6 unique things that make Ontario feel like nowhere else (and I only realized after leaving)

When I think about where "home" is for me, my mind usually wanders to the familiar faces of friends and family who have always been there.

But lately, especially since living abroad , my mind also wanders back to Ontario .

I think of the changing seasons, the lakeside summers, the wide open space.

I also think about all the background details I grew up with, the little habits and sights and sounds that never seemed particularly noteworthy because they were just there.

It wasn't until I spent more time away from Ontario that I started realizing how many of those everyday things are actually quite specific to the place I grew up.

That said, here are some of the little things I reminisce about that remind me Ontario is my home .

Driving by fresh Ontario corn stands in August See on Instagram There's something so nostalgic to me about driving down a country road in August and spotting a bright hand-painted sign advertising local corn.

It's such a normal, Ontario thing, but it really is one of those unique quirks that remind me of home now that I live abroad.

Like with so many things, it seems, I never really stopped to think about those signs as part of the landscape.

They were just there, along with the farm fields, gravel driveways and little roadside stands piled with whatever happened to be in season.

Black squirrels, raccoons and loons One of my favourite things about moving abroad has been learning about the everyday wildlife that's around, and how different it is from what I'm used to.

Of course I can't help but compare them to the animals I grew up surrounded by, particularly black squirrels, raccoons and loons.

Black squirrels are probably the funniest example — they were so common in Ontario that I assumed they were all black… until I realized, nope.

People elsewhere actually find them noteworthy.