Ain't Yo Mama's Pancakes at the Caledon Family Restaurant

What: The Caledon Family Restaurant, previously known as ‘Flapjack’s’, but recently changed after the original owners sold it. Google Maps doesn’t even know this, and I am told the name change was about the only thing that was made different here – same staff, food and service that has attracted people for years.

Where: On Highway 10, about 45mins North of Toronto and close to the terminus of Highway 410. Literally in the middle of a farm. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking: this isn't even in Toronto, to which my response is simple - close that blithering trap of yours and fill it with food at The Caledon Family Restaurant. You’ll see why I wrote about it.

 

Ohhhhhhhhh sweet sweet God. 

Eats: Three words: All. Day. Breakfast. We had Eggs Florentine, a Spanish Omelette and the ‘Breakfast Special’, complete with home fries and pancakes to cure our hangovers. The portions were generous and they even gave us an extra pancake after the kitchen ‘accidentally’ made more than the order. This was a very good thing, as we found out.

Best Parts: Holy Gods of the batter kingdom unite; these pancakes are off the chain. Easily the best flapjacks I've eaten, and I’m not a huge fan of them.  The homemade mix is buttery, light and fluffy beyond my wildest dreams. Combined with their homemade strawberry jam compote, I think I died and went to a very delicious world of country breakfast foods. The rest of the meal was also rather appetizing – rich hollandaise topped poached, runny eggs, fried potatoes and perfectly brewed coffee.

What really added a tone of goodness, though, was the atmosphere. This place reminded me of the mismatched breakfast spots in middle-of-nowhere locations along the Trans-Canada Highway, despite its close proximity to Toronto. Genuine country hospitality presents itself in the friendly service, oak furniture and tacky wall decorations. I was taken back to rural Canada and the places I miss when in the city.

Go Again? Absolutely, but I probably won’t get to because I don’t own a car. The only drawback of The Caledon Family Restaurant is it’s inaccessibility to commuters, but a getaway to the Greater Toronto Area’s wilder places would make a perfect excuse to stop here. For nature lovers, the restaurant is close to great conservation areas and parks worth exploring like the Cheltenham Badlands, Mono Cliffs and Forks of the Credit. You can even visit after a night of camping illegally, which is totally not what I was doing.  Regardless, this place has garnered a reputation well beyond Caledon and has even been featured on You Gotta Eat Here. Next time you're cruising rural GTA, make sure you stop by The Caledeon Family Restaurant.  

Wheelin' with March of Dimes Canada

It’s not every day that a project comes along with the potential to not only change what we assume accessibility looks like, but rearrange our whole paradigmatic thinking on disability and what exactly it constitutes. At March of Dimes Canada programs are set in place to do exactly this while promoting independence and dignity in their clients. The Vaughn Congregate Care Unit is now their most ambitious endeavour in the Greater Toronto Area, providing supportive housing for a number of people living with complex care issues. While this has been a plan over twelve years in the making, they are finally set to open doors this spring at the already established Reena Residence in Vaughan, just north or Toronto. Their support team has been in intense training for the big move and are now caring for the clients during pre-transition, housed in various locations and care facilities across the city. I should know – I am part of said staff.

 

PLUS there's hospital clowns. Yeah.

Heading into the complex care until at the Holland Bloorview Kids Hospital is like entering a world that is slowly becoming more and more familiar to me. In between the countless tubes, hospital beds and ventilator alarms are our newest clients, all of whom have spent a majority of their life in this facility. They are, most understandably, excited and nervous about moving into a new apartment. Our job right now is to reassure them that this is a change for the better; it is an environment that allows for more independence and freedom. As we get to know each person more intimately, we begin to realize the true scope of this move. We have to stay confident so they can stay invested in this decision. This is no easy task.

Because of the dynamic nature of this program, our skills must broaden beyond just basic medical care. We must be able to respond to a variety of situations when multi-level support isn’t always available, establish a close relationship with each client to understand their individual needs and concerns, and build a community that values mutual support and social inclusion. This is why Vaughan Congregate Care is different and has the potential to force newer, more appropriate perspectives of disability. 

For now, we’re still in the early stages of this innovative program. As I become better acquainted with my role at March of Dimes and my learning curve becomes steeper, I will blog my thoughts and experiences here – a new fish in a big sea. It’s about time I did something actual.

