Life in Orillia

Back in April (yeah, I know, I've been woefully behind with this blog) I took a walk down to the waterfront, just to see if the snow had finally melted and whether or not the lake was open. The Port was still mostly frozen in, the boardwalk was blocked off with construction fencing and the snow in the park had disappeared - all except for an unusual sight in the middle of the park.

There was a pond, where there had never been a pond. I couldn't tell if it was there on purpose, or if there was so much snow this winter, the ground just couldn't absorb it fast enough. Time will tell - I haven't had a chance to go back since then.

One morning last week I saw a person steal our garbage. Okay, yeah, sure...it's just garbage, but in this city you need a garbage tag (they cost money) to have your garbage collected. I've seen this particular person doing it before too, but until last week I had no idea why, or what was going on.  Instead of buying a sheet of garbage tags, he takes others garbage and puts it in his pail. It might seem like a small thing, and would be if it only happened once in a while, and you asked the neighbours...heck, if someone needed a tag that badly, I'd give it to them.

It happened again this morning - but not the same person. I started to wonder if the whole neighbourhood (save for those whose garbage actually had tags you could see) surreptitiously scrounges the garbage bags of others to save $1.50 (the cost of a tag).  Seeing someone steal your garbage...well, it sort of gives you the willies you know?

Anyway, the person this morning came to the door and let me know that my garbage was in their bin, and that they hadn't realized they were out of tags...this being garbage day you don't have time to run out and buy one. I mentioned that if they asked in future, I'd feel better and wouldn't mind, but just taking it is a little weird.

Okay, so it's still only garbage - stuff I don't want and have no need for, so why does it bug me?  It bugs me because I don't want to supply garbage tags to everyone who can't be bothered to buy their own that's why. So this week, we're heading off to buy a garbage bin of our own instead of a bag.

There are days when I encounter almost nothing that bugs me, and other days encounter only minor bugs. What happens to be a bug on one day, may not be on another.

Today, though, I encountered (not for the first time) one of the things that always bugs me. DRIVERS. Oh, not all of them of course, but those that appear to ignore the things that help to keep the rest of us save...things like traffic lights, stop signs and the rules like "pedestrians have the right of way".

Granted, pedestrians need to take a little care too - you can't just walk out into traffic and expect everyone to stop dead for you. Being a pedestrian and not a driver, I've learned over time (and a lot of "almost" incidents) that I need to take responsibility for my own safety too, because there's an awful lot of drivers who just think they can go wherever they like without worrying about those little things like people.

Today, at a crossing on the highway I waited patiently for the "red hand" (don't walk) to turn into the "white walker" (go). Traffic from the opposite direction was somewhat heavier than usual (well, it is Sunday and it was near noon). The light turned orange, then red from their direction, and my light turned green, then the walk signal changed and I was off...just as another car came through the red light - no stopping, no slowing down, didn't even look. Boy, that makes me hot under the collar. If I hadn't been looking in that direction I'd have been hit.

Coming home I walk through the large plaza complex that houses Walmart, Payless, Home Depot and a bunch of other shops. The entrance/exit for Home Depot is just before my last street crossing before I get to our subdivision (oh yes, did I forget to mention we've moved over the winter?). Most of the exits along the plaza have a large red stop sign for the cars coming out, but I guess the guy driving the truck that almost ran me down as I crossed the driveway must have never been there before, because he certainly didn't stop. I was lucky, and so was he. I'm not a small person - I'm an average size with long red hair so I'm not too hard to miss, but if I had been a child he wouldn't have seen me, and wouldn't have slammed on his brakes.

What is it with these guys?

As a photographer and artist I am often on the lookout for good places to purchase supplies - everything from photographic equipment and accessories to office supplies. Shopping the net can take longer than shopping locally, but the net has one advantage; it opens up the availability of world-wide shopping. That can be good for comparative purposes, or getting your hands on things you can't find in a small town.

When you shop locally you develop a knowledge of what's available, who has the best service, where the prices are most reasonable or competitive, and usually you can go home with your purchase in your hands. That can be a big plus when you're in a hurry.

