Wandering Into The Museum

The Royal Ontario Museum sprawls over several floors, with galleries containing various themes from around the world. The first gallery I went through contained a First Nations theme, with carved chests and artifacts on display.

That includes tribal ceremonial dress.

As a child, I was always awestruck by two massive totem poles in the museum. It's impossible to take a picture of one in full; these staircases wind around them, giving the visitor a look at the details as they ascend. Instead, combining the stairs and a section of the pole makes for a stark contrast in a photograph.

With the renovations, the entrance area has shifted away from where it was, and been reconfigured. Close to the totem poles, on a wall in that central hall, is this dinosaur skeletal display. There are plenty of fossils elsewhere in the museum, but this is a taste of what's to come for the visitor.

The rotunda is off this hall, and while I was there, there were four singers in Victorian garb singing Christmas carols. It seemed strangely fitting. This vase is in one of the alcoves in the rotunda.

It always helps to look up in a museum. This is the ceiling of the rotunda.

A Church And A Monstrosity

A couple of days after Christmas, I went down to Toronto again to do a bit of shopping and check in at a place I haven't been in for several years. From the sidewalk in front of my destination, I snapped this shot of the church on the far corner. This is the Anglican Church Of The Redeemer. It dates back to the 19th century and contrasts quite well with the modern buildings beyond it.

The reason for my visit? The Royal Ontario Museum, or ROM as it's often called. I visited from time to time growing up, fascinated by the collection (it probably spoke to the archaeologist I might have been), but I hadn't been inside since the last set of renovations, which contrast (not in a good way) with the original aspects of the building, which dates back to 1914.

This metal and glass monstrosity is called the Crystal, meant to evoke the crystals that spring out of rock. It just ends up looking out of place against the stone of the original building, as far as I'm concerned.

Still, it's what's inside the building that actually counts. Tomorrow we'll start taking a look inside.

The Thoughts Of A Hound

The view out the window from my cousin's house, in the Wellington countryside north of Guelph, on Christmas Day. The telltale marks of the ice storm are on the trees particularly, coated with ice. This part of the province saw power outages and fallen trees and branches. It might take until spring to see how much damage has really been done.

The house comes with a dog, a handsome fellow named Buddy. With lots of people coming in that day, he had many opportunities for a pet, a wag of the tail, and a hello, how are you doing kind of noserub. I snapped several pictures of him before most people got in, and I thought I'd caption them from his point of view.

"Oh, that food smells good. Can I have some?"

"Any chance you're roasting a bone with that turkey?"

"Wait... was that a squirrel?"

"Hungry again..."

"Am I adorable or am I adorable?"

"Who's a good boy? I'm a good boy!"

The Paths Of The Dead

Today I'm taking part in the second annual Ontario Bloggers Day. Cindy, at Just North Of Wiarton And South Of The Checkerboard started this concept last year, and I've been following her as a blogger for a long while. It's a chance for bloggers from around the province to get to know each other. Check out her blog, where there'll be blogs listed taking part as the day goes on.

I'm back in Woodlawn Cemetery today.

This particular plot is one I find rather off putting. It's a huge grave, perhaps eventually meant for more people but currently occupied by only one individual. The entire thing screams pay attention to me! Or it's possible the family decided to go overboard when they had this erected. It's much too over the top; the sort of tomb that would appeal to Donald Trump.

I prefer this old tombstone, perhaps because of the statue at its heart.

Another tombstone in a prominent spot of the cemetery was raised in commemoration of several soldiers who fell in the First World War. The stone is capped with a lion.

The Union Jack stands alongside it.

This tombstone carries a quiet dignity to it, something that I like.

Woodlawn Cemetery

Woodlawn Cemetery dates back to the 19th century in Guelph, filled with history. I passed through over the holidays, where effects of the ice storm were evident.

The soldier and poet John McCrae, writer of In Flanders Fields, has a presence here, though his body lies in a grave in Europe. His family plot is in this cemetery, and his name is inscribed on one of the tombstones. It was covered in snow as I passed by... so the names will remain hidden until spring.

The ice storm had its effect throughout Woodlawn, bending and breaking branches and trees.

There'll have to be intensive work come spring. Some graves required more immediate attention- if a large branch has fallen against a gravestone, for instance, it would have to be removed, but many of the fallen branches can be left for the spring.

Cemeteries are peaceful places to walk through. It feels quiet, and this one in particular has a good deal of land for strolling.

Ice Storm Damage

The ice storm that swept into southern Ontario before Christmas affected a large area from London to the eastern stretches of the province before moving on. This was the case in Guelph, the largest city in Wellington County, where I spent the holidays.

