Minimalist photography makes my day

My wife and I had to head off to the garden centre today. My wife needed tulip bulbs. Unfortunately, tulip bulbs don't make a picture. That said, I discovered lots of plants that do. Especially when one is looking for a photo in the minimal photography style.

I loved the image I was able to coax out of a close-up of a succulent.

Another look at London's southern gateway

I have featured shots from the Wonderland Road South entry into London, Ontario, in the past. Today I am featuring yet another shot. It is not a bad stretch of road, lots of stores and a couple of small apartment towers, but it is certainly not a wonderland.

The London city council likes to talk about this stretch of roadway, which brings traffic into the city from highways 401 and 402, as the city's new gateway. Talk about putting your dullest foot forward. This stretch of road could be in any one of at least a dozen other communities. Rows of box stores, acres of parking and apartment towers visible behind the commercial development.

Being critical is not enough. There is no shortage of local folk to bad mouth this development. To be a successful critic, one must supply an alternative. Think of the The Market Common Clarendon.

The Common is not just another power node. This development in Arlington, Virginia, is an urban village of retail, apartment living and townhouses presented in an imaginative mix.

If you have a car, not to worry. The Market Common has 1,420 parking spaces.

Sadly, London has more developments like the Wonderland gateway waiting in the wings.

Cotton candy a fall fair pleasure

It's big, it's blue, it's sweet -- but it isn't as bad for you as you might think. There are approximately 200 calories in this spun bundle of cotton candy. An hour of running from ride to ride, of climbing rope ladders, and struggling up climbing walls, and kids can have this fall fair indulgence burned away.

When it comes to junk food, there is no place better than a fall fair. I have to confess that I love fair food. I think Bubba's Butterfly Chips are among my favourite sinful fair treats. When I googled these I was mildly surprised to learn these are popular across North America. Hmmm.

Weight Watchers would not be pleased.

Old homes showing their age

Took in the fair the other day. It was fun. The fair association does all right and it is not because of the fair. That's only about a one week affair. No, the fair association does just fine thanks to being home to the OLG Slots in London. The fair folk call it gaming income, others tag it gambling. When I was a boy it was called illegal. Funny how things change.

The area around the fairgrounds has not done as well over the passing years. These three homes, once examples of the very nice housing available to working class Londoners, are all showing their age today.

East London, where these homes are located was a manufacturing hub decades ago. I imagine many of the workers who originally lived in this area walked to work. Others would have taken the nearby streetcar. Today the streetcar service is gone but little matter. The jobs are gone too.

It is sad to see a row of three such lovely little homes in such questionable condition.

It's fall fair time in southwestern Ontario

It is fall fair time and Western Fair in London, Ontario, is open for business. For ten days every September the fair grounds, so quiet for most of the year, come alive. There are rides for young kids, rides for teenagers. There's gloriously high-calorie fair food: bloomin' onions, fresh made potato chips, back-bacon on a bun, pizza, Belgium waffles, fish and chips and much more.

For instance, there's entertainment. The high-wire family, the famous Flying Wallendas, are one of the acts appearing this year. And of course there are lots of farm animals for city kids to see. Some things haven't changed.

(Note: This was shot with a point and shoot. I blurred the background to lessen the incredible, and very distracting, depth of field.)

One perk of living near The Great Lakes

Swimmers enjoying the surf at Port Stanley on Lake Erie.

One perk of living in London is being centrally located between two of The Great Lakes -- Erie and Huron -- plus Lake St. Claire is but an hour away.

Port Stanley on Lake Erie is about forty minutes from London. Grand Bend, an even more popular beach for families and teens, takes about the same time to reach.

Sunflowers awakening in the early morning sun

Fields of sunflowers are now in bloom around London, Ontario. I noticed a local photographer had posted a picture and this alerted to me to what was happening just outside town. Having worked for years at the local paper I knew immediately where the sunflower fields could be found southwest of my London home. I grabbed a friend and we both grabbed our cameras and we were off.