ice | as I walk Toronto

Posts Tagged ‘ice’

Walking with friends

Posted: January 22, 2021 in nature, old buildings
Tags: bench, Bloor West, Catfish Pond, High Park, houses, ice, park, pond, rink, sculpture, shadows, snow, street, trees, winter

Howdy!

There are rumours of a vaccine being available but at the rate at which people are being inoculated, we’re going to be living this socially distanced life for a few (many?) more months. To help alleviate the feelings of isolation without jeopardizing anyone’s health, I have started walking with friends in their neighbourhoods. My previous post, about Glendon College, was the result of a walk that I took with my mother and it was that afternoon that I decided to make a point of walking with friends more often. The result of the first of these walks, near South Kingsway & Bloor, is what you see here.

below: Rules of the rink for these Covid-19 times.

A little house!

below: Be careful where you walk!

below: Evidence of beaver activity!

below: The muddy path beside Catfish Pond

below: Morningside High Park Presbyterian church, built 1917.

below: In the distance, highrises near Bloor West and Keele

below: High Park

below: The very north end of Grenadier Pond. Work is underway to remove invasive species of plants from this part of High Park and replace them with native vegetation.

and back up the stairs to Bloor West

With thanks to Alice for being my tour guide.

February thaw

Posted: February 23, 2020 in locations, nature, people
Tags: bridge, ducks, Edwards Gardens, ice, melting, path, people, puddles, reading, sitting, snow, walking, water, Wilket Creek Park

This weekend saw the temperatures rise high enough draw people outside. A lot of the snow melted and there was hope in the air – hope that winter won’t last too much longer. This being Canada, winter can last as long as it wants!… And that’s often into April. In the meantime, it was great to enjoy the weekend.

below: A quiet sunny spot to sit

below: Taking selfies on the rocks at Edwards Gardens.

below: Watching the ducks on the partially frozen Wilket Creek.

ending on Dufferin

Posted: February 14, 2020 in alleys, history, locations, old buildings
Tags: alley, butterfly, garage doors, Glenholme Ave., Glenholme Variety, graffiti, graffiti faces, heart, houses, ice, lane, love, man, mural, Murals by Marg, Oakwood Ave., Oakwood Collegiate, painted, red heart, Regal Heights, Ross Bonfanti, Sandra Tarantino, snow, spudbomb, stairs, stores, street, streetcar, woman

The general idea yesterday afternoon was to walk Oakwood, southbound from St. Clair. What I didn’t expect when I left my cosy apartment was a strong cold wind, so part of the adventure was dictated by which direction the wind was blowing and how to avoid it (if possible!). If some of these photos look a little blurry, it’s because of the snow that was falling all afternoon.

below: Pizza Pizza on the northwest corner of St. Clair and Oakwood.

below: I hadn’t gone far when I found a lane so of course I had to follow it… Looking back towards Oakwood Collegiate.

below: Old black and white photo of St. Clair Ave from 1911 just after construction of Oakwood Collegiate was complete. Oakwood Avenue is now on the other side of the school in this photo. It is interesting to note that St. Clair had streetcar tracks back in 1911 but was still a dirt road. Apparently the city started building these tracks when the school was open – the St. Clair streetcar line was open in 1913. I found this photo in Living Toronto – follow the link if you want to read more about the history of this school.

below: And that is where I spotted this man with a little red heart…

below: … and across the alley from him was this woman, also with another little red heart. It’s Valentines Day today, how sweet and how appropriate.

below: The hearts just kept on coming. I’d only walked a few minutes and already I had enough for a Valentines Day post! 🙂

below: At the end of the lane I spotted this too…. can you see the LOVE? It looks like it’s written in the middle of the pink and blue graffiti but it’s actually on the metal vent.

below: So much for walking down Oakwood. I circled back to St. Clair West where I saw the Yummi Cafe & Laundromat with it’s hand written sign in the window. Support Our Teachers! These are trying days for education in Ontario as the teachers lock horns with Doug Ford and his Conservatives who speak first and think later.