The Mandatory 'I Graduated' Post

If you look close enough, you'll see how
I am actually freaking out inside.  

They say growing up is hard to do. I’ve learned that the process of becoming an adult happens fast and doesn’t consider if you’re ready or not. It invades your life and forces complicated decisions that don’t always make everybody happy. As the soft-spoken hairy Italian photographer prunes my robe and details the cap before gingerly placing it on my head, a flood of life surges through my legs and up my spine. Six years and I’m sitting on a stool attempting to hold a smile with some fake diploma held across my trunk. I feel absolutely silly and can’t wait to leave the cramped meeting-room-turned-photo-studio as my awkward levels reach a boiling point. Also, this is the first time things really start to hit hard: I am graduating.

Six years of post-secondary…..over. Now what? I mean, I kinda know the answer, but I still find myself caught in my first real existential crisis while I attempt to untangle the experience of college and university and everything in between while trying to simultaneously figure out what I want to do with my life. In the past month I’ve finished two jobs at PARC and CDS, wrapped up the last projects and classes I’ll ever have to deal with as an undergraduate student, started training and working with the March of Dimes Canada, found a loft I can call home on May 1^st, and slid – nay, collided face first – into adulthood.

And how the hell do I sum everything up? Three words: I know nothing. Of course, I know some things, but really…really, I know nothing. That is what all this learning has taught me. The more I know, the more I realize I don’t really know anything. This isn’t a self-deprecation nor a self-pity psalm, but a realization of the world and my puny insignificance that pushes me forward. Only the most ignorant think they know everything, and I’m happy to be placed in the category of little to no comprehension of things, for the earth has `so much more to teach me. University changed me, and now I am ready embark on a new scary adventure as an empty vessel of nothing.

Thank you, university.

Safe travels,

Aaron Turpin

What Happens when Spirit and Action Collide?

The act of ‘waking up’ is taken for granted in North America. It is an act we follow on a daily basis, a movement into controlled consciousness, thought and action. We are no longer caught in a dream-state; instead we find ourselves on earth and begin to live within it as human beings. But ‘waking up’ is far more than transitioning between sleep and consciousness. It is the complicated task of realizing that you exist in what is referred to as ‘here and now’. It requires the efforts of a plethora of functions in your body working in beautiful unison to come out of a slumber, yet we do it on a very regular basis. So, what does it really mean to ‘wake up’? Some say North America currently is in a deep sleep, not figuratively, but as a collective. We have let go of our inhibitions as humans and as active citizens and separated ourselves from our bodies and our spirit.

If there’s anything I’ve learned in university, it’s that philosophical approaches such as the aforementioned must be compared to real moments in human interactions. The issue is this: how do we frame activism in North America and what does that say about the constitutions of social change? If you get paid, are you still considered an activist?  If it doesn’t involve marching down the middle of Main Street chanting ‘fuck the system!’ and holding signs with cliché remarks, can we qualify it was activism? Can our spirituality be included in this?

Spiritualism has many manifestations as a vehicle for social change, but it is this exact diversity that in turn strengthens the movement. By embracing self-reflexivity, activists in North America can both improve their level of impact and become more creative in their approach. Imagine recreating something like our traditional manifestations of ‘education’ in the global South as a tool for social change and spiritualism instead of enforcing status quo. Remove all notions of competition, classism, exclusivity, hierarchy or power abuse and examine what is left: an educational structure that values common voice, participation and social transformation. Yes, students can be activists, too – both inside and outside the classroom.

Do I sound hopelessly naive in this post? I hope so. I can already sense the scoffing of some of my readers as I jump off the deep end. I used to do that, too – turn my nose up at every radical idea I stumbled across, until I realized that I was taking the easy route. I stopped being idealistic. I stopped dreaming. All because I was told it was wrong; it was better to beat the pulp out of every well-intentioned do-gooder with an idea that seemed far-fetched. My mind was diseased with analysis paralysis. Now…..I am an activist. Are you?

This post was inspired by Alan Watts’ lecture on nothingness:

Lost and Found's Guide to Post-Grad Employment

So apparently I am good at job hunting.

