Sometimes I forget how great my hometown is.
I complain loudly, and often, about the insane cost of living, about our oppressive taxes, about the aneurism-inducing traffic jams, and – of course – about the harsh, and seemingly never-ending, winters.
And then a day like Saturday comes along to remind me how stupid I am for dismissing, without a second thought, this great city of mine.
It was a perfect fall day, with mild temperature (21C / 72F) and the bluest skies I’ve seen in Toronto in a long time.
I often complain that even when it’s clear here, the skies just aren’t blue. Not so yesterday. Mother Nature decided to set me straight and show me how wrong it is to generalize.
Mr. Enthusiasm suggested a trip to High Park, a 400 acre municipal park just west of downtown. It is to Toronto what Central Park is to Manhattan. It had been many years since either of us had been, and since the only thing left on my To-Do list was a short run by the lake, I adjusted my plan, and we headed out.
Rather than the planned 5km run, I opted for a 10k walk through this long-forgotten urban treasure. The steep hills made it a solid workout. The killer views made it a valuable deposit for the memory bank.
The leaves were just [barely] starting to change colours. In a couple of weeks, this place will be nothing short of a masterpiece. And, I am completely bummed that I will likely miss the best of it as I’ll be out of the country from mid October to early November. But I got this:
And for this I’m grateful.
Monarch butterflies were out in droves. The sun’s position made it hard for me to capture them. You can catch a couple in this picture.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many monarchs in one spot. It was ridiculously beautiful; a riot of colours served up as if their sole purpose was to bring a smile to my face. Or to tell me I’m so, so stupid for not seeing the beauty all around me, every day.
And although bees seem to be getting scarcer and scarcer, I spotted several, busy pollinating the fall blooms. Their buzzing may or may not have been bee-code, telling me to stop being a dumb-ass, and to look around and really take in the beauty of this city.
The vegetation throughout the park is so lush thanks, in large part, to the mature shade trees providing protective cover from the sun and cool respite from the heat.
These perennials hugged the curves of the creek, lazily meandering its way toward Grenadier Pond.
HIgh Park also features a tiny zoo. I came across these bison, who seemed to be contemplating the meaning of life. Or perhaps they were just talking about me and how ungracious I’ve been to my hometown.
Okay, so I stand corrected. Toronto IS a beautiful place to live.
And while the cost of living IS too high. And the taxes ARE ridiculous. And the traffic CAN make you lose your mind. And the winters WILL break you, at the end of the day, she goes and gives you this:
And you realize just how lucky you are to call her home. And how crazy you’ve been not to love her all along.
Do you ever lose sight of how much you love something?
Get moving!
xoxo nancy
Amen sister! Now you know why I miss it so much!
Doesn’t mean I won’t move to the US permanently, in a heart-beat, if a job offer came along. 😉
your hometown looks amazing, really beautiful!
It is the same with England in general, I sometimes complain that it rains too much or not enough, or it is dreary or our weather is weird or that I can’t run or walk from my door because the road we live on is narrow and fast.
Then I have to remind myself, that I live in a house with only 1 neighbour surrounded by fields with a 1/3 acre garden (which is relatively rare in the south of england) and we have beautiful green trees because of the weird weather and with in 10 mins drive in nearly every direction I can be out in the countryside in a place where I can walk and run to my hearts content!
Sounds lovely Sam!
I think we all tend to take things for granted sometimes.
we definitely do!
I’ll have to do a photo round up of my local area too…remind myself how much great stuff there is on the doorstep. 😀
also…your posts have stopped turning up in my reader 😦 I don’t know why! thank goodness for facebook!
that’s so weird. I had the same experience with Ginny’s posts a couple weeks ago. I wonder if there is something wonky with wordpress…?
there might be, I tried unfollowing and refollowing straight away in case it kicked it into action but it hasn’t worked…I will keep my eye out on facebook for now, I hope it resolves its self!
GAH! that sucks!
I wonder if there’s anything I can do to fix it. I’ll poke around. Thanks for the “like” on the FB page – at least that way we can stay in touch!
yes that is true, there is an advantage to using multiple social networking sites…
I will also bookmark your blog directly then I can keep an eye on it 🙂
Thanks Sam — you are the best!
😀
well I can’t go missing your blog! I love reading it 😀
Appreciating my here and now is always a struggle – have to remind myself to …STOP, LOOK, BREATHE, SMILE….. lovely 🙂
Wise woman, you are.
I’ve never visited Toronto. Thanks for the tour of your “New York version of Central Park.”..which I have not visited. And for the reminder to slow down and enjoy the beauty around us each day!
My pleasure! It really is a great city (when I’m not mired in cynicism.) 🙂
It is easy to slip into cynicism. I once introduced myself to a group of new Ombudsmen as the group cynic. One of my fellow Ombuds said I did “a might fine job too”. 🙂
🙂
My friend Gordon grew up in Mississauga, and I am always ecstatic when Alice goes there with him. She always brings me chocolate covered corn nuts from Soma.
Your pictures make me want to come back to Toronto. It has been several years since I visited. We always see the flaws in the places we live. I complain about Charleston all the time.
If you do get up here, I would be delighted to give you a tour of the new cool stuff. The Distillery District is so awesome.
Well it’s raining today, but I think I may plan my own trip to High Park soon 🙂
Do it! It’s really beautiful.