snowman | as I walk Toronto

Posts Tagged ‘snowman’

Bayview & Lawrence, Glendon College

Posted: January 21, 2021 in history, locations, nature, public art
Tags: Bayview Ave., Chedington, DOn River, E.R. Wood, Glendon College, Glendon Hall, Lionel Thomas, Ray Spiers, sculpture, snow, snowman, trails, trees, Watson's bridge, winter, woods

The main entrance to Glendon College is via Lawrence Avenue on the west side of Bayview; here Lawrence becomes the driveway for the college. The first building that you see is glass with the word welcome in several languages etched into it. On the left is “boozhoo” which is Ojibwe, “she:kon” is Mohawk, and “tansi” is a greeting in Cree.

In 1924, Edward Rogers Wood (1866-1941) and Agnes Euphemia Smart (1868-1950) moved into the house that they had built on 84 acres of ravine land at the north end of Bayview Avenue, in what was then suburban Toronto.

below: Glendon Hall now, on a grey winter day.

When Agnes Eupemia (Phemie) died in 1950, she left the estate to the University of Toronto to be used for a university botanical garden. Ten years later U of T gave the site to the newly formed York University to use as their main campus.

below: Another of the older buildings at Glendon

below: Residence building being renovated. They were built in the late 1960s. Glendon College has just under 3000 students but the campus was very quiet (on a Sunday in January 2021).

below: Lionel Thomas (Canadian,1915-2005), The Whole Person, 1961 metal mounted on the exterior of one of the buildings on the College campus.

below: Metal sculpture by Ray Spiers (b. Canada 1934), Untitled 1, 1975

below: Sculpture of a more temporary nature.

The main part of the campus is up high, above the ravine formed by the west branch of the Don River. At the bottom of the hill is the pool and tennis courts as well as access to trails along the river.

below: Athletic Center and bridge over the Don River

below: The end of Lawrence Avenue on the east side of Bayview.

below: Under the Bayview bridge which was originally built in 1929 with financing help from E.R. Wood, and expanded in the early 1960s.

below: Before 1929 this is where traffic crossed the Don River. The bridge, Watson’s Bridge, was built in 1895. In the distance, you can see the Chedington condos; they sit where a house for Muriel Wood once stood. E.R. Wood built the house (also called Chedington) for his daughter in 1927-28 but it was destroyed by fire in 2009.

below: Watson bridge, built 1895

below: Beyond Bayview the paths were very icy so we didn’t venture much farther that day.

More details about the history of the Bayview bridge can be found on a City of Toronto website. They have lots of pictures!

a rainy September day

Posted: September 9, 2019 in construction, events, general Toronto, graffiti and street art, public art, reflections, stores
Tags: birdo, Born and Raised, bricks, crowds, dragon, dragon festival, hot dog, hot dog vendor, King Street, mural, nathan phillips square, octopus, Olexander Wlasenko, paste up, potato spiral, public art, reflections, sculpture, snowman, streets, TIFF, umbrella, wall, Yonge Street

A grey day. The kind of day that when it starts to rain you head to a subway station, only to have the rain stop before you get there. So you walk more. Then it rains again so you buy an umbrella and minutes later the rain stops. So you walk more.

below: Southwest corner of Yonge & Wellesley

below: Northwest corner of Yonge & Wellesley

below: Marks left behind, traces of lives once lived there.

below: Do you think that there will ever be a time when we can walk downtown without encountering construction zones?

below: If it’s a gaggle of geese or a parliament of owls, what’s a group of cement trucks?

below: A new large mural by birdo at Dundas & McCaul

below: Same mural, different angle

below: “Keep going” at the Children’s Healing Garden outside Sick Kids Hospital on University Avenue.

below: You can do anything

below: A large hole on University Ave

below: There was a Dragon Festival at Nathan Phillips Square this past weekend.

below: Friday was a rather quiet day at the festival, probably because of the weather.

