This Week | Thursday, March 10,2022 durhamregion.com | 6 ABOUT US This newspaper, published every Thursday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised of more than 70 community publications across Ontario. This newspaper is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concerns to the attention of the newspaper and, if not satisfied, write The National NewsMedia Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. Phone: 416-340-1981 Web: www.mediacouncil.ca newsroom@durhamregion.com facebook.com/newsdurham @newsdurham WHO WE ARE Vice President Dana Robbins Regional General Manager Anne Beswick Director of Content Lee Ann Waterman Managing Editor Mike Lacey Director of Advertising Tanya Pacheco Director Distribution Jason Christie Director Creative Services Katherine Porcheron Durham Advisory Council Dan Carter; Esther Enyolu; Jake Farr; Dr. Vidal Chavannes; Cynthia Davis; Elaine Popp/Don Lovisa; John Henry; Sue McGovern; Kerri King; Steve Yamada; Kelly LaRocca; Peter Bethlenfalvy; Dr. Steven Murphy; Norah Marsh; Tracy Paterson; Chris Darling; Christina Curry CONTACT US This Week Phone: 905- 579-4407 Newsroom: 905-215-0462 Sales: 905-215-0424 Classifieds: 1-800-263-6480 Fax: 905-579-2238 Web: www.durhamregion.com Letters to the editor All letters must be fewer than 320 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit, condense or reject letters. Published letters will appear in print and/or online at durhamregion.com Delivery For all delivery inquiries, call 905-579-4407 or visit the Contact Us page on durhamregion.com. OPINION TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT DURHAMREGION.COM LETTERS & COMMENTARY Did it really happen? A week in Florida sunshine flashes by like a dream, leaving vivid impressions that too soon fade as "normal life" here at home picks up again. I'm trying hard to hold on to the feel of walking barefoot on tide-washed beaches and swimming in the surf. Of the heady scent of gardenias growing right outside the door, a fresh bloom every morning. Of the vocal barrage of male mocking-birds already nesting there, mimics belting confusing collections of other birds' songs all day long. Some special things I'll never forget. Fish crows cawing plaintively from trees and rooftops in coastal towns and harbours. Long-legged white ibises stabbing their pink, decurved bills into wetland edges, roadsides and golf courses, probing for snails, crabs, minnows, worms, frogs and toads. Tight flocks of black skimmers resting together on the sand at water's edge, or flying low over the waves, snapping up small fish they locate with their long lower mandible. Black above and white below, skimmers flash in tandem as they dip and reel. I learned a lot about mangroves in my week along the Gulf (of Mexico), the only trees that survive in saltwater. We had to cross a great swath of them getting to the beach, riding a tram on a boardwalk through their protected watery world. So I was able to study with interest the spreading buttress prop roots of red mangroves, farthest out to sea and able to resist storms and hurricanes, protecting shorelines. Black mangroves have those pointy "knees" that reach up out of the mud and absorb oxygen as tides come and go, and they secrete lots of salt from small pores in their waxy leaves. White mangroves deal with salt by packing it away in their own fleshy leaves, which they then drop and replace. My greatest adventure was kayaking a blue-green river through a mangrove forest, keeping an eye out for alligators and manatees -- with mixed feelings, naturally! I greatly enjoyed watching little blue herons and snowy egrets climbing about on mangrove roots, hunting for their lunch, and big brown pelicans perched in branches above, digesting theirs. My Canadian canoe-steering skills came in handy for keeping to the centre of the narrow channel, not wanting to disturb any snakes or spiders that might be at home in the thickets. Standing in water as they do, mangroves provide a sheltered nursery for a whole lot of sea life, including baby fish, turtles, crabs, reptiles and even young sharks -- and sequester tons of carbon worldwide against global warming. Nature queries: mcarney1490@gmail.com or 905-725-2116. Metroland columnist Margaret Carney finds so much to discover and marvel at exploring the great outdoors. DURHAM COLUMNIST LEFT SNOWY DURHAM FOR SUNNY FLORIDA MARGARET CARNEY Column In Florida recently, columnist Margaret Carney took this photo of black skimmers resting on the beach with willets around them. In addition to checking out the local birds, she learned about mangroves during her trip. Margaret noted that they are the only trees that survive in saltwater. Photo by Margaret Carney BIRDS OF A FEATHER FORMER AJAX MAYOR 'HOUNDED OUT' OF NDP CANDIDACY To the editor: Steve Parish is Ajax. His father, Bill Parish, was a town pioneer and early Ajax mayor. Steve in the '60s was student council president at Ajax high, and later mayor for 23 years. Popular and hard-working, Steve has Ajax in his blood. Ajax was born in the Second World War. Previously farmland, the site was selected to house the U of T Engineering faculty and (the Defence Industries Limited) munitions factory. The town even celebrated its wartime heritage. The Battle of the River Plate lent the new community its name. The warships Ajax, Exeter and Achilles attacked the German pocket battleship Graf Spee, wounding it and chasing it into Montevideo. As the Allies lay in wait, neutral Uruguay refused the Germans permission to stay and effect repairs. Captain Langsdorff, the German commander, in defiance of Hitler, scuttled Graf Spee in Montevideo harbour and took his own life, saving untold lives of his crew and the Allies. The Town of Ajax revels in its wartime legacy. Exeter Road, Achilles Road, Harwood Avenue, named for (British) Admiral Harwood, and many more streets are named for British servicemen aboard those ships. Missing was any mention of Langsdorff. Lately, the town moved to alter this, naming a street for him. This proved clumsy and insensitive. Although then supporting this, Parish repented later and apologized unreservedly for seemingly honouring a Nazi. In 2006, Steve Parish led an Ajax delegation to Vimy Ridge, laying a wreath in memory of Canadian soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice. Far from being antisemitic, Steve is patriotic, egalitarian and progressive. Steve Parish was hounded out of the candidacy to become Ajax MPP, opposing Doug Ford's environmental mismanagement, especially Ford's failure to include the Carruthers Creek headwaters in the Greenbelt. It's a shame. Steve would be a marvellous representative of Ajax at Queen's Park. LAURENCE GIFFORD, AJAX SIGN UP FOR OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AT DURHAMREGION.COM