On the Danforth Online

Toronto fights back after feeling the bite
By Thomas Weresch

A pestilence has hit the Danforth and other neighbourhoods in the city of Toronto. It shows no discrimination — it plagues all classes, genders and races; and its only concern is finding a warm, secluded spot to feed, breed, and hide.

Last year, about 150 bedbug infestations were reported in Toronto. In the past eight months, reports have multiplied tenfold to a staggering 1,500 with affected locations ranging from high-end hotels to subsidized housing. This exponential increase concerned citizens and politicians alike, which led to the creation of The Toronto Bedbug Project.

The Toronto Bedbug Project

The Toronto Bedbug Project consists of several workgroups staffed by city officials, community agencies, landlords, and pest control workers. It was developed by Toronto Public Health to help tenants and property owners combat and prevent infestations. Information for both property owners and the general public is provided in online fact sheets.

The project also attempts to dispel the many myths about bedbugs — for example, dirty buildings and low-income houses are not the only locations that get infested. What is true is that bedbugs can live anywhere, but they tend to stay in secluded areas like the folds of bed mattresses, floorboards, and even in electrical sockets. Like cockroaches, they avoid light and only come out of hiding just before dawn to feed. It is also untrue that bedbugs can jump or fly — they often travel by tucking themselves into bags, jackets, and other transportable items. In apartment buildings, bedbugs can move from unit to unit through various openings, like cracks in walls.

Colonization and DDT

It is believed that bedbugs arrived in the Americas on early colonialist ships. Certain 18th-century documents mention infestations in English colonies but none in any pre-established First Nation villages. Bedbugs, like those who had ferried them, then colonized their new territory. Their infestations hit an apex in the early 20th century, when they were ranked in the top three pests that plagued North American cities.

The pesticide DDT was the most effective in eliminating bed bugs; however, time and research proved its effects to be carcinogenic and detrimental to the environment. Its use was outlawed in 1991 under the Pest Control Products Act, after which point bedbug infestations began to rise, rivaling figures documented earlier in the century. Other pesticides have been ineffective in eliminating bedbugs and simply encourage them to relocate.

World travel and shabby-chic

There are several theories that attempt to explain the increased presence of bedbugs in Toronto. Proponents of one of the most popular, world travel, claim that with more Canadians travelling abroad and more foreigners visiting Canada, bedbugs may be arriving via luggage. Since adult bedbugs can survive from three to six months without feeding, it’s no surprise that they can live long enough to be transported across large distances.

Bedbugs have also been travelling throughout many of Toronto’s neighbourhoods. The shabby-chic trends in clothing and furniture have sent more people into thrift shops, flea markets (no pun intended), and garage sales, where they purchase second-hand items that may be infested.

No simple solution

Toronto has responded quickly to the bedbug issue largely because of the actions of city councillors. When Paula Fletcher noticed that her ward (Toronto-Danforth) was most affected by bedbug infestations, she used her position on the Toronto Board of Health to raise awareness and encourage action.

A report issued on February 14, 2008, by Medical Health Officer Dr. David McKeown, explained the issue and notified all wards. The report also stated that $75,000 would be added to the 2009 operating budget to assist those affected who do not qualify for Ontario Works or the Ontario Disability Support Program.

For now, the Danforth can only wait to see what happens, but actions are being taken and only time will tell if they’ve been effective. Unfortunately, there are no simple solutions to getting rid of bedbugs — only through education and community involvement will their infestations be reduced.

To research reported infestations in your neighbourhood, check out the The Bedbug Registry.

How to make your own chiengora
By Andrew Steventon

Fur doesn’t have to be inhumane. There is a product that is perfectly eco- and animal-friendly: chiengora – the generic name for wool made from pet hair. Chiengora gets its name from combining the French word for “dog” (chien) with “angora” (the fibre which chiengora is most similar to). It is 80% warmer than ordinary wool, so the two are often mixed during the spinning process so that wearers don’t overheat. Spinning pet hair is another way to recycle and as a viable replacement for other animal furs, it caters to the sensibilities of fashionistas and animal-rights activists alike. As gifts, dog hair garments and crafts are certainly original – just try finding a chiengora sweater for sale at the mall.

A lot of people collect dog hair for weaving into fabric and clothing. There are dozens of online businesses that sell both raw materials and finished products. But why shop around when you can do it yourself?

Chiengora DIY

When considering a foray into the world of pet-hair based yarns, it’s important to understand that different dogs have different textures to their coats. So, if you have a Golden Retriever, a Collie, or a Siberian Husky, you can easily make hats, sweaters, and other garments for people to wear. But the owner of a German Shepherd or a Jack Russell Terrier would probably be best sticking with tea cozies, wall hangings, and other non-wearable arts and crafts as the hair is shorter and more difficult to spin.

