More than 6,000 Canadian soldiers were killed, wounded or taken prisoner fighting to liberate the Netherlands.
Apparently, Canadian soldiers, especially a detachment from London, Ontario, played a big role in the liberation of the Netherlands at the end of the Second World War in 1945. Fully 76 years after the event, the Dutch Canadian Society of London and District is still finding ways to say thank you.
I believe the tulip beds in Springbank were a gift from the Dutch Canadian group. When the tulips are in bloom each spring, many Londoners make a point of stopping by the park to check out the colourful display.
This year there are benches especially designed for the tulip bed area in the park. A neighbour thought so much of the pretty benches that she stopped by my home to tell me about them. Tomorrow I'll run two images of the benches.
London is growing. And London is not alone. Pick a town in southwestern Ontario and you will find a town growing by, as they say, leaps and bounds. And that amazing growth rate extends right across North America.
As farmland disappears under new housing and all that accompanies that growth -- streets, shopping districts, schools and even parks -- one must ask, how long can this pace be maintained?
Many of us, old enough to recall peach orchards and other crops now gone or disappearing from the province, worry about what crop or crops will be eliminated next. Peaches, once grown but on the edge of town and canned in one of the numerous canning plants that once dotted the countryside, now come from Greece or Australia.
This townhouse complex is somewhat unique in London. I can't say I'm familiar with the whole city but I personally do not know of another neighbourhood quite like this one. With tree floors, these places are not designed with seniors in mind. Too many stairs. And the single car garages further restrict the market that these units appeal to.
What these places do share with many other recent developments in London is that these are clearly high density.
These were clearly lawn ornaments -- somewhat sophisticated lawn ornaments. These were not the usual garden gnomes with pointed hats. One column I could understand. A couple, one on each side of the driveway might work. But a dozen scattered about the yard seemed a little much. Was this a display of items for sale? If it was, was this legal in a residential neighbourhood?
Just a few short years ago, this was rich farmland. Some of the best in Canada thanks to the long, for Canada, growing season. Now, it's an expanding Northwest London suburb. The apartments and the townhouses raise the overall density per square kilometre of the area to the density demanded today by city planners.
It seems winter just left. It did. And the plants began to flower just the other day. Again, they did. And now, the flowers, like the dandelions in almost everyone's lawn, are going to seed. Talk about speedy, focused action.
Maybe, just maybe, it is time to think of dandelions as food, salad greens, and not as weeds. If you can't kill 'em, maybe the answer is eat 'em. Or, if you are into dandelion wine, maybe we should drink 'em.
