The Elora Gorge makes Fergus, ON a sweet place to visit any time of year but come October, when you toss in some early fall colour, the town’s many charms really start to shine.
Combine that natural magic with some theatrical magic and you’ve got a very nice way to spend a fall day.
This October consider a family road trip to Fergus for an afternoon of fun at the Magic Festival family matinee show held in the town’s charming theatre, The Fergus Grand.
It’s a sweet little room with no bad seats or sight lines.
I’m not a part of this year’s edition but the talent lineup is always good and it’s curated by a pro, Fergus native Ryan Joyce.
Well that was cool! I mean actually cool too; you could feel the temperature dip moments before the main event. Happily, not long before our 1 minute & 50 second window of totality, the cloudy skies cleared just enough. The shifting cloud patterns, I imagine, made everyone’s photos more unique. We’d all have the exact same photo had it been a clear blue sky.
Wondering what to do with your eclipse glasses now? Here are some recycling & reuse options. Apparently astronomical organizations like Astronomers Without Borders collect them for reuse in underserved regions.
Like a gazillion other folks I’m looking forward to the upcoming solar eclipse. First in Hamilton since 1925. We won’t be in the path of another full solar eclipse locally until October 26, 2144!
Plenty of community outreach thanks in large measure to McMaster University and its Department of Physics & Astronomy. They are distributing proper viewing glasses throughout the region. While you can take them off for the 1 minute 50 seconds of totality we will experience locally you’ll need to wear them before & after that brief period of total darkness.
Here are a few links that should cover most everything eclipse for you:
Over time you get to know your ‘home turf’ pretty well. You notice and enjoy the natural beauty that’s all around. You notice things that don’t quite belong too…
Pretty sure Osage Orange trees fall into the ‘don’t quite belong’ category, at least for Southern Ontario. Osage is a deciduous tree more commonly associated with southern climes. I’ve seen two in Dundas, Ontario. They announce themselves in late fall when the fruit start dropping. Can’t help but notice those odd green balls on the ground.
Low hanging fruit?
Osage Oranges have been called Ghosts of Evolution since basically nothing eats the fruit. The seeds in these green balls are so small you’d spend more calories extracting them than they’d give you in return. Also, they ooze a very sticky white sap when opened. Ask your neighbourhood squirrel: not worth the effort.
A peek inside. Tiny seeds.
They’re not actually oranges although the fruit does have a light citrus aroma. Part of the mulberry family. Alas, not the cool part of the mulberry family from whence the English nursery rhyme Pop Goes The Weasel originates. I guess monkeys and weasels stick to mulberry since nothing rhymes with orange…
Beautiful mature tree.
Southern Ontario is at the northern end of the Carolinian forest range. Tree cover is quite diverse here thanks in no small part to being near two great lakes, Ontario & Erie. The lakes help maintain slightly milder temperatures in winter. That difference helps these trees survive.
A Port Dover friend tells me there’s some there too. That’s about 40 kilometers further south weather wise and again close to a large body of water.
I may have gone overboard collecting oddballs for this photo…!
This should be more than enough info for you to answer any pub trivia night question. Keep an eye out next time you’re hiking in late fall!
August 2024 update… Huzzah! Was waiting at a light and noticed another one on Hamilton’s west mountain. North side of Rymal at Glancaster. Healthy tree, its fruit were enormous!
Owen Anderson Magician 