In early January I posted an article entitled ‘Happy New Fear’ that was supposed to reflect my anxiety on formulating some kind of post-graduate career plan amidst a plethora of under-employed former students. As it turns out, it was the same gut-wrenching apprehension of joblessness that motivated me to ruthlessly search for a position that suited me and my interests. Oh, and it paid off – with a full time position as Personal Support Worker with March of Dimes Canada.

But not without a steep learning curve and plenty of job hunting mistakes made in previous attempts, which begs the question: how could I not write a post about post-grad employment? Below: the five biggest lessons I’ve learned on my journey not being broke and homeless and sad after six years of post-secondary madness.

1)   Let Other People do the Work for You

It sounds silly, doesn’t it? I mean, if you could outsource your own job hunt, wouldn't you want to? Welcome to the real world, Watson….It exists.

 

It's elementary.....Ahem, job sourcing, dear Watson.

During my search for a life-after-university plan, I had two different employment agencies who knew my name, interests and field – one was a private head-hunting company and the other a temporary agency run through York University. Although I didn’t have to use them in the end, I was confident in their ability to find me a ‘fall back’ plan because I had personally introduced myself and had made sure they knew I was a dependable person.

But it doesn’t stop there – especially for recent graduates. Universities all have career centers with job boards, resume and cover letter workshops and sometimes even job counselling. Government agencies are also interested in getting young educated people into the workforce, that’s why they have placement agencies in many locations. Share the load and connect with these services – you may be surprised at the outcome.

2)   Shake some Hands

In the world of online everything, it can be so incredibly easy to hide behind your digital resume. Online application systems are now the primary input source for prospective employees, and while filing off dozens of resumes online may be an easier alternative, nothing beats doing it in person. Please, please believe me on this. My personal mantra during my last job hunt was to bypass as many online applications as possible and meet someone from the company – a secretary, HR rep, whoever – before showing them my resume. I am certain this is the main reason why I was offered my new position.

Doing this puts a face to the name and shows the employer just how serious you are about working for them. The effort of travelling to a place of business pays off quickly – as a networking tool and motivational technique that is sure to give you a strong leg up on your competition. 

3)   Meet People and Network the Hell Outta Them

We all hear about how important networking is and how it leads to so many jobs. While this is especially true today, I still don’t think graduates understand this. Networking should be a process started far before you enter the ‘real world’, and universities are teeming hotspots of opportunity because they naturally attract professionals from all different kinds of fields. If you don’t take advantage of this, you’re missing out on some great potential job openings.

But I’m not just advocating signing up for conferences or events. The fabric of the professional world has changed over the years, and the lead-in to jobs is getting more and more informal. My best piece of advice is this: view every new encounter as a possible networking opportunity, regardless of where you are or what you are doing. Friends, family, relatives, co-workers, peers – they’re all untapped opportunities to wiggle into a job of your dreams. It sounds ruthless, I know – but it works. The better you are at forming new connections, the greater your chances of working in your field.

4)   Learn from Rejection

This is a tough one, especially for us young adults – failure can be detrimental, but it is a necessary part of improving a skill like job hunting. If anything, know this: when it comes to the Canadian job search, you will always experience more failures than successes. I know it sucks to hear that a majority of your applications as a new grad will end up in a trash can with barely a skim, but it’s the rotten truth and the best thing we can do is learn from it. There are plenty of ways to do this, too.

If you’ve found yourself on the wrong end of an application group, ask why you weren’t selected for an interview or given the position. At this point, there’s really nothing to lose and many HR departments are happy to provide a little feedback. It shows that you are interested and helps you improve your next attempt. If there’s one hard lesson I’ve learned, it’s that no one can ever have the perfect resume/interview/cover letter. Bettering oneself in the job market is an infinite process – the more you learn about yourself, the easier it becomes. 

5)   Be Stubborn and Stick With It!

Stubbornness gets a bad rap these days. It shouldn’t when it comes to job searches, because the more we get our name on peoples desks, the more we increase our opportunities for employment. Job hunting can be incredibly de-motivating, but don’t let a few turned heads drag you down. Remember – this is your future and you shouldn’t stop until you’re truly happy with it. It pays to be resilient, so build your tolerance to the negative parts and you’ll surely succeed. It takes time and effort to land employment in the 21^st century and patience is a virtue.

Good luck grads of ’13!

