Towpath Trail River Walk ~

According to Barbara Martindale there are two reasons why "Towpath Trail River Walk" should be the name of the Grand Valley Trail East and West of Caledonia.  First, in the days of The Grand River Navigation Company (1830s to 1860s), mules and horses towed the scows and river boats carrying important products including lumber.  Secondly, a committee set up in the seventies calling themselves The Towpath Trail Committee was successful in laying the ground work for what was eventually to become the Caledonia dam with extensive shoreline work including a dyke.

For a listing of upcoming Information Sessions on a Haldimand County Trails Implementation Plan, visit http://www.haldimandcounty.on.ca/ (Easier to Google Trails & Pathways - Haldimand County)

Cayuga sessions:
Haldimand County Museum & Archives, Tuesday, April 17, 2:00 p.m.
Cayuga Administrative Building, Council Chambers, Wednesday, April 18 - 7:00 p.m.

For Related information visit http://www.gvta.on.ca/



Along The Grand ~ Larger Image Please Click On Photo



Along The Grand Valley Trail ~



The Old & The New 






Note Trail Blaze on Tree - lbwalker

The Grand Valley Trails Association Guidebook available at The Neat Little Bookshop
http://www.gvta.on.ca/

Cayuga-on-the Grand ~ Photos:  March 26, 2012

"...it changed and I changed.  By the time I sat down at the typewriter, I was writing a book quite unlike the one I had at first planned to write, because I was quite unlike the person who had first considered writing it. I had an altered vision of life, not to mention an altered life.  My experiences had compelled me to start thinking about the ways in which life changes character and capacity, the ways in which the accidents of success or failure influence one's sense of oneself, the ways in which society both creates and destroys the human capacity for survival."

"Words are a form of action, capable of influencing change."  ~ Ingrid Bengis.*

Ingrid at The Strand Book Store, Manhattan, NY.

~ Ingrid Bengis, American writer b. 1945  Source:  The Writer on Her Work, Seventeen Essays, W.W. Norton & Co., 2000  Edited by Janet Sternburg.

* author of Combat in the Erogenous Zone.
Photos:  Wikipedia

Artist, Emily Carr, was already nervous speaking to 500 people at the prestigious Women's Canadian Club in Victoria.  Her works were on display and her lecture was an important part of the promotion.  When her voice could hardly be heard, the audience called for her to speak louder.  At that critical moment, Carr's pet dog, Ginger Pop, whom she had brought along, leaped to her defense.  He ran over to Emily and for the duration of the speech sat in front of her, staring "raptly into her face until she successfully finished her speech."
In CELEBRATED PETS, Endearing Tales of Companionship and Loyalty, author Cheryl MacDonald,  relates little-known stories by the likes of Grey Owl, Prime Minister MacKenzie King.  A story about the real Winnie-the-Pooh and Jumbo the elephant. 

Available at The Neat Little Bookshop $9.95.  A great gift for the animal lover.

"Endearing Tales of Companionship and Loyalty"

Cayuga-on-the-Grand

Photos:  March 25, 2012




William Wordsworth, English poet, founder of the Romantic movement, may be best known for his poem, I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud.

His work often reflected his love of nature.  The following ~ one of my favourites.

 Lines Written In Early Spring.

I heard a thousand blended notes,

While in a grove I sate reclined,

In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts

Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link

The human soul that through me ran;

And much it grieved my heart to think

What man has made of man.

Through primrose tufts, in that green bower,

The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;

and 'tis my faith that every flower

Enjoys the air it breathes.

The birds around me hopped and prayed,

Their thoughts I cannot measure ~

But the least motion which they made,

It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

The budding twigs spread out their fan,

To catch the breezy air;

And I must think, do all I can,

That there was pleasure there.



If this belief from heaven be sent,

If such be Nature's holy plan,

Have I not reason to lament

What man has made of man?

~ Wm. Wordsworth, British poet (b. April 7, 1770 - d. April 23, 1850)