Laurel
@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
class site: https://bsky.app/profile/k2westacres.bsky.social
The idea is to mirror my summer swirl with a fall kettle (October-November is when the TVs soar south).
Winter will be diving ducks chasing fish. Long-tailed or goldeneyes. Spring, likely red-winged blackbirds, our first to return here. Then I’ll have the set.
bsky.app/profile/laur...
Winter will be diving ducks chasing fish. Long-tailed or goldeneyes. Spring, likely red-winged blackbirds, our first to return here. Then I’ll have the set.
bsky.app/profile/laur...
It’s as beautiful as I had imagined it. Dallas at Vision Seeker studio understood my vision, and made my dream come true. Chimney swifts, long gone to the skies from their summer homes here, gone until next May but with me forever, now.
November 30, 2025 at 12:31 AM
The idea is to mirror my summer swirl with a fall kettle (October-November is when the TVs soar south).
Winter will be diving ducks chasing fish. Long-tailed or goldeneyes. Spring, likely red-winged blackbirds, our first to return here. Then I’ll have the set.
bsky.app/profile/laur...
Winter will be diving ducks chasing fish. Long-tailed or goldeneyes. Spring, likely red-winged blackbirds, our first to return here. Then I’ll have the set.
bsky.app/profile/laur...
Uh, so, about that gorgeous TV photo…
May I send to my tattoo artist? I already told her I want a kettle of vultures on my left arm to match my swirl of swifts on my right. I’m collecting reference material for her to draw from.
May I send to my tattoo artist? I already told her I want a kettle of vultures on my left arm to match my swirl of swifts on my right. I’m collecting reference material for her to draw from.
November 30, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Uh, so, about that gorgeous TV photo…
May I send to my tattoo artist? I already told her I want a kettle of vultures on my left arm to match my swirl of swifts on my right. I’m collecting reference material for her to draw from.
May I send to my tattoo artist? I already told her I want a kettle of vultures on my left arm to match my swirl of swifts on my right. I’m collecting reference material for her to draw from.
I was just thinking this. Gah… vultures are magnificent!
November 30, 2025 at 12:02 AM
I was just thinking this. Gah… vultures are magnificent!
Nice! I grew up near a pond, but now live not too far from a good-sized creek. It’s why I now know about my favourite odenata, the ebony jewelwing damselfly. They only seem to like moving water so I’d never seen them before moving here.
I’d also never seen green herons and they are EXCELLENT.
I’d also never seen green herons and they are EXCELLENT.
November 29, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Nice! I grew up near a pond, but now live not too far from a good-sized creek. It’s why I now know about my favourite odenata, the ebony jewelwing damselfly. They only seem to like moving water so I’d never seen them before moving here.
I’d also never seen green herons and they are EXCELLENT.
I’d also never seen green herons and they are EXCELLENT.
That’s bleak.
I was mad, but now I’ve slid down to sad.
I was mad, but now I’ve slid down to sad.
November 29, 2025 at 11:07 PM
That’s bleak.
I was mad, but now I’ve slid down to sad.
I was mad, but now I’ve slid down to sad.
😳 I had no idea! It was a chill, plush, sweet little circle of fur with rounded ears and no sound whatsoever. We were all smitten.
November 29, 2025 at 10:00 PM
😳 I had no idea! It was a chill, plush, sweet little circle of fur with rounded ears and no sound whatsoever. We were all smitten.
Ooh, tiny owl!
We get occasional screech owls in the trees around me in Long Branch, Etobicoke’s most southwestern neighbourhood (Mississauga is across the creek). I love hearing their ghostly little whinnies. Small too, though I hear them more often than I see them.
We get occasional screech owls in the trees around me in Long Branch, Etobicoke’s most southwestern neighbourhood (Mississauga is across the creek). I love hearing their ghostly little whinnies. Small too, though I hear them more often than I see them.
November 29, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Ooh, tiny owl!
We get occasional screech owls in the trees around me in Long Branch, Etobicoke’s most southwestern neighbourhood (Mississauga is across the creek). I love hearing their ghostly little whinnies. Small too, though I hear them more often than I see them.
We get occasional screech owls in the trees around me in Long Branch, Etobicoke’s most southwestern neighbourhood (Mississauga is across the creek). I love hearing their ghostly little whinnies. Small too, though I hear them more often than I see them.
Oh no! Whoops.
Your list reminded me of a delightful encounter I had nearby with my kids when they were little. I scooped a beautiful, plush-looking vole from the snow at the bottom of the bust sled hill. We each held it briefly before releasing it back to its tunnels in the snowy grass.
Your list reminded me of a delightful encounter I had nearby with my kids when they were little. I scooped a beautiful, plush-looking vole from the snow at the bottom of the bust sled hill. We each held it briefly before releasing it back to its tunnels in the snowy grass.
November 29, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Oh no! Whoops.
