SEPTEMBER 5TH, 2018
By LANA CARBON & JOHN LILIES
[Lana] With our August Civic Holiday (“Simcoe Day” in Ontario) coming up, I convinced John to actually take a couple of extra days off work to add on to the long weekend so we could have a mini vacation. I made her promise to truly take it easy… no work at all.
[John] I don’t typically take real chunks of time off work, so adding two days onto the long weekend sounded like a lovely idea. Having two days extra on the long weekend for actual vacation focus would be wonderful (instead of taking time off to do house work and organize life, which is what we typically end up doing). I don’t think I really contested the idea when Lana suggested it.
[Lana] Leading up to our time off, I was under the weather and we didn’t want to stray too far away but as the weekend progressed, I began to feel much, much better. So, we started out staying fairly close to home with a few short (for us) road trips, hanging out with family and visiting a couple of farmers’ markets.
[John] With Lana just coming out of a couple of weeks of feeling quite unwell, I just didn’t want to risk us going too far or making too many set plans in case it was a better idea to stay home and watch movies instead. I am so grateful Lana started feeling so much better but I still wanted to ease into the vacation mode to make sure he would be okay. One thing I wanted to do was check out the Downtown Brampton Farmers’ Market, so we made that our first stop on the Saturday morning of this long weekend.
[Lana] Brampton’s Downtown Market is a hefty size with a nice variety of local goods and food vendors to pique your interests. We wandered through the market first, forming an idea of what we might want to buy. After our first walk-through, we purchased some farm fresh veggies and after being suckered into trying some cheeses (I broke John’s rule and I made eye contact with the vendor), we walked off with some sheep Gouda (really yummy).
If you follow us on any of our social media accounts, you may have seen the special treat that we found at one booth that greatly attracted us. We are huge horror fans so when we saw the banner for Salem’s Lott Hot Sauces, we knew we had to check it out. A table full of pepper sauces sat before us with monstrous themed names… genius marketing if you ask me. The sauces were unique combinations and absolutely delicious. We took advantage of their three-bottle deal.
[John] Pepper sauce is what many people refer to as hot sauce. I grew up only knowing it as pepper sauce and didn’t learn until I was in College, that most people around here call it hot sauce. My mom makes an amazing pepper sauce, as do some of my cousins. I haven’t yet made it myself but I tend to try different ones to compare and contrast with the one that Ma Lilies makes. It isn’t often that I come across one that really impresses me in flavour and heat but the three that we chose at the Market this day, really tasted so good that we couldn’t leave without them… the names just made them that much better.
[Lana] The day was incredibly hot.
[John] Melting hot. We weren’t at the Brampton Market for even a full hour but it was just so hot that we were both fading quickly and it was only mid-morning. We decided to pack up our goodies in the car (I’m so glad I packed the ice packs in the cooler bag!) and go grab some breakfast at a great little place we know of on the Brampton/Mississauga border. We don’t often go out for breakfast but when we do, we have a couple of known reliable places that never let us down, so we decided on one of these for today. Olympia Grill is a place that we found a couple of years ago and when we first found it we weren’t sure what to expect but as we pulled into the parking lot, we saw a few police cars and an ambulance parked there; the whole group was sitting down inside, enjoying a good time. One thing we have learned over the years is that if the police, fire crews, and/or paramedics frequent a particular place, it’s pretty much guaranteed to be good. Our breakfast on this long weekend Saturday definitely did not disappoint and as always, the service was spectacular and came with some great laughs.
[Lana] You know that when the owner himself directs you to where the washrooms are, even though it’s obvious that you know where you’re going, that’s really good service.
[John] As we were getting ready to leave with full bellies, of course I suggested that we should go out later that day to get some ice cream.
