Through a Lens, Smudgedly

The "bunker" at Stan Wadlow skateboard park

Once again this weekend our guest photographer is my far, far better half, Sarah. She took another solo stroll around Taylor Creek and Stan Wadlow Parks today while I hung out with my son. Sometimes we go with her but this is really the only chance Sarah gets to recharge on weekends where our apartment is full, so more often she heads out alone. Today, again, she took some pictures along the way with her phone's camera; however, there was a small smudge on the lens which she didn't notice until she had returned home and uploaded all of the photos. I kind of like it - it gives a sort of "otherworldly" aspect to a few of the shots. This is a picture of what can only be described as a concrete "bunker" at the skateboard park across the field from our building. The park is a fairly recent addition; this building was not. We have no idea whether it contains washrooms, storage facilities or a bomb shelter because we seldom venture too close. The vivid colours are wonderful, though, and blend together beautifully when seen from a distance, such as from our balcony.

The "Field of Dreams" from ground level

Here is the "Field of Dreams" diamond from a different perspective from the pictures I posted a few days ago. Sarah took this shot from along the right field line, facing our building (which you can see in the background - our unit is on the very top, second in from the left and two storeys tall). Here the lens' smudge makes this look to me almost like a water colour painting, especially in the way it tints the clouds. This is the first day in a while where the sky wasn't a deep blue and nearly cloudless and I think it makes this shot even more interesting as a result.

East York Community Garden

Here is a partial view of the East York Community Garden that I spoke of in my post about Community Environment Day back in April. The building in the background is East York Acres, a "retirement building" run by Toronto Community Housing, and the Taylor Creek ravine is just off to the left of this picture. The skateboard park mentioned earlier is a couple of hundred metres to the right of this garden, right in front of the main building of the seniors' residence. Sarah and I have often joked that this is the perfect spot for it, because the skateboarders give the people who live there something lively to look at while at the same time it's likely they won't be bothered by the noise!

Taylor Creek

And here is Taylor Creek Park's eponymous waterway. We had virtually no snow this winter and a real paucity of rain this spring; as a result the water level is incredibly low for May. In most years, this much of the riverbed is not visible until at least the Simcoe Day holiday in August. Sarah is very pleased that the Parks and Rec people have decided to let the natural vegetation return to the valley without cutting it back (which would let the grass take over); she reasons that this should bring more humidity to the area because the indigenous local vegetation should retain water instead of thirstily gobbling it up like runaway grassland. I hope she is right because she also took a picture of the bullrushes down there and they did not look very healthy at all - completely parched from what I could tell.


And now, for really no good reason other than I cannot resist posting pictures of our blissed-out cat, here is Addie lying zonked and carefree on the day bed behind me.

That's our Addie, all right!

To my American friends: I hope you are having a terrific Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial first days of your summer, from what I understand.