Your list reminded me of a delightful encounter I had nearby with my kids when they were little. I scooped a beautiful, plush-looking vole from the snow at the bottom of the bust sled hill. We each held it briefly before releasing it back to its tunnels in the snowy grass.
Your list reminded me of a delightful encounter I had nearby with my kids when they were little. I scooped a beautiful, plush-looking vole from the snow at the bottom of the bust sled hill. We each held it briefly before releasing it back to its tunnels in the snowy grass.
Thank you. That was a delightful diversion.
November 29, 2025 at 9:45 PM
Thank you. That was a delightful diversion.
Oooh, I love a waking hibernaculum! It’s one of the things I love about spring. First warm sun, melting snow, I go for a walk in a favourite park and listen around the rocks for crunching leaf litter. Ssssssnakes. 🤎
November 29, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Oooh, I love a waking hibernaculum! It’s one of the things I love about spring. First warm sun, melting snow, I go for a walk in a favourite park and listen around the rocks for crunching leaf litter. Ssssssnakes. 🤎
Egret in your yard?!
I admit, I have yard envy on most days (I’m a condo dweller, no balcony), but egret at home? Yeah, that’s awesome.
I’m not bad off, we’ve a Great Lake blocks away and Etobicoke Creek a nearby walk. We do get skunks, raccoons and the occasional possum in the parking lot.
I admit, I have yard envy on most days (I’m a condo dweller, no balcony), but egret at home? Yeah, that’s awesome.
I’m not bad off, we’ve a Great Lake blocks away and Etobicoke Creek a nearby walk. We do get skunks, raccoons and the occasional possum in the parking lot.
November 29, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Egret in your yard?!
I admit, I have yard envy on most days (I’m a condo dweller, no balcony), but egret at home? Yeah, that’s awesome.
I’m not bad off, we’ve a Great Lake blocks away and Etobicoke Creek a nearby walk. We do get skunks, raccoons and the occasional possum in the parking lot.
I admit, I have yard envy on most days (I’m a condo dweller, no balcony), but egret at home? Yeah, that’s awesome.
I’m not bad off, we’ve a Great Lake blocks away and Etobicoke Creek a nearby walk. We do get skunks, raccoons and the occasional possum in the parking lot.
You’re right, I didn’t realize. It’s on my bedside table even though I listen to many more stories than I hold to read.
I did find this, though… her podcast based on those stories but framed as Seven Truths.
www.audible.ca/pd/B08NXZGC4...
I did find this, though… her podcast based on those stories but framed as Seven Truths.
www.audible.ca/pd/B08NXZGC4...
Audible
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November 29, 2025 at 9:28 PM
You’re right, I didn’t realize. It’s on my bedside table even though I listen to many more stories than I hold to read.
I did find this, though… her podcast based on those stories but framed as Seven Truths.
www.audible.ca/pd/B08NXZGC4...
I did find this, though… her podcast based on those stories but framed as Seven Truths.
www.audible.ca/pd/B08NXZGC4...
I mean, that’s not a bad way to think of it. Except it only goes one way. I can’t help but wonder how much better those communities would be funded if more teens got to see the crumbing infrastructure or experienced life w/o potable running water. Setting aside the question of where they’d stay…
November 29, 2025 at 9:17 PM
I mean, that’s not a bad way to think of it. Except it only goes one way. I can’t help but wonder how much better those communities would be funded if more teens got to see the crumbing infrastructure or experienced life w/o potable running water. Setting aside the question of where they’d stay…
I mean, it could be more natural if we didn’t have systems of racial division sewed into the fabric creating our nations… the US built with enslavement, Canada with land theft and treaties turned inside out so that providing education became the genocidal residential schools.
Truth can change us…
Truth can change us…
November 29, 2025 at 9:11 PM
I mean, it could be more natural if we didn’t have systems of racial division sewed into the fabric creating our nations… the US built with enslavement, Canada with land theft and treaties turned inside out so that providing education became the genocidal residential schools.
Truth can change us…
Truth can change us…
Muskrats are so much shier than the mink or beaver around here, that’s neat that you saw them. I’m a fan of cormorants and I don’t care how many people try to convince me to hate them… I love them. One of my first tattoos is a cormorant with wings hanging to dry. Gets me a range of comments.
November 29, 2025 at 9:07 PM
Muskrats are so much shier than the mink or beaver around here, that’s neat that you saw them. I’m a fan of cormorants and I don’t care how many people try to convince me to hate them… I love them. One of my first tattoos is a cormorant with wings hanging to dry. Gets me a range of comments.
So many in town don’t think about why they’re there, just resent their presence. It’s hardest on the kids billeted in local homes so attend high school. Far from home, eating unrecognizable foods, speaking English except at school among peers. So alienating.
I was privileged to have the opposite.
I was privileged to have the opposite.
November 29, 2025 at 9:04 PM
So many in town don’t think about why they’re there, just resent their presence. It’s hardest on the kids billeted in local homes so attend high school. Far from home, eating unrecognizable foods, speaking English except at school among peers. So alienating.
