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Happy Wednesday friends,
The trails are calling and so is the river before it gets too cold.
It was great seeing you (some of you) at Dinner Club last week. Yes we celebrated our first member birthday together! More to follow.
Hope you enjoy the rhythm of our region at home and outside.
with love,
your friendly neighbourhood goose 🦆
What's in today's newsletter
PS: A neighbour forwarded you this? Join here to get the next one in your inbox.
SHE TURNED DOTS INTO CALM
Most of us live with a brain that refuses to sit still.
We’re answering emails while thinking about dinner. Walking the dog while replaying yesterday’s awkward conversation. Lying in bed worrying about tomorrow before today is even over.
Guelph artist Roxana Bahrami knows that feeling well.
Years ago, she noticed something unexpected while creating her intricate dot paintings. As each tiny dot appeared, the noise in her head seemed to quiet. The constant tug-of-war between past regrets and future worries faded. For a few precious moments, she was simply present.
Curious about why this worked, Roxana became certified in mindfulness and spent more than a decade helping others experience the same sense of calm through art-based workshops.
Now she’s packed that experience into A Little Box of Calmness TM, a self-guided collection of meditative drawing exercises designed to help busy minds slow down, one dot or line at a time.
The impact has surprised even her. One customer purchased five boxes, one for herself and four as gifts. Two days later, she came back for a sixth. “It’s quite cute and calming,” she wrote. “I’ve already thought of someone else who might enjoy it.”
Maybe that’s because calmness is a bit like kindness. Once you find some, you want to share it.
RAD & RAW
SIGHTING
For the next couple of weeks Waterloo Region is a truck stop for Semipalmated Plovers, fist-sized shorebirds moving through by the hundreds from the Arctic tundra down to South America. Check anywhere there is mud, so puddles, flooded fields, and the edges of the Grand River.
SKY
By 12:13am Friday, Earth's shadow will have covered 93% of the moon for a partial lunar eclipse. The shadowed part glows rusty copper.
Look east southeast, high up. No telescope, no glasses, no app. One night only.
AT HOME IN THE REGION
Cheryl's got a fun fact for you
When Waterloo Lutheran University changed its name in 1973, one of the wild suggestions that nearly made the cut was Beaver University. Administrators went with Wilfrid Laurier instead, much to the dismay of students who felt the former Prime Minister had nothing to do with this region.
For a realtor who knows the region this well, reach out to Cheryl Goetz, Real Estate Agent, REAL Broker Ontario Ltd. or grab her summer guide here.
ROLL OUT ROOTS
Work: Production Coordinator, Swap Robotics
Volunteer: Volunteer, Bestival 2026 (bonus: volunteers get extra points towards a contest entry to win a Long & McQuade guitar)
House of the week: Original stone farmhouse c1859
Adopt a pet: Swift can be the perfect addition to any family, who are the lucky ones?
PRINCESS PICKS
Princess Cinema has a unique set of movies we can’t find elsewhere. Here are some picks of the week:
Tony - Dominic Sessa plays a 19 year old Anthony Bourdain talking his way into a Cape Cod kitchen, with Antonio Banderas as the chef who takes him in.
The Dog Stars (opens Friday) Ridley Scott's post apocalyptic sci-fi with Jacob Elordi, Margaret Qualley and Josh Brolin, from the best selling novel.
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma - Hannah Einbinder and Gillian Anderson tear into a dead slasher franchise in this year's Queer Palm winner at Cannes.
Road House (Thursday only) Patrick Swayze, 1989, the bar bouncer movie every other bar bouncer movie is trying to be.
Crocodile Dundee (Friday and Tuesday) Paul Hogan's outback classic turns 40 and gets the big screen back.
REGION’S RADAR
Grand River Accessibility Advisory Committee wants members with lived experience of accessibility barriers. Deadline Fri, Aug 28. Apply
Waterloo Rocketry's Polaris hit 63,497 feet at the Launch Canada Challenge in Timmins, beating the World Record for the highest amateur liquid bi-propellant rocket by nearly 7,000 feet. Read
Five Laurier researchers landed $730,038 from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, for work spanning miniature brain tissue and turning carbon dioxide into clean fuel. Read
RIDDLE ME
Last week’s trivia: Only 13% got it right. Though Corina typed "tympals" in her comments, picked wings, such a near miss. It is tymbals: ribbed plates on his belly he pops in and out hundreds of times a second. No rubbing involved.
The monarchs leaving Waterloo Region this month are flying to the same forests in Mexico their great grandparents left. How far is the trip?
ROAM & RAZZLE
The Sun Life Waterloo Busker Carnival fills Uptown Waterloo with world-class street performers for four days. Acrobats, fire shows, comedy and live music run in circles along the strip, and the crowd builds and scatters between acts, so some people drift in for an hour and others camp out for the afternoon. It opens Thursday evening and then runs full days Friday through Sunday. Hat-passing is how buskers get paid, so cash is worth having.
Thu, Aug 27 to Sun, Aug 30
at UpTown Waterloo, Waterloo
Image links to more things to check out this week.
Got an event coming up? Share it here.
RIFFS & RIBS
The image below has all the eateries I found playing live music this week.
If you are an artist playing in the region or you have a restaurant / cafe / brewery that invites musicians reach out to share your details!
Know someone who’d love this?
Share WRR with one friend, coworker, or neighbour who likes discovering more of our region. Spread the love and connection. 🦆
