Meanwhile, in Toronto

I’ll be adding many more posts about my time in the Canadian Rockies.  I think of the mountains every day and miss them.  Meanwhile, in Toronto it’s autumn.  The turning leaves are beautiful and bring me solace as I travel around the city.

Autumn Oak Leaves in Toronto, Oct. 2012

Autumn leaves through Mocha Mocha cafe’s window, Toronto, Oct. 2012

Autumn in Kensington Market, Toronto, Oct. 2012

Today, it was very warm and sunny.  I returned to the Brick Works—passing milkweed in luminous seed by the railway tracks.  Other people strolled about on this lovely day and I spoke to a woman who had seen eastern bluebirds at the Brick Works yesterday.

Milkweed by the railroad tracks, Toronto, Oct. 2012

Brick Works–reflections of autumn, Oct. 2012, Toronto

Brick Works, Oct. 2012, Toronto

I saw and heard red winged blackbirds, chickadees and mallards.  Also, I heard what I believe were finches or warblers of some sort.

Chickadee at the Brick Works in Toronto, Oct. 2012

And at the Brick Works, I read a sign about the geology of the land here.  It was good to relate my new found interest to the land close to home.  And to contemplate, as I had in the west, that we live off of life much older than ourselves.

The sign reads:

The rock of this west quarry wall is shale with harder layers of silty limestone.  It originated in a tropical sea around 448 million years ago.  If you look closely you may see some fossils…The presence of easily accessible shale made this site valuable as a brick making operation.

Autumn on a warm day at the Brick Works in Toronto, Oct. 2012

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