Getting Started

In order to create your very own chiengora, start collecting all the hair you can from frequent grooming sessions as well as from around the house. It can come from carpets, furniture, or even skimming the water after bathing your dog. To stay organized, it’s good to store it in plastic bags, labelled with the date and which pet it’s from (if you have more than one).

Treating the Hair

Clean the hair with a mild detergent or dog shampoo, after having first ensured that the hair is free from grass, dust bunnies, and other impurities. Agitate the hair vigorously until it starts to stick together and then rinse it in cold water (which will stiffen the yarn slightly). Squeeze out any excess water and lay it out to dry. This entire process will ensure that any “wet dog” smell will be cleaned from the hair.

Carding

Finally, the hair must be spun into yarn to be used to make your new, most prized garments and crafts. It must first go through the process known as carding, in which the hairs are aligned in preparation for spinning. A drop spindle or a spinning wheel can be used, both of which are available at most well-stocked knitting and craft shops. It’s amazing how much hobby equipment people part with after the initial enthusiasm of a new project wears off, so checking eBay and other online classifieds like craigslist and kijiji are also good options to explore.

Resources

Consider learning about the many spinning and/or knitting guilds, whether online or in your own neighbourhood (such as the Downtown Knit Collective) you’ll be able to make new knitting friends, and maybe even borrow some of their equipment.

If you decide that spinning the yarn isn’t for you, there are several companies that will do it for you (and some even make chiengora products):

• VIP Fibers
• Chiengora4U
• Designer Dog Yarn
• Spinning Straw into Gold
• Etsy Seller Spazspun

Chiengora isn’t as elastic as wool, and so it is best to hand-wash and air dry, in order to prevent them from deforming (just as with garments made with alpaca or angora fibers). Being short and silky, dog hair doesn’t hold together like wool, so it’s best to not use a tight tension when knitting. Chiengora also fluffs with continued use – creating a halo effect – especially with sweaters and other garments.

Fur Your Info

• Some dog fur sweaters have sold at auctions for up to $600.
• The sale of dog or cat hair and products was banned in New Jersey in January, 2000.

In the heart of south Riverdale, Caribbean artist Kassa creates year-round art in his front yard

By Stan Byrne

“Oh, I like that guy! He’s been there for a while,” says Kassa as he points to a plastic lizard puppet-head with a golf ball shoved in its mouth.

It’s freezing rain in mid-January and the temperature is hovering around negative 10 degrees. The camera I am using is dripping wet and I can see ice forming on the lens. Kassa, an installation artist living in south Riverdale, is gloveless and bouncing around his front yard showing me his handiwork. His enthusiasm for his art is so uplifting, I almost forget how cold and wet we are becoming. Almost.

Kassa was born and raised in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. He is a single dad and he has stocked shelves at the Big Carrot for the past 12 years. His smile, framed by long soft dreads, is so engaging and warm it is hard not to be swept up in his infectiously friendly energy.

As a boy, Kassa was drawn to making art out of things he found or objects that had been recycled. He worked for his father building fences for the animals they raised and in his spare time he fashioned seats and benches out of bamboo and created miniature houses from cardboard and twigs. He now works wherever he goes, “balancing” he calls it, with rocks, sticks, and many other interesting items that he comes across.

Backyard Opus

Eight years ago, with the permission of his laid-back landlord, Kassa began to create the opus in his front and backyard. Over the years, his garden has crept into the next-door neighbour’s yard and onto the road in front of his house. The intricate mass of old toys, wood-carvings, ice sculptures, woven stick furniture and bicycle parts almost defies description. All of the pieces are found or made and it is a testament to the efficacy of recycling. “You won’t believe what people throw out,” Kassa observes. Even water for the ice sculptures is collected in buckets from the eavestroughs. Nothing in the garden is thrown out, it is just moved into the background or foreground.

“Basically, the garden changes everyday,” says Kassa.” It changes with the weather.” In the winter, he makes large hollow cylinders of ice, in which he places candles. At night, his garden glows and creates an aura that is incredibly magical. Around the perimeter of the garden, he has built a five-foot ice wall with strange spiky ice creatures mounted on top using the bucket/eavestrough technique. “I see faces of people, bugs and animals in the ice or in wood. Nature makes it. I carve it out and bring it for people to see.”

