Where the sidewalk ends

Click on image, enlarge, read the sign.

I changed this post after hearing from a reader. I'd forgotten the children's book, Where the sidewalk ends, by Shel Silverstein. They wrote to say I'd found the place made famous by Silverstein in his book and in his poem of the same name.

How I forgot the late Shel Silverstein's book and poem, it a question. He is one of my favourite children's book authors. I'll have to go to Chapters for a couple of his efforts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where the Sidewalk Ends 

by Shel Silverstein

There is a place where the sidewalk ends
And before the street begins,
And there the grass grows soft and white,
And there the sun burns crimson bright,
And there the moon-bird rests from his flight
To cool in the peppermint wind.

Let us leave this place where the smoke blows black
And the dark street winds and bends.
Past the pits where the asphalt flowers grow
We shall walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And watch where the chalk-white arrows go
To the place where the sidewalk ends.

Yes we'll walk with a walk that is measured and slow,
And we'll go where the chalk-white arrows go,
For the children, they mark, and the children, they know
The place where the sidewalk ends.

Storm-water pond

It was barely daybreak when I drove by the new subdivision separated from a major thoroughfare by a wet storm-water pond. These ponds retain rainwater and act to prevent flooding. For more information on these ponds, which are very numerous in London, read the story in The London Free Press.

The growing city

New commercial additions are clearly in the offing.

Construction continues.

On land that was open farmland when I moved to London, a massive shopping district is taking shape in southwest London, Ontario. The plan is to make Wonderland Road a major and welcoming entrance to the growing city.

The major gateway I can see but the welcoming part may be a stretch --- unless rows of fairly standard box stores with acres of black asphalt is your idea of welcoming.

Still, it is a clean, modern area offering everything from groceries to banking to eye care and much more. Like an ice cream? It's here. Looking for wine? Or beer? Yes, these stores are here, too.

This area offered the city a wonderful chance to showcase the city's planning department. If the city was going for the gold, someone fumbled it, in my opinion.

It's a good shopping area but very, very ordinary. It lacks magic.

Orchids flourish in London, Ontario

An orchid blooming in a London, Ontario, home.

When I think of Ontario, I don't think of orchids. But they are found in the province. Mostly in stores and the homes of orchid lovers but they are also found growing wild. Gosh, I've got to go looking one of these days.

What got me thinking about orchids was the beauty blooming at a friend's North London home. I may be wrong, but I believe his wife bought it at Costco. It's a discount orchid, although I don't think that is its official name.

Painting a face doesn't paint over the problems

The young girl doing the face painting was very friendly. In fact, she was busy cleaning up for the day when I approached with Fiona. She didn't have to but she took out some paints and brushes and readily agreed to paint Fiona's face.

As she started I asked about the cost. "It's five dollars," I was told. Now, that's not that much but yesterday I paid something like $140 for a season pass to the park plus the right to unlimited rides on the merry-go-round and other park attractions.

For more on Storybook, click the link. Read the comment.

There's nothing like forking over a payment in the three digits to make one immediately aware of a park's shortcomings. Today I noticed that the operator wasn't playing the music during the carousel ride. The kids road the merry-go-round ponies in a quiet punctuated by the grinding of well greased gears.

One horse was broken, at least one seat was torn, and the entire ride looked generally poorly cared for.

When we rode the miniature train I noticed that the engine was covered in dust. One would think it only reasonable to give the little engine a wash and a shine now and then. The park didn't shout pride.

But as I paid my five dollars I thought I might shout: "Storybook! Get your act together!"

Storybook Gardens in trouble

Wearing a pink train engineer's hat bought in Ely, Nevada, Fiona was alone on the Storybook ride.

Storybook Gardens is located in Springbank Park in London, Ontario. Storybook is aimed at kids, little kids, but it is having a hard go at attracting crowds and this should come as no surprise to anyone.

The list of what's right with the place is offset by a list of what's wrong. Sadly, the wrongs trump the rights.

