Let me start by saying that I'm one of those people who have a compass in their brain. I can almost always tell you which direction is which, and on the rare occasion when I lose my sense of direction, well....I'm lost.
So Place is important to me. And I'm a Nosy Parker. When you combine the two, it means I check every new Google Follower's bio to see where they live so I can place them. And I know I'm not alone in this need to link a person to their place because a lot of you - such as Motherhood in NYC, Sara In Le Petit Village and TexaGermaNadian - mention your place right in your blog titles.
When another blogger mistook me for an American, (close but no cigar) I decided I'd help out those who suffer from my affliction by sharing with you some geography about my place. You may consider this a Public Service Announcement. Let's begin.
I grew up here,
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in a little town called Durham in the Great Lakes Basin of Canada on the edge of a geographic region called the Niagara Escarpment. The Niagara Escarpment (which is an UNESCO Biosphere Reserve) is a 725 km long ridge of limestone which, like the Great Lakes themselves, was carved by the last Ice Age. The limestone bedrock doesn't make for good farming, (in fact little grows on it but ferns and cedar trees) but it does produce many beautiful waterfalls. Here's one of it's more famous waterfalls. Perhaps you will recognize it:
Niagara Falls
Here are some waterfalls closer to my home:
Eugenia Falls
Inglis Falls
McGowan Falls
(this one is just blocks from the house I grew up in and many summer days were spent playing in that water)
This is my family on a backpacking trip along the Escarpment
Beautiful, isn't it?
Although I still live in the Great Lakes Basin, it's been many years since I lived near the Niagara Escarpment. But it is still My Place. The place that defines me. So now you can place me - Kara of Scattered Joy - in Canada, in the basin of the Great Lakes, amongst the moss covered limestone, the waterfalls, the cedar trees.
Do you have any special place that you feel connected to? Any place that defines you?
You can learn about other blogger's Places at the Show Us Your Town Hop
I have seen...I have hiked...and I have enjoyed :-)
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Kingston, ON....another limestone city, although no waterwalls for us. But we do have Lake Ontario and The 1000 Islands which equals some great sightseeing, and the best freshwater sailing, windsurfing ever. My places are Lemoines Park (a protected park), Ontario street (okay, after age 19 - ha) and Sandbanks Provincial Park....the absolute best place to camp where the sand and water are right out your tent flap! I feel homesick just thinking about it. No way I am swimming or windsurfing in the Ottawa River!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures! I've been to Niagara Falls and, I must say, enjoyed the Canadian side much better than the New York side. We went there 11 years ago and had a fantastic time. We visited the Falls (of course), Toronto, some wildlife park (with tigers!!), an ATM, and a Tim Hortons.
ReplyDeleteOh, I must say that when I first saw the title, I thought it said, "Nose Pickers" instead of "Nosy Parkers."
Thankfully, as fun as picking noses is (especially in front of the elderly), I enjoyed "Nosy Parkers" much more.
I love Kingston too - for all the same reasons.
ReplyDeleteLes, do you have a blog? Will you leave me the address?
ReplyDeleteYou made me homesick!
ReplyDeleteWowsers! (as Daphne used to say in Scooby Doo), you live in a seriously beautiful place. I need to think about paying a proper visit to Canada. That back-packing trip looks like the dogs danglies .... did you camp out there and everything?
ReplyDeleteYes, with the bears! We had to hang our food from a tree so the bears wouldn't raid it. Check out this photo (the wooden platform is preferable to sleeping on the rocks - but just barely!):
ReplyDeleteIf you ever decide to come to Canada - I'd love to show you my neck of the woods. And I LOVE the Scooby Doo reference :)
ReplyDeleteReally?! I'm so glad you got to experience it :)
ReplyDeleteYou went to a Tim Hortons?! Wow! You really did get the complete Canadian experience :)
ReplyDeleteWe had our vacation in Canada last year up by the Georgian Bay(?) (Up from us!) I wish I could remember the name of the place, but I can't remember now. Big resort town w/ bunches of ski resorts? We went some place with a big long hanging bridge and we think we were on that when that earthquake hit the Toronto area last year. LOL And I wish I would have taken a picture of the Bear safety sign, b/c I'm pretty sure it said that if *** doesn't work, turn around and run like you've never run before. ;) Thank for sharing with us! And thanks for joining us for the Sit and Relax weekend hop!
