Misty River Morning

I had some stuff that I was going to post, but it was all thought provoking and maybe a bit on the downer side of life. I just don't feel like posting those images or those thoughts today. Maybe tomorrow.

Today I will share with you a picture of the Thames River taken a little after sunrise. Walking to the kitchen for my morning coffee, I looked out my front door and could see a solid line of mist delineating the route of the Thames through the west end of the city of London, Ontario. I grabbed my camera and bolted for the door. In just minutes I was viewing the river from the Sanatorium Road bridge, but no mist. By the time I found this spot, still with some lingering mist, the sun was too high in the sky, the mist was quickly being burned off and I had a so so picture. Oh well, another day and another attempt. Someday I will be successful.

Hens, Chicks and Weird Flowers

Until I started this post, I had no idea that Hens and Chicks are native to southern Europe. That still doesn't explain their hardiness. Neither the ferocity of a Canadian winter nor the hot, often dry, southwestern Ontario summers seems to bother these weird plants.

Succulents providing a ground cover of clusters of rosettes, I grow these plants mainly for their foliage. 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 tower up to a foot over the foliage.

Each time our hens and chicks flower I think, "Weird."

EOA Ontario Cottage

EOA is short for East Of Adelaide. There is a rich, complex urban story contained within those three letters. It's a story that I cannot deal with adequately in a simple cutline. Possibly, I will blog about this later on Rockin 'On, my other blog. This Ontario cottage captures the best of the EOA neighbourhood immediately east of Adelaide Street. It is a classic, Ontario cottage with a gable over a small, round-arched dormer window. The home has the typical central door entry. Often built for working class folk, these homes were simple, efficient, economical and yet quite beautiful.

For a glimpse into the philosophy that inspired these designs, see The Architecture of Country Homes by A.J. Downing, an early 19th century American architect.

Cheers, Rockinon.

I'm here to see Dr. R2D2.

A painter brightens the University Hospital sign at the large teaching hospital north of the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario. There is a fond place in my heart for this facility as it was here that I went to have my heart robotically repaired. Dr. Alan Menkis, now the medical director of the Cardiac Sciences Program at St.Boniface Hospital in Manitoba, was the skillful surgeon controlling da Vinci, a surgical robot, during my delicate heart operation to repair my failed mitral valve. The minimally invasive surgery used very small incisions, so there was no need to open my breast bone to reach my heart. Impressive!

City Centre Cottage Country

This small pool, stocked with gold fish, is in the side yard of a London, Ontario, home located right on the edge of downtown. A rambling bungalow, steeped in cottage country atmosphere, the owner agreed that the look is no accident. If I am ever offered the opportunity, I will document the place and post the pictures.

Welcoming Help in an Emergency

My cab driver was a gentleman. He chatted readily about his old home, Ethiopia, and talked with a genuine glow of affection about his new home, London, Ontario. When we Londoners have an emergency, we go to hospital Emergency. For many around the world facing emergencies of proportions most of us cannot even imagine, they turn to Canada, and in Canada they often turn to London. According to The London Free Press, London, Ontario, has Canada's highest per-capita refugee population. All I can say is, "Welcome." (The London Free Press has done an admirable job of bringing the stories of these new Londoners to its readers. If you're interested in reading one of those stories, click the link.)

Memories

Do remember when you were really little and the world was ever so different, larger actually. In the winter, the snow was so deep that you had to slog through it; It came right up to your waist. In the summer, walls of grass blocked your view when you played in the wild unbuilt field near your home. Insects were everywhere back then, but then you still lived on their level and in their world. Spiders were giants living on huge webs which were right in front of your nose; Spiders were not, as they are today, small moving specks on the distant ceiling. The most interesting insects, like the praying mantis, you'd take home in a jar, its screw-on lid punched full of large air holes.