Although some of those same things can be said of net shopping too - when you find good online shops you know where to go the next time, but finding that shop can take a lot of searching. As well, you have to wait for delivery, and often incur shipping charges and even duty fees if your order comes from outside your country of residence. The plus side is that you can order anytime of day or night, and if you aren't able to leave the house you can still get the things you need, because your order comes right to the door. The downside is that you often don't know what sites are trustworthy, or what sellers are honest.

Most of the time I opt to shop locally when I can, for a number of reasons. Shopping where you live powers the local economy. I'd rather spend my dollars in a shop that pays taxes to help keep our roads repaired or our street lights lit. Shopkeepers earn their income where I live; they also shop in other local stores, keeping the circle moving. There is a reciprocal relationship in local shopping - I buy in their shop, they may use my services, or send their friends or family to me.

The other thing I have found in shopping locally is that you can build good working relationships with the business community; you get better customer service in local shops too, particularly when you use the same shops on a regular basis. When you can't find something locally, many times the shop owner will go out of their way to find what you need and order it in.

Depending on where you live, shopping local can cost a little more, but I'd rather spend a few extra dollars in my home town and contribute towards making the place where I live a vibrant business community.

That being said, I do shop the net for things that just can't be had in a store; software mostly, large prints of my work sometimes, and greeting cards. A few examples can be found below.



Near Lagoon City, Lake Simcoe


Gull Lake from Gull Lake Park, Gravenhurst


Dawn Harbour, Port of Orillia


Downtown Living


Waterfront at Dawn, Port of Orillia


Sunrise on Harbour, Port of Orillia


Wasaga Beach


Langman Wildlife Sanctuary, Oro-Medonte Twp.

Here's another little winter annoyance - partly due to the snow, and partly the cold:



Little Bigfoot - found this little guy in the kitchen one day, climbing up my exercise mat which happened to be hanging over the top bar of another piece of exercise equipment. I can tell you that it freaked me out a little - a mouse isn't something I normally want to see. It took me a few minutes to recover and run for my camera, though I expected he'd scurry away as soon as he saw me moving. He (she?) didn't, he just continued climbing up that strap (which is only 3/4" in width). To give you an idea of his size, that black clip is only 1.5" from it's very tip to it's very bottom.

After a few minutes I realized he wasn't going anywhere and fired off a couple of snapshots - I figured nobody would believe that it was such a bold little critter.



Now, I've seen mice before - white mice, pet mice, even dead mice in the ceilings when we remodelled, but this is probably the first one I've seen with such big feet in relation to it's tiny body. "My, my, Mr. Mouse...what big feet you have!"

All in all, it must have sat on top of that exercise mat for well over an hour; I spent almost that long on my treadmill a few feet away, and it sat there the whole time. When my daughter came in it freaked her out a little, and a few minutes later my son-in-law came. Minutes after that the mouse finally figured out how to get down and landed on the floor...wandered around a bit and was trying to get into a plastic bag full of newspapers. By this time I was feeling a little sorry for it...it moved slow, seemed confused and frightened - it probably was sick (maybe even dying). We stuck a paperbag on the floor and when it was halfway in my son-in-law picked up the bag (of course Little Bigfoot fell into the rest of the way into the bag) and wanted to know what I wanted done with it.

By that time I didn't have the heart to kill it...we released him outdoors.



I'm pretty sure the reason he was indoors was because there was so much snow outdoors that finding food was probably difficult...finding warmth too. Our house is over 100 years old, and although the foundation and sill above it are in good shape, the front half of the basement is nothing more than dirt crawlspace. More than likely it would be very easy to access that area from the outside - the old furnace is in there too, so it's warm and comfy.

If there hadn't been all that snow, we wouldn't have had the mouse in the kitchen. In some ways, I'm not sure if that's bad - in the end I thought he was a cute little guy, and I didn't mind the visit, but I sure didn't want him living here.

Oh yeah, we do have a cat, but she slept through the whole episode.