Decades ago the park was filled with classic storybook references designed by local cartoonist Merle Tingley, well known right across Canada as Ting. From what I saw yesterday, the majority of Ting art, if not all, has been stripped from the park.

The other thing the park was famous for was its small zoo. Small, '50s-style zoos are no longer in vogue --- and that is not a bad thing. Too few animals kept in too tight enclosures often resulted in too many sad animals. Today the exotic animals are gone. Just recently the last seals were removed.

So what attracted me to the park? Why did I take my granddaughter to Storybook Gardens? Well, for one thing I wanted her to enjoy the Pirate's Island toddler play area. Fiona loves a well designed kiddy park. Sadly, we discovered the Storybook Gardens park wasn't particularly well designed. The toddler area was closed due to safety concerns.

We did find some small amusement park rides. A pleasant young woman helped Fiona make giant soap bubbles with a huge oval wand. Fiona held a pretend little tea party in a children's play house. This entertained both Fiona and another little girl.

Fiona had a good time. She liked the park. She checked out the splash pad and today with the temperature climbing to a hundred Fahrenheit we will definitely be going back. But, we are not going back because of the splash pad. There are other pads almost as close to my London home as the one at Storybook.

We are going back because I bought a season entry pass for both Fiona and me. I also bought us both passes for the park rides. The fours passes cost $140! That's crazy. The only reason I bought them was that entry to the park for the day, plus the cost of tickets for riding the park train and merry-go-round would have come to about $35. That's even crazier.

I'll take Fiona back to Storybook at least four more times in the coming weeks. We'll ride the carousel and take the train throughout the summer. But the cost of this fun leaves me a little angry. These charges are way out of line. If the city wants to charge for a first rate park, a quality facility, charge for something special, the city has to provide more, much more.

With some of the highest unemployment numbers in the country, an awful lot of London children (those with unemployed parents or underpaid ones) are being essentially denied access to a park supposedly designed especially for them.

Seeing London with '60s eyes

The Daily Photo thing is about fun. Kaleidoscopes are about fun. When I found one of the cardboard toys in my basement on the weekend I immediately wondered what would happen if I tried to shoot pictures using the old thing.

The toy of the psychedelic generation pumped out some really neat shots. I learned that if you have an iPhone, there is an app for taking pictures that emulate my kaleidoscope. And of course, there is always Photoshop.

Still, there is something cool about using the real thing: a fun blast from the past.

Trees are dying while flowers flourish

There are a lot of dead and dying evergreens in the London area.

Evergreen trees are dying all around London. It is not uncommon to see entire rows of trees, both young and old, dying or dead. One theory holds that Southwestern Ontario is in the midst of a decades long drought. There may be wet spells but generally the years have been drier than in the past.

A good rain may make flowers bloom and even keep crops happy but trees need water for their roots. One good storm, or two, is not nearly enough. Trees are dying because Southwestern Ontario is in the midst of a decades long drought. Apparently the water table is dropping in many areas.

I first heard this explanation for the all the dying trees from the late Peter Geigen-Miller, a fine reporter with a deep interest in the environment. I chatted with Peter about the dying trees and managed to pique his interest. Peter called authorities he knew at the local conservation area, got answer and a story.

I googled his explanation and discovered Peter was probably right. The following is from a 2010 CTV story:

A Statistics Canada study of southern Canada's water yield – the amount of water that falls as rain, melts from snow and ice packs and flows through rivers and streams – found that it has declined 8.5 per cent since 1971.

Canada's renewable fresh water supply is shrinking, according to a new report which says the southern part of the country lost enough water to fill 1.4 million Olympic-sized swimming pools every year over the past three decades.

The CTV story is good but Peter scooped them by two years or more. Peter was one of the first to report this story in detail.

The recent rain has been good for my lilies but my evergreens are looking very thirsty. I've begun watering them.

