Small, community parades keep costs in check by encouraging the participation of businesses located in the area. Sometimes the entries are not a great fit for the event but these entries do add colour and extend the parade length.
The banana walking the route was there thanks to the local No Frills grocery store. No Frills is the name of the discount grocery store chain owned by the Loblaw Companies.
One never knows who or what one will see walking in the Hyde Park Christmas Parade. One surprise this year was an Imperial Stormtrooper.
One could be forgiven for thinking the white armoured galactic soldier, wearing a jaunty white top hat and carrying an extra large candy cane, might break into dance at any moment.
This stormtrooper carried a definite Fred Astaire air. Clearly this soldier was trying his best to get onto Santa's good side.
Hmmm. I wonder what the stormtrooper asked Santa to bring him. And did the soldier claim to have been a good little "white hat"?
London, Ontario, has two annual Christmas parades. The main one, the big one, the held in the core and it is held at night. The other is held in the suburbs and ends in what was once the village of Hyde Park. The Hyde Park Christmas Parade, as it is called, still has the feel of a small, community event. There are not just floats and marching bands, and of course Santa himself, but there are a lot of parents with small children walking in the parade. The kids seem to love it and I'm sure it gives them wonderful memories to treasure for a lifetime.
Friday was a PD day, a personal development day, for my granddaughter's teacher. With no school and little to do, even a light snowfall beckoned with a promise of winter fun: making a snowman with grandpa.
But the snow was not only light but dry and powdery. It wouldn't roll. It refused to even pile. But stuff like that may stop some but not a dedicated kid. She decided to make a melted snowman. A snowman past his prime. And so she put her Frosty hat on her creation and sure enough, just like the song says, the hat was magic. The almost formless large lump of snow became a snowman.
Although rain has not posed a serious threat in London in decades, a record breaking rainfall could wreck real havoc on certain areas of this city. Most of the city, like Springbank Park, would be safe but there are areas built on flood plain. These areas are protected by a system of dikes and a large dam in the north end of the city. But in the event of a truly extreme amount of precipitation, the Thames River could easily break free of its restraints and flood the homes built on the flood plain.
Scanning London from a spot in the south end of town, near Wharncliffe Rd. and Base Line, a black-painted apartment building immediately catches one's eye. It is big, black and dramatic today but one must wonder what it will look like in a few years hence. Black paint has a reputation for fading.
