Transitioning from Guatemala to Saskatchewan

I know many of you think that Laura Secord is just a brand of chocolates that you can buy, but actually she was a real person who ran 32 K across the Niagara Peninsula to warn the British that the Americans, who had invaded the peninsula, were planning to attack. That was in 1813. Today you can visit the Laura Secord House in the village of Queenston, just off the Niagara Parkway, which follows the Niagara River from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. The river is the border between Canada and the US with New York just across the narrow river. The spectacular Niagara Falls, with its series of rapids and 57-metre drop off the limestone shelf, impedes any navigation along its waterway. If you look at a map, you can see this southern-most part of Canada, squished between the two lakes and at about the same latitude as Southern Oregon, looks very vulnerable to US invasion.

But this isn't about political geography, but about my visit with my neice and her family on a fifth-generation family farm on the Niagara escarpment. The escarpment runs from the southern edge of Lake Ontario in New York State up through Lake Huron and around through Michigan and in to Wisconsin. The escarpment is a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve and has the oldest forest ecosystem and trees in eastern North America.

But this isn't about geology either, although the hard limestone crust creates beautiful waterfalls and steep valleys where water has eroded through the upper layer. Niagara Falls is one spectacular example of this. Another is the lesser known Bruce Trail that stretches 890 K from Niagara to the northern tip of the Bruce Peninsula and crosses a corner of my niece's farm. We hiked a 3 K loop of it one morning while the ground was still frozen and we were able to navigate up and down the steep cliffs without slipping in the mud.

My niece lives with her husband and family at Elmwood Farms, established in 1932 by immigrants from the Ukraine. Originally a mixed farm, it now produces eggs and grapes.

Before European settlement, the area had been lived on for over 13,000 years. At the time of European contact in the 1600s, the Iroquois-speaking confederation were referred to as the "Neutral People" because of their neutral position between several other indigenous peoples. After the American Revolution in the late 1700s, many Loyalists, including black slaves seeking freedom, fled the US and settled on the Niagara Peninsula. The Niagara area was the termination of the underground railway and it is estimated that 10% of the Loyalists were black.

The first Mennonite settlement in Canada was nearby, settled in 1786 by Loyalists from Pennsylvania. There is a museum in the town of Jordan that has a collection of Fraktur art, an artistic form of calligraphy used by the early Mennonites to decorate personal hymnbooks and religious texts. The following sign describes it better than I can.

An example of Fraktur art on a sign outside the museum in Jordan, ON.

My niece's farm with the original 1913 house, after many iterations.

My niece's husband, chatting with the guys picking up eggs from the farm.

"Live to farm and farm to live." What a great slogan for a farmer!

A perfect latte, delivered by the egg farmer himself!

I can't resist sharing this video that was made several years ago in my niece's house, starring her husband!

There is so much to explore here. I would have liked to have stayed longer and visited the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre that covers topics such as the Underground Railroad and the Welland Canals; the Balls Falls Conservation area; the many parks and botanical gardens. . . and hiked more of the Bruce Trail. And here I am in wine country and we didn't have time to do any wine tasting!! I spent some time in Niagara Falls walking along the river. I got to go to Waterloo to see my great nephew from Australia, who is studying at the University of Waterloo, perform in the musical production of The Clockmaker's Daughter. And managed to catch up on my blog while my niece was at work, hanging out in her very comfortable farm house. I guess I'll have to plan to come back!