Addendum: The drought info is accurate but I wonder if my art actually shows a tree that succumbed purely to the stress of insufficient water. Look closely. There are some weird lumps at the crown of this tree. I wonder if this everygreen was suffering from a disease.

Canada Day and the park is holiday-busy

The strolling paths beside the river are not usually this busy. It's Canada Day.

Sculpture Heaven: A Vehicle for Departure, 1986

The art gallery in London sponsored a short walk around the gallery neighbourhood Saturday. A dozen people showed up for the walk and lecture. I was surprised by the very small turnout.

The work pictured stands on the gallery grounds. It is called Sculpture Heaven: A Vehicle for Departure, 1986. It was done by Stacey Speigel who described his work as "an urban prayer wheel" reminiscent of Tibetan Buddhist practice. The entire work can be rotated. I

Inside the piece, covering the floor of sculpture, are dried autumn leaves and pieces of acetate cut into leaf shapes. These plastic leaves were decorated by children with prayers from 180 different religious texts.

A lot of this explanation stuff runs completely counter to everything I was taught when studying art: First in Detroit at the Art School of Creative Studies and later at Ryerson in Toronto where I took a class taught by Ken Carpenter, a professor from York University and a well respected art critic with ties to Clement Greenberg. Carpenter was easily one of the finest professor I encountered during my years of art study.

Some day I will blog on why such lengthy explanations giving the why of a piece of art supplied by the artist are thought by many to be suspect. But today, I will simply share a photo of the piece with you and a little background.

Cheers!

Farhi name decorates London downtown

Note the name, both on the sign and on the building: Farhi. Landlord Shmuel Farhi may be the biggest landlord in downtown. He certainly owns the greatest number of buildings. This building, the old Bell building, is one of his and it sports his usual large sign designed to attract tenants.

The Farhi name decorates many downtown structures. If Farhi has his way these signs will not fade away after 210 days as the present city bylaw stipulates. The landlord would like to see a change in the city bylaw restricting how long signs like his may stay up, and how much time must pass before they can be reinstalled. The limit now is seven months up, five months down.

One more look at an abandoned apple orchard

I don't know the exact reasons for this orchard in southwest London being abandoned but I do know that it is not an uncommon event. Growing fruit is tough. I understand it can be especially tough in Ontario where a warm early spring can encourage fruit trees to blossom only to be hit with a destructive late frost.

I believe we had more orchards when I was a boy growing up in Southwestern Ontario. I know we had far more canning operations back then. Today there isn't one cannery taking fruit this side of the Rockies. (I know this was true a couple of years ago. This info could now be out of date.)

This apple is for the birds and insect pests. No one will pick it.

It must be summer; The lilies are blooming.

At first, I thought these were tiger lilies, sometimes known as ditch lilies because they often grow wild in the ditches beside our Ontario highways.  But tiger lilies have small, dark dots and the petals do not have ruffled edges.

Still, they may be cousins to the  tiger lily. I don't know. Maybe someone will comment and clue me in. If they do, I'll add the info to this caption.

These lilies were spotted blooming along the riverside road bordering the Thames River in Springbank Park. Springbank is one of the finest parks, of its type, that I have ever encountered anywhere. Londoners seem to really appreciate the place. It is a love affair that has gone on for more than a century.

Hens and chicks can survive almost anything

One of my most popular posts featured a picture of hens and chicks in flower. If you're curious, check it out. The flowers are most certainly weird.

Hens and chicks are native to southern Europe and yet they survive the Canadian winters in London, Ontario, and are not fazed by the hot, dry, Southwest Ontario summers. These plants are resilient. Heck, mine have now even survived being brutally walked on and energetically jumped on by my granddaughter. She meant no harm and no harm apparently was done. Amazing.
I love the way these succulents cover the ground with clusters of rosettes.  The largest rosettes are the 'hens' and the smaller ones springing from them are the 'chicks.' But these birds do produce flowers which sit on the top of tall, erect stalks that can tower up to a foot over the foliage.

My hens and chicks appear to be getting ready to flower. Each time they do this, I think, "Weird.

