Does tumbling, cascading grass make a picture?

The rain was heavy, the wind was strong and the grass growing tall in the wide ledge on the wall, arced downward under the pressure. 

I saw it and thought picture. Others saw it and thought wind-damaged grass. 

Others thought absolutely nothing. 

Hmmm. Some folk have no poetry in their souls. 😊

What DO we the public really know about COVID-19?

The largest neighbourhood park now has a seven or eight foot fence blocking access. Why? I've read reports stating that fomites -- contaminated surfaces -- are not an important source of COVID-19 transmission. Furthermore, bright sunlight and high heat, according to some respected sources, can quickly eliminate the viability of t he virus.

Of course, it is possible that there are so few COVID-19 patients who are known to have caught the virus from a contaminated surface because such a good job has been done at eliminating this threat from our lives. Playgrounds taped off, credit card stations wrapped in clear plastic which is wiped after every use and the list goes on.

After communicating with a chap on this very site, I decided to determine just what I did and didn't know when it comes to COVID-19. I'm certain masks work. I found lots of support in medical journals going back more than a decade.

I'm also certain that COVID-19 is not just like the flu. But there are some great similarities and the flu is a lot more dangerous than many like to believe. There's a reason this old geezer with a failing heart always gets his flu shot. He knows the flu poses a serious health threat to him and his wife. Both diseases leave behind a lot of dead seniors.

The big difference between the flu and COVID-19 is that COVID-19 leaves behind a lot more dead seniors. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, "Doctors and scientists are working to estimate the mortality rate of COVID-19, but at present, it is thought to be substantially higher than that of most strains of the flu. Link: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-disease-2019-vs-the-flu

Note the words, "at present" and "thought to be." By the time I got to the second thing I was sure of, I was beginning to rely on fudging words. I never got to a third item for my list. 

This is a new viral threat. It should come as no surprise that nouveau means there are big gaps in our knowledge. At this time I will wear my mask and hope others do the same, I'll keep my distance, wash my hands and wash and wipe surfaces where possible. I'll follow the suggestions of those in authority and hope, and pray, they are right as they modify their actions based on the latest knowledge.

And I understand that that knowledge indicates we might, just might, open playgrounds to children. Enforced inactivity may be more dangerous to developing children than the threat posed by fomites found in playgrounds. What demanded a fence yesterday may be open to all come tomorrow.

A Segway spotted in the neighbourhood

I didn't know these were still in production, but, according to the young man spotted using one in the neighbourhood, they are! He was canvasing the neighbourhood for a charity and using the Segway to cover more distance than would be possible doing this on foot.

I googled Segway and found: Segway Personal Transporter. Was this a company ahead of its time?

Not a stairway to heaven

Trees, unlike parrots, can be dead, deceased, bereft of life, resting in peace and yet still be full of activity—the life of others, such as birds, insects and fungus animate the dead structure. And so, as the sign explains, the London parks department has trimmed the dead tree on the far left of all large, dangerous branches and has left the massive dead stump to provide wildlife with a habitat in progress.

Behind the tree can be seen the barricaded entrance to a fine staircase leading from the park to the Thames River. It seems the staircase, like the tree, had become a wildlife habitat full of insects and general rot. Unlike the tree it will soon be removed.

At some point, nature will replace the dead tree. It appears, unless the city changes its mind, the once well-used bridge will disappear and never return. Staircases don't grow like trees, one might say.

Long Lens or Lack of Social Distancing?

Are these bathers, enjoying the summer-warm water of Lake Erie, actually as close as this appears? Does this photo show the visual foreshortening effect so commonly encountered when using a long lens or does this image accurately depict a lack of social distancing?

Answer: it's a little bit of both.

Anchored out and yet social distancing not assured

Sunday, my wife and I took a quick trip to Port Stanley. We had to get out of the house. The four walls were closing in.

We found a beach on the east side of the village that we had never visited before. There were lakefront cottages, a popular beach, parking and small yachts anchored immediately off shore. Some of the boats were rafted together, giving the appearance of a breakdown in social distancing. Without actually chatting with the folk on the boats, it's impossible to say whether or not the recreational sailors were thumbing their noses at the guidelines or not.

Yes, London, Ontario, is located on the Thames River.

Years ago I wrote a column for the local paper, The London Free Press. The column was called Celebrate the Thames. At that time, I was told the following story by a local historian who claimed that contrary to popular mythology, a mythology backed up with lots of solid quotes from Simcoe himself, London is NOT the capital of the province because of the Thames River. The fellow was clearly swimming upstream, swimming against the current of public opinion.) 

You see, Londoners believe Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe wanted the capital of Upper Canada to be established at the Forks of the Thames River. And at one point, Simcoe did want this. He formed this dream while still in England, encouraged by maps that indicated the Thames was a mighty river.

Simcoe thought the headwaters of the river ended in the Halton Hills northwest of present day Toronto. But arriving in the area he discovered this was not true. Nor was the river particularly mighty. 

Now, Simcoe fought openly with his boss Lord Dorchester on many matters. But when it came to Simcoe's plans for a capital at the forks, Simcoe quickly and quietly acquiesced to Lord Dorchester and Toronto became the capital. 

The historian believed that Simcoe realized he had been out of touch when it comes to reality and the little, shallow-in-the-summer river. Today the Back to the River folk carry on the tradition of seeing myth rather than reality when it comes to the river. For instance, the group confused a reservoir behind a dam with a river.

Back to the River has become a bit of an ironic name for the group now that the Springbank Dam is out of commission and will likely never be rebuilt. Their grandiose dream for the Forks of the Thames may have gone with the disappearance of the working dam.