Posts Tagged ‘Greek’

resting side by side

Posted: October 4, 2020 in locations, people
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I have been looking for places to find autumn colours and one idea I had last week was to visit Pinehills cemetery in Scarborough.  I didn’t find many colourful leaves but I did find a few things.  The most noticeable was the mix of names on the stones – Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Greek, and more, all mixed in together.  In Toronto we often live side by side and it seems that we are also buried side by side –  as in the three people below: Baffa, Rajamohan, and Gutierrez.

monuments, tombstones at Pinehills cemetery with flower arrangements on top of them

below: Black stones with crosses on the top seem to be the prefered headstone for those in the Greek community who are buried here.  Sometimes the name is in English, and sometimes in Greek.

monuments, tombstones at Pinehills cemetery

monuments, tombstones at Pinehills cemetery
below: Cemeteries are fascinating in that they give us a glimpses into cultures and traditions.   The decorating of grave sites with flowers and figurines adds a bit of joy to an otherwise somber setting.  You know that these people are remembered and their lives celebrated.

monuments, tombstones at Pinehills cemetery

decorated monuments, tombstones at Pinehills cemetery

monuments, tombstones at Pinehills cemetery

below: A large shamrock.  Beneath it, a Miss Kitty doll in purple and a pair of boxing gloves with the Irish flag.   Doesn’t it make you wonder why?  Was Frank Murphy a boxer?  What will my descendants leave by my grave?

monuments, tombstones at Pinehills cemetery including one with a shamrock etched on the front

below: I assume that the red tape covers an inscription that is already on the headstone for the spouse of the departed?  Perhaps a name and birthdate?  Written vertically in Mandarin…. and I wish that I could read some of them.  Is there something written about the deceased? Is there an epitaph?  I’ll have to be content to look at the lotus flower, bamboo, and dragons that decorate the stones.

Chinese tombstones in Pinehills cemetery, in Manadarin, one red tape over part of one stone

below: As I was leaving, this coyote came sauntering across the grass.  It wasn’t the least bit afraid of me (in my car).

coyote lying in front of monuments, tombstones at Pinehills cemetery

light brown coyote

 

Greek Independence Day Parade

Posted: March 25, 2019 in events, locations, people
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Greek Independence Day is March 25, comemorating the start of the War of Greek Independence in 1821. Prior to that, they had been part of the Ottoman Empire for almost 400 years, since 1453. Yesterday there was a parade along the Danforth to mark the occasion.

a man in traditional Greek clothing carries a flag in a parade, he is in front of a group carrying a banner

There were people with banners representing many groups including the Cultural Society of Kilkis and Suburbs,

a man in a blue parka carries a banner in a parade, a small flag-like banner for the Cultural Society of Kilkis

the Thessalon Federation of Ontario, and many more,

women in traditional Greek costume carry a banner of the Thessalon Federation of Ontario, a blue banner, in a parade, while others walk behind the banner

a woman in a brown coat and maroon scarf wrapped around her head, holds a Greek flag. Behind her is a boy in traditional greek clothing in a parade

a woman with dark sunglasses and blue coat holds three small flags, two Greek and one Canadian

the crowd cheers and claps as a parade passes by

3 girls posing with a banner, the younger girl holds a Greek flag, they are with a banner representing the Daughters of Penelope

a group of people, older men with kids, Greek Independence day parade

below: There was only one float in the parade. It was a memorial to those who died in the Greek genocide during and after WW1 when the Christian Ottoman Greeks living in Anatolia (now part of Turkey) were killed or driven out.

people in costume on a float commemorating the genocide of Pontos

a girl in red jacket and cap, dark sunglasses, and holding a Greek flag, walks in a parade, with people on the sidewalk watching in the background.

a police man in yellow jacket directs a group of marchers in the Greek Independence Day parade on the Danforth. The group is walking with a large banner with words written in Greek

two kids in traditional Greek costume pose for a picture. The young girl is not amused.

in a parade, people (mostly young boys) carrying a banner for the Knossos society (of Crete), along the Danforth, Greek flags, other people watching

a man in traditional Athenian clothing with pompoms on the toes of his shoes walks in a parade while holding a very large Greek flag