I was privileged to have the opposite.
I was privileged to have the opposite.
Utterly horrible what they went through on a daily basis. Thunder Bay, like other northern Ontario cities, are hubs where Indigenous people wind up living for a while for many reasons. Teens, bc no high schools on their remote reserves. Communities when evacuated due to flood, fires. Stark racism…
November 29, 2025 at 9:04 PM
Utterly horrible what they went through on a daily basis. Thunder Bay, like other northern Ontario cities, are hubs where Indigenous people wind up living for a while for many reasons. Teens, bc no high schools on their remote reserves. Communities when evacuated due to flood, fires. Stark racism…
Wait, not a big muskrat? I’ve seen them on Etobicoke Creek, along with beavers and mink. Nutria… I had no idea they were in Canada!
I love salamanders… worth visiting my favourite wet, wooded parks.
I love salamanders… worth visiting my favourite wet, wooded parks.
November 29, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Wait, not a big muskrat? I’ve seen them on Etobicoke Creek, along with beavers and mink. Nutria… I had no idea they were in Canada!
I love salamanders… worth visiting my favourite wet, wooded parks.
I love salamanders… worth visiting my favourite wet, wooded parks.
Really?!
I grew up a ten-minute drive, 30-minute hard bike ride (half up hill, half down, barely any flats) away from the southern tip of Simcoe, Cook’s Bay. It’s the only place in the area where I could see a bald eagle and loons.
I grew up a ten-minute drive, 30-minute hard bike ride (half up hill, half down, barely any flats) away from the southern tip of Simcoe, Cook’s Bay. It’s the only place in the area where I could see a bald eagle and loons.
November 29, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Really?!
I grew up a ten-minute drive, 30-minute hard bike ride (half up hill, half down, barely any flats) away from the southern tip of Simcoe, Cook’s Bay. It’s the only place in the area where I could see a bald eagle and loons.
I grew up a ten-minute drive, 30-minute hard bike ride (half up hill, half down, barely any flats) away from the southern tip of Simcoe, Cook’s Bay. It’s the only place in the area where I could see a bald eagle and loons.
I have to suggest a book, then. There are many, but I really love Tanya Talaga’s writing. And after my brief but wonderful summers in Thunder Bay, that one at school spent with Indigenous friends, this book hit home.
houseofanansi.com/products/sev...
houseofanansi.com/products/sev...
Seven Fallen Feathers
The groundbreaking and multiple award-winning national bestseller work about systemic racism, education, the failure of the policing and justice systems, and Indigenous rights by Tanya Talaga. Over th...
houseofanansi.com
November 29, 2025 at 8:50 PM
I have to suggest a book, then. There are many, but I really love Tanya Talaga’s writing. And after my brief but wonderful summers in Thunder Bay, that one at school spent with Indigenous friends, this book hit home.
houseofanansi.com/products/sev...
houseofanansi.com/products/sev...
I ate a lot from my uncle’s fishing trips, but alas I did most of my fishing on the south where I grew up. Lake Simcoe, Lake Huron. My neighbour’s big pond which was stocked with large-mouth bass.
November 29, 2025 at 8:47 PM
I ate a lot from my uncle’s fishing trips, but alas I did most of my fishing on the south where I grew up. Lake Simcoe, Lake Huron. My neighbour’s big pond which was stocked with large-mouth bass.
Huge like thick. Huge legs. Huge head. Massive feet. Just… powerful.
I saw a bobcat too, much more southeast (can’t recall but likely on the way home from Timmins one time) and they’re also stunning, honestly. But lynx have just amazing proportions. They’re hard to believe.
I saw a bobcat too, much more southeast (can’t recall but likely on the way home from Timmins one time) and they’re also stunning, honestly. But lynx have just amazing proportions. They’re hard to believe.
November 29, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Huge like thick. Huge legs. Huge head. Massive feet. Just… powerful.
I saw a bobcat too, much more southeast (can’t recall but likely on the way home from Timmins one time) and they’re also stunning, honestly. But lynx have just amazing proportions. They’re hard to believe.
I saw a bobcat too, much more southeast (can’t recall but likely on the way home from Timmins one time) and they’re also stunning, honestly. But lynx have just amazing proportions. They’re hard to believe.
In Thunder Bay, I experienced racism directed at us (I look ambiguous but w/a group clearly Indigenous) that left me shocked, confused & angry. So to then receive a warm welcome on reserve at the powwow, when I worried my presence wouldn’t be okay? Humbling. Their hospitality had a big impact on me.
November 29, 2025 at 8:43 PM
In Thunder Bay, I experienced racism directed at us (I look ambiguous but w/a group clearly Indigenous) that left me shocked, confused & angry. So to then receive a warm welcome on reserve at the powwow, when I worried my presence wouldn’t be okay? Humbling. Their hospitality had a big impact on me.