Big Storm

A couple weeks ago we had a big storm. I remember being at work and people talking about the weather forecast, worrying that it would hit right around when members were supposed to be getting their rides. Thankfully, it held out just long enough for everyone to get safely home.

It did come though. I got a series of alerts on my phone, the type that sounds out even if you have your volume turned off. One of them said we might see golf ball sized hail. One said that there was a tornado in my cell coverage area. Not a "warning", or "watch" (I can never remember which is worse), but an actual tornado. I've never had an alert like that, although I have no idea of what constitutes my "cell coverage area", so who knows how much danger I was actually in.

Regardless, we live in a basement apartment so I was already in an ideal environment. Lee-Anne was in Kitchener City Hall for a Compass Kitchener meeting. I wasn't too concerned. That seems like the safest possible place to be for a situation like that.

Indeed, they were evacuated to the underground parking garage. She said the worst part was the loud alarms screaming out of everyone's phones repeatedly. I've experienced that once myself, when we were at a WalMart during a similar but lesser event.

My brother was out of town, but I sent a text to my mom to stay inside. After it was all over, she replied that she'd been out in the storm. She had walked to her pharmacy and got caught in it on the way back. Remember, she's still recovering from breaking her leg last year. She said the wind was almost bad enough to knock her over, but she managed to make her way inside relatively unscathed.

After things settled, an image of a tornado touching down circulated around local Internet communities. It was debunked as AI generated. There were a few locations that got pretty intense, where "the air was coming from every direction" and people claim a tornado formed. I know someone who was driving near one of those areas when the storm came in, and she can't confirm but said it felt possible.

We didn't get the golf ball sized hail, but apparently they did in Toronto. 

It was the talk of the town for days after, everybody discussing where they'd been and how bad it got in their area. More than a few trees came down, and limbs were torn from many that survived. There's maintenance work still ongoing from the resulting damage of that day.

Our place was pretty much untouched. The linden tree lost a branch but all our delicate flowers somehow made it. In fact:

 

Since then, three sunflowers have blossomed! This will likely be as many as we're going to get. I always say that even one sunflower is a victory, so even if we had to try a little harder this year, and yielded less, I'm still going to count this as a success.

RIP Ivan

I met Ivan back when I worked as a Summer Program Facilitator. At that time, there was a role called Peer Leader. It was an opportunity for people diagnosed with developmental disabilities to work for wages, helping to run the program. Each facilitator was paired with a Peer Leader, and my partner was Ivan.

Since then, he happened to move into the area where Lee-Anne and I live. I would see him occasionally in the neighbourhood and often at local events.

Recently, Lee-Anne saw a Facebook notice from a mutual friend asking about what happened to him. I did a little digging and apparently he has passed due to cancer. It must have been especially aggressive since it looks like he was diagnosed only about a month beforehand. He was a year younger than me.

https://erbgood.com/tribute/details/18298/Ivan-Vincent/obituary.html 

It reminds me of when I was in college and a fellow student, Bri, got diagnosed with a rare condition and passed at the age of 19. Someone that didn't know her well asked me about it and I said "She didn't seem like the type of person that would die". The person replied, "Everyone keeps saying that. What does that mean?"

I'm not quite sure. Maybe it's just when it happens to someone young with no obvious additional health consideration. I mentioned that Ivan had another diagnosis, but as far as I'm aware, completely unrelated to cancer. Maybe when someone's life has already been impacted by one rare struggle, it just feels unfair when another, unrelated and unlikely misfortune comes along. 

He was a musician. I remember that he'd written a song called "The Old House Mystery" and made a music video on YouTube.  Later, I found his channel. I think he took that specific video down but he had kept making music, so I subscribed. As a courtesy he did the same for me, which I thought was funny because I've never uploaded anything there. Sometimes when people would talk about channel numbers, I would brag about my one subscriber.

Lee-Anne met him at an event hosted by Grand River Hospital. It featured live music by The Strumbellas followed by a drone show. I actually did a blog post on it. Ivan had come for the music and left before the drones came out. This past weekend was the Bestival, which is an event where I'd run into him in the past. Two stages blocking off Belmont ave with live music alternating between them. The type of place you'd expect to see Ivan.

Garden Update August 2026

I mentioned in my post "Living Under the Eye of Mordor" that we had two types of sunflowers, and the smog storm killed one but not the other. Since then, the remaining half has endured some kind of repeated insect infestation leaving only four survivors. Three of them seem large enough to be resilient to the elements, and the other one is really trying but we'll have to wait and see. Even just one blossom is a success and we're not that far from the end of the season.

The snow peas were the other casualty of the smoke. They had produced at that point but should have lasted longer. 

