u00ading but an emp\u00adty ser\u00advice road run\u00adning east-and west, par\u00adal\u00adlel to the CNR<\/span> rail\u00adway tracks, and behind the tracks there was noth\u00ading vis\u00adi\u00adble but trees. The part of Scar\u00adbor\u00adough with human beings in it was some\u00adwhere beyond that, but how was I to get to it? I walked west along the road, and even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly found an inter\u00adsect\u00ading road that crossed the track and went north. This was a lev\u00adel rail\u00adway cross\u00ading, with noth\u00ading but a saltire, lights and a prim\u00adi\u00adtive boom bar. It must be the only one left in Met\u00adro\u00adpol\u00adi\u00adtan Toron\u00adto on an active rail line, and this is the most heav\u00adi\u00adly trav\u00adeled line in the coun\u00adtry, link\u00ading Toron\u00adto and Mon\u00adtre\u00adal! Noth\u00ading could have more effec\u00adtive\u00adly under\u00adscored my down\u00adtown prej\u00adu\u00addice that Scar\u00adbor\u00adough was a remote and prim\u00adi\u00adtive wilderness.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nev\u00ader\u00adthe\u00adless, it was not long before this road brought me to hous\u00ades, and some teenagers play\u00ading pick\u00adup bas\u00adket\u00adball in the street with a Spald\u00ading portable hoop set up on the curb. They direct\u00aded me a few blocks north where I could get the 86D<\/span> bus to the sub\u00adway. I could, in fact, just see it turn\u00ading the cor\u00adner. But it wait\u00aded at this par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar stop to mark time on its sched\u00adule, and I was able to run for it suc\u00adcess\u00adful\u00adly. Along its route, it passed a large Tamil gro\u00adcery shop, so I hopped off the bus to pick up some naan bread, some Chen\u00adnai-style snack mix [5], and a cold gin\u00adger beer. I got home, and, as the night before, hap\u00adpi\u00adly feast\u00aded. There were still some left\u00adover momos.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Amount of writ\u00ading done those two days: zero. But I would count them as productive.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014\u2013<\/span><\/p>\n

[1] Eto\u00adbi\u00adcoke is pro\u00adnounced \u201cEe-toe-bi-coe\u201d. The \u201ck\u201d is silent. Nobody seems to know why.<\/span><\/p>\n

[2] Wiidi\u00adgendi\u00adwin<\/i> \u2014 a wed\u00adding cer\u00ade\u00admo\u00adny in accor\u00addance with the Midewi\u00adwin, <\/em>tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal reli\u00adgious teach\u00adings of the Ojib\u00adway and Cree peo\u00adple. These tra\u00addi\u00adtions are still active, some\u00adtimes sup\u00adple\u00admen\u00adtary, and some\u00adtimes in com\u00adpe\u00adti\u00adtion with oth\u00ader faiths.<\/span><\/p>\n

[3] Walt Whit\u00adman\u2019s Diary in Cana\u00adda, with Extracts from Oth\u00ader of His Diaries and Lit\u00ader\u00adary Note-books \u2014 <\/em>edit\u00aded by William Sloane Kennedy. 1904 Boston. Small, May\u00adnard &<\/span> Co. I read one of the 500 orig\u00adi\u00adnal copies, but it has since been reprint\u00aded. Whit\u00adman trav\u00adeled as far as the Sague\u00adnay in Que\u00adbec, but most of his vis\u00adit to Cana\u00adda was spent with his friend William Bucke, a pio\u00adneer psy\u00adchol\u00ado\u00adgist and coin\u00ader of the term \u201ccos\u00admic con\u00adscious\u00adness.\u201d Their friend\u00adship was the sub\u00adject of an odd lit\u00adtle film, Beau\u00adti\u00adful Dream\u00aders<\/em> (1992) direct\u00aded by John Kent Har\u00adri\u00adson and star\u00adring Colme Feo\u00adre and Rip Torn.<\/span><\/p>\n

[4] I looked it up when I got home. The F.J. Hor\u00adgan Fil\u00adtra\u00adtion Plant was com\u00adplet\u00aded in 2011. Since it\u2019s in Scar\u00adbor\u00adough, down\u00adtown Toron\u00adto\u00adni\u00adans like myself would no more hear about it than we would hear about one in Nepal or Ecuador.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

[5] Ground\u00adnuts, thenkuzhal, kara boond\u00adhi, roast\u00aded chana, kara\u00adsev, murukku, pako\u00adda and oma podi \u2014 a much tasti\u00ader com\u00adbi\u00adna\u00adtion than the Bom\u00adbay and Pun\u00adjabi mix\u00ades you get in my local supermarket.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not much has been pub\u00adlished on this site in the last year. Short\u00adly after my return from a trip to France, a series of events start\u00aded to mod\u00adi\u00adfy my per\u00adson\u00adal cir\u00adcum\u00adstances, begin\u00adning with my moth\u00ader\u2019s death. New per\u00adson\u00adal respon\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adties appeared, \u2026<\/p>\n

Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,954],"tags":[1082,1070,1076,1081,1079,1083,1078,1086,1072,1067,1088,1074,1073,1080,1084,1085,1075,1087],"class_list":["post-6726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-blog","category-aj-blog-2017","tag-anishinaabe","tag-augustus-jones","tag-by-blue-ontarios-shore","tag-etienne-brule","tag-etobicoke","tag-fort-rouille","tag-humber-river","tag-midewiwin","tag-mississauga","tag-momos","tag-scarborough","tag-scarborough-bluffs","tag-suncatcher","tag-teiaiagon","tag-tuhbenahneequay","tag-wahbanosay","tag-walt-whitman","tag-wiidigendiwin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6726"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7292,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6726\/revisions\/7292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}