Jonathan R. Schmidt

I, like many of you, am looking forward to the long weekend. I would like to go canoeing with Darlene's family, but we will only go canoeing if the weather cooperates. With today's long term and short term weather forecasts we often look in anxious anticipation to what the weather is going to be for an upcoming long weekend. For example, last weekend our friends got married and I watched as the 7-day forecast changed from cold, 80% p.o.p. to sunny partly cloudy with a high 15 degrees. Having taken a few courses in climatology I do undestand the limitations of forecasting, especially for southern Ontario. Nonetheless there should be some accountability or maybe a reality check for those of us who actually believe the forecast might have some bearing on reality. Well, for this week I'm going to track the weather forecast for Kitchener for only Saturday May 20. The results will be posted below. I will try to track any changes in the 7-day forecast for Kitchener from theweathernetwork.ca and post them here.

Results (Date/Time & Forecast/High):

9:00am Mon May 15/06 - Sunny / 8 degrees / 0% p.o.p.
1:00pm Mon May 15/06 - Sunny / 14 degrees / 0% p.o.p.
7:00am Tues May 16/06 - Cloudy with showers / 13 degrees / 40% p.o.p.
4:00pm Tues May 16/06 - Cloudy with showers / 13 degrees / 40% p.o.p.
8:00am Wed May 17/06 - Cloudy with showers / 15 degrees / 40% p.o.p.
4:00pm Wed May 17/06 - Scattered showers / 15 degrees / 40% p.o.p.
9:00am Thu May 18/06 - Cloudy with showers / 18 degrees / 70% p.o.p.
9:00am Fri May 19/06 - Mainly sunny / 16 degrees / 10% p.o.p.
3:00pm Fri May 19/06 - Cloudy periods / 16 degrees / 0% p.o.p. (30% pop for AM)

Honestly, I don't know how to respond to the Caledonia stand-off involving members of Six Nations. I wish I could go down there and stand alongside the members of Six Nations and say 'Despite all the racism you may be feeling, I'll stand with you.' But the voices gather: 'I'm too busy. I have to go to work. I'm moving in a few days. I'm busy." or "It's not my battle. They can stand on their own, why would they need me?" or "Well, even the elected officials from the Band Council aren't backing the standoff. I don't know enough about the issue to make a stand either way."

I think what infuriates me most is the lack of understanding in the public and even the media to print quotes such as this "However, the Henning brothers told CBC.ca they have clear title to the land." The members from Six Nations ALSO believe they have clear title to the land, hence the standoff. The members from Six Nations don't really care if the Henning brothers think they have clear title to the land. They believe it is a nation to nation issue, that is between Canada and Six Nations. If I stole something and then sold it to someone the person I sold it to would be holding that item illegally, regardless of whether the transaction between him and I was legit. At least that's my infantile understanding of our laws and the issue at stake here. Developers who would like to build and make a profit on land under dispute between the Federal Government and First Nations groups in Canada should be very very cautious. They shouldn't claim 'They simply want to do business and don't want to be political' - a line that reveals their ignorance and desire for only profits. Being a developer in Canada is developing on land that we took,stole,confiscated or otherwise from the Aboriginal people of Canada. It is an inherent political exercise and it always has been. We desperately need greater understanding on the issues. We need to talk more, interact more and listen much much more.

Along that note above, I had a wonderful time touring Stoney Point/Kettle Point F.N. last Friday with Darlene's Western University 'Teaching Aboriginal Students' class. It was very interesting to tour the school and see how the community is developing their young children to be their very best, to be proud of their heritage and to gently balance both the traditional and the modern. I wouldn't be surprised if some amazing Aboriginal leaders come from the Kettle Point education system in the future. Granted, they will have to overcome a hoard of racism and barriers within our larger society. Grab your hammer, let's break down the walls. Or better yet, grab a piece of the floor and sit and listen to an elder for an afternoon.

Yesterday I received my acceptance to University of Calgary's Masters of Environmental Design (Planning) program. This is the last piece of the puzzle for the move out West. Now everything is in place, Darlene has a job, we have a place to live and I have my acceptance to school. It is quite amazing how all things have fallen into place. We feel unbelievably blessed by God's grace, but we also know that being away from friends and family will have its own challenges. As we move out west you can track our trip across the country at www.jonanddarlene.schmidty.ca

Well I have finally reached the last term of my undergraduate career. The end of my life as a student in formal education is quickly coming to a close. My final semester is going to be filled with reading reports, researching, and scratching my head on the subject of abandoned military radar bases in northern Ontario. My thesis project, which comprises two of my five courses this term, is focused on an historical look at the investigations into the Mid-Canada Line Radar Sites clean-up. There are sixteen remaining radar bases in Ontario and my thesis will focus on how the clean-up order for these sixteen sites has changed over time. At first glance through the literature it appears that multi-site multi-decade clean-up projects can lack a consistency and a concrete vision of what is most important to minimize risks to human health and the environment, but of course this needs cited proofs and examples. I'm looking forward to getting into this final project. If you are interested in some history of the Mid-Canada Radar Line Larry Wilson has an extensive page with photos, maps and stories.

This term I am taking Geography 405 - Wetlands, and our major assignment is a group project where we have to evaluate whether a wetland should be deemed 'provincially significant' or not. Yesterday our group went out to our wetland to do some field study at our Cedar swamp just north of St. Agatha. I have posted some pictures of our wetland on the left. Hope you enjoy the pictures of our cedar swamp, including ferns, sedges, wildflowers and much more. One of the excitements of our wetland was when we scared a few grouse/partridge out of some cover. Happy wetland travels!
Here's some wetland links
Ducks Unlimited USA
Ducks Unlimited CAN

Yesterday I went to a conflict medication conference for the day. The workshop that I attended was on reconciliation in Aboriginal communities. The day was a very refreshing day of reflection and sharing. I came out of the day not with a remedy for solving conflict but rather I came home with a different spirit. A spirit of peace and an energy that I need not be overwhelmed by the large problems, but instead to tackle the small things with a deep passion. The use of story during the day was another welcome difference from my classes this term. Stories have a way of reaching everyone where they are at and not enforcing any sort of agenda. My favourite story was about how a grandson and grandfather went for a walk one day.

Now the grandfather often went out to the bush to gather herbs for medicines and other objects. Naturally the grandson followed along and when the grandfather told him to pick something up he gently gathered the plant and placed it in one of his numerous pockets on his small army jacket. After a long time in the bush the grandson was getting worried because he was running out of pockets to hold all these objects. Soon the two came to a river and by this time the grandson had filled up every one of the pockets he had. At the river the grandfather knelt down and picked up a stone to give to the boy. The boy responded that he had no more room for anything. The grandfather responded "Then you must leave something behind".