Tomatoes and bell peppers have been the most reliable, and we've done well with chives, parsley, and lettuce. We've been able to have some salads using only garden ingredients.

Our zucchinis have lived and stayed healthy, flowering continually but something keeps munching on them before they can do much. We've grown them before and had success, but this has just been a bad year.

As far as decorative plants go, the coleus have predictably dominated. The morning glories have just recently blossomed as well. I had two pots with two variants, one blue and one red, but both have produced red flowers! Don't know what happened there.

One thing that was kind of interesting about the morning glories was, they seemed to know where they were going as soon as they sprouted. Other climbing plants that I'm more familiar with, such as snow peas, cucumbers, and zucchini, kind of grope around blindly until they find something they can grasp. You can train them by moving their vines to more strategic vantage points, and they take the suggestion. But the morning glories all seemed to lean in the direction of our fence until they reached that intended destination, as if moving by sight as well as touch. 

We have a large tree in the middle of our backyard, a linden I think. It casts a good deal of shade which might be limiting our garden. At one of the monthly community bakes, one of our neighbours suggested we try growing crops that do well with indirect light. She suggested broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts. I really enjoy each of those, especially sprouts so it would be nice if it were true.

We also have a tree in our front yard that has caused some issues. It's a Manitoba Maple, which I've heard from a few people is considered a weed. Looking it up, they are considered pioneer species. Resilient in isolation, capable of growing fast, short in lifespan. Although I haven't heard people speak so unfavourably of other species that share those traits, such as birches, willows, and poplar.

But even the local plant expert, who has a pollinator garden and believes, generally, in leaving nature to its own devices said that this tree would be firewood if it were on his lawn.

It had grown so ferociously that it was encroaching on the neighbours' property, branches drooping into their driveway and threatening to knock against their car's windshield.

So I trimmed its lower branches, which I felt bad about. On observing me, I heard a mother reassure her child that "He's just trimming it, he likes the tree". I really hated seeing violence against plants when I was that age.

I told the Manitoba Maple, "Look, I'm only cutting your lowest branches. They're the least useful to you anyway. I know I'm not doing you any favours, but this will stop the neighbours from getting mad at you and is your best shot at continued survival".

Really, it had grown to an extent that I could do no meaningful damage with a pair of clippers. Young branches sprung out with a youthful green that bordered blue. In the end I had a hefty pile of branches that Lee-Anne is using as feed for our new composter. 

Last year, our neighbour gave us some hostas. In my initial garden post, I said that I thought I could identify one of them. Since then I've confirmed six, one more than we planted. They're supposed to do well with indirect light, which was the thought behind the gift, but they've been pretty diminutive.

They have responded well to the new patch of light opened by the break in the Manitoba Maple's lower branches. Since trimming, the hostas have all been perkier. One that had been chewed down to nubs has produced new leaves and the largest of them has flowered! They're still not much when compared to a lot of the others seen around the neighbourhood, but its an improvement and maybe they'll do better next year. 

Gardening aside, the wild turkey near my work has been sighted two more times! Lee-Anne and I went into the cemetery expressly to see if we could find it and we did. It's likely the same one

 

Family Up North

My mother and brother are visiting my grandparents up North. For the past couple of years, Lee-Anne and I have made the trip out there and it was beginning to feel like a new tradition. However, due to Lee-Anne's surgery getting postponed, the fact that she's recently become a Direct Support Worker, and because I'm trying to get my driver's license, it's been difficult to schedule. My grandma did remind us that they are available year-round, so maybe we'll make a winter trip.

My brother hasn't been up there for many, many years. It hasn't been so long for Mom, but it's still a big undertaking for her because of her leg injury. This is likely her most ambitious undertaking since she broke it.

At least this arrangement leaves us available to take care of their cats. Right now we have them over in our apartment. My mom said she'd prefer this to us visiting to take care of them. She worried that they would be lonely. 

Normally I would have argued with her on this point. They have each other for company and the stress of relocation to me seems about as bad as losing access to their humans for a week. Crucially, reintegrating them with our cats might be difficult.

But we'd learned from the second fire that they remembered each other. So I was content to give Mom the benefit of the doubt in understanding her pets' stressors and they are here with us now. This way does cut down on travel time between our place and theirs.

Indeed, the four cats remember each other as well as they did on their last reunion. We don't have as much access to sunlight, but we are closer to grass, crickets, squirrels etc. The kitchen window has been a treat for our feline guests.

 

Their cats are more aerodynamic and are better at getting to places. This isn't a big deal, except I'm propagating a bunch of succulents and one of the windows that isn't usually accessible can now be reached. I had to rearranged the office so there were no viable launching points, and I moved the bedroom plants to the living room. Kieran has been whining at me to let him into the now-occupied window. I don't know why he likes it there, the view is pretty obscured.

