Pandemic response - Weeks 13 and 14

Obviously the routines and structures of my life have changed again since being back in the city and having to work on site in the school.  Although it still feels very unusual to be working in the school, it didn’t take long before I sort of slipped back into old work routines again.  A daily walk wasn’t a part of my work routine before and clearly isn’t now either.  I think maybe that’s because simply changing location, from the school to home, was the signal I needed to differentiate between ‘work’ and ‘personal’ time, whereas when I was working exclusively from home, that daily walk was a very needed break.  I’m still doing some walking, but not nearly as much as before - and I’ve also found that these past two weeks my work commitments have just exploded in terms of my time, and therefore no blog post last week because I simply didn’t have time to work on one.  Even though we’re still 100% remote learning, certain things like report cards and preparing classes for next school year are all still going ahead - and it’s been ‘interesting’ figuring out how to do all those things remotely and virtually.

As for the actual pandemic situation several parts of Ontario were allowed to move into Phase 2 of reopening this past week, but here in Toronto (and two other spots in the province) are still holding at Phase 1.  In some ways it’s understandable that the biggest population base would have the largest number of cases, but Toronto is still reporting nearly 200 new cases every day.  Given that at the height of the pandemic we were reporting upwards of 600 new cases daily this is a definite decrease and a very optimistic sign, but the province wants that number to be lower before we open up any further...and I can’t say I disagree.

So I’m still long overdue for a haircut...but it that’s the greatest of my worries I’d say I’m doing okay!

Can you see who’s keeping on eye on the garden and neighbourhood?

I went to visit a friend’s garden after work one day this week (and have a glass of wine too of course!).  She probably didn’t plan the flower blooming for me, but I did appreciate the other purple touch in her garden!

I love the colour of these trees - they’re Blue Spruce trees and they really are a different colour from most of our other coniferous trees.

We sculpt our trees a little differently here in the city...gotta make sure they don’t interfere with those wires!

OK, so it’s not quite “Game of Thrones” like I saw last summer in Northern Ireland, but it’s still pretty lovely, and only one block away from where I live!

Showing off a bit more of my neighbourhood, just a couple blocks away is Upper Canada College which was founded in 1829 making it one of the oldest schools in Canada.  It began as a prep school to serve the provincial university and then moved to its current site in 1891. 

(This was actually taken back in March - before the leaves were on the trees - but never posted)

This is one of my favourite artworks.  It’s in a neighbourhood park and entitled “Peter Pan - to the spirit of children at play.”

Nice of someone to leave me a little sustenance for while I was walking...not the usual place to find a bagel?

I’ve going to do a little walking in the ravine - and peeking off in the distance is Toronto’s famous CN Tower

A Toronto park, on a beautiful sunny Saturday in the summer...during a pandemic.  Normal this would be full of people!

Another destination in my neighbourhood to highlight is Casa Loma.  Casa Loma (Spanish for “Hill House”) was constructed from 1911 to 1914 as a residence for Sir Henry Pellatt.  It sits at an elevation of 140 metres above sea level and can be seen from several different vantage points.  It is a designated Heritage property, is open for tourists (usually), and is also a popular filming location and venue for weddings.  With 98 rooms and covering nearly 65,000 square feet it was the largest private residence in Canada at the time it was built.

Just north of the castle is the Hunting Lodge (a.k.a. coach-house) and stables.  Pellatt and his family lived here during the construction of Casa Loma.  When the main castle was completed it was connected to the stables by a tunnel.  Here, in 1944, in utmost secrecy, the Royal Navy placed an assembly plant for ASDIC, an early form of sonar, which was vital in the battle of the Atlantic.  The existence of this factory wasn’t discovered until after the Second World War had ended.

Looking towards downtown from Casa Loma.  You can see why Pellatt thought this would be a good place for his house!

I walked home along one of the same walking trails I walked in the first few weeks - it’s looking very different now with all the leaves on the trees.  To refresh your memory - here it was in March...

And here it is now!

These must have been kicked off during a walk.  No call for them here now - lots of hot, sunny days but we could use some rain!

Another Toronto park during a pandemic...at least we’re good at practicing physical distancing!

Lost along the way...

Some very good news this week is that my wonderful Mt. Pleasant cemetery is opening up again, on a trial basis, to see if physical distancing can be maintained/enforced.  I certainly do hope people follow the rules - I was so happy to be back in what is now a beautiful, shaded, tranquil, place to walk!

This area is known as ‘the Resting Place of Pioneers’ as many of the inhabitants of the early town of  “Muddy York” are buried here.  Some of the graves here date back as far as 1826.

A very resilient tree...cut down but growing again!

June is Pride Month here in Ontario and unfortunately all celebrations are virtual this year...but it’s nice to see some of the neighbourhood decorations while I’m out walking.