Kharkiv has 3.5 times London's population

I don't understand war. Attacking and invading a neighbouring county makes absolutely no sense to me. None. Here, in North America, I don't think most folk have a good handle on just what a fine country the Ukraine is. And Russia is can be a damn fine place to live as well. And yet, an invasion may not be on the table, as they say, but it is a possibility. Why?

I decided to check out the Ukraine and I chose the city of Kharkiv in which to do some sightseeing thanks to Google Street Views. Why Kharkiv? I caught a journalist, who was working in Kharkiv, being interviewed on CNN. I thought it must be a rather important city if a foreign journalist was stationed there.

Kharkiv has a large, popular, city park. London has a city-block sized park, too. I checked out the Ukrainian park. Wow! The Kharkiv park is absolutely amazing. 

There was a time London's park had a fountain but no more.  It was removed and discarded some years ago.

The heritage section of Kharkiv is not as intact as one might like but it does boast the presence of a large number of fine, old structures. London does not have a heritage district. The vast majority are gone and the one's remaining are sprinkled about here and there. The last intact block of heritage structures was torn down in order to build a massive downtown mall and then the mall was never built. Today a hockey arena occupies the land.

Kharkiv is a larger city than London. It has about 3.5 times the population of London. In 1975, the Ukrainian city started to build a subway. Today there are some 30 metro stations. In 1975, London politicians were discussing how to build an improved transit system. Today the London politicians are still discussing how best to build a rapid transit system. Nothing has been done but at least London is now considering a rapid transit system. For the moment, London will continue to use simple buses. Come back in 40 years and see what has changed.

Covid is not stopping the fun

It is not just COVID that introduces risk and danger to kid's lives. Spent a few minutes watching young people taking flight as they hit the jumps at Boler Mountain, in London, and if you have a child out there on the slopes, you cannot help but have some concern.

That said, I watched a lot of skiers crank up the speed and fly off the edge of a jump and although some fell, I didn't see one jumper show any signs of injury. It may be safer than it looks. It has to be. I don't think Boler could afford the insurance if it weren't.

Convoy of truckers made headlines across Canada

 

A convoy of truckers opposed to the cross-border, truck driver vaccine mandate made newspaper headlines right across Canada. First Canada barred unvaccinated American drivers from entering Canada, then the U.S. moved to mirror Canada's border restrictions by banning unvaccinated Canadian truck drivers from crossing into the States.

It is believed that a vast majority of the drivers affected by the mandate are vaccinated. Yet, the small percentage of unvaccinated drivers are attracting attention out of proportion to their numbers. As the day wore on, the convoy protest seemed to morph into a protest against all COVID vaccines and COVID-related shutdowns.

Many participating in the convoy and many of their supporters lining the route said they were not convinced of the need even to vaccinate against COVID-19. 

How does the Canadian Trucking Alliance feel about the convoy? It strongly disapproves.

The Heron Says, This is Our Home

Condo developments more often than not are composed of row upon row of identical housing units on nondescript private streets. Move in and until one has lived there for awhile, it can be tough telling your unit from all the others. 

One solution: a metal heron. Only one home has a metal heron standing guard at the front. The heron says to the owners, this is our home.

Baby It's Cold Outside

Days like this make me recall Canadian singer Michael Bublé singing a duet of "Baby It's Cold Outside" with Idina Menzel.

Once there were seals

At one time London's Springbank Park had a small zoo with a number of exotic animals. The most popular exhibit was the seal pool. At one point a seal named Slippery escaped from the enclosure, made it to the nearby Thames River and travelled down the river to the Great Lakes. It was captured near Cleveland and returned to its London home. The now famous seal attracted thousands of folk to the small zoo over the following years.

But zoos are no longer the attraction they once were. In fact, today many people take offence at seeing wild animals held in small enclosure and locked in cages. The London zoo was shutdown and the animals sent to other facilities to live out the remainder of their days. 

Unfortunately for the seals, most died in transit. The London seals were true zoo animals, born and raised in captivity. They did not handle being forcibly removed from their London home and placed in small tanks in the backs of large trucks. 

Possibly the trucks were too hot, or the the tanks too small, but whatever the cause, most of the seals died in the backs of those trucks. Very sad. The seals are still missed today.

London photographer shoots "Liquid Mountains"

A London photographer specializes in capturing the wild fury of the Great Lakes. An Australian friend, on seeing some of his images, told Dave Sandford that Sandford was shooting images of "liquid mountains."

The local paper, The London Free Press, did a story on Sandford and his passion. The reporter was impressed by both Sandford and his photos. Check out Sandford's photos for yourself. I'm sure you will be, forgive me, blown away: see The Great Lakes collection.