In the middle of some of the best farmland in Canada: An abandoned orchard

An abandoned orchard in South London

London, Ontario, likes to brag that it is situated right smack dab in the middle of some of the best farmland in Canada. Plus, we usually have ample rain keeping crops healthy and growing and our summers are long and hot --- very supportive of agriculture. Southwest Ontario is the ideal location for a successful apple orchard. Or at least it should be.

Sadly, fruit orchards right across the southern part of the province are being abandoned, bull dozed, ripped out, with the land growing its last crop: A subdivision.

The abandoned orchard shown is but five minutes from my South London home. When I moved here in the early '90s, there were orchards reaching for kms along Southdale Road. My wife and I used to buy fresh baked fruit pies from a couple of places that also sold the locally grown fruit.

Today many of the orchards are gone with houses occupying the land. Some of the other orchards are simply abandoned. The pies are but a memory.

Why there is no money in maintaining these orchards and reaping the bountiful crop of fruit for as long as possible is my question. Something is wrong. It is not just the pushing of the city into the surrounding country that is killing the orchards. More is at work here. Maybe the fact that there are no longer fruit canning plants in Ontario could have something to do with it. The market for the fruit may be as withered as the trees themselves.

I know that the last canned peaches I bought for my granddaughter came from South Africa. The last fruit cocktail I got came from China.

One of the hottest days of the year

Today is one of the hottest days this year. At three o'clock it was about 33 degrees Centigrade, or more than 91 degrees Fahrenheit. And, as it often the case in London, ON, it was humid. This meant that the humidex number was much higher: 40 degrees Centigrade or 104 degrees Fahrenheit! If you were going to do something outside, the morning was the time to do it.

Splash pad picture from my files.

This young woman was spotted in mid morning taking two young children to the neighbourhood park. Both little ones had on wide brimmed hats and they rode to the park in a flag shaded wagon. My guess is that they had sun block applied to their bare legs and arms.

The city has been advertising that the splash pads are open providing relief from the heat and the wading pool at Springbank Park is also open.

Lilies beginning to bloom

I know very little about flowers. But, a lady with whom I worked at the paper was a lily enthusiast. She sent me to a place northeast of the city called Horner Lilies. Wow!

I love my lilies; My wife loves my lilies; The squirrels love my lilies and I mean love 'em. They eat the tubers. They find 'em delicious. And me, I'm finding fewer and fewer of my bright orange lilies as the years pass by. I think it is time to head back to Horner Lilies and restock my flower garden.

Can't let the little squirrels starve.

Oh well, I still have my grass.

A British invasion: the British roadster

I still have my Morgan, bought in December of 1968 from Metro Motors on Howard Avenue in Windsor, Ontario. With Metro Motors the only dealer east of Sterne Motors in Burnaby, British Columbia, Morgans were more common in Ontario than in other Canadian provinces except for B.C. Metro Motors is long gone, as is Sterne Motors for that matter, but the wealth of Morgans in the southern Ontario region is a continuing legacy of those long ago days.

I believe there are at least half a dozen Morgans in the London area. I would be very surprised if there were not a lot more if one were to count them all.

Morgans are interesting in that the owners like to drive them and, despite their age, they do not like to tow them anywhere. Morgans are made to be driven and to be enjoyed.

Saturday the Morgan club held a party in Mississauga west of Toronto. Members drove their cars from all over the area to attend. But there were not just Morgans at the party. Check out the beautiful Triumph TR3 (below) that motored over.

Ah, how I smile when I recall the days when the British roadster ruled the back country roads. Cheap to buy and relatively inexpensive to drive, they were the favoured cars of a generation. When one says British invasion, one thinks of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and other British groups. But before the British rockers hit the North American shore, the English sports car was leading a British invasion of its own.

And a thanks to Paul in Powell River for letting me know my error. I always appreciate a good editor.