[Lana] What better way is there to beat the heat than with a deliciously cool ice cream cone? Knowing what apartment life is like and just how hot it can get on these terribly humid days, we thought we would pick up the Bonus Mommy and take her with us to get some ice cream. Of course, we can’t pick up the Bonus Mommy without going on a road trip as well… even if it is just a wee one. We toured north west as John steered us towards Belfountain where we purchased our icy treats at Higher Ground Café where they serve Central Smith ice cream. Apparently, John was thinking of this place as soon as we decided to take the Bonus Mommy with us. It makes for a really nice leisurely drive and every time we have passed through here, we always say we should stop for ice cream like everyone else around seems to. It has to be good if so many people go there, right?
[John] It was good. Really good. We were lucky to easily secure a good parking spot and even though they were out of the pistachio ice cream I wanted, the coconut ice cream that I chose instead was so yummy that I was definitely not disappointed in any way. I don’t remember what flavours the Bonus Mommy and Lana chose (Lana says he had something with caramel in it) but I know they were also really happy. To give you an idea of how hot it was that day, the ice cream was already beginning to melt before we even walked out of the shop. We did a lot of hurried licking up the sides of our cones, trying to keep the ice cream off our shirts, pants, and the ground. We probably looked hilarious but we didn’t care because we were having a good time.
[Lana] A side note on Belfountain… it seems to be the reverse Bermuda Triangle. You can drive toward it from any direction and see absolutely no traffic whatsoever and yet the village itself can be packed with people out enjoying the day. Cars will line both sides of the street and all of the stores will be full of people seemingly from out of nowhere. When you leave, it is rare to see anyone coming into town.
Back on the road, we zigged and zagged, just enjoying the day.
[John] I wasn’t really sure where to take us, wanting a slightly different drive than Lana and I have taken a few times before, but not wanting to go hours and hours away. After taking some favourite roads for beautiful scenery, I then avoided the roads that would take us back to traffic and the city.
[Lana] We came to a small town that we had heard of and had quickly passed through multiple times but knew very little about, Erin. This was our first time driving through the main strip and it was a cute place, larger than we had suspected, but the biggest surprise was the food truck we spotted next to a little gas station just as we were leaving town. It was so enticing, I insisted that we had to turn around and go back to sample its products. A BeaverTails truck was calling our names (well, my name at least) and once we discovered that the Bonus Mommy had never had a BeaverTail, we knew we had to stop. Now, admittedly, these were not of the same quality as the wonderful pastries we get when in Ottawa, but they were still pretty darn tasty and perfectly suitable for a first experience for the Bonus Mommy. Of course, as we had expected, the Bonus Mommy was converted into a huge fan.
[John] It surprised us so much to see this truck because there was a time when we could only get a BeaverTail in Ottawa... recently it has become much easier to find them more locally. However, I actually fought Lana on this one initially, before and while turning around, arguing that we had just had amazing ice cream and really didn’t need BeaverTails too. But, once the Bonus Mommy said she’d never had one, the deal was sealed… making Lana really happy.
[Lana] I believe the term you’re looking for is ‘squeal’.
Brushing ourselves off from the sugar and crispy pastry crumbs, we pulled out again hitting the back roads, enjoying seeing some areas we had not seen before. That was when we fleetingly saw it as we drove past. We questioned what it was that we just saw. We had to turn around to take another look. It was creepy and interesting at the same time. What had started as one shoe tree had spread to five or six trees. In broad daylight, the scene was eerie enough, I can’t even imagine stumbling upon something like this at night. We ended up talking about them almost all the way home.
[John] I hadn’t really had a good look at it as we initially passed but agreed to turn around so we could pass again and stop to have a closer look. I cannot explain my reaction or the feelings rumbling around inside me as we all stared and tried to make sense of what we were seeing. This was a first for all of us and aspects of it are still haunting me today.
[Lana] I had never seen or even heard of a shoe tree. The only thing I knew about shoes hanging outside was the alleged criminal activity that occurred in the area when you saw shoes dangling from hydro/telephone lines. That was definitely not the same thing as what we saw this day. Besides the fact that this was not in an urban area whatsoever, there were really no buildings that close. I suppose it could be an area where people drive to, to meet up and conduct their illicit activities, but again, I don’t think that is it.
