Todmorden Mills
Posted: March 15, 2013 Filed under: Ontario, Plant Life, Toronto | Tags: beauty, cars, heritage site, nature, Ontario, snow, Todmorden Mills, Toronto, trees, wildflowers, winter, woods Leave a comment
Yellow House at Todmorden Mills, Toronto, March 2013
Last Friday I went to Todmorden Mills, a heritage site in Toronto adjacent to a wildflower preserve. Todmorden Mills is off Pottery Road, near Bayview Avenue and the Don Valley Parkway, so this visually beautiful place has a backdrop of rushing traffic. Often I cannot shut out the distressing sound of the cars, but was able to accept them this day and focus on the physical scene. Indeed, a disturbing part of living in the city is the necessity of shutting down senses at times as a form of self-preservation.
Wildflower preserve by Todmorden Mills, Toronto, March 2013
Wildflower Preserve adjacent to Todmorden Mills, Toronto, March 2013
However, last week as I walked around the grounds I did enjoy the snow that hadn’t fully melted in the valley, the trees, shrubs, stream and old buildings. I imagined what the land this city sits on might have looked like in the late 1700s when a sawmill and grist mill were built here. The strangeness of roaring cars and trucks adjacent to the remains of this old community brought forth feelings I’ve had before about being in two worlds. And, at the same time, I felt refreshed by spending an hour or so in this bit of preserved nature and history in the midst of the city.
At Todmorden Mills, Toronto, March 2013
Todmorden Mills, March 2013 with the Brick Works Shuttle Bus passing by on Pottery Road
In the Snow at Kortright Centre for Conservation, 2
Posted: February 28, 2013 Filed under: Ontario, Plant Life | Tags: Kortright Centre for Conservation, nature, Ontario, snow, Stream, trees, winter, woods Leave a comment
Kortright Centre in the Snow, Feb. 10/13, Ontario
Here’s a few more photos from our day at Kortright Centre earlier this month. A beautiful, memorable time in the snow.
Kortright in the Snow, Feb. 10/13
Stream through the snow at Kortright Centre, Feb. 10/13
Snow at Kortright Centre on old roots, Feb. 10/13
At Kortright Centre, Feb. 10/13
In the Snow at Kortright Centre for Conservation
Posted: February 19, 2013 Filed under: Animal Life, Ontario, Plant Life | Tags: beauty, birds, Canada, conifers, hiking, Kortright Centre for Conservation, natural setting, nature, Ontario, snow, snowfall, trails, trees, woods 2 Comments
Snow on Conifers at Kortright Centre, Feb. 10/13, Ontario
On February 10th, the Sunday after the significant snowfall in Toronto and all of southern Ontario, my husband and I drove to Kortright Centre for Conservation to walk in the snowy woods. We belong to a car sharing company and had fortunately reserved a car for the day in the hopes of having a snowy outing. We’d missed being in the snow at Kortright the previous year when so little snow had fallen.
Snow in Woods at Kortright Centre, Feb. 10/13, Ontario
In the morning, we walked through deep snow. We don’t have snow shoes, so the going was strenuous but very beautiful. Our afternoon hike was on trails that had been cleared or walked on and was easier going, but no less lovely. The afternoon light was diffused and the snow seemed to shine from within as it softly covered the ground. The blue grey shadows of the trees and logs washed across the warm white. What a miracle snow is.
Snow in the woods at Kortright Centre, Feb. 10/13, Ontario
As I often write, the poignancy of this beauty in light of human contribution to the warming of the planet was with me. I took solace in the day: in the chickadees, woodpeckers, finches, mourning doves and cardinals we saw and heard, in the trees, the stream and frozen marsh and so much that is life-giving and calls out to be seen, heard and valued deeply.
Kortright Centre, snowy woods on Feb. 10/13, Ontario
After the Snowfall at the Evergreen Brick Works
Posted: February 9, 2013 Filed under: Ontario, Toronto | Tags: Brick Works, Evergreen Brick Works, landscape, nature, snow, snowfall, Toronto, weather, winter Leave a comment
Brick Works in the Snow, Feb. 9, 2013
Yesterday and the night before we got 25 – 30 cm of snow in Toronto. This was the most significant snowfall we’ve had this year, and the most we’ve had in the past five. Last year we shockingly had only a dusting here and there.
Evergreen Brick Works, after a snowfall in Toronto, Feb. 9, 2013
I went out walking in the storm yesterday. I loved seeing the fresh snow and felt a sudden sense of loss because snows like this used to be regular occurrences and not the big deal this one seemed. I was then glad I could feel love for snow, something that I didn’t realize I strongly felt. And glad I could feel this before snow becomes even more rare than it is now, as it seems it will.
Shadows and a snow covered pond at the Brick Works, Feb. 9, 2013
Today my husband and I went to the Evergreen Brick Works to take advantage of the beautiful sights I felt awaited us at this former industrial site turned into a sanctuary of sorts. We weren’t disappointed. Here are some of the photos I took.
Blue/purple shadows on the snow, Evergreen Brick Works, Toronto, Feb. 9, 2013.
of humans and nature 
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