A bit of the country in the middle of London

The southern bank of the Thames River where this fellow is fishing is Springbank Park. The northern bank is the edge of The Thames Valley Golf Course. Still, this chap is enjoying a little bit of the country right in the middle of town.

Stores, lots of stores, a big plus for London

We've got stores. Lots and lots of stores. We may, in fact, have too many stores.  There may be more than can be easily supported, but that is another post. With that out of the way, let me say London is a great place to live if you're a woman looking for clothing bargains.

And if you're an aging husband being dragged about from store to store checking out dresses and jackets, well I've found something to do to wile away the time: Shoot pictures of fabric.

There are some rules for this game, I have to add a challenge, you can't touch the clothing. The picture must be created out of a found situation. The image must owe its existence to your abilities to see and crop in order to produce something out of the ordinary.

Check out today's picture. Now, you know what is possible. Get out there with your point and shoot and create.

Port Stanley: sand 'n' surf 30 minutes away

A couple of swimmers enjoy the surf off Port Stanley, Ontario.

Port Stanley is a good beach. The sand, especially at the water's edge, is fine and easy on the feet.

Now that June has arrived, the water is warming but it has not yet reached the temperature that blooms of algae, etc., are a problem. Runoff from area farms mixing with warm lake water can put the shoreline waters of Lake Erie off limits to swimmers.

Because of the danger posed to anyone venturing onto the long, concrete pier, the pier at Port Stanley is now closed to strollers. In the past it was open. It was exciting to head out onto the pier when large waves were crashing over the concrete structure. I confess that I did it myself in order to get a good picture. Sadly, people died after being washed off the structure by the raging surf.

Not everyone misses the walk on the pier. Kids are quite happy with the fine sand, with the water, and with making sand castles --- or, in this case, sand slop in a purple bucket.

Patios: a part of summer in London, Ontario

 
Patios are a solid part of life during the summer in London, Ontario. Heck, there are even local businesses specializing in the sale of  furniture and stuff like barbecues for backyard patio use.

We have two patios in our backyard. One at the end of a block wall that keeps a large hill from slipping slowly into our yard and our other paving stone patio is right at our back door. Our one neighbour has a large, wooden-deck patio and our other neighbour has not only a patio but a pool as well.

Our front porch is small, as are many porches in our suburban neighbourhood. Yet, in a very real sense, our small front porch serves as another patio. We have three Muskoka chairs sitting there: one for Judy, one for me and a very small, bright pink one for our young granddaughter.

I believe patios are a response to the loss of the large front porches that once graced many homes in Ontario. And, I must say, patios are a proving to be a fine response.

Wind turbines line the Lake Erie coast

Electricity generating wind turbines line the north shore of Lake Erie catching the wind near Port Bruce. To encourage the building of wind turbine farms and the installation of solar collectors, the Ontario government sweeten the pot with exceedingly generous payments for the power being generated.

This past March the province reduced those rates. Installing wind turbines or solar panels is no longer quite the sweetheart deal it had been. I considered having solar panels installed on the southern exposure of my own home's roof. But now, thanks to the reduced payments from the provincial government, such an installation does not seem to make as much financial sense. I have not signed a contract for panels and will probably take a pass.

Carousel reopens

The carousel at Springbank Park has reopened. The May 24th holiday was celebrated on May 21st this year. We like long weekends here in Canada. We have no qualms about shifting a holiday in order to line up three work-free days for the Monday to Friday working set. So, the carousel re-opened three days early. Fiona was pleased.

The interesting thing about today's photo is that it was taken with an iPhone by Ashley, Fiona's mom. All I can say is, "Wow!" I find the quality of images taken with cell phones just mind boggling.

What I also find mind boggling, or maybe I should say mind numbing, is the lack of upkeep the city-owned merry-go-round is showing.

The city is entering a year dedicated to ReThink London. Maybe the city could rethink their oh-so-foolish zero tax increase budgeting. With costs rising, albeit slowly, holding the line on taxes has meant putting off till tomorrow stuff that should be done today. Stuff that might cost just a little can be left undone so that much bigger bucks can be spent tomorrow.