John, the Bonus Mommy, and I wondered if it may have been some kind of unique roadside memorial. We have often seen wreathes and random flowers hanging along the highways where an accident has taken place but none of us had ever seen anything like this. There were a few small rubber toy skeletons hanging there with the footwear as well as a few photos of different people. We couldn’t reason out why anyone would hang a shoe (or pair of shoes) as a memorial for someone but the whole place did have that sad, emotional weight similar to what you might feel in some cemeteries. Could this have been the accident site of two vehicles filled with large families whose relatives have chosen to collectively honour their memory by hanging shoes? I suppose it is possible.
[John] We mulled over that theory for a while but the number of shoes there made it seem beyond possible that so many people would have died in that one area. It’s also marked as private property so it seems even stranger to have this present right there. The photos on the trees were what made it so much odder to us and those photos have lingered with me ever since. What is this place? What is it all about?
[Lana] These trees so permeated my mind that our discussion all the way home was not enough to satisfy my curiosity. I had to look up what I could find on this phenomenon. Unfortunately, there isn’t much out there about them other than more questions. Besides the two possible reasons for them being there that I have already talked about, there were few other possibilities suggested. One of them was a form of art that has even been named ‘treefiti’. It is as simple as it sounds; someone expressing themselves in a new and rare form of collective art that opens their work up to the public to add a piece of themselves.
Yet another possibility, and perhaps the oldest known existence of a shoe tree, was the act of tying shoes to trees for war veterans who gave away their own boots, refusing to wear them, because of the poor treatment they received when they returned home from the first World War. This little-known practice continued for the homeless long after the war ended.
These last two options, while possible I suppose, don’t make sense to me for one simple reason… it is in the middle of nowhere. If you are donating shoes to others, there are easier ways and you would do this in a more populated area. As a piece of art, it is a little more believable. Again, wouldn’t you think it would be in a more public area, especially if you want others to add their personal flavour to it? Although, if it was art and displayed there to make us ask questions… mission accomplished.
We just cannot make sense of this one and the research is not getting us anywhere. If any of you has ever seen or knows anything about these shoe trees, please let us know in the comment section, through e-mail, or on social media. We would love to learn more about this – specifically this particular section of trees in Caledon.
[John] After deciding to move on and slowly make our way home, wondering and chatting about the strangeness, hypothesizing, and Lana already trying to do some of the research, we were somewhat quieter and definitely growing a bit weary from the day. We continued back to the Bonus Mommy’s apartment to have some supper and end the day playing a good game of dominoes.
Sunday came around and we decided to just take it easy and make it a Carbon Lilies day. We kept it simple with an afternoon visit to a coffee shop to spend some time writing, before making our way back to the Bonus Mommy’s for another evening of dominoes. (In case you can’t tell, we enjoy a good game of bones and will play whenever possible.)
When Monday arrived, we knew it would also be a fairly low-key day. My cousin is attending university and we wanted to see her and give her some well deserved hugs before she made a quick two-week visit back at her home at the end of her summer term.
[Lana] When it comes to meeting up with family, we are used to driving fair distances… especially when you don’t get to see them very often. That was the case when we drove to Cambridge to meet up with John’s cousin at William’s Café for a couple of hours.
[John] We didn’t have my cousin to ourselves for very long as she had a study class to attend prior to her final exam for the term. So, after picking her up at her student apartment, we headed to the café for a quick brunch before taking her home and giving her some good and strong hugs. I felt bad as some heavy rains had been intermittently pouring down on the way back to the apartment but my cousin assured me that she would be fine to walk the short distance to her class, so I reminded myself that she is a grown, albeit young, woman and I had to let go and let her take care of herself. Good golly it’s a fortunate thing we don’t have children of our own… I’d be a nightmare helicopter mommy.
[Lana] I love these short day trips but when I originally tried to get John to take a few days off, I was hoping we could do something a little larger in scale. You know, go somewhere far enough away or busy enough that it would require spending a night. Now that I was feeling a bit better after a rough start, we did some last minute planning and John came up with an excellent idea. We made our reservation, packed our overnight bag, and prepared to set out for Midland, Ontario.
Stay tuned for Part 2…
