Week 40 of the pandemic, Christmas Day is the end of the week (Friday) and Ontario is set to move back into a full, provincial lockdown for 14 - 28 days (14 in northern Ontario, 28 days for all of southern Ontario). Despite Toronto already having been in lockdown for 5 weeks there still hasn’t been any decrease in our local numbers and unfortunately other regional areas are now seeing spikes as well - so hence a provincial lockdown. They also announced at the beginning of the week that all schools in Ontario would begin with remote learning for all students for at least the first week, January 4-8, 2021.
I started Week 40 in Toronto and now that schools are off for the holidays...plus for the fact that I’m back to being retired again (YEAH) I went for a walk on Monday. A few general photos but also a focus on some Christmas decorations.
These next few photos are from a neighbourhood called Yorkville and it has some lovely decorations!
The white ring is an outdoor skating track. Not very big, but still lots of fun.
Signs of the pandemic - above is Yonge/Dundas Square, Toronto’s equivalent to Times Square...nearly deserted during the days leading up to Christmas. And below is our iconic shopping centre the Eaton Centre - the only people allowed inside are picking up items ordered online.
Only 25 skaters allowed on the ice at one time (today there’s even less) and you have to book your time in advance.
Roy Thompson Hall the home of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
On Tuesday I came back to Bayfield again. Not sure how long I’m going to stay here - I know I’m looking forward to seeing friends here again...as well as the change of scenery. No snow when I first got here so I took advantage, went for a walk one day, and even ventured down to the beach.
It was very cold and windy on the pier...I didn’t walk to the end!
No ice on the river yet...and all but one fishing boat away for the season.
I know these lights definitely aren’t New York, and not Toronto either, but our little village still looks beautiful!
Clan Gregor Square - our ‘big’ park - lights abound and the making of a little outdoor ice rink.
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Bayfield - a first for me. And absolutely yes, this holiday is not how I would ever have planned it - no singing, no time with family - but I am enjoying the company of friends here in Bayfield, and lots of emails, text messages, and video calls on Christmas Day, more than made up for any sense of loneliness that I might have had.
And then this is what I woke up to on Christmas morning - a bit of a ‘winter wonderland’...
With snow squalls coming in off the lake!
My first ever Christmas Day walk in Bayfield, in the snow...
It looked, and felt, so cold and blowy that I chickened out of walking down to the pier. Watching the squalls from us here was just fine!
No sunshine forecast for the rest of this week - in fact snow squalls continued on Saturday, with things a bit brighter on Sunday. Whenever weather allows (and I have the motivation) I’ll continue with a walk each day. And for at least the next month while we’re back in lockdown, that will be where any/all photos come from.
I took advantage of a break in squalls to go to the harbour and pier today. The ice is just starting to form on some of the trees and rocks at the shoreline, but temperatures just above the freezing mark in another day or two will cause it all to melt again.
I wasn’t the first on this pathway since the snowfall but it hasn’t been trod down yet either.
For the first time in days there was a glimpse of the sun...it didn’t last for sunset though.
Yes that is the sun for a few, brief moments today. And as you can see from the lake, the winds have substantially died down too.
A tiny little bit of ice starting to form at the mouth of the river, but with temperatures rising to above freezing overnight and tomorrow this will soon be gone again...for now.
