November, be in no rush

cold eleventh month
wet and snowy days and nights
your gifts offend me

Bathurst Street ~ south of Temperanceville

Photo by Barry Wallace

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Barry Wallace

Tamarack time

Photo by Barry Wallace

Tamaracks ~ Kell Farm ~ 16th Sideroad west of Keele

This is one of those trees with multiple identities.   The Tamarack (Larix laricina) also goes by the names: Eastern Larch, American Larch, Red Larch, Black Larch, Takmahak and Hackmatack.   It is a cone-bearing tree with needles, that looks like most other conifer trees but is significantly different because it is a deciduous conifer.   It is light blue-green in colour, which turns golden-yellow in fall, before shedding its distinctive needles.   It stands out in late October and early November when most deciduous trees have lost their coloured leaves and it contrasts sharply with evergreen conifers.   Tamaracks are northern trees that are to be found across most of Canada between the Great Lakes and the northern tree limits.   They do very well in wet, peaty soils and swamps, but are also to found in drier upland loamy soils, such as the Kell Farm, north of King City.

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Barry Wallace

Thornton Bales Conservation Area

 Photos by Barry Wallace

The Thornton Bales Conservation Area is located halfway between Dufferin and Bathurst Streets, on the north side of King's 19th Sideroad.   It is home to the 99 steps leading down to a deep valley, with trails that connect to the Jokers Hill trails, further to the north.   Now is the time of year that the view from the north side of the 19th (see above) shows the depth and breadth of the forested valley at its most impressive.

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Barry Wallace

The inexorable widening of Bathurst Street

 Photos by Barry Wallace

Bathurst Street, north of the Morning Sideroad, separating King Township and Newmarket, is seen above showing the preliminary widening of the road and the newly installed hydro lines.   Bathurst Street, north of this point, has been closed for decades (see sign below).

The closed section of Bathurst Street between the Morning Sideroad and the Holland Marsh was open back in the 1960s and early 1970s, and was known then as the 'Devil's Elbow'.   The 'Devil's Elbow' was a steep, winding track with sharp cut-backs and deep gravel ruts that provided a popular hill-climbing course for  drivers of sportscars (mine was a '61 Austin-Healey Sprite).   Below is the view looking south on Bathurst Street towards the Morning Sideroad and beyond that: Hwy. 9.   On the left are the new towering hydro lines which give another indication of the eventual width of Bathurst.   A handful of homes are to lose chunks of treed privacy as a result of the widening on the east side of the road.

Approximately two kilometres south of Hwy. 11 (near Bradford) and looking southward, the widened and paved Bathurst Street comes to a halt on the north slope of the King Ridge (the Oak Ridges Moraine).   When the southern and northern portions of Bathurst Street are reunited, atop 'The Ridge', the passage of wildlife will become newly perilous.

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Barry Wallace     

Camera on Lake Wilcox today - not King

Photos by Barry Wallace

Today is a departure from the normal in that this blog entry is not about King but about our next door neighbour immediately to the east: Oak Ridges.   Oak Ridges is actually part of northern Richmond Hill and I'm zeroing in on Lake Wilcox in particular.   To be precise, this blog is about the old Sunset Beach Park at the northeast corner of Lake Wilcox.   To begin with the area is now called Lake Wilcox Park and oh what a change has taken place.   The park is not scheduled to be completed until September of 2015.   The undertaking is a triumph of community planning in my opinion, but don't take my word for it.   Besides, words do not do it justice, anyway.   See it for yourself.   If you know where the old Sunset Beach Park was, then you'll know where the Lake Wilcox Park is.   For newcomers to the area, the park and parking lot are are just west of Bayview Avenue, and just south of North Lake Road, on the old Sunset Beach Road (which is now a dead-end at the new park). 

Sculpture garden at the water's edge

New footbridge over East Humber River

One of numerous carved stone aphorisms

Massive metal turtle will be perfect spot for kid pictures

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Barry Wallace

At the museum until December 12...

The century-old images below are part of a short but thoroughly moving video featuring photographs from the Great War.   Viewers have to be cautioned that while some of the images are charming (like the air force fox mascot below) others are disturbing and deeply troubling.   Overall, however, the production is inspired, inclusive and compelling.   The video is part of a larger, overall presentation at the museum on World War 1.   Visitors have until Friday, December 12 to see this great effort by the museum.   

The video was produced by a team led by museum curator Kathleen Fry and included Tony Rolph, Gavin Watt and Murdene Pozdrowski.   The touching music accompanying the video is the  "The Lark Ascending" by Ralph Vaughan Williams.

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Barry Wallace

Sidewalks done at King City's four corners

Photos by Barry Wallace

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Barry Wallace