No sled? There are still ways to get in a good slide.

Swings and slides are found in numerous neighbourhood parks dotting London, Ontario. One would think that winter would be down-time for the little parkettes. Nope.

While Fiona cleaned the slide with her snow suit, another child, sitting in a sled, was being pulled about the park by her mother and grandmother. It's funny but urban planners never make a big deal of these busy little spots. Places where children meet children and adults meet adults. Neighbourhood friendships are born and nurtured in these little parks.

Braywick Bistro in the urban core

The Braywick Bistro is a pleasant little restaurant on London's main street right in the heart of the downtown core. Taking pictures inside the restaurant at night, unless one uses a flash, is impossible. This is too bad as I would have loved to post pictures of our dinner.

We started by sharing an appetizer of mussels in a saffron sauce with a side order of hot, crispy, fried-to-perfection french fries. It brought back memories of Paris, France, where there is a chain of mussel-serving restaurants called Chez Léon. Other dishes are served but mussels with fries are the big draw. The serving size in Paris is far larger than anyone should ever be given. I found the only way to finish one's dinner in Paris was by washing all down with pints of Belgium beer.

My wife followed the appetizer with duck served with fingerling potatoes and fresh green beans. I had pan fried trout served on a bed of couscous and arugula. My wife had dessert and I finished with a coffee.

We live in the suburbs and like to dine at restaurants in the area where we live. I found it interesting that all the restaurants we frequent in Byron were full, unable to handle even one more reservation.

It takes less than fifteen minutes to drive from my far, southwest suburb into the city core. With a diesel powered Jetta it costs about a buck an half to make the trip. Why folk are always pitting the London suburbs against the old downtown core is a puzzle to me. It really should not be an either or situation.

Cities, at least small cities like London, should be working to stay small, to stop the sprawl and to improve transit. A hundred years ago, I believe, one could have taken a streetcar from my suburb to the downtown. Today, this is impossible; The streetcar service is long gone.

Another approach to dense housing

Clusters of low-rise apartment building in the above style are found in a number of locations in London, Ontario.

I watched some of these going up in North London. I was surprised to see what appeared to be a form of platform construction being used. Platform construction uses 2x4s. It is lumber and not steel that supports these buildings.

I worked at the local newspaper back then and I had a chance to chat with a fireman about the buildings in North London. He expressed misgivings about such large structures, housing so many people, boasting wood framed walls.

The science of building materials is often at odds with our gut feelings. I would not be surprised to learn that these buildings, despite the wood used in the construction, are as safe in a fire as other low-rise apartment buildings.

Dense residentail housing

Density is the word of the day when it comes to residential housing in London, Ontario. "More residents per square kilometre" is the mantra chanted by city planners. Today's picture shows one response to that oft repeated goal of high density neighbourhoods.

Personally, I prefer a highrise to a townhouse. I wonder how others feel.

Record high enjoyed by London, Ontario

Heavy fog Tuesday made driving to the grocery store in London a daunting task.

Monday it was heavy, wet snow. Today it is fog accompanied at times by pounding rain with thunder and lightening. The cause of this out-of-the-ordinary weather is the out-of-the-ordinary high January temperature for Southern Ontario: Environment Canada pegs the current temperature at 10.5°C. The previous record was 8.9°C set in 1975 and matched in 2006.

Tomorrow should start warm with the temperature surpassing today's high. By late evening sub-zero weather should return along with blowing snow.

[The store pictured is a Loblaw grocery store. The Loblaw chain is owned by George Weston Limited. Along with the Loblaw stores, the Weston folk also own No Frills, Fortinos, Zehrs, Provigo, Maxi, Real Canadian Superstore, Your Independent Grocer, and Extra Foods. And there may be more that I don't know about.]

A good snowfall brings out good neigbours

A snow scoop in young hands quickly clears a snowy drive.

I have a heart condition and all my neighbours know it. Last night a heavy, wet snowfall blanketed London, Ontario. I was not looking forward to starting up the snow blower.

At 8:30 a.m. the front doorbell rang. It was a lad from across the court. "Would you like your walk and driveway cleared?" I answered, "Yes."

I have always found that good snowfalls bring out good neighbours.

Zellers: A bit of Canadian history fades from London

This is the new, soon to open, Target store in Westmount Mall in London, Ontario. Just a short time ago this store was a Zellers outlet. The Zellers chain had a long, rich history in London.

In 1928 Walter Zeller, from the Kitchener-Waterloo area, opened four stores in Ontario, and one of his original stores was in London. His stores were such an immediate success that they attracted the attention of an American firm Schulte-United Ltd. The Yanks bought Zeller out and then the depression hit. The Yanks went bankrupt. Zeller bought back his chain in 1932 and he was on roll that would last decades.

Walter Zeller retired in 1955 at 65. He died just two years later. He was buried in Montreal where he had lived for some time. This is why the Zellers head office was located in Montreal. The years after the death of Walter Zeller were tumultuous ones with control of the chain almost falling into the hands of the American Fields Stores. In the end, Zellers made Fields into its own subsidiary. Then in 1978 Hudson's Bay Company became the sole owner of Zellers.

HBC struggled for years under different owners until in 2008 the U.S. based investment firm, NRDC Equity Partners, bought Hudson’s Bay Co. for $1.1 billion. The Yanks peeled Zellers free of HBC, selling the rights to approximately 200 Zellers’ leaseholds for $1.825 billion to the American Target. All but three of the remaining Zellers stores are slated for closure by March 2013.

By late spring, three Zellers stores, one in Toronto, another in Montreal and a last one in Vancouver, will be the only stores remaining open from the once oh-so-successful Canadian chain.