Years ago the city tried saving money by not replacing street lights as they burned out over the summer. The plan was to replace all burned out lights in the fall. When fall came, the city found they were unable to quickly replace all the unlit lights. Not only was there a massive backlog of dead lights but more lights were continuing to go black. With winter approaching, the city hired an outside contractor to assist with the bulb replacement. To find a contractor with the proper truck, the city had to go all the way to Hamilton. The city had to put the crew from Hamilton up in a local hotel, it is too far to commute to London from Hamilton. Of course, the city also had to provide the outside workers with expensive restaurant meals.

It was NOT a brilliant move, and our mayor is making a bit of a dim bulb of himself by attempting something similar now as he adheres to a foolish election promise of zero tax increases.

Another good spot near London, Ontario

Port Bruce, a lakeside village on the north shore of Lake Erie, is a great beach destination for those put-off by the crowds attracted to Port Stanley about 16 kilometres to the west. If baking in the sun isn't your cup of tea, fishing off the port pier is another option. The area is known for its yellow perch and walleye fishing. At one time the village supported a fairly large fishing fleet, but today sun lovers have replaced commercial fishers.

One of London's finest features isn't in London

Small breakers rolling in at the Port Stanley beach south of London, Ontario.

Click the link to see and learn more.

Port Stanley on Lake Erie was once thought of as London, Ontario's beach on Lake Erie. Teens would board the London & Port Stanley Railway and ride from London to the beach.

The Port was really something back then. There was a dance pavilion, an incline railway, a casino, a roller coast and more, and of course there was always the lake and the beach.

The Port is still a fine destination. I took my granddaughter there today to build sand castles with the fine sand and watch the tumbling waves gently crashing onto the shore.

It is only early May and still quite cool. Yet, there were a fair number of folk enjoying a little time at the beach.

To learn more about the Port that was click the LINK.

An asparagus farm in the city

This asparagus farm and retail stand is maybe half a kilometre from my London home.

The City of London is convinced that all that is important is found in the core. The local paper seems to agree. The suburbs are a dull, backwater to hear these folk tell it. Boy, do they have it wrong.

Oh, I'm sure some people, maybe most people would agree with them, but I don't. I love living in the suburb of Byron, in the southwest corner of London. Every May I look forward to taking a short walk to the asparagus farm operating near my home. I always buy a couple of pounds.

Trust me, asparagus picked in the morning and eaten for lunch, gently salted with a little melted butter, is "wonderful." The adjective "wonderful", by the way, was supplied by my 33-month-old granddaughter. The kid knows her veggies even if the city and the newspaper haven't a clue.

Fun in the suburbs

There are a lot of myths about suburbia. One being that there is nothing for kids to do.

Well, in my neighbourhood, known locally as a suburb of London, there are lots of parks and open spaces. At the end of one court, the local kids have managed to hang a swing from a not so low lying branch.

One way of knowing what one is reading is myth and not fact is if the claim being made is that all, fill in the blank, are this way or that. Nothing, well almost nothing, is always one way. If that is the claim, be suspicious.

To grab this picture all I had to do was walk across the court from my front door. I can also walk to the grocery store, to my choice of drugstores, to my choice wine stores, to my choice of banks, to restaurants -- not chain places, either, and  . . .

I believe that the suburbs are not given the respect that they so rightly deserve.

A few dandelions today, many more tomorrow

Weed control in Ontario is almost a thing of the past. Oh, golf courses can spray weed killer, anything to encourage a healthy sport. Healthy that is except for walking on grass treated with poison. And farmers can spray weed killer on food crops. Hey, the stuffs harmless, just ask Monsanto.

But on lawns or in parks the application of weed killer is a no-no. This spring the dandelions are worse than ever. Although, I rather like the bright yellow flowers but this is not something one wants to admit to in polite society.

