A truly compact car spotted on the court today

A truly compact car was spotted on the court today. It was bright and warm and not weather than encouraged a family to stay indoors or at the least remain on their property. This little boy jumped in his little electric car and, with dad watching from the sidelines, he headed off for some laps on the court.

Rabbits are picky eaters; who'd have thought.

My wife has some flowers blooming in her garden. What a wonderful surprise. Nothing kept the rabbits away from the tulips but apparently primula doesn't need protection from the little furry cuties. Rabbits, we have learned, are not attracted to primula. What a delightful surprise.

Photo of German Cars Recalls French Flag. Oops!

It was time for the winter tires to be switched for the the warm weather rubber. But, because of covid-19, it had to be put off until the first of May.

Today was the day. I drove down to the dealer and found the door closed, locked. A note on the door. Knock, it said.

My service advisor came to the door, I backed up and he came out, arm out-stretched. I tossed him my keys and he took them, told me to come back in an hour and turned and walked away. No customers allowed inside.

I killed the hour looking at cars, new cars, used cars, VWs and Audis. The Audi R8 convertible at $254,000 looked nice but a bit too much car for me. I'd feel guilty behind the wheel. I'd also feel tinges of guilt when I stiffed VW for the car payments.

When the hour was up, I picked up my aging Jetta. Its black paint sparkled. The service department washes every car passing through. I'm not sure everyone can see it but when I look at that car I see a pleasing patina of affordability and I like that look.

A road not taken

 

There's a famous poem by Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken. It starts "Two roads diverged . . . "

There's a bend in Hyde Park Road where, if one pays attention, there is the hint of long forgotten "Y".

Go right, through the curb cut and almost immediately encounter a couple of posts with a length of chain suspended between them

This the Hyde Park Road not taken, and for good reason. This is the old, closed, former Hyde Park Road. It was once a rather attractive stretch of highway. No more. Today, even Robert Frost would likely decide to stay on the well-traveled path.

This also came from China.

One. There is just one little brightly coloured bud on our entire magnolia tree. Tomorrow there will be more and then more and then one morning we will get up, look out the kitchen window, and see our entire magnolia tree in bloom.

I always thought magnolia trees were had large pink and white flowers. When I bought our tree it was small and sported only green leaves. When spring arrived, red-purple flowers appeared. Flowers with long droopy petals. It looked nothing like the magnolia trees with which I was familiar.

After a visit to the gardening centre I knew what I had was either a Japanese or Chinese flowering magnolia. A species of magnolia that was not found in Southwest Ontario in the past.

Cooped up inside, waiting out the quarantine, my wife and I will delighted when the tree is heavy with blooming flowers. Heck, we were excited just to see a little, rain-wet bud.

With the parks closed, kids play in the court

With the parks all closed, neighbourhood kids are getting antsy. The large, paved circle that gives our short street its designation as a court, is now very well used. Today it was bikes, the other day it was road hockey and tomorrow I'm sure it will be anther group and another activity.

I understand that residential streets that lack sidewalks and force the sharing of the paved street space among pedestrians, playing children and cars are called woonerfs in Holland. In London these types of residential spaces are often courts.

I couldn't get too close when taking the picture. One doesn't want to threaten the social distancing that the kids are being so careful to maintain. The little boys are actually quite delightful and I would not have wanted to risk upsetting them.

If the grandkids were here, this groundhog would be named.

The groundhog stays mostly out of sight. We know he's been around by all the tulips and other spring plants that are no longer in our garden. Between the rabbits and the groundhogs we may not have many spring flowers.

My wife is upset. Me? I enjoy watching the wildlife. But shusssh. Don't tell my wife.