below: This is middle section of the Royal Heights village mural painted by Murals by Marg in 2019. It is on the side of 1006 St. CLair West (at Appleton Ave).

below: To the right is a small butterfly, child height. Choose to be kind.

below: The left side has a larger butterfly as well as a bright yellow door with a blue umbrella. Let love rain down!

below: Right across the street (on the northeast corner of Appleton & St. Clair) is this mural. I haven’t been able to find out who the artist was.

below: Looking west on St. Clair as you approach Glenholme.

below: A coin laundry as well as Glenholme Variety on the southwest corner of St. Clair and Glenholme.

below: In front of 98 Glenholme is this little sculpture, an old fashioned sewing machine on a pole. It marks the home of Marcello Tarantino Sartoria (tailor).

below: Another alley – the wind back here is not so bad!

below: An old green Chevrolet delivery van with Imperial Upholstering Co written across the side and above the front window in faded letters. Also fading is the text: Manufacturers of Individual Style(?) Furniture

Mural by Ross Bonfanti and Sandra Tarantino with hearts, stars, a flying car and superhero kids.

The alley ended at Dufferin and that is where I headed south.

below: The southwest corner of Dufferin and Davenport

below: A black and white photo from 1912 of the construction of Dufferin Street at Davenport. This photo is originally from the City of Toronto archives but I found it online in an article on the history of Dufferin Street in blogTO.

below: Mary looks down upon us, from a niche in the wall of St. Mary of the Angels church.

below: Remnants of an art project left to weather on a fence around a schoolyard.

below: A smiling happy mural on the side of a dental office on Dufferin Street painted by spudbomb (2017)

below: Just north of Dupont Street, the CPR tracks cross Dufferin.

below: This strange pillar (artwork?) is on the southwest corner of Dufferin and Dupont. It used to be the marker/sign for the stores in the Galleria plaza on that corner. Everything there is under renovation at the moment so instead of tearing down the sign, it was converted into this. Hence, “Love me till I’m me again”.

below: From a different angle – the neighbourhood wins no beauty contest.

below: The architecture on Dufferin, both houses and stores, is a mishmash of styles (or non-styles!) that have evolved over the years. The next few photos try to give you an idea of the variety. First, at Dufferin & Rosemount

below: Dufferin & Hallam

below: Dufferin & Auburn

below: Standing alone at 1432

below: 1452A and its neighbours

below: An ominous sign – a boarded up house on Dufferin Street. Is change far behind? Just in case, I like to document what’s there because in this city, you turn around and everything’s different. And you think to yourself, “What used to be there?” But you can’t remember because that is how our memories work and isn’t that disconcerting?

IceFest 2020

Posted: February 13, 2020 in events, people
Tags: #icefest20, artist, blocks of ice, chainsaw, chisel, drill, Elton John, Garfield, hats, heart, ice, Icefest, legs, Loch gallery, metal, Patrick Amiot, people, posing, power tools, sculptures, skier, snow, winter, Yorkville

This year’s theme at the Yorkville IceFest was “Awesome 80’s” and the feature ice sculptures were all things 80’s.

below: Fabulous red heart embedded in the ice! The ice made the red shine. Needless to say, these two women weren’t the only ones who did this!

below: Leftover red balls from Christmas added to the festivities.

below: Posing with the rock ’em sock ’em robots (Cool hat too!)

below: A younger version of Elton John made an appearance at the Ice Fest

below: Posing with Garfield the cat

below: Walking on air, but so cool with the leg warmers on.

below: Driving the De Lorean

below: Most of the sculptures came already made and were set up on Saturday morning. Starting at noon, several artists began carving some sculptures – partially as a demonstration of their craft and partially as a contest for best sculpture.

below: Because it was a cold day, some time was spent warming up inside the nearby art galleries. I saw this little ski guy stuck in the snow outside Loch Gallery. Does it look like he’s shivering too? (artwork by Patrick Amiot).

below: Another wonderful creation by Patrick Amiot. I’m not sure that a hockey player (especially a Leaf?!?) should look frightened?

