laurelfynes.bsky.social
learning from the world, my family, students, birds, trees, plants, waterways, relationships. unlearning. biophiliac. growing roots along great lake ontario. settler. she/her.
class site: https://bsky.app/profile/k2westacres.bsky.social
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Heck, just looking at his sign brought a lump to my throat.
Iām the last month Iāve re-read/listened to deep dives into the MOVE bombings and the Kent State shooting. Itās years since Iāve been down to the States, but my dad was from Philly so itās terrifying even from here in Canada.
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Oh yes. I have paid the toll many times.
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I only caught up about 5 years ago, having not seen it either. It was around the time I was big into Hong Kong action movies so it just never occurred to me to watch it. I get why people kept saying āYou havenāt seen it, YOU?!ā
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Titanic.
I hurt my back that year and with a herniated disc, sitting was near impossible. Over half a year of physio. A 3-hour movie? Gahhh, no!
But it isnāt my favourite genre, so no biggie.
But I also havenāt seen The Thing. Thatās right in my wheelhouseā¦ gotta remedy that soon.
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Mosaics.
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Mine are a colourful mix, so itāll be a treat to see what develops.
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Yes, yum! Flowers too, in salads.
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Ah, I see your pfp - sweet!
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Indeed, itās why I grow these pretty things. I grow edible stuff on the fence and curb thereā¦ pansies, many varieties of herbs, nasturtiums and leaf lettuce. Only the blue lobelia I fell for at the garden centre are solely for decoration.
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Best birb, right there.
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That nasal, grumpy call is very familiar. Plus their sweet, drowsy song. I adore themā¦ the ubiquitous sound of summer in my park at the end of the street. Well, honestly itās the sound of summer everywhere in my city where thereās water. Shore, river, creek, pond: warbling vireos. Woods: red-eyed.
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Oh, thereās an angry vireo in there somewhere tooā¦ that feisty āchwee!ā sounds like a warbling vireo but other vireos have similar protest calls.
And how often do you see a vulture perched?!
I think Iāve yet to see one and we have so many vultures around. But I only ever see them soar.
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š„
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Thanks! A friend of ours gave me lettuce seeds heād saved from his garden last year, and I didnāt think I could grow them in my shallow window box pots (no garden) but I tossed them in soil as a lark. And they grew! Before that Iād only grow herbs and edible flowers in my ever-growing salad šŖ“š„šæ
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They have to be to manage nesting on the reeds like they do. Iāve seen the red-winged gals straddling over the water, almost doing the splits as they grab onto two different clumps of grass.
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Ooh, thanks for this!
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Itās been 9 years since militarized cops at Standing Rock shot water cannons at protesters incl praying Elders in freezing weather. One Elder went into cardiac arrest & had to be revived, 12 people hospitalized for head injuries, almost 200 injured. Obama forcibly evicted people via National Guard.
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If you live in a settler colonialist society, solidarity with Indigenous people will help you understand how you got to wherever your country is today. Thatās why they want you to pretend weāre gone or not worth your attention.
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Exactly!
This teacher gets eggs from her friendsā farm every year, hatches them at school and then brings the week-old ducklings back to join their flock. Runner ducks, which are the cutest.
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Me too - I adore her writing but this one is even more wonderful. Iām just past halfwayā¦
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You guysā¦ I think youāre on to something.
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Indeed. Itās just that a tern this far up from the lake is eyebrow-raising. I donāt think Iāve ever seen one go after a hawk. Thereās a five-building complex at the lake not far from us where terns nest on the rooftops. Noisy! I see hawks near us; orioles, robins, blackbirds, jays & more mob them.
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I get it, breaking bad exists. But no, I teach Kindergarten. Very different vibe. š
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Bluesky is an "echo chamber" but Twitter is some kind of what, salon? An egalitarian agora where ideas are respectfully exchanged?
Twitter is a smoking Cybertruck with a greasy dude reeking of Axe Body Spray offering Circus Peanuts out of the back seat. I have no interest in getting into that ride.
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š and ā¤ļø for your community right now.
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Ooh, now the finches are coming together, too? @nobleknits2.bsky.social no goldfinches but the pink ones are here! They were chatty on the big feeder, but they got quiet when they came on this one.
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See, youāre invited to come anytime, then. Coffee and clutter, art and cats.
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So, funny thing.
More than once Iāve had a custodian comment on how clean I keep a classroom. They assume my home is the same. š«£šµāš«
Nope. Itād take me 2 hours of frantic cleaning to invite someone over who we donāt already know well. Piles on bookcases, double-stacked shelves, piles on the tables.
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Whereas I needā¦ fewer people or more rooms š¤·
I mean, I can get rid of my own stuff. If I give it a good day, I can bust through a stack and sort the ākeepā and āpass onā items without too much trouble. Itās the other stuff I canāt do much about.
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Ah yes, useful and motivational.
Teaching in the early years is the most materials-rich, though I suppose art and science teachers come close.
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Oh wow, I didnāt know this! Not thistle but like it.
I donāt buy it anymore bc it spoils so quickly. If I ever did, Iād get a small feeder and buy much smaller quantitiesā¦ I love finches.
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Oh goodness, thatās useful.
My parentsā home became a big DOOM box maze in their last years there, when mom was first set back physically, and then later by dementia. So the amount of stuff in our place regularly gives me a claustrophobic feeling when I consider it. Booooooks. Records. Stuff. š¬
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Ooh yes, goldfinches adore thistles. Those tiny, expensive black seeds you put in finch feeders are from thistles, I think. Itās likely why I rarely see them at our window, though we get an occasional house finch.
Lovely singers š„°