ReplyDeleteOh! and that Eugenia Falls picture is gorgeous!!
ReplyDeleteSeriously stunning! I just got back from a trip, but you've made me want to pack my bags and travel again. Maybe Brad and Angie should adopt me... ;-)
ReplyDeleteAnd I would love to see it! Let's hope I can get there one day ;-)
ReplyDeleteWhat amazing photos! That scenery is almost as good as OZ - where I'm from, and what I blog about!!
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend!
Looks a bit like Northern Minnesota!
ReplyDeleteAnd that's where I'm from. Have lived in Minnesota almost my whole life -- with a brief foray into Wisconsin -- and am often mistaken for Canadian when in Mexico. :-) During particular government administrations, I say, yes, why I AM Canadian...
Midwestern city (Mpls) gal, that's me. And I think it shows.
Pearl
You must mean Collingwood (which is where I learned to ski). The hiking pictures were taken on Georgian Bay. Love the bear safety sign!
ReplyDeleteI hear it's beautiful in Australia! Plus, you get to start your weekends a day sooner! I still have another day's work ahead of me!
ReplyDeleteOne day, I'm going to sail to Minnesota. I wonder how long that would take.....
ReplyDeleteBrad & Angie! You're too cute!
ReplyDeleteI sure hope you got to explore the caves there.
ReplyDeletePretty sure that 'beautiful' is an understatement! Wow! Stunningly gorgeous? LOL I've lived 5 minutes from the beach for almost 30 years now and, it's true what they say--it's in my blood now. I don't think I could live away from it at this point.
ReplyDeleteLove this post... I have lots of places that define me. Tennessee is where I grew up, Georgia is where I had my first baby, Texas is where I transplanted to and love, the Gulf Coast where I have spent every summer vacation nearly my entire life... :) Newly following from the Social Parade. Come see ME and check out my place! Orangies Attic
ReplyDeleteSo basically are you trying to make me feel bad about how wonderful the place where you grew up is. Cause I do. Cause I want to go there right now. So beautiful.
ReplyDeleteBut then I remembered I used to live in Hawaii. And it rocked too. Literally and figurately, with rocks and waterfalls and smelly, yummy flowers. And now, I live in H-town (Houston) and it's hot, but humid and tropical, and there is a beach, that I love, and fruit and flowers that grow everywhere. So I'm not jealous anymore. Just happy for us both :)
Wow Kara your 'place' is beautiful...
ReplyDeleteHome now for me is the only hilly place in Florida, full of blue lakes and palm trees.. it's pretty nice as Florida goes... I grew up in the green grasses of England .. a big change to live here.. but I like change.. husband is threatening a 2 year sting in Denver, CO.. which I hear is v nice.. so it might be fun.. although I'm allergic to cold....
I like Florida a lot. My in-laws have a place there, so we visit most winters, but Denver sounds like an adventure.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it strange how we take our local areas for granted? When I was young, I couldn't wait to get out of "the sticks". And now I miss it.
ReplyDeleteI hear Houston's a really nice city. And Hawaii?! Now I'm feeling jealous!
I can understand the attraction of living near a beach. There's lots of fresh water beaches near me, but the ocean's 1,000 miles away. Consider yourself lucky!
ReplyDeleteYes! Collingwood. And we did do the caves there, although it was a little different than what we were expecting. We're used to doing all of the underground caves. I didn't realize the ones there were not like that. We do have one picture of us squeezing through Fat Man's (whatever it was called)! LOL It took some coaxing to get everyone through, though. It wasn't easy getting the kids through.
ReplyDeleteFat Man's Misery! I don't blame the kids - that's a tight squeeze and you can't see around to the opening. I'm loving that I can share this with you because that's what my blog is all about about - sharing pleasures. Cool!
ReplyDeleteI've been to the Gulf Coast and it's beautiful there.
ReplyDeleteWOW, those photos are fantastic!!!! Thank you for sharing!!! Lucky you :)
ReplyDeletehey! My name is Kara also and it's always great fun for me to meet another Kara! you certainly live in a beautiful spot. I know what you mean about "your place" not always being the place where you are living now. I grew up In Marblehead, MA. USA and I always think of it as my place. I have lived on the seacoast of NH USA for over 20 years now though and I love it here just as much.
ReplyDelete