Confessions of a Tree Planter: An Interview with Adam Turpin

It’s that time of year again. No, not the annual spring barbeque where Uncle Larry dips into the mimosas and takes off his shirt to go Sasquatch hunting. I’m talking about planting season. Tree planting, to be precise. All around Canada people are digging out their mini shovels from the basement and heading off into the bush for weeks of painful labour, supplying our fair country with oxygen (and wood, and pulp, and paper….as I understand it) at pennies a tree.

But those pennies can add up. Just ask veteran tree planter and Toronto native Adam Turpin as he begins his umpteenth season, now foremaning his own team set to tromp around in northern Alberta’s wilderness in early May. You may think you know, but you have no idea. Enjoy: an interview with a man who is intimately connected our wooden giants.

Tell us about yourself. Who is Adam Turpin, in a nutshell?

Who wouldn't want a piece of this? Honestly?

I’ll try to make the nutshell as small as possible; I find it’s difficult to describe myself when I really sit down and think about it. I can start by saying I’m a soon-to-be York graduate who studied Kinesiology. I’m 25, and love long walks on the beach. Oops, wrong questionnaire. 

Seriously though, I’m a tree planter. This upcoming summer will be my fifth year doing it, and I’ll do my best to give you the most accurate picture of what it is we do.

What initially interested you in planting and why the hell would anyone want to do this?

It’s been so long that it’s hard to tease out the particular reason why I chose to go. An acquaintance of mine at the time, (a friend now) had gone and I was briefly told about it, and it sparked an interest. She spoke of the nature, the money, the drunken debauchery. It all seemed too unreal to believe so I had to try it for myself.

 

Paradise for planters, hell for pretty much everyone else.

I had previously done a mix of indoor and outdoor work, and I much preferred being outdoors. You’ve got to deal with the elements, but it’s more real…and planting most definitely has shown me the elements! Bugs, rain, snow, heat, mud - it’s hard to imagine why anyone would want to give it a go, given the difficulty level. But that’s the beauty of the job. It really shows you what you’re capable of by the end of a season.

Planters will give you different reasons for their motivation, but it’s a known fact that employers want people who are motivated by making money. Planting can be a very lucrative seasonal job for the student (if you’re willing to work hard at it), so I think that’s a big reason why people start (and continue).

I understand that a very specific culture exists around planters and what they do. Can you lend a little insight into what this is and how you fit into it?

That’s a great question. 95% of people I talk to about planting either know absolutely nothing about it, or they’ve got a friend who talked their ear off about it because they went themselves. We certainly like to talk about our job.

From time to time, I hear about our stereotype though, that is, we’re all just a bunch of tree-hugging, pot-smoking hippies in the bush. While some planters may fit this description, others are your everyday Joes (and Jills). You wouldn’t be able to pick out a planter from a crowd just based on looks.  I wouldn’t call myself a hippie, but there are certainly aspects that we have all drawn from that subculture, such as having the utmost respect for your fellow person and knowing when to work hard and when to play hard. I can’t speak for all tree planters, but that is what I have seen. I can tell you we most certainly aren’t lazy!

What does it take to be a (successful) planter? Would I make the cut?

No.

Adam and his team en route to a site in Northern Ontario

Ha, just kidding. I’m fairly certain you’d be successful at it, but that doesn’t mean I think most people would. It’s a very difficult job, although I think most are capable of it if they really put their minds to it. You look at the people you know and think “Hmmm, I wonder if you could last an entire season.” I guess it’s impossible to tell, unless they actually try it.

A successful planter is always going to have to draw from two components. The first is the physical requirement. It’s physically demanding work. You often eat up to 6000 Calories a day and drink up to 10 litres of water when it gets hot. The terrain can be arduous, and don’t forget that we’re carrying up to 50+ pounds of trees on us at once. And of course, you’ve got to bend over every seven or eight feet to put a tree in the ground. Needless to say, if you have any prior injury, this job will aggravate it. And if you don’t, well, your body will still hate you in more ways than you can imagine.

Of course, physical labour isn’t the whole thing; there’s still a huge mental component to the job as well. Doing this job is tough, but doing it while there’s a cloud of blackflies in your face and boots that are full of water is in a whole other category. Sometimes it can be hard to keep your sanity. Actually, the truth is, you lose that about two weeks in. I swear, every year I give in faster and faster, that’s called ‘bush crazy’.  I think it makes the whole experience a little easier to get through.

