This is my home. Northern Ontario. A primal, mysterious and magical land of maternal beauty. An ancient feminine spirit can be felt in these parts. Her wrath can be witnessed in the rise and fall of Lake Superior’s frothing white mountains. Her kindness, when she weaves herself a blanket of dancing white stars on a cloudless summers day. It’s a place where artists come to soak in her spirit and attempt to capture the essence of this ancient force.
It’s the place where Anishnaabe folklore claims the gods split Turtle Island and created all forms of life. It’s the place where The Anishnaabe have suffered in silence for generations at the hands of the Canadian government. It’s a place where people are dying everyday due to extreme racism. It’s a place where the first peoples are now reclaiming their ancient ways. It’s a place where a cultural war is beginning. It’s a place that will be home to momentous spiritual shift that will change the way Canadian society operates.
The North has rested for a long time but she’s giving her children the strength to rise again. She’s ready to put up a fight.
Same smile, Same love of cats, buuuut this time I kept my eyes open !!! First grade is so much easier the 2nd time around🤪! Oh little Nicole, If you only knew the things you’d accomplish💗! (Wonder how many of my quotes/ silly things I’d say would have made it to FB if it was around then😅🙈) #MPS #Manitouwadge #YMM #ThenAndNow #WeLoveGrade1 #SchoolPhotos #PinkHair #StillSoCrazyToCallMyselfStaff https://www.instagram.com/p/CGls0iFlekw/?igshid=gmn6gizayw7r
A recount of the ballots were requested in Manitouwadge and Atikokan
Vote recounts have been completed for two communities in northwestern Ontario after candidates in Manitouwadge and Atikokan requested a recount of the ballots in the wake of the Oct. 22 municipal election.
In Manitouwadge, the ballot recount resulted in a difference of just two votes with John McEachern receiving a total of 349 votes and Peter Ruel receiving 347.
When the ballots were counted originally on Oct. 22 after the election, McEachern beat out Ruel by a margin of four votes.
On Tuesday, the city clerk in Manitouwadge confirmed that McEachern will stand as the new mayor.
1999-2018.... almost 20 years ago since I had my own kindergarten graduation- Getting ready to help my littles celebrate theirs ! Can’t believe mom always kept my shirt for so long ! The kids always say I’m crazy when I tell them I have mine, and chances are they will have theirs to also look back on! Thankfully they’ve upgraded the designs😂 and I actually have my name spelt right this time.. only took a few years😉 #Manitouwadge #ManitouwadgePublicSchool #MPS #MissRankinForeverInKindergarten #19years #fmcsd #HoldOnToTheMemories
We left the house at 2PM, and we ended up going to Manitouwadge, the place my father was born. The name means "Manitou's Cave" or "Manitou's Lodge". Native legend says that Manitou (the Great Spirit) saw a Canada Goose flying above while in his canoe, so he shot it and ate it, and built his lodge in the area, and recreated the land. In another legend, a young brave found a strange entrance and declared that he had found Maintou's lodge.
On the way in, they've built a monument that looks like a waterfall. On one side, it's frozen and icy and has a ski-do, and the other side has a quad bike. And there is all sorts of tourist information posted around. After taking a couple pictures there, Grandpa turned down the road toward the town.
After driving for a few kilometres, the scent of pine and fresh air was becoming strong, and going around a bend, I realized that I had missed highway rides, when my body was pulled by gravity to move with the turn. And then, I saw a sign that read "CAUTION : DRAGON POND AHEAD". I thought that was kind of strange, and then I saw the open water, and there were two fucking dragons floating in the water.
So we hauled ass out of there and passed by a nice fresh-water spring. I wanted to stop to see, but Grandpa is hard of hearing, and by the time he understood, it was too late.
The thing that I found cute about Manitouwadge was the fire hydrants. They're all painted. Some were dogs, some were owls, some were flowers, some were little people, and some were just pained different colors. I had never seen that done before, and I loved it. I wanted to stop and take pictures of all of the hydrants, but grandpa was determined to show me other things. In one end of town, all the streets are named after birds (Heron, Sandpiper, etc). In another side, all are animals (Otter Avenue, Moose Road, etc). The rest are mostly native words that I can't remember. One road, where my uncle Donald built houses a long time ago, was named McDonald road. Grandpa said "Hey look, he even got a road named after him!" and we laughed.
On our way out of Manitouwadge, we stopped at a nice little bakery shop called Friends. The woman there remembered my Great-Grandpa and my Grandmother, and they talked a lot. For sale there were all kinds of cheesecakes, brownies and pies for sale, and cookies as big as my butt! Grandpa and I had Pecan pie, and Grandma had cherry cheesecake and a strawberry milkshake. I had a delicious cup of chammomile citrus tea, and not only were the flowers and stuff pretty much whole (with little chunks of citrus), but the bag was made out of some kind of material instead of paper. It made me happy, so I kept the bag afterwards, and I think I'll use it as potpourri or something; maybe put it in my pillow or hang it in my bedroom. I also took a glass bottle of Ginger Ale to go, with chunks of real ginger and pure sugar cane in it. It was by far the best Ginger Ale I have ever tasted! Strong and a bit sweet, but so good!
On our way back we witnessed isolated rain showers, like beams of rain hitting only certain areas. In one stretch of road it was warm and sunny, and on another it was pouring so hard we couldn't see a thing! It was awesome!
For dinner we stopped to grab some A&W, and I had my first Onion Ring in years. It was a bit saltier and crunchier than I would have liked it to be, but it was still so good. I'm probably going to be a little sick after from eating greasy food again, but the Ginger Ale can help with that c:
So today was a great day. Maybe tomorrow we will clean for half a day, and then Bob might take me shooting, or Anton might take me fishing. I feel bad that Leo can't really go out and do much because of 'that hole in his back' as grandpa put it, so maybe I can find something for us to do together. Have some coffee, play some poker or something like that. Maybe his friend will be there, and I'll bet my pie against his bacon (which comes in chunks/slabs, not slices, and it's to die for!) ;D
