Taking time to clean up the debris from the previous winter.  I talked to these guys in the summer, and asked why it took so long to clean up the park.  They told me that they were the only crew dedicated to cleanup in the entire city.  I wonder if they'll be back this summer, now that winter is finally here.  

As I get older, I start looking back at my life more and more.  It's natural, but it's also a huge distraction at times.  I am constantly reminding myself that there's no profit in watching yourself make bad decisions, over and over - it's much better to look at where you are now, and focus on making the best decisions that you can.  The past is the past - unchangeable and gone.  The future can still be influenced, if we pay attention to the here and now.

Looking east on Dundas from the corner at University. Lots of traffic, but it's noontime, so it's not really too bad.  It's much worse at rush hour, as many people try to use University as a conduit to the northern reaches of the city.  Of course, the more that people use it, the more crowded, and slow, it gets.

Trying to get off the rocks on Lake Ontario.  Taken at Beaches Park in Toronto, on a beautiful, sunny day.

Gorgeous building in Chicago - the Wrigley Building.  Yes - the former head office of the Wrigley Company, makers of fine chewing gum.  It holds a variety of businesses now, and the walkway you see here was added to connect two offices of a bank branch.  

There were a huge variety of kites in the sky this fall at Ashbridges Bay Kite Festival.  It was rather spectacular to see, and most of these were anchored in the beach, and were remarkably stable up in the sky. 

Looking across the river in Chicago.  I love how the buildings rise on either side of the river, just like canyon walls.  You can see a wonderful mix of the old and the new in the architectural styles of the buildings here.  There's everything from the ornate buildings of early in the 20th century up to today's simple, clean boxes.   I'd love to go to Chicago again - it was a lot of fun to wander around.

Sharing her lunch with the pigeons out front of Union Station.

Waiting for the next streetcar to pass, I guess.  I see the supervisors hanging out on the street from time to time, but I never know exactly what they're doing there.  Don't they have radios in the buses and streetcars?  Or are they there to do spot checks, making sure that the streetcar drivers dont' take their cars off the rails and go wandering through the city?

Another cold day, another dog left tied up outside of a store.  It's really simple, people - if you have to go out to get something from the store, leave your poor dog at home, where it's warm.  Especially if he's a shorthaired breed, like this poor guy. 

Taken at the Beaches Kite Festival.  The guy flying this kite had tremendous control over it, and he had the kids running back and forth repeatedly, chasing the bear.  It was fascinating to see him holding the kite just out of reach of the kids, dropping the bear and picking it up again before they could get to it.  The kids seemed to be having a good time, that's for sure.

When I look at this, I see a wood spirit - you can see a knee, a foot, a torso, and a neck, if you squint the right way.  When we were walking through the woods in the Bruce Peninsula, I was struck, repeatedly, by the incredibly daunting task it must have been to cut a road through the woods from Tobermory down to Wiarton.  It would have been solid, mature forest, hard rock, and it would have taken ages to build.