As a random aside, a wild turkey walked by my work recently 

It sauntered up past our building alongside the cemetery to the main office. I and another facilitator went out to look at it. We messaged the team and a few members came out. Someone from the other building alerted a few people to it as well. The turkey seemed unconcerned with our presence.

Apparently this isn't the first sighting. My manager told me that a highschool student who had a placement with us the year before the pandemic saw one but didn't mention it in the moment.

It's been a good year for birds. I've captured several pictures of hawks, some good ones of bluejays and cardinals, and even a woodpecker. Now this turkey. 

Eli Wood

In my writings about the two fires that impacted my mother and brother, I've referenced a third. Not quite as close to home but still within my circle. I've said that I would eventually get around to talking about it, and I guess the time is now.

About a year ago, a coworker mentioned that she'd need to take some time off. After a few days, she linked an article about a house fire. It had started in the back unit of the sectioned house where she lived. It was severe, requiring her to evacuate, causing the home to be unlivable, and even managing to wreck her car in the process.

Later I came across a post on Reddit from /r/kitchener discussing the disappearance of Eli Wood. On reading, it sounded like his absence had been brought to light after a fire started in his apartment. Foul play was suspected. 

https://www.ctvnews.ca/kitchener/article/missing-kitchener-resident-linked-to-arson-investigation/ 

Noticing the similarities between this and the recent circumstance of my coworker, I decided to look up the addresses referenced in this article and the one she had shared.

Yes. They were the same.

On my colleague's return, she confirmed that the unit where the fire started was the residence of Eli Wood.

She had not known him beyond exchanging pleasantries. Although learning more about him, he could have fit into our circle, as he was a Master of Social Work student.

It's easy to speculate. It might have been an attack of opportunity, Eli being perceived as vulnerable. He was very slight of stature, only 4'10" and under 100 pounds at the age of twenty five. Maybe a burglary.

He'd had a rainbow tattoo and around the time this happened there had been a number of unusually coordinated attacks on the LGBT community. Maybe Eli was victim of a hate crime.

More details emerged. Apparently he had actually disappeared three days before the fire. His service dog had been in the unit when it burned. So the poor animal had been left unattended for three days before perishing.

The thought that jumps to mind is that whoever set the fire was trying to destroy evidence concerning what happened three days prior. 

Some people think Eli himself was the culprit, but that doesn't make much sense to me. Can't accept insurance if you're disappeared. He had obligations requiring his presence, such as completing his Masters degree, and I might be naive, but I think it's unlikely that someone with even an ounce of heart would kill their own dog in such a cruel fashion.

For a long time, there were wanted posters with his face on them all over town. Even recently, Lee-Anne and I went for bubble tea at the place near the University of Waterloo and they still had one up. I hear that a local park is going to be named after him.  

I saw someone speculate that whoever set this fire might be the same person that lit the one at my mother and brother's old building. Just goes to show that these events are pretty rare, I just happen to be associated with them.

By the way, apparently an Uber driver told my brother that he heard that the parking garage fire where he used to live was perpetrated by an angry ex-boyfriend. Obviously not a credible source, but probably the closest thing to closure that we'll get. It's a grimly funny image, an angry guy setting his ex's car on fire, accidentally smoking out the whole building. I had thought it must have been done by someone who really knew what they were doing, as it seemed strange that something so indirect could cause so much damage. But maybe it was a fluke.

Living Under the Eye of Mordor

This past Wednesday I left to go to work and found that everything was bathed in yellow light and smelled of smoke. There were fewer people outside than I was used to. I checked my work chat to see if there were any accommodations to the schedule, but I had no new messages. I shrugged my shoulders, thought "Well, this feels like the end of the world" and walked to WALES as usual.

I had failed to pay attention to the news. Apparently this was smoke that had drifted down from the Thunder Bay area. These past four years or so in North America, we have had particularly ferocious wildfires. I have family scattered across the continent and it feels like every year we need to check on one of the branches to see if they're alright.

For people in Southern Ontario, it's easy to feel like there has been a linear progression in severity. However, if we only compare with the last half-decade, it hasn't been a particularly bad year for them.

Here was a picture of the sky around noon:

 

That strange little dot in the centre is the sun. I noticed it, realised it wasn't hurting my eyes, then remembered the warnings we got during the Solar Eclipse. We had been cautioned not to look directly into it because, while it wouldn't cause pain, it would be damaging. The reason being that an eclipse causes sort of optical illusion, where the eye doesn't know to use its usual defence mechanism of dilating, even though it's just as dangerous. I wondered if this smoggy sun had a similar nature and averted my gaze as quick as I thought of it.

