durhamregion.com | This Week | Thursday, July 7, 2022 | 6 ABOUT US This newspaper, published every Thursday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a whollyowned 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 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 What a wonderful time I had visiting an old friend at his cabin in the woods. Long talks on the porch high above the river merged well with hours of solitude I spent sitting on a rock far below at water's edge. He's a writer, too, and understood my need to be alone there, watching the current swirl past. And then there were the marvels of unspoiled nature all around the place. A dozen-plus songbirds in chorus above the splashing sound of the rapids, including my favourite, winter wren. And dragonflies! Intriguing spiketails and skimmers darting over the tannin-dark waters, too swift, too far out to identify. And along the wooded footpath sloping down from the road, a lush understory of forest wildflowers and ferns. So many ferns! Tiny triangular oak ferns, ankle high. Graceful thigh-high wood ferns rising in a circular spray. Common polypody, their flat, leather fingers "once cut" compared to lacy "twice" or "thrice cut" ferns -- a good way to help tell them apart. I found cinnamon ferns, with their brown, woolly "legs," delicate maidenhairs and sturdy bracken, so successful it grows around the world. I once had a sweatshirt printed with a checklist of Ontario ferns -- so handy -- but left it hanging on a hook behind the door of a motel room in some far-off, now forgotten land. Regret! Finding all those ferns around the cabin reminded me of this prolific family of spore-producing plants, and how fuzzy my knowledge of them has become over the years. Lady fern? Goldie's wood fern? Spinulous? I'll have to go back to the cabin and check them out again, field guide in hand. Ferns are remarkable ancient plants that flourished for eons before flowering ones evolved. Originating in the Devonian Period, they thrived throughout the Carboniferous, 299 to 364 million years ago, some growing into giants in vast swamp forests, some adapting to life in the understory. It was their biomass that formed the thick seams of coal we're burning today. And their photosynthesis filled Earth's atmosphere with oxygen -- 35 per cent versus 21 per cent now -- enabling dragonflies the size of crows to rule the skies. For every fern species currently growing, some 10,000, apparently, paleobotanists have found nine more in the fossil record. Dinosaurs showed up a million years or so after the Permian Extinction wiped out 90 per cent of life on earth, and many fed on ferns that survived in coastal areas, needing moisture for their unique form of reproduction via spores. Not surprising that most ferns I found at the cabin lined a small stream cascading from a woodland pond far above. 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. 'SO MANY FERNS!' MARGARET CARNEY VISITED A WOODLAND CABIN MARGARET CARNEY Column Columnist Margaret Carney recently got her fill of ferns while visiting a friend at a cabin in the woods. "It was their biomass that formed the thick seams of coal we're burning today," she noted. Margaret Carney photo FABULOUS FERNS READER OPPOSES CLEAR TRASH BAGS To the editor: Re: Durham could reconsider clear bags for cleaner trash. I feel (Oshawa councillor) Tito-Dante Marimpietri is more in tune with the reality and feelings of the residents when it comes to the pilot project to switch to clear garbage bags. I don't think the advocates of this change are aware of the community efforts to follow the guidelines for waste disposal. It's getting more and more onerous to monitor our household waste, with a green bin here and a blue bin there, and making sure we're not screwing up. Four-year old grandson puts a snotty Kleenex in the garbage container (that's the silver bin) and fastidious grandpa fishes it out to put it in the green bin. Or, heaven forbid, while putting the plastic and metal stuff in the blue bin, a plastic bottle falls into the other paper blue bin unbeknownst to grandpa so the blue bin is left behind on collection day with a label advising of the error. Garbage collectors are going to need a raise if they are going to become garbage police. No wonder our ditches and countryside are covered with debris. It seems we are becoming slaves to our garbage. I thought incinerators would simplify the process, but someone has even complicated that. I feel sorry for the poor souls who are working at the EFW (Energy From Waste) facility having to further sort the waste for those of us who won't or can't do a more careful dump, but I doubt switching to clear bags will amount to an improvement. By the way, isn't the plan by the federal government to eliminate clear plastics going to impact this effort? I can hardly wait until every home is equipped with its own flux capacitor (from the film "Back to the Future") so we can convert our trash to power. Anyone need black garbage bags? JOHN COUSINS BOWMANVILLE WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU SUBMIT YOUR LETTER TO THE EDITOR TODAY!