January once again.

Posted: January 25, 2020 in waterfront
Tags: art, boats, bus shelter, city, CN Tower, construction, danger, fire rescue boat, Future Retrospectives, H T O beach, Hannah Claus, ice, Lake Ontario, Loop, Power Plant Contemporary Art, public art, Queens Quay, Scotiabank Arena, sea gulls, snow, streetcar, tug boat, Union station, walkway, waterfront, winter stations

It’s been a while since I posted here mostly because I’ve been away. But I’m back in Toronto and back to walking. The other day didn’t start as planned! A locked gate stood in my way.

Shortly after, I saw a sign …. I’m not sure that it references locked gates specifically, but at the minimum it’s a reminder to remain flexible.

As anyone Canadian city dweller knows, winter in the city rarely means white snow – the brown slush quickly takes over. Here, at Spadina and Queens Quay, the road has been painted red to alert drivers to the fact that this is a streetcar lane.

Lake Ontario has only begun to freeze, and only in quiet protected places. The first part of January was warmer than usual. Even as I type this it is raining and all the snow is melting. There probably isn’t much of this ice left this afternoon.

below: A “Danger due to” sign that has blown in from somewhere else but is just as relevant here as it is at any construction site.

below: The Music Garden hibernating for the winter.

below: Kayaks at Harbourfront resting for the winter months.

below: The fire rescue boat was out and about the other afternoon.

Now on at the Harbourfront Centre is “Future Retrospectives” which is a group exhibition of works by artists and designers who use the past as a lens to look at the future (until 29th March).

below: The coloured shapes with the words, are the work of Hannah Claus. They hang on a clear background so the installation on the wall behind shows through (also the work of Hannah Claus). In fact, the two go together. At first I thought the coloured shapes represented tombstones but in fact they are a replica of the plaque on Hochelaga Rock. This rock commemorates the village and people encountered by Jacques Cartier in 1535; it is on the McGill campus in Montreal. It is also featured in the photos on the far wall. The English words (bottom half) start with “Near here was the…”. More information.

below: Will we be able to understand a future time? Also part of Future Retrospectives.

below: Timeless. Eternity. Waiting for the bus.

below: This is ‘Loop’ an interactive “Winter Station” public art installation. In past years, there have been 5 or 6 different art installations along Queens Quay as part of the Winter Station project. This year, there is just this one which is located at York Street Park. The circles are large enough for two people to sit face to face. There is a metal bar which can then be moved back and forth between the pair. This movement makes an inner circle spin and activates some lights. It is the creation of Olivier Girouard ; it is scheduled to remain here until the 9th of February.

below: Harbour Street, looking east towards Yonge Street from the elevated walkway that runs north from WaterPark Place, over the Lakeshore and under the Gardiner.

below: Reflections on the walkway.

below: After passing under the Gardiner, the walkway wraps around the west side of the second floor of the Scotiabank Arena (originally the ACC).

below: The south entrance to Union Station, from the walkway. This is also a good view of the new glass platform over Union Station (train shed roof?) – this is something that I need to check out in more detail.

below: Also under renovation is the Bay Street exit of the Scotiabank Arena. A new walkway between it and the building being constructed across the street is almost complete. It is on the same level as, and immediately beside, the railway tracks. This walkway will connect to the new Union Station bus terminal

below: Exit onto Bay Street and look up! Upward. And to the future…. wherever that leads us.

Moccasin Trail to the rainbow

Posted: March 18, 2019 in locations, nature
Tags: bird house, DOn River, ducks, East Don Trail, grass, ice, mural, people, plants, rainbow bridge, red tail hawk, scenes, snow, snowman, winter

Moccasin Trail is a street in Don Mills that provides access to the East Don Trail. Starting a walk there looked like a good idea when I checked the map.