below: But there was lots of different food available including skewers of octopus

below: There were also these fried potato spirals on sticks that are available at every festival and street function.

below: Hot dog vendor on Queen Street

below: Snowmen? This is “Born and Raised” designed by Studio How-to-See.

below: The tallest snowman is 5 “snowballs” high, or 17 feet tall. Oh no! The snowman in the middle has lost its head. What would Olaf say?

below: Of course early September means TIFF. King Street West closed and many people were walking or hanging out there trying their hand at celebrity spotting. We are all groupies during TIFF.

below: I wouldn’t know a famous actor or director, or anything like that, if they came up to talk to me. My attempts to follow the crowd to get celebrity pics weren’t very successful. This is the kind of photo that I ended up with – The eye belongs someone called Jason who is taking a selfie with a father and daughter. I didn’t linger long on King Street.

below: Having King Street closed didn’t help the traffic on nearby streets. Mind you, this is normal for Toronto especially around rush hour. Stand at any intersection downtown and you’ll find many instances where cars block traffic when the traffic lights change.

below: The driver knew I was there taking pictures. It didn’t make much difference.

below: Paste ups on Richmond Street. I find these mesmerizing. I love the positioning of the eye and the way that it is staring at you .

below: And my last stop that day, a quiet charcoal drawing by Olexander Wlasenko at the Arbozzo Gallery at 410 Richmond Street.

Now, all that’s left is the pink umbrella that I bought, still unused.

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

winter uber5000

Posted: February 21, 2018 in graffiti and street art, public art
Tags: blue bird, cat, Christmas tree, ear muffs, frog, ice, ice rink, Nathan Phillips, raccoon, skating, snowman, Toronto, uber5000, yellow birdies, zamboni

Uber5000 is almost finished a new mural in Graffiti Alley!

below: Large hockey playing yellow birdies. One male and one female by the looks of it.

below: The mural is loosely based on Nathan Phillips Square in the winter time. See that Toronto sign? It has been painted with glow in the dark paint. Apparently, UV lights are going to be installed to illuminate the sign at night. Something to check out in the near future!

below: That’s one cool tree!

With thanks to Joanne (of My Life Lived Full blog ) for walking with me today! You were a great excuse to walk Graffiti Alley again…. and yes, there is always something new to discover!

standing room only

Posted: February 19, 2017 in locations
Tags: angels, Christmas, clown, decorations, dolls, fabric, flower, frisbee, gnome, lights, mickey mouse, plaques, plastic, Pokemon, Shrek, signs, snowman, stuffed, sunglasses, tape, taped, toys

Take one ordinary semi-detached house on an ordinary street in Leslieville…
and add a decoration or two…

The above photo was taken back in November whereas the one below was taken a couple days ago. Many, many items are the same. The biggest change is that there a few more Christmas decorations now large candy canes, another Santa Claus, a couple of angels and an elf or two.

Call it cute. Call it creepy. Call it fun. Call it fascinating. Call it a mess.

below: Some of the dolls and toys are attached to wooden stakes that stand upright in the yard.

below: The fence is packed full with toys and dolls and the like, including this creepy clown and ghoulish green faced doll. The pink Powerpuff girl (Blossom?) looks happy and even Elmo doesn’t seem to mind being behind bars.

below: A red candle fence lines the entrance.

below: The retaining wall is also covered. Welcome to our Garden, Boston Bruins, more Mickey Mouse, Dora the Explorer, Season Greetings and a frisbee or two or three.

I wonder how it all started? And where is it going?

I wonder what the neighbours think.

back on the streets again

Posted: February 16, 2017 in general Toronto, history, memorials, old buildings, people, windows and walls
Tags: alphabet, banner, beams, Bettys, brick wall, cars, coca cola sign, construction, Dieu et mon droit, doors, Full Circle, ghost outline, graffiti, homeless, James Beaty, King St., letters, lights, lion, magnet, motto, Pacific Junction Hotel, people, Peter von Tiesenhausen, puddle, reflections, relief sculpture, snow, snowman, statue, stencil, streets, trees, windows, words

Another reason why I haven’t posted recently? I’ve been sick. Icky sick; can’t get out of bed sick. This morning was the first time that I’ve walked Toronto streets in many, many days.

