Posts in category “Bewitching Vagabond”
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Save the Railroads, Please

I found a group online about keeping the old railroads running, not just one in particular but all of them around the world. It wasn't a hugely active site but I agreed with the idea. Not only do we already have (or still have some) of the original tracks but railways aren't just an alternative or romantic way to travel. The modern trains are fast and use less fossil fuels.

Today I found an online magazine about graffiti in Eastern Europe with a campaign #SavetheSteel and images of streetcars on coffee mugs. One reminds me of the streetcars as I remember them in Toronto when I was skipping school to go downtown for the day instead. Traveling by TTC bus, subway and sometimes the streetcars too. There were no streetcars in my area, only when I was right downtown in Toronto. #SavetheSteel from Concrete magazine.

I tried to find the railroad group I remember, but I don't know the exact name any more. I hope its in an old post somewhere. I haven't got all of them back online yet. Meanwhile, I did find a few other links worth keeping. I hope the Canadian group is more active than it looks. I'll send them a note.

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Micro Adventures

When you don't have time, or money, for a full vacation, try a micro adventure. Mostly its finding something new, to you. Keep it simple, uncomplicated, not requiring a lot of planning. I've seen a lot of good ideas for little, local adventures. You can even combine ideas into one, as they suit you.

Your Own Old Neighbourhood

Explore a new or different neighbourhood. Walk down a street you haven't walked down before. Take a new route home from work. Try a new place for coffee. Look for a high point to see more of the area you live in and find other new places to walk another day. Look for historical/ ghost walking tours in your town or city, go on them. Go to a place you see everyday, at night. Look for houses with Little Libraries and exchange books you've read for those you haven't yet. Find festivals, events, workshops in your community - start looking at the library. Photograph an old cemetery.

The Great Outdoors

Start a new outdoor activity: fly a kite, plant a garden, have a picnic, go to the park, build a sandcastle, go swimming, or skating. Spend an afternoon blowing bubbles outdoors. Try geocaching or orienteering. Stargazing or moon bathing. Go out at night or very early in the morning. Make a campfire in your own backyard - bring marshmallows. Go beachcombing, rockhounding, or mudlarking. Walk barefoot. Forage for wild food.

Arts, Crafts, and Skills

Try something artsy or crafty. Never tried sewing, embroidery, crochet? How about painting, or drawing? Sculpture with paper, rock, clay, or something more unusual. Try cooking or baking with a recipe you saved but haven't tried yet. Learn to tie sailor knots. Practice your penmanship. Rearrange your furniture, be your own interior decorator. Play a game with just paper and pens, like retro Dungeons and Dragons. Go to an art tour, studio or gallery tours.

Get Active

Explore sports. Try tennis, hockey, ping pong, something you feel fit enough to tackle and haven't already done.

Another Time and Place...

Explore another culture or time period. Make a meal of authentic dishes. Add some fashion flair from another culture or vintage clothes, if you can find them. Learn another language, or enough of it to greet people and get directions. Follow and read a weblog from another country. Listen to a new style of music.

Sort out your sock drawer, really, don't keep socks without a pair.

Look for more ideas online if you haven't found one to start yet.

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What if Criminals and Murderers Pay in Money Instead of Time?

What if people paid in $ for crimes instead of jail time? Like paying a traffic fine, as an example.

Jail time seems unbalanced for the crime committed and jails are crowded. A murderer gets a few years, insurance fraud gets more than murder, all depending on the randomness of Courts, judges, and expensive lawyers. Eating a person you've just killed on a bus... it happened in Canada and he was out in a few years. I've yet to see anyone murdered come back to life but it seems murder is not all that costly in time. Maybe... it could be counted on a different scale. Cash value instead of time served. It's a start.

I think the old idea of work houses could be brought back. Prisoners work in order to buy their freedom, eventually. I don't see that ever happening these days. Like capital punishment, it isn't likely to come back. (Capital punishment and the death penalty are not the same thing. Young people don't know and assume a lot).