Free Form Ice Sculpture

This winter, Kassa also made a slide for the next-door neighbour’s dog to play on, and a cairn gateway on the road made out of the broken pieces of snow and ice left by the ploughs. Flanking the cairns are two large fish made out of packed snow. Kassa is inspired by whatever the weather brings him. “When it first snows, it is so beautiful because you can step out into something new. You don’t know what it will turn out to be.”

So far, Kassa has received a great deal of encouragement and support from his community.” It makes people slow down and laugh,” he says about his yard. “When I light the candles at night everyone comes out and waves to me.”

The garden brings a lot of joy to visitors and neighbours, but Kassa is driven by a deeper purpose to connect his Caribbean heritage to his Canadian home. “People come here [from different countries] and they do different stuff. Some like to sweep their sidewalk or have different plants, but this is what I bring from the islands. We all have something. This is in me.”

Kassa’s work has been featured in The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star. He has also shown his work at the Harbourfront Centre.

Photos contributed by Stan Byrne

East York Firefighter Danielle Comolli Takes the Scenic Route to Her Dream Job

By Karen Helm

The road to self-realization is a tricky one to navigate, cluttered as it is with the big decisions – and distractions – of youth. Sidetracks are not uncommon. Declaring false majors in university. Accepting unfulfilling employment. Falling in and out of love. While the distractions on this day are the trivial ones associated with a bustling cafe (coffee beans landing noisily in a jar, earnest students discussing Descartes, the intermittent scraping of chair legs on the floor), Danielle Comolli has found her way through some serious detours in her 34 years. Virtually nothing has gone according to plan. And she’s pretty happy about that. For now.

“I really didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. It kept changing, based on how much I didn’t like what I was doing,” she explains, leaning over her almond latte. Born and raised in Montreal, Danielle moved to Ottawa for her post-secondary education, little knowing how lengthy and haphazard that journey would prove to be. She made preliminary stops at the University of Ottawa, Carleton University and Algonquin College, studying diverse subjects that included general sciences, computer programming and commerce, before finally completing her Bachelor’s Degree in Physical Education at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. Still unsure of what marketable skills she possessed, she enrolled in teacher’s college at Brock, vaguely considering that she may become a gym teacher. Unhappy with this choice, she dropped out a few months later, and surrendered herself to the workforce. A series of largely unsatisfying desk jobs in the financial sector followed.

Recalling her misguided younger self, Danielle’s delivery is one of comical exasperation. Her big, green eyes widen with exaggerated disbelief, and the faint valley-girl inflections in her voice grow more pronounced. It’s a comedy driven by frustration as well as relief; she’s in a better place now.

Dream Job Revealed

Ironically, after nine years of planning and re-planning her career, she happened upon what appears to be her life’s work by chance. A neighbour suggested it to her. “I never thought I was going to be a firefighter,” she says. But it instantly made sense. Having always valued physical fitness, it seemed like the perfect way to apply her strengths to a professional setting. And so, a year and a half after beginning the application process, she completed – and passed – her final round of tests. It turned out to be a self-defining moment. She had never imagined that a job would mean so much to her. “I’m really proud that I did this,” she says with certainty (and not a little amazement).

Stationed at the Gerrard and Carlaw firehall, Danielle has now been a Toronto firefighter for more than five years (a record in her employment history), and is still “loving it.” A lifelong participant in team sports, she finds a similar camaraderie exists amongst “the guys” at her hall. And being the only woman on her shift doesn’t bother her – much. The guys have been quite accommodating, treating her like their “kid sister,” though she does express slight regret at choosing to sleep in the dorm rather than accept a private room. The snoring is one thing, but the vision of “tighty-whities” passing by in the night? “Oh! My eyes!” she laughs, clapping her hands to her face.

‘A good day to die’

Danielle believes her sense of humour is a key part of what makes her well-suited to her job. Dealing with traumatic events on a daily basis is draining; it’s important “to lighten up” and keep emotions in check. But her greatest strength? She answers without hesitation: her ability to remain “calm under stress.” Where others panic, she thrives, gaining even greater focus. Citing a piece of advice she was given early on, she says, “you have to believe that every day is a good day to die. I guess I’ve accepted that.”

But what does scare her, if not death? “Not a whole lot,” she quips and then pauses, considering. Having ended her marriage two years ago, an experience she singles out as the most difficult of her life, Danielle worries that she will never find her perfect match. She and her ex-husband had planned to have two children by now, but long-term planning has not served her well. Anything but defeatist, though, Danielle can still envision marriage and children on her horizon. She just won’t be making any premature arrangements. “There’s no point planning for the future. Whatever happens, happens. That’s what I believe now,” she says, narrowing her eyes slyly, and smiling. “That might change.”

Photograph contributed by Danielle Comolli