I decided that it was worth a try. Going downhill is harder than going uphill on snow and ice so I figured that if I got stuck all I had to do was turn around and go back to my car. In the summer you can drive down to the parking lot.

With a little slipping, a little sliding, and a lot of care, I made it. At the bottom of the hill is Moccasin Trail Park.

below: The path goes under the DVP to join the East Don Trail (where there was not as much ice!). Except for the constant rumble of traffic in the background, it was very quiet down here today. I only saw two other people (and one dog).

below: Wild grasses grow in the ditch alongside the Don Valley Parkway along with sumach trees and other shrubs.

below: A Red-tailed Hawk circles overhead. There were two of them flying above me today. They were magnificent to watch as they circled in the sky – and as I wished that they would come closer, or perhaps even find something to catch. No luck today.

below: Ducks in the water and traffic on the Don Valley Parkway

below: Someone has tied this bright and cheerful bird house to the trunk of a tree.

below: One of the biggest reasons why I chose to walk this path today – the rainbow bridge. It’s easily visible from the northbound Don Valley Parkway. Although I don’t drive the DVP on a regular basis, every time I am reminded that I haven’t walked there yet. It was originally painted in the 1970’s by B.C. Johnson, a teenager from Norway. Every time the city painted over it, the rainbow was repainted.

below: In 2013 the arch was repainted with the help of Mural Routes. The interior was also painted in the same rainbow colours.

These are some of the scenes that are painted inside.

I didn’t explore much beyond the rainbow bridge. That adventure is for another day!

UPDATE: The rest of the trail that can be access from the Moccasin Trail is now covered in a blog post, From Charles Sauriol southward

Graffiti Alley, February

Posted: March 4, 2019 in graffiti and street art, locations
Tags: alley, blue jay, blue mask, condos, graffiti, Graffiti Alley, Horst, ice, Josh Creighton, lane, mask, mural, people, photos, red dress, Rush Lane, snow, stencil, street art, text

A winter walk down Graffiti Alley and Rush Lane

below: Posing with a blue mask (you can also see them in the photo above).

below: A little red dress with flair

below: TBJ, Toronto blue jay

below: A large rose by Josh Creighton

below: Yin and yang

below: Rust, grime, and the remnants of stickers on an old window.

below: Horst

below: This blog post would have been finished a day or two earlier but I fell behind because of this photo. I fell down the rabbit hole when researching these condos. I have since decided that rather than getting bogged down now discussing this development, I would leave it for a later date. The red face sums it all up.

sunshine and slush

Posted: March 2, 2019 in general Toronto, nature, public art, reflections, shadows
Tags: Berczy park, Bremner, Canada Life, cows, dog, ice, King St. West, lovebot, melting, patterns, reflections, sculpture, shadows, slush, smoking, snow, SoTeeOh, St. Andrew station, star, street, trees, windows, winter, Yung Yemi

The Last Day of February

below: These boots are made for walking… walking through the snow and slush on a sunny day.

February has come to a close but it’s still winter and there’s still lots of snow on the ground. There was a bit of a respite from the cold the other day but rumour has it we’re headed back to some very cold temperatures in the near future. Of course, slightly warmer temperatures mean slush and puddles on the streets and sidewalks of Toronto.

below: The CN Tower is reflected in an oily puddle.

below: The cows don’t seem to mind the snow!

below: And the dogs at Berczy Park are all sporting scarves!

below: Slow thaw. Melting and dripping down the window.

below: Rust and snow

below: Outside smoke break shadows. Brrrrr

below: Sun and reflections, southwest corner of King St and University Ave

below: Flip yourself around…. and now looking north up University Ave past the northeast corner of University and King Street West.

below: Wet tree branches glistening in the sun

below: More tree branches, but soft and feathery this time

below: These two little birds now watch over the dogs in Berczy Park.

below: A section of a picture on display at Union Station. It is part of an exhibit called “A Thousand Paths Home” and is the work of Torontonian Yung Yemi aka Adeyemi Adegbesan aka SoTeeOh. A write up of his work appeared in Afropunk.

below: There were also some real people at Union Station, or at least parts of people.

below: Looking north up Lower Simcoe Street towards the railway bridge

below: Salt and dirt and slush and snow, yes, the city in winter.

below: It’s nice to still find lovebots!