The yellow flowers are already going to seed and the spring breezes are carrying them everywhere. Next spring will be wonderful --- if you are a weed lover.

Butterfly Conservatory

The Butterfly Conservatory in Cambridge is about an hour and a quarter down 401 east of London. Today it was somewhat wet, somewhat cold. A poor day to do anything outside. I thought it would be a perfect day to visit the butterfly conservatory. The crowd would be light.

My wife called my granddaughter's other grandparents and they picked up our granddaughter, Fiona, and all came over to our place. Together we made the trip to Cambridge.

The tropical exhibition hall is warm and humid; it has to be for the comfort of the at least 2000 free-flying tropical butterflies and moths. All the butterflies and moths originate in either Costa Rica or the Philippines and are sent to to the conservatory weekly as pupae (also called chrysalides (butterflies) or cocoons (moths)) from tropical butterfly farms.

Butterfly farming is a sustainable form of agriculture and ensures that natural populations of wild butterflies and moths are not depleted.

With so many butterflies and moths flitting about, it is not uncommon for one or two to land on a visitor's head or hand. People are advised to refrain from trying to pet, or touch in any way, the delicate little insects.

Butterfly on a visitor's boot.

Apparently some butterflies are attracted to salt. Boots, flavoured with salt from trudging along snow covered and heavily salted winter sidewalks, are a strong attractant.

The warm, humid air made me sweat lightly. I had two butterflies light on my moist, somewhat salty, bald head. The butterflies tickled and Fiona laughed.

At the emergence window, Fiona and I watched a butterfly dry its wings in preparation for its very first flight after pulling itself free of its pupa. Some butterfly species are reared onsite giving visitors a chance to observe all four of the stages of metamorphosis: egg, caterpillar, pupa, and butterfly.

There are approximately 40 different species of butterflies and moths at the conservatory. Its a great place to take a granddaughter.

Is it too late to look for my shadow?

It is now almost mid April and the weather had turned pretty cool. A few weeks ago it looked like we were about to enjoy an early spring. The unseasonably warm weather encouraged the local magnolia trees to bloom.

Very little is blooming today. There is frost almost every night. I wonder if the groundhog that lives in my backyard is still looking for his shadow as he supposedly did back on February 2nd, Groundhog Day. Sunny weather in early February portends a late spring.

Cookie-cutter housing; I like it.

A row of attractive cookie-cutter homes in North London.

I love cities. I'm fond of the countryside, too, but it is cities that I love. As a boy I used to bike about my neighbourhood taking notes. On returning home I would add the stuff I had noted to a large map of the area. In my young mind, I was an explorer.

Mine was a "wartime housing" neighbourhood. My street was 52 similar homes on three city blocks --- a true cookie-cutter development. I learned to study those homes and note what had been done to add a little diversity. The siding was varied, some homes had shingles, others had wooden planking. The colour of the homes was varied with some grey, some white, some deep green . . . . The height of the homes varied as some were single floor homes and others were two floor. To prevent someone looking down the street and seeing 52 very similar homes in a very long row, the home were staggered on the lots. A short row of one floor homes might be forward on their lots, while a following row of two story homes would be placed farther back on their lots.

I noticed these same visual tricks were used in what I called the "brick home neighbourhood." Although the brick homes did not look to have all been built at the same time by the same builder, there were often two or three almost identical homes grouped together. One home might have yellow brick and the other red but they were the same style of home. Over the years I saw the insides of many of these homes and can attest that the layouts were identical.

And so, I have been left puzzled by the comments of writers critical of suburban developments. "Suburbs don't have to look like 'human filing cabinets' ", Randy Richmond of The London Free Press tells us. As if building a row of similar homes is unique to suburbia.

These writers toss about the 'cookie-cutter' remarks all too freely. There can be a beauty to repetition. It all comes down to what exactly is being repeated.

New urbanism, an approach to development favoured by these writers, results in very rule-guided structures. And this isn't a criticism. Rules can be good. Think Paris, France.

A new urbanist community north of Toronto.