St. Joe's Hospital getting a new face

The St. Joe's hospital complex in London, Ontario, has a rich religious heritage. As the old hospital is being updated, a new skin is being applied to the aging, yellow brick building -- yet, it's connection to Christ is still evident. Note the cross at the bottom right in this picture showing the new look.

Byron: 7th in a series

This modern home has the garage turned 90-degrees so the double, lifting door is on the side and not boldly facing the street. This answer to the hide-the-garage riddle demands a wide lot. I rather like this home and from inside I imagine the large windowed front is quite spectacular.

There are not a lot of homes like this one. I can see the day in the distant future when this home will be quite admired for its design and its rarity.

Byron: 6th in a series

I was posting some images of homes in my neighbourhood. Then I took a short break. Today I return to the topic of homes.

This home, a very common style of home in London suburbs late in the last century, has a lovely covered porch. The critics of suburbia often moan about the loss of the front porch. Clearly these critics have not spent much time in suburbia.

The lots in this Byron neighbourhood are wider than many lots today. This extra width allowed the builder to put the garage on the side of the home rather than jutting out from the front.

But what makes this place for me is the landscaping. The home has a wonderful in-the-park look, don't you agree?

Old attraction demands more attention

Springbank Park and Storybook Gardens are two aging attractions in London. The merry-go-round is in the park just outside the gardens. The merry-go-round is loved by many children but needs more maintenance than the city seems willing to give.

Note missing reins.

Today my son-in-law took my granddaughter to the park to ride both the carousel and the small train. While Fiona was galloping in circles on her black-painted steed, another child pulled on the reins of her horse and the reins broke. Merry-go-rounds are not dangerous but broken reins are. This is unacceptable.

I looked about and noted that possibly more of the painted horses were missing their reins than had them. Fiona told me that she always looks to see if the pony has reins before asking to be assisted onto the saddle.

The city is talking about putting in a multi-million dollar swimming pool and artificial beach at the Forks of the Thames at the edge of the downtown core. And in recent years city council has been on a hold the line on property taxes bent.

Note the broken mirror and missing light bulbs. Sad.

If the city goes through with the pool and the beach, I'd say they were practising a little of the rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul approach to budgeting. This is not a brilliant approach.

In the end the city will have simply have an expensive attraction in need of expensive attention.

You say you see a Blue Whale?

Fiona, 3, saw a Blue Whale floating above the trees as we did some cloud gazing.

I never saw anything wrong with the Road Runner cartoons of my youth. I didn't learn violence from watching Wylie Coyote getting smucked time and time again. I'm using smuck as it was used in the '50s and not as it is sometimes used today. A lot more has changed than just children's cartoons.

That said, my granddaughter learns a great deal from today's cartoons. She picked up the game "cloud gazing." I'm in my mid 60s and I didn't know there was a proper term for lying on one's back with a friend, the two of you sharing impressions of passing clouds.

And when I was three, I certainly would not have seen a giant Blue Whale, the largest animal that has ever lived according to Fiona, floating above the trees. But my granddaughter did, thanks to the Octonauts.

Byron: 5th in a series

A storm rolled in over London this afternoon. It threatened to be a bad one. There were warnings of possible tornadoes, heavy hail and winds gusting to 110 km/h. My wife and I moved our car into the garage, just in case. Then I walked across the court to watch.

As the storm roiled above I looked down. The light was lovely and the wild flowers beautiful. I shot some quick pictures.

Then I wheeled around and fled for home. As I walked quickly under a neighbour's tree lightning cracked above me. I thought: Not a good place to be; I'm on a high point of land under a tall tree.

I ran across the court, my wife was standing on our small, low porch looking quite concerned.

Byron: 4th in a series

The above home is one of my favourites in the neighbourhood. I believe it was painted a few years ago and it looks even better today than when I moved into this suburb more than two decades ago. The garage is a little more dominant than on some of the other designs but this doesn't detract from the home's attractiveness.

As you can see, this neighbourhood is not filled with cookie cutter designs. The developer was very creative.