Falling snow and ice from above, and slush under foot. That was February.

more ice.. and a few ice breakers too

Posted: February 11, 2019 in public art, waterfront
Tags: Alexandra Griess, Andrew Edmundson, bents, chairs, Chroma Key Protest, Connectors, Dionisios Vriniotis, ducks, green, H2O Beach, ice, Ice Breakers, installations, jorel heid, JP King, Lake Ontario, long-tailed ducks, metal, Our Desires Fail Us, park, people, reflections, Rob Shostak, sculptures, Sean Martindale, snow, Stellar Spectra, tripix, winter

A walk along Queens Quay West

My reason for walking along the waterfront was to see the 2019 version of ‘Ice Breakers’. This year there are five art installations spaced out along Queens Quay. The white PVC tubes you see in the photo below is half of one of these installations, Stellar Spectra. The other half is identical and was behind me when I took this picture. They are placed at each end of the little bridge. These hollow structures were designed by Torontonians Rob Shostak and Dionisios Vriniotis. There is room for a person or two inside and once inside, look up! The tops of the tubes are covered with coloured acrylic.

below: I was trying to think of a way to describe the bridge that sits on, but a picture paints a thousand words so here’s the bridge from a different angle. You can also see the two white structures on the bridge in the background. In addition, there are green signs on poles that once floated in the water but are now frozen in the ice. The signs, like protest signs, are ‘Chroma Key Protest’ by Andrew Edmundson of Solve Architects.

below: Twenty five green signs

below: A pair of long-tailed ducks enjoy an small bit of open water.

below: Another installation, ‘Tweeta Gate’ over a very icy path. There were lots of barriers along the waterfront along with signs that warned of “no winter maintenance”. It was very slippery. These 10 arches are supposed to lead you to the waterfront but I didn’t see anyone brave enough to walk there. ‘Ice Breakers’ remain until the 24th of February so there is still time for the ice to melt (it will, won’t it?) Each arch represents a different architectural style. It was designed by Eleni Papadimitriou and Stefanos Ziras.

below: ‘Connectors’ is an entanglement of four orange tubes made of drainage pipes – if you speak into one end, which of the other 7 ends is the sound going to come out of? This was designed by Alexandra Griess and Jorel Heid from Hamburg Germany.

below: At H2O beach

below: The beach was fairly quiet. It was also covered with a layer of ice.

below: More ice surrounds the base of ‘Tripix’, a structure that was designed by a group of Ryerson students.

below: The panels that cover its surface are reflective and the angles in which they are arranged make for a kaleidoscopic effect when viewed from inside the installation.

below: And yes, another CN Tower picture

below: It’s not part of the ‘Ice Breakers’ series, but three large photographs are on display at Ontario Square. These are the series “Our Desires Fail Us” by Sean Martindale and J.P. King. They are mirrored images of Toronto garbage (mirrored in that one side of the photo is a mirror image of the other).

below: A close up look at one of the other photos [art is garbage vs garbage is art? – sorry, couldn’t help myself]

below: Recently, the off-ramp from the Gardiner Expressway that circled onto York Street was removed. The bents that held the road up remain in what is now a park at the corner of York Street and Queens Quay.

As I write this post, I keep wondering if I missed something because of the ice. I might have to make a second trip if the temperatures warm up enough before the 24th of February. In the meantime, don’t slip!