The Galwegians- September 2022

Here is hoping that everything in this world continues to progress and improve to allow this fundraising event to occur in a couple of months. Stay posted on the Hall’s website at: www.galwayhall.ca. Also, check out the October edition of the Kinmount Gazette for information regarding the sitting times and reservation details. The Galway Hall continues to seek community-minded souls to help out. If interested in becoming a Galway Hall volunteer, email info@galwayhall.ca or phone Bill @ 705 488-2625.

This is just a friendly reminder to all. By the time this article is read, schools will be open for another school year and buses will be running. Please be mindful of the rules of the road regarding the transportation of the students to and from school.

As regular readers, you are probably aware that we do not keep our bird feeders up throughout the entire summer. Those of you that do continue to feed our feathered friends have probably enjoyed the brightly-coloured male American goldfinches. They are strikingly stunning!

There have been a few sightings of monarch butterflies reported. It is good to see that there are more and more milkweed plants appearing in our area. Snapping turtles have been spotted in Crystal Lake in few places. Some reports indicate that there have been some big ones observed. There have been lots of loons flying over the lake as well. One can hear their distinctive flying call, especially in the early morning or towards dusk. Did you know that the common loon has four distinct calls- wail, tremolo, yodel, and hoot?  The more cheerful “tremolo” call that has an undulating tone, is tagged the “laughing” call and is given by loons when flying. On August 1st, there were six adult loons having a ‘gathering’ which was an early sign that autumn is on its way.

Have you noticed that some flowers have enjoyed the growing season of 2022. For example, orange lilies, normally expected around July 12th (Orange Day) were in bloom before the end of June. Some orange lilies are still going and it is now mid-August.

We have a couple of Mock Orange bushes in our garden. They come into fragrant bloom for a week or two in early June as they did again this year. However, one bud appeared on one of the stems and burst into bloom on August 16th. My late mother-in-law is the only person I ever heard that called a Mock Orange bush a “Bridle Rose” bush. Have you ever heard this term?

Our sweet peas (which are annuals) were not as abundant as in other years. However, our everlasting pea (which is a perennial), despite a late start, has flourished. It has reached 6 feet in height and is still growing. This plant has been in the same place in the same flower bed for as long as I can remember.

Of course this raises the question of how young are you when you actually start to remember ‘things’. According to research, autobiographical memories require three key things. The first is a sense of self. The second is language which usually happens later in the second year of life. Therefore, without language, narratives cannot be formed about their own lives. The third is the hippocampus. This is the region of the brain that is largely responsible for memory. This region is not fully developed in the infancy period. Curiously, the term given to not remembering early events during childhood is known as “Infant Amnesia” or “Childhood Amnesia”. 

Dr. Carole Peterson from Memorial University of Newfoundland, in a new study on Childhood Amnesia, suggests that, on average, the earliest memories that people can recall point back to when they were just 2 ½ years old! Dr. Peterson points out that what is needed now in childhood amnesia research are independently confirmed or documented external dates against which personally derived dates can be compared.

Getting back to my comment about “as long as I can remember”, yes, I am quite sure I can rule out remembering at age 2 ½! I’m thinking more like age 6 or 7, maybe.

Continuing with the here’s hoping theme, The Friends of Galway are going to reconvene after the COVID-19 pandemic interruption. The meeting date is scheduled for Friday, September 16th at 7 pm at the Galway Hall. Any person interested in hearing stories and lore from Galway Township is welcome.

Here are some of the events happening in the September night sky. On September 10th, there is the full moon, known as the “Corn Moon”. It is also called the “Harvest Moon” which is the full moon that occurs closest to the autumnal equinox in September each year. Neptune will be at its brightest in 2022 on September 16th and it will be visible all night long. Due to its extreme distance from Earth, it will only appear as a tiny blue dot. The autumnal equinox occurs at 00:55 UTC on September 23rd. On September 26th, Jupiter will be at its closest approach to Earth in 2022. With a good pair of binoculars, one should be able to see not only Jupiter’s rings but also its four largest moons. These moons will appear as bright spots around this planet.

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