The Speed River flows through the city, open in portions along the way such as along this stretch, offering a place for ducks and geese to spend the winter. The coating of ice from the storm is visible on branches and long grasses along the riverbed.

The evergreen trees, though burdened down by ice at this point, have flexible branches that stand up to ice storms better than other trees.

Fallen branches were typical along this part of the river.

There'll be some branches to remove as the spring comes, some trees with broken branches that need to be pruned. Other parts of the province got hit harder.

Still, not far away, you can see more serious effects of the storm. This pathway has more fallen branches, and branches heavy with the weight of ice alongside it.

Riverside Park is close by, and in this first shot, the weight of ice is heavy on the trees, as beautiful as it can be.

And in this last shot, we see the shattering effects of an ice storm on trees. This particular one in Riverside Park has been destroyed.

In Trinity Church

Near the Eaton Centre in Toronto is an unlikely square, old buildings surrounded by modern architecture. This is Trinity Square, a quiet oasis in the city. There are three buildings here dating back to the 19th century, and the centrepiece is the Anglican Church of the Holy Trinity. I was in the area anyway on Christmas Eve, so it seemed fitting to stop in.

The church is well known for its work in social justice and community outreach. It's also known for being a cultural hub for music performance. The Cowboy Junkies recorded two albums here (if you have no idea who they are, just check them out on Youtube; they're an outstanding music act).

Inside, the sanctuary lets in a good deal of light during the day, and can be visited by the passerby at most times.

The stained glass windows over the altar fit in perfectly with the surroundings.

The interior of the sanctuary is old fashioned, fitting with the building itself... and surrounded by modernity.

The Big Smoke

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario. It's a busy city throughout the week, particularly in the core. And it's a city filled with delusional fools devoted to a hockey team doomed to never win a championship again (hi, Leafs fans!). It's gone by some nicknames down through the years since its founding, including Hogtown and The Big Smoke. These days the city is plagued by a drug addled incompetent alcoholic rage machine who thinks he's the mayor, and who has turned the city into an international joke. Incidentally, in person, the man is even more obnoxious than you see him on the news.

Coming through the city on Christmas Eve, I had enough time to stroll about the downtown core and take some shots. This one is near City Hall. I just liked the look of the building, a hydro-electric building dating back to the twenties.

The Eaton Centre is a shopping mall in the downtown core, the huge glass ceiling a signature of the place. There were very large glass and steel frame reindeer mounted in several places inside, lit with multicoloured lights for the season.

Their scale when seen with people passing by is impressive. I found myself wondering how long it took to put these together.

Outside, I paused for this shot. The Canada Life Building is down the street on University Avenue, a Beaux-Arts tower that was opened in the early thirties. Beyond it is the one building in Toronto that most anyone the world over knows: the CN Tower.

Crossroad

Anyone who's taken a bus between Toronto and Ottawa will be familiar with a truck stop in Hastings County, on Highway 7 just before the turnoff south. Buses stop here as well at all hours; most of the buses between the two cities take this route, and the staff inside know the schedules. A rest stop is called for, along with the chance to pick up a quick bite to eat.

When I went down to southern Ontario for the holidays, I walked a short stretch down the road. The highway crosses the southern part of the province from east to west. In this part of the province, it's generally quiet. The turnoff to the freeway is there in the distance.

Across the road, the trees were snow covered. In this area, we were already seeing the effects of the ice storm that hit southern Ontario before Christmas.

I stopped near the turnoff, overlooking this river. The Skootamatta River flows through this area, joining the Moira River a short distance away near the village of Tweed. This time of year it's frozen over.

I've seen this river when it's been in flood stages. The next time I pass through ought to be in the spring or summer. I'll have another look at it then.

Skaters

My first in-town shots of 2014; these are from two days this week. The Rideau Canal has been opened to skaters since before New Year's. This first skater was out on the surface on Dow's Lake.

This afternoon view is from the Bank Street Bridge, with a handful of skaters on the Canal below. There'll be many more on the weekends, and depending on the time of day, for that matter.

Downtown, the skate route finds its start at Plaza Bridge, there in the distance, flanked by Parliament Hill and the Chateau Laurier. 

A wider view gives us a look at the National Arts Centre on the left and one of the skate changing lounges on the right, at the ice surface. Over the weeks to come, as we head towards Winterlude, the Canal will be used by many skaters (and walkers) as it winds its way through the city. Expect more skating shots to come.

After a good skate on the Canal, warming up is always called for. That might involve hot chocolate and a Beavertail... a local pastry creation that's very, very popular. This is one of the temporary locations on the ice, with the Ottawa Convention Centre serving as a backdrop.

Tomorrow I'll be taking things out of town for a little while. I was busy photographing over the holidays.