CDS tribute to Bing Hawksworth

Photo by Barry Wallace

Construction at The Country Day School on Dufferin Street, at Eversley, prompted me to drive in for a quick peek on Sunday.   The first thing I noticed was the sign pictured above, near the entrance.   I had never noticed it before.   I was struck by the generosity of spirit by CDS to honour one of its own with the dedication of a playing field to long-time custodian Bing Hawksworth.   I have never heard of this gentleman before but I love his name.   In my opinion its got a memorable and exciting ring to it, like Indiana Jones perhaps, or Luke Skywalker maybe.

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Barry Wallace  

  

David Suzuki's Blue Dot Tour in Richmond Hill

                                                                                                    Photo: www.thecoast.ca

David Suzuki

The Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts was the venue this past Thursday evening for The David Suzuki Blue Dot Tour.   Among the Blue Dot Tour's many goals is the right to a healthy environment being made part of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.   The event is well reported locally and nationally and it is not for me to intrude on their coverage.   But I will mention that as my wife Linda and I sat in our seats in the audience, David made the point that more than 70% of our huge world is covered with water, to an average depth of 4,000 metres.   He then held up up a plastic bottle of water that he had been refreshing himself with and demanded to know "Since when does a bottle of water cost $3.00?"   I looked down at a similar bottle of water that I was holding.   Like Dr. Suzuki, I too had paid $3.00 for a plastic bottle of water that was labelled pure spring water from Iceland.   My wife and I did not see a drinking water fountain anywhere.   I recalled for a moment that gasoline cost under $1.30/litre late this past week and a bottle of beer cost under $1.40   Migawd, how had we come to this point, I thought.   Linda and I were quite impressed by all the evening's presenters and entertainers and we were especially inspired by David Suzuki's message of hope about the future of our planet.   Learn more by checking out bluedot.ca.  

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Barry Wallace

Grampa's favourite fall flowers

                                                                                         

                                                                                                                                                             Photos by Barry Wallace

DAHLIAS

My maternal grandfather had three favourite flowers in the late summer and fall: Dahlias, Chrysanthemums and Gladiolas.   As I recall my grandmother got his help in the spring planting the vegetable garden on the farm and he helped harvest veggies later in the summer, but otherwise his spare-time was devoted to his favourite flowers.   Unlike our garden's Dahlias above, which are 6" across, Grampa wasn't happy unless his were 12" wide or more!   And his mums were giant compound monsters, quite unlike our modest, daisy-like mums pictured below.   As for Gladiolas, I haven't planted them for probably 30 years.   Hmmm...maybe next year. 

CHRYSANTHEMUMS

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Barry Wallace

Pumpkins at Marylake

Photos by Barry Wallace

Front Step Farms, which is located on the west side of Bathurst Street at Gamble Sideroad in Vaughan, has a satellite pumpkin patch this year at Marylake Monastery, on Keele Street just north of King City.   Weather hasn't been perfect for ripening pumkins but this weekend and next will see many pumpkins finding a new home.   Some pumpkins are ripe, others are still green and many others are somewhere in between (see top photo).   There are many pumpkin blossoms still flowering also (see photo above).

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Barry Wallace

Weston Road ~ high atop the King Ridge

Photo by Barry Wallace 

I am a lineman for the county

And I drive the main Road

Searching in the wires for another overload

Jimmy Webb, 1968

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Barry Wallace

A forgotten corner of King

                                                                                                                                           Photos by Barry Wallace
Female White-tailed Deer in the Humber River valley

The south-west corner of King Township, which adjoins the Town of Bolton, is largely under the control of the Toronto Region Conservation Authority.   For many years now, many people have anticipated the development of a nature trail following the main Humber River, between Kleinburg and Bolton, under the auspices of the Humber Valley Heritage Trail Association.   I talked to an old friend recently who was involved for many years in the Bolton Chapter of the HVHTA and my friend feels plans for a connecting link between Bolton and Kleinburg are no more imminent than they have been for many years.   Disagreement  between the TRCA and HVHTA over the routing of a trail has led to an impasse.   Meanwhile, King Township's small section of the Humber River valley remains virtually pristine.   Maybe that's as it should be...left to the wild animals, like the deer in photo above, the birds and the creatures in the river.

Humber River ~ beyond the trees...Bolton

Humber River ~ beyond the horizon...Nobleton

Lone massive maple in a goldenrod field

Graffitti on bridge over river jolts the natural setting

Bad news

No walker, no hiker, no birdwatcher nor other naturalist wants to see a sign like this.   This 'Trail Closed' notice is attached to the Humber Valley Heritage Trail Association sign on the west side of the Caledon-King Townline South.   I do not know what the hazardous conditions are that have closed the trail through this part of Bolton. Perhaps it's flood conditions in the winter and spring, or perhaps deadfall trees or riverbank erosion.   I suppose if an existing part of the Humber River valley trail is closed the likelihood of a new portion being developed in King is remote.

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace 

Intersection improvement images

 Photos by Barry Wallace

The King City main intersection improvements (on the north-west corner) took a substantial step forward today with the installation of the last of the prefabricated elements, which included roofing supports and the roof substructure.   A wooden, shingled superstructure will top-off the main architectural feature, which will be followed by final decorative stonework, planters and gardening, benches, a bicycle rack, lighting, refuse containers and signage.   This portion of the intersection improvements are expected to finished before the snow flies. I'd like to thank Chris Fasciano, King's Parks, Recreation & Culture director for supplying me with some of the details above.   Chris showed up at the same time as me, to take some photos of his own, of the proceedings, before dashing off to a meeting at York Region's headquarters in Newmarket.
   

Please comment if you wish.

Barry Wallace