A Saucy Tart Summer
Romanticize your hometown
For our five year anniversary Phil and I bought a wood world map. We both enjoy travel and thought it would be, not only a fantastic art piece in the house, but also a cool way to track all the places we’ve been. We have little white dots on Thailand, Scotland, Mexico, states like California, and provinces like P.E.I and British Columbia. The wishlist is still quite extensive though—Italy, Iceland, Malta, Greece, The Netherlands, Denmark, and France just to name a few. While travelling the world is always going to be something my heart desperately yearns for, during the lockdowns I had a new sense of clarity on just how much of our own country, and even our own province, is so worth exploring. Canada is big. Ontario is big. Real big. If I started driving west right now, I’d still be in Ontario this time tomorrow night.
To prevent myself from going completely insane during those few months of house arrest I spent a lot of time researching all the hiking trails within a few hours drive. Outdoor activities were the only things we were allowed so exploring trails was a great activity to hyper-focus on. During my trail research I also found some cool restaurants, cute shops, small towns I wanted to eventually visit. Once things opened up again we enjoyed dinner at Stillwaters in Paris, Ontario, which overlooks the river, discovered we didn’t mind the drive to Stratford and have made theatre performances there a regular date night activity, and discovered the botanical gardens hosts fun 19+ events and cool workshops throughout the year.
This summer, since I’ll be staying local, I decided to embrace my staycation and turn this summer into the year I fall back in love with where I live. While I’d love for travel to be a regular activity for us, we still have bills to pay and renovations to do and that means some summers we’re going to have to make the most of our hometown (No worries though, I’m already lobbying for an east coast road trip for next year). But remember, Ontario is so big and there’s so much I’ve yet to see.
Inspired by this new sense of local adventure I went a little overboard making plans—a lot of concert tickets were purchased, a lot of weekends already booked, a lot of plans waiting to be set into motion. Sum 41’s final tour and the announcement of My Chemical Romance’s Long Live The Black Parade set off my concert ticket buying era (A total of 8 shows). Billy Talent is playing on my birthday so Phil and I are doing an overnight up north, I’ll get to enjoy a mini road trip with my sister to see Brand New in June and August we’ll see My Chemical Romance. I also surprised Phil with tickets to see a band he likes, The Landreth Bros, in July.
On top of the shameful amount of concert tickets, I’ve made plans to see a cabaret show with a friend, we will likely wander the town before or after, and of course grab some dinner. There’s museum exhibits on my wishlist, art galleries to explore, and a few nature paths I want to finally wander this year. Plus, I recently learned that both Phil and I have never experienced a few quintessential Niagara Falls Tourist activities—he has never been on the Maid of the Mist, I have never done the Journey Behind The Falls, and neither one of us experienced the White Water Walk. So, as you can probably guess, I’ll be dragging him to play Niagara Falls tourist sometime this summer.
Alas one must stay financially responsible and cannot use the excuse of “it can be my birthday gift!” more than a few times before it sinks into unreasonable territory. Once again the lockdowns gave me a small gift of having to be creative with my time. Nothing was open anyways, so I couldn’t spend money even if I wanted to. I wasn’t always able get away to the woods for a day so instead I’d pack a bag with snacks, a journal or my current read, my camera, buy a coffee on my way and just sit in the botanical gardens. I did have to pay $6 for parking, but a fair price for the joy of sitting amongst the blooms, listening to the birds, and just enjoying a quiet day in nature. The places we’re able to exist for free are shrinking at an alarming rate but that doesn’t mean they are gone completely.
Being in a tourist area we are lucky enough to have a lot of events during the nice months. Sometimes we’ll attend the peach festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake or the art show, there are free concerts in the park nearby us, festivals that happen all around the region, and while there’s lots of things to buy, we often don’t spend a dime. We attend, wander around, laugh and talk, and then go home. I’d encourage you to also check your local area’s website for sales or offers of free admission, or annual special events. During the deep chill of February Niagara Falls Tourism puts on a $1 admission day to Clifton Hill attractions to raise money for charity, you just have to show ID that you are a resident. The AGO has free admission the first Wednesday night of each month and the ROM offers it on the third Tuesday. There’s also a program called ‘Doors Open Ontario’ which offers free access to heritage sites that are either typically off limits to the public or charge an admission fee. Don’t forget to check your local library as well—ours allows you to take out a Parks Pass the same way you’d take out a book so you can gain free access to Ontario Parks. Fun, for free!
Falling in love with my hometown also means falling in love with my home. Now this isn’t a stretch in the sense that I love being home, especially now that my home includes a pottery studio in the basement. I do get some FOMO though and some nice weather guilt. Living in Canada where the weather gets to the point where the air hurts your face, you feel you must take advantage of nice days when they arrive. I’m trying to adjust my thinking on that and recognize that embracing the nice weather doesn’t always have to mean embracing it away from my house. As I write this I’m in the beginning stages of making my front porch a little oasis. I found patio chairs on Marketplace, will be cleaning up the front garden and doing some planting this week, and am on the lookout for a small table, and hanging planters for the railing. Maybe embracing the nice weather will look like sitting outside on my little porch paradise—nowhere to go, nothing to do, simply being where my feet are.
This is conveniently also the year I’ve chosen to embrace weirdness. I’m mildly obsessed with Meghan Sussex’s With Love, Meghan, and insanely obsessed with the dried flower sprinkles she put on everything. Somehow past me and present me colluded and I had already purchased an edible flower garden packet of seeds (it’s rare past me does anything helpful for present me). Flower sprinkles are one of my biggest garden goals this year. And growing a melon—it’s attempt number three *sigh*. I’ve also dug out my copy of Simply Living Well by Julia Watkins and have marked off a few tinctures, salves, beauty products to make, and made notes on drying herbs and preserving. Maybe it’s the beginnings of societal collapse and the insufferable nature of social media, but homesteading has been looking better and better every day.
So here’s to a summer of staying put, of embracing local restaurants, festivals, events, and adventures. While the thrill of booking a plane ticket may never quite be matched, many people are likely booking tickets to your hometown and mine, so maybe we’ve simply lost the magic located right where we are. Maybe we need to adjust our vision and see our space with fresh eyes to fall back in love with it’s beauty. As you make your plans for the next few months, consider what you’ve possibly overlooked around you, or what you’ve missed out on due to constantly looking so far away.
Other things you could do this year:
- Take any inside activity outside (work, sketching, writing etc.) Enjoy the nice weather by simply existing in the nice weather.
- Visit your local farmers' market—bonus, you might get to know your local community all that much better!
- Try a local bakery or café for breakfast or a tasty afternoon treat
- Take yourself for breakfast, alone. Heck, try to do lots more things alone! Movies, dinner, breakfast, coffee, even a concert or event.
- Try to find every Little Free Library in your area.
- Make some ephemeral art: wildflower arrangements, pressed leaves, chalk art, or mandalas with found objects. The lack of permanence is the beauty of it.
- Invite a neighbour or friend you barely know over for coffee in the garden, on your porch, at your dining room table. Even better, host a get together for a few people. BBQ, potluck, cocktails and tapas, maybe coffee and dessert. Embrace your home by embracing your community.
I've been trying to get better with going places alone that aren't just supermarkets and retail stores. Like craft fairs or framers markets. My husband works on Saturday and I dont have many friends close by. Im tried of doing the same old thing or just spending my day tending to house chores. I look forward to this next chapter of a new type of independence.
As for advice, care less about what other people think of you. Just do the thing!
I’ve been taking myself out to eat every Saturday at local restaurants and it’s been fun so far.