MYSTERY DOORS
-Ralph McKim

Some have wondered about the doors seen behind us during Zoom meetings.

While Jean and I were living in Pakistan, one of our pastimes was imagining the décor of the house we were planning to build when we returned to Canada. Our stimulus was not Ikea – but the amazing colour and craft of the material culture we were living in. Jean’s passion – textiles – led to frequent forays into carpet shops (generally unaffordable). Ralph’s passion – wood – led to collection of (generally more affordable) antique furniture from the Swat valley (think Malala) and a number of architectural artifacts. On our return to Canada we “built into” our house some of the larger pieces and blended others into our multi-cultural décor. Hence, the “mystery doors” -- pictured here from the entry side along with of one of the two shuttered (interior) windows which are companions to the doors.
   
As we progress toward the inevitable down-sizing and look toward our eventual move, Jean and I recognize that there are “things” we can’t take with us - except as cherished memories. And that we will.

Brave Squirrel!

-Phil Aylesworth

In September, I was in our backyard when I heard a flapping in the yard behind ours. I went closer to the fence and saw a hawk sitting on the fence! Then I saw a squirrel approach the hawk, seemingly trying to chase it away. When I first saw it, I knew it was a hawk but didn't know what kind. I wondered why the bird didn't just grab the squirrel and fly away. 
 
Later, when I looked it up, I understood; it wasn't a hawk at all, it was a Peregrine Falcon. Peregrines take birds in flight by diving at them and breaking their wing. Although they can take down birds bigger than themselves, I guess they don't know what to do with a squirrel. In Windsor, we have had a pair of Peregrines nesting under the Ambassador Bridge. There have not been any for the last couple of years but this year they returned and hatched two youngsters. This might be one of the young ones looking for a new home after fledging the nest.
 
I wondered why the squirrel was being so daring. Maybe there was a baby squirrel on the ground? I am amazed at the bravery of that squirrel! I am sure it knew it could be dinner. After a bit, the Falcon got tired of the squirrel and lazily flew away. End of drama!

Oddly, neither of them was distracted by me, and I was able to get a few photos. Here are a couple.

November Pop-up Social

-Elaine Bird

The Festival of Trees is a fundraiser for Kawartha Settler’s village in Bobcaygeon, which is home to a collection of over 20 historic cabins and buildings.
 
At this time of year, the village is ablaze with Christmas lights and the settler’s homes have extravagantly decorated trees and wreaths squeezed between the artifacts. When we were there, the live reindeer were not too lively and the choristers were rather sparse. Nevertheless, it was Christmasy! 
 
Here are the 8 KCCers who made it to the Festival of Trees pop-up event. It was good to gather for a hot cider after scurrying from one pretty, though cold, cabin to the next. We did our share of buying raffle tickets; you can stop dreaming of winning now. Or maybe you were lucky?

Introducing… Anna B.

Anna believes in the awesome power of community. She has been investigating community, connection and related topics for years. And she has lived the experience of community in many different ways.
 
Anna was born in Toronto, loves it and describes herself as a “total Toronto girl”. Her parents were immigrants in the ‘50’s from Europe and ran a variety store in downtown Toronto, where they lived above the store. They knew everyone in the community because of the store. Being a first generation Canadian, she recognizes how hard her family worked to establish themselves here.
 
The family moved to North York and all her schooling was there. She loved hanging out with friends, and discovered yoga in high school, which she still practices and is a big part of her life. She also developed her interests in meditation and nature; time in nature is very meaningful to her. She gravitated toward people who had the same interests and a sense of community in those interests.
 
After high school Anna did an Outdoor Recreation Technician Program at Seneca College. She got to spend a lot of time learning from really great guides and being in the wilderness; she learned to canoe, kayak and use a compass. Once finished, she used her training – she took young offenders into the wilderness and also worked in a canoe outfitter.

She decided to travel for an entire year – India, the Middle East, Europe – becoming exposed to a lot of stuff. It opened up her eyes; seeing people whose basic needs were not being met. She did not fully appreciate how much suffering there was in the world. It was a real growing up experience for her and helped her move into the right field for work. She realized that psychology would be a good fit for her and how there were needs she could address. She felt she would like to give back to the community.
 
Immediately upon her return from travelling, Anna managed a health food store in downtown Toronto, and this is when she got to know Chris. They met through a friend of his, whom she was dating. Christ started showing up regularly at the health food store, and they started dating. They have been married a long time, since 1989. In her mind it’s, “how did all that time pass?”. She says she is trying to embrace the years (aren’t we all?).
 
She worked in a number of different human service fields. She did street outreach; trying to help young people who were at risk of human trafficking or coerced into prostitution. She also worked in a community home for young male offenders. What became apparent was that she needed higher education to do what she wanted to do. 
 
Anna and Chris moved to BC so she could do her undergrad degree in Psychology at the University of Victoria. She was 27 at the time. She feels it was really helpful that she was an older student; she recognizes her work demanded a lot of personal understanding and growth. They moved to Ottawa and she finished her PhD in Clinical Psychology there.
 
They moved back to Toronto and she opened her own practice helping victims of trauma. It’s been a whirlwind, she says, and the practice has grown a lot – there are 15 clinicians, though not all are full-time. It’s a very busy practice as many people in the community do not have access to skilled trauma care and she does a lot of staff training. She runs the practice, has her own clients and has a great admin team who help. She described her team as exceptional individuals who get what needs to be done accomplished and says that she feels fortunate to have such amazing people around her. 
 
Anna explained that the work she does is a really good fit for who she is and what she believes in and has given her the chance to really understand what it takes to give back. Seeing a need, Anna started a charity in 2016 – The Trauma Practice for Healthy Communities (traumapractice.org)– which focuses primarily on virtual group-based programs for resiliency, communication, emotional regulation, meditation, etc. All of those programs are free for those in need. They started by self-funding from her busy practice, but they do raise some funds from individual donations (www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/72401?v1=true). They have a pretty active team of volunteers and she recently hired a director to handle the day-to-day.
 
Yoga, meditation and nature have all helped with the work Anna does; she said, “it would be really hard without these practices in my life. You have to be clear about what’s happening in the world and sturdy enough to tolerate the kinds of things you see in a trauma-focused practice”.
 
Anna has an older brother who built his own airplane from scratch – not a model, a real one! Is he an engineer? No, he’s just very clever and has an enormous amount of focus. He is just getting clearance from Transport Canada that it’s all good to go.
 
Her husband Chris is a nurse who is planning to retire in January and she can’t wait. (She, herself, is not planning to dial back anytime soon.) She and Chris travelled a lot before Covid and are looking forward to travelling more. Over the holidays, they will go with friends to Palm Springs to hike Joshua Tree National Park. Over the past 10 years she regularly gets together with a group of close friends to play Mahjong. She describes herself as a foodie and enjoys sharing meals and conversation with family and friends. Anna and Chris share a love of art, literature, spending time in nature, connecting with good friends, and hanging out with dogs!
 
Anna came across the KCC website just by chance. She thinks the cohousing model answers a lot of important social needs in connection and belonging. She thinks it’s a lovely experiment in holding space for the meaningful parts of life. After getting to know some long-standing members of KCC just a bit over the past few years, she is really impressed by what has been accomplished.

Wise words
 
If I had my life to live over again, I would ask that not a thing be changed, but that my eyes be opened wider.
-Jules Renard