More TVTA Hiking

Near the UWO the trail is a paved multi-use path.

The hikers encounter dense vegetation

Saturday, the Thames Valley Trail Association held an organized hike along the North Branch of the Thames River in London, Ontario. In some places the path cut through thick brush but at one point it passed behind some wonderful North London homes. The route also touched the edge of the University of Western Ontario campus before returning to Gibbons Park.

Membership in the local organization is only $25 for an individual, $20 if you're 60 or more, and $35 for a family. The members not only organize hikes, they develop and maintain trails, publish a newsletter and run a website. They also have a modest blog presence.

The hikes are weekly events held in different locations in the London area.

I think they may have a new member. Me!

A quickly moving runner, right, passes a slower moving hiker on the narrow trail.

Thames Valley Trail Association

I hesitate to call them seniors as most were not over 65 and, for that matter, the term seniors may be politically incorrect today. And gosh, I do hate to be politically incorrect. Whatever I decide to call them, I must remember to modify my choice with the adjective cool.

Thursday morning I met a most interesting group: The Morning Ramblers of the Thames Valley Trail Association. Members meet twice a week, Tuesday and Thursday mornings, to take a planned hike together.

I joined them this past Thursday at 9:15 a.m. They met at Treasure Island Mall and then headed for the morning destination in four cars. Those taking the car pool chipped in to reimburse their driver.

If you've been following this blog, you know that I often hike in Springbank Park. When you hike alone you set your own pace, and the pace I set is a bit slow. When I learned of the Morning Ramblers I figured I'd have to check them out. They passed the test.

The big question is, "Did I?"

Thomas Bros. Fruits and Vegetables

Around the world many folk think of Canada and think of snow and ice and fierce cold. All true. I'll bet there's at least one day a year here in London, Ontario, fitting that description.

The other 364 days are wonderful ---  especially the summer days. When I was a boy, there were canning factories seemingly in every small town. Today, there may be none. Sad.

But each summer the Thomas Bros. fruit and vegetable stand about five minutes from my suburban home offers locally grown produce for sale. Fresh picked sweet corn, and it is sweet. The sugar in corn is converted into starch after the corn is picked. If it is kept cool, the sugar content is retained far longer but the best corn is the freshest corn. The corn at Thomas Bros. is fresh.

As are the melons, and the squash, and the tomatoes and . . .

I love Ontario.

The Toy Shoppe of London (Ontario)

My granddaughter will be one-year-old come Thursday and so today my wife and I happily headed off for The Toy Shoppe of London in search of some small gifts for the little girl. We found a small, red rattle which we know she'll love. It's the right colour --- red. And she loves to shake things. Shake a rattle and it, well, it rattles. Perfect.

We also found a plush, bright red, ladybug. Need I say more?

And finally we found the perfect little book: Red is Best. Actually, we didn't find it. A lady at the store suggested it when we mentioned how much Fiona loves red. The book is perfect.

Speaking of perfect, The Toy Shoppe of London is almost perfect. There's a good reason why it has been a continuing success since the early 1990s.

Waterworks

This yellow brick Ontario cottage style building on the south shore of the Thames River in the west end of London is the city's former pumping station. Built in 1878 to house the city's waterworks, the pumping station took water originating in Coombs Springs, and collected in various holding ponds in the Springbank Park area, and pumped it to the city's hilltop reservoir. From there, the water flowed into the city distribution system.

The hydraulic pressure to pump the water was supplied by the Thames River and parts of the old dam are still visible today.

The pumping station was in use until 1967, at which time Lake Huron water became available.

An imaginative woman I know thinks the old waterworks building could be turned into a wonderful riverfront restaurant with summer patio. I wonder if the city has every considered doing a little placemaking using the old place. I think my friend is onto something.

Kayaking on the Thames, London, Ontario

Last weekend I ran images from a local company's team building event --- a run down the Thames River starting at the Springbank Dam in London and ending at a small town west of town. My health has not been the greatest lately and so I am pulling another image from that day's shoot. Thanks for the patience.

My inspiration

What's in here?

My granddaughter is not quite a year old but she is my inspiration. She doesn't just sit on her keister and . . . Oh! Wait! Come to think of it, that's exactly what she does.

Pretty good, eh?

She can't walk, and she's not fond of being placed on the floor face down. This makes crawling difficult. So, she scoots about on her keister. And, she is not cool about her discovery of keister-scooting; she likes to take a moment, turn around, and flash a smile of pride. She gloats.

At 11 months she has become an explorer. She explores my home. She does her keister-scoot from bedroom to kitchen and all points in between. She has discovered where her tub-toys are kept, in the bathroom, and her thick-paged books, in the living room.

The little tyke can't do a lot but what she can do, she does. She squeezes every bit of pleasure from her days.

Like I said, she's my inspiration.

My tub-toys!