So, just fine them and let the credit agencies nag at them for payment. If its good enough for people who haven't committed a crime, other than getting in debt, why not? A little stress and endless calls from credit agencies always tracking them down, isn't too tough a punishment.

I don't think jail time was ever working as punishment anyway. It was supposed to reform people. How can you really ever reform or punish someone for a crime like murder? Other crimes like assault, robbery, etc. as long as no one was killed. There should be a line somewhere. It gets complicated when you decide if "left for dead" is the same as murder/ killing. I think so. Why should a killer benefit from the luck or determination of someone else to live.

So most criminal activity could be set as a dollar amount payable to the Canadian government (or whatever the local government is). Not as a punishment just a heavy fine. A better deterrent than jail. For one thing it will cost the government less than housing, feeding, entertaining them. Making use of credit agencies means the government won't have to hire extra staff, unless it goes through Canada Revenue, which I guess it must at some point. Of course, payments for crimes will not get any tax credits or refunds. That would be silly.

Maybe the government could collect enough to lower taxes. I just keep finding all kinds of good options for this idea.

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My Interest in Barns

I was asked how I came to volunteer with Ontario Barn Preservation. This is what I wrote.

Ironically, I am allergic to almost everything inside a barn: hay, animals, and mold/fungus. But, I really like history, particularly finding out about how things were done/ made and worked. My Dad was an electrical engineer who always wanted (and tried several times) to be a dairy farmer. But, he did not want to get his hands dirty. Anyway, that's why I mostly grew up in the suburbs, mainly a town called Port Union in the east end of Scarborough, Toronto, now.

I've loved writing and tried drawing since I was a kid. I became a photographer as I grew up, not professionally at all. I took photos of my Mom's garden for her. I took photos of family and my cats and family trips, my own trips. Always interested in old buildings and places too. In college Photography was one of the courses I took as part of Corporate Communications. When I got my first digital camera I was finally able to take all the photos I wanted without thinking about the cost of developing them. At first I only had to make sure I had enough storage and battery power. My first camera didn't have much for storage.

One of the first places I photographed was an abandoned farm house near Bradford. The house was demolished since then. But, that was the start of photographing old farm houses around Ontario. The next camera I bought was an investment with more memory and a memory card for storage. It also had zoom so I could see details of buildings farther away or get a close look at a house I couldn't access. I started a group for rural exploration photographers in Ontario on Flickr. Its still there along with a few others. I met other people through my photo group and got together to meet a few in person too. I was still in my 30's and 40's then.

By my 50's I wasn't doing as much. But, I still like seeing other photos of old places in Ontario. I often search for history related groups/ organizations in Ontario. I keep a list of links from those I find. Most of them I added to the ODP site. I maintain the category for Urban Exploration there. Anyway, from looking for Ontario history this and that I found Ontario Barn Preservation. They were looking for volunteers. I knew I could not be someone who goes into barns, or help with knowing how to fix them up. But, I sent in my name anyway, just to see what would come from it.

That was about 3 years ago I think. I've been checking the emails, replying to them or directing them to the right people here. I write the newsletter every two months (not strictly on schedule), I post blurbs to social media accounts. Also helping out with memberships, posts to the website, running the site, finding possible contractors to add to the list, dozens of this and that as needed. Officially, I'm the administrative assistant.

When I was photographing the old farm houses I didn't really pay much attention to the barns. There were there and I got some photos, but it was the houses, the abandoned gardens, the structure and the weathering that I especially photographed. Since joining OBP I've learned more about barns and have a greater appreciation for them. Sometimes they call them cathedrals of the field and I think its a good name for them.

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Finding New Homes for Old Cats

My Grandfather's Cat. Based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

A registered Canadian charity that helps seniors and terminally ill people feed and arrange new homes for their pets.

A lovely idea but some of the older cats might be sick or not fit into a new home so easily. That would make the job a lot harder. Still, it gives them an option better than putting them to sleep or whatever people do with an old cat when the owner is gone.