Storytime. Give us your best anecdote of being in the bush while planting.          

This is probably the most difficult question to answer, because I can give you a plethora of stories, given enough time.

 

Some plots are only accessed by helicopter - you have to be
air lifted in and out every day! 

Last season, while dropping off garbage at the dump, another foreman and I were surrounded by about five black bears. It was terrifying at first, but they were pretty tame and only wanted our garbage. It was exhilarating haha. Another favourite quip about tree planting is the ridiculous outfits we pick up at the thrift shop. I’ve seen planters in Santa costumes, banana suits, tu-tus, jogging suits, dresses, fur coats… you name it, we’ve seen it. I almost don’t think it would be quite the same experience without all the silliness that happens.

Is there life after planting for you, or will you just perpetually shove things into the dirt until you die or fall ill?

 

Go forth, Adam! Plant those bitches!

That’s a good question, and I’ve been asked it before. It really depends on my plans in the future. If I go back to school then I’ll be planting for a couple more years, but I hate making long term life decisions. It’s very possible, but I wouldn’t want to limit myself from doing anything else, even if I do love the job so much.

Cool. Thanks for the interview!

Thank you!

Under One Tent: The PARC Night Market

It’s late Monday morning and I’m sauntering across Queen Street West in the heart of Parkdale, attempting to shake off a post-St.Patty’s hangover. Coffee in hand, I make my way into the familiarity of the main floor of the Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre – usually the beating heart of street life in these parts, but not today. Today there’s an eerie absence of hubbub, a vacancy where life normally presents itself in ordered chaos.

I climb the wooden staircase to the second floor to the tune of a thousand creaks as the worn wooden floor absorbs my weight and I make my way into the ‘Healing Room’, where behind closed doors I hear the hum of hungry sewing machines and the quiet tattering of voices. Through mounds of cloth, waves electricity permeate the door and glide through my body. I smile and turn the knob: this is it. Production week.

Alice - a production team favourite - and her puppet

Fast forward five days and although most of my week has been ‘business as usual’ I find myself anxiously anticipating its end. Stepping off the Landsdowne bus on Friday afternoon I am, unlike my past weary half-drunk self, excitedly rushing across the street and back to 1499 Queen West where I run into Michael Burtt, Director of Making Room Community Arts and the ringleader for the evening. Michael has had no problem taking me under his wing over the past seven months, integrating me into his program and consequently exposing me to a world far beyond the sidewalk life of Parkdale. Though everyone is in a caffeine fueled turbo charge, Michael seems to have met his own personal apex of pre-event frantic as he quickly delegates set up procedures and I, now completely high off of the shared craze, quickly go to work preparing the drop-in centre for a spectacle like no other: the PARC Night Market.

What comes to mind when you think of a night market? Abundance of tasty culinary delights? Eccentric figures selling you clothes and jewellery? The feel of a busy evening market is its own euphoric sensation: smells, sights and sounds blend into one and you are locked in a transcendent space where magic becomes life. Aiding in the transformation of PARC space into a night market didn’t taint this experience for me; only heightened my awareness of what it really was. 

The incredible musical photo boxes.

And so, by 7pm sharp, we had successfully transformed PARC space into something out of a whimsically drawn picture book or ancient tale of gypsy dance and carnival characters. We were complete with a memory canning station, live band, fortune booth, embroidery table, clay puppets, hand-crafted jewellery, painted canvasses, and – the project I had the most impact on – the creation of kaleidoscope picture boxes complete with a victrola-esque music pipe. The ceiling was decorated in rags and lanterns. In the middle sat our canoe – built in a previous PARC lifetime and a vessel for memories.

Over 200 community members and PARC staff participated in the Night Market, crowding the spaces in between exhibits and moving to the rhythm of the live music. At the end of the night and after striking (production language for 'cleaning up the giant mess we just made'), five staff remained in a bar across the street – some still in costume – staring into our beers with permanent smiles etched across tired faces. PARC – Sand in Water – had finally culminated, but in the most appropriate way possible. From across the table, Michael breaks the silence: ‘what do you think we’ll do next year?’