It was a beautiful blue sky morning but I made a mistake and stopped for coffee first. Clouds rolled in and we were back to greyness by the end of the first mug. Argh. Maybe back inside for a secong mug?

In the end I’m glad I got my momentum back. I walked streets I’ve walked many times before but I walked it with a long lens in hand. I started searching for details that I’ve missed before as well as shots that are easier (and sneakier!) with a lens zoomed out to the max.

In no particular order….

below: The front of Betty’s on King street. These magnets have been here for a while now although their numbers may have magnified. In hindsight, I should have gone over and written something like, “Hi my name is Joe and I’m the Prime Minister of Canada”.

below: The bright colours of this exposed wall caught my eye. It’s been revealed because of the demolition of a building at Victoria and Lombard and I suspect that it will get covered up again in the near future.

below: This is a closer view of the men in the photo above. I hadn’t purposely taken their picture but I like the portrait look of the picture. A kind of Mike Rowe’s ‘Dirty Jobs’ image comes to mind.

below: Banner for the Pacific Junction Hotel.

below: Drink Coca-cola

below: Sitting together in silence. Black and white. Alive and not alive.
Both aren’t moving and both don’t see me.

below: I have always been intrigued by these vertical windows at St. James Cathedral, especially with the winter trees in front of them. I’ve taken pictures here before but none have been satisfactory. This one is certainly not perfect but the sense of scale that the woman provides is a big help.

below: These two small ionic-ish columns help support an archway over the door.

below: A bit of a rant. At one point did it become acceptable for people to be sleeping on the sidewalks? How did we learn to walk past? When someone walks past a person sleeping in the middle of the sidewalk, what thoughts go through their head? Is there a solution? Or is so normal now that we don’t consider it a problem? This man was right in the middle, there was no easy way to avoid him, but avoid him we did.

below: Trying to cross King Street.

below: An exposed support beam, two wood planks on end sandwiched between steel I beams.

below: High on a brick wall he suffers in anguish as the pigeons keep pooping on him.

below: A bit of a cliche. Walking the dogs in the park on a winter day.

below: The Christmas lights are still wrapped around the trees in St. James Park.

below: Two mis-matched windows side by side. Old brick, rusty metal.

below: Above 10 Toronto Street is this royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom. The unicorn represents Scotland and in the royal coat of arms for Scotland, the lion and the unicorn are reversed. You’ll also noticed that the unicorn is chained. Apparently this is because in legend, the unicorn is a dangerous beast. I’m not sure what this says about Scotland! The words on the banner below the lion and the unicorn say “Dieu et Mon Droit” (= God and My Right). The words around the middle circle say “Honi soit qui mal y pense”. This is the motto of the Order of the Garter and it translates to ‘shame upon him who thinks evil of it’.

below: This is the building that used to house Starbucks on King Street near George Brown College. Many months (more than a year) ago there was a fire in the building and Starbucks closed down. The windows and doors were boarded up and then nothing happened. That looks like the makings of scaffolding lying on the sidewalk so maybe some renovation work is about to begin.

below: A ghost building outline.

below: An octopus runs up the stairs. Or would it slither?

below: Passing by the five faceless naked men who silently and stoically watch over the intersection of Queen and Victoria. A sculpture “Full Circle” by Peter von Tiesenhausen.

below: I also met James Beaty this morning. He too stands silently but he is tucked away in a dull and quiet corner so he doesn’t get much to look at. The original James Beaty was born in Ireland 1798 and came to Canada as young man. He was a leather merchant, he established the newspaper ‘Toronto Leader’ in 1852, and in 1867 he became a federal politician.