One of my coworkers referred to the eerie red dot in the sky as The Eye of Mordor.

The conditions of our climate have been noticed by the WALES members. One asked me, "Is fire just part of the weather now?

I got kind of fatalistic during a discussion at lunch, and, trying to be reassuring said "The Earth has had four mass extinctions in the past and life has always sprung back more sophisticated than before. If humans disappear, it's likely that whatever replaces us will be better suited to handle situations like this"

This failed to have the reassuring impact that I hoped for. It turns out, I was the only one with mass extinction on my mind. 

We had to cancel all outdoor activities due to poor air quality and postpone a community barbecue. People are spending as much time as they can inside and often wearing masks when they venture out. COVID vibes.

Most of my pea plants are dead. We had two types of sunflowers and the smoke killed one but not the other. We did get our first bell pepper of the season, though.

I'm also a little contrary, in that when things are bad I start to notice what is still good. I got these pics during the smog storm

 

It's mulberry season and I was trying to find time to harvest some. Thought I might try making pie and maybe jam, but don't feel comfortable going out when the air quality's so bad. It's supposed to be better by Monday.

In other news, Lee-Anne finally had her surgery booked for this coming Wednesday. About seven months past my prediction. She had a couple of pre-op appointments that she needed to flex her schedule around, them only giving us a day in advance to plan for. After completing these, she was immediately informed that they had broken the equipment needed for the surgery and had to postpone the procedure until further notice. 

Canada Day and Cherry Festival

Last Wednesday was Canada Day. I really think they need to shorten the name to Canaday, since as-is it sounds like it has a built-in stutter.

We went to the fireworks display in downtown Kitchener. It was our first time going. The previous few years we went to the drone show in Waterloo, which is their equivalent. I had been avoiding going to the Kitchener show, as the past few years I'd seen articles about young people shooting fireworks at bystanders.

Reactions always seemed toned down. I would see comments talking about how "irresponsible" it was for them to do this. I'm not usually one to avoid areas that are viewed as dangerous, or to assume trouble from any particular group, but this seemed like a predictable, reoccurring instance of fairly significant violence that could easily be avoided.

It's also not usually difficult to get Kitchenerites angry and exaggerative about a local issue. But for some reason, in this particular case, it was just mumbles about irresponsibility. Isn't getting shot with an explosive pretty dangerous?

Lee-Anne and my brother wanted to go, and just like everyone else, they didn't seem worried about it. So I reconciled myself with my fate and we went.

There was actually a local fireworks ban in place because of this issue. Although, based on how many we saw being set off on our walk over, this effort hadn't proven totally effective.

The show was supposed to start at 10:30, but it didn't wind up happening until like, 11:45. It was preceded by live music from The Last Tiger, which had proven to be a pretty good draw for the crowd.

Despite the place being crammed by the time we got there, somehow we found a pretty central viewing spot. I don't think it's good practice to do too much recording while at events like this, as it leads to living through a screen, but I did snag this pic just to kind of show how optimally we were positioned.

 

At one point, fire erupted from each of the side buildings. First in bursts, and shortly as a sustained stream. This is what really got a reaction from people, and it was intense enough that one could feel the temperature rise. I think it's a little funny that with all our advanced pyrotechnics that can make the sky glitter in every colour and send streams of light curling over a crowd, what really makes people pay attention is just a big old bunch of fire.

The turnout was impressive. Much more significant than Waterloo's. Part of me was proud that my city is more ready to come out, have fun and be together. But it was also a little overwhelming and I probably wouldn't come back.

But the reason is the crowd, not because anyone got hit by a firework. I realised once we got there that I'd always heard about shenanigans happening at Victoria Park. I assumed that's where the display was, but it's actually always been at Kitchener City Hall. So I had imagined people shooting into the crowd, when in reality it was mostly at each other and I guess sometimes at random park goers. Still bad, but we weren't in as much danger as I'd thought.

Somebody did pass out near us, though. Also there was a clown.

Then on the weekend we had the Cherry Festival. It's an annual event held in a smaller local park in our neighbourhood. Not quite as grand as Canada Day, but still pretty significant. It included the sale of cherry products, as well as some food trucks, stands with local artists, live music, carnival rides, professional wrestling matches, and an antique car show.

I probably mentioned this joke last year. But sometimes I like to say that, since Cherry Park is on Park Street, they missed out by not naming it Park Park. Then at the Cherry Festival they have antique cars parked in it. This could have been the Park Park Park. 

Lee-Anne's parents came down for the event. It was raining slightly but the turnout was still pretty good. My brother came later, but we'd left at that point. We all bought some cherry stuff, and Lee-Anne and I got a little rock goose to put in the window with our succulents.