After what felt like a very long winter, it’s time to finally come out of hibernation.
Hi all. It’s John Fearnall. You might remember me from some blog posts I wrote for Wanda quite a while ago now. I disappeared for a bit. It may seem like I was hibernating, but in reality, there was a heck of a lot going on in my life – house renovations, saying goodbye to some good friends, the loss of our beloved dog, Ozzy, and me contemplating big career changes were just some of the highlights/lowlights.
Actually, rather than hibernation, I like to think of it as lobstering – I was upgrading shells but needed some time for the new one to harden before re-emerging. And during this time, I’ve made some difficult decisions. Some of which I’m sure I will tell you about in the future.
In the meantime, I just want to reintroduce myself. I am a part-time high school teacher, photographer and writer. I’m also a bocce player, hiker, music lover, podcaster, husband and father among other things. Wanda has invited me to write a monthly blog for you with the main intent being to let you in on what a Sounder (Is that what they really call us?) who is now a Leither (Leithian? Leithite? Whatever they call people from Leith) knows about the area.
And why should you listen to me? Well, I actually don’t think you should. You should make your own mind up about the area. But for people who’ve never been here, I can provide a little insight into what Owen Sound and area has to offer. And for people new to the area, I can give a little bit of a local perspective on things that might seem a little strange to people from outside the area (like what’s a snow squall?).
I’ll do this by showing you some of my favourite places. I’ll also let you in on some of the local knowledge I gained as a kid growing up in Owen Sound. And even more local history I learned as a curious resident of the area who had access to our well-known historian, Andrew Armitage, before his recent passing.
Because I’ve called this area home for more than 40 years, I know it quite well. But I’m also still discovering it thanks to my camera and wife, who is often the inspiration for our photo walks. And the addition of my drone, thanks in part to Wanda, has allowed me to see this area from even more interesting angles.
Which is part of the reason this blog is so unique – not only do I get to write it, but I also get to take the photos for it. So you’re going to read what I thought while you see what I saw.
The plan is to share something new at the start of each month. So stay tuned. Next month I’ll let you in on some of our local ball games. And no, I’m not talking about the biggies – baseball and soccer. I’m talking about bocce and lawn bowling.
Until next time, Roll on!
John Fearnall
All images are property of John Fearnall/Good Noise
Wonderful John Welcome Back my friend, roll on I love it.