Michael and I ended up making an impromptu visit to the Philadelphia Zoo today. Two of the newest animals at the zoo are a pair of Poitou donkey. These shaggy donkeys are pretty huge compared to most donkeys I have seen before.
This red barn is on a farm around 20 minutes north of where I live (Google Maps).
It is somewhat striking to have Rural Canada so close to the Big City. If you zoom out on that map you can see how close the newest suburban developments are. Since I moved into this house 16 years ago, sprawl has moved about 6 km northward. Recently, the Ontario government established a “Greenbelt” around the Golden Horseshoe area of southern Ontario to slow and contain urban sprawl (the barn is just south of it). This, combined with a population growth of over 900,000 in the Greater Toronto Area since 2000, has resulted in a real estate (esp. condo) explosion in and around downtown.
It seems that we may be experiencing a reversal of the “white flight” suburbanization phenomenon seen in the ’70s through the ’90s. Now, it’s hip for young professionals to live (and even raise a family) close to the city centre, and it has made housing prices skyrocket. Although gentrification has saved Toronto’s downtown from the urban decay seen in many other North American cities, some have raised the question of where less wealthy people are being pushed to.
Currently listening to: Macy Gray’s Big.
My sister Kristyn and I have a tradition. Every Thanksgiving-time, we get together and spend the day making pierogies just like Grandma Millie used to make. Today we spent about 6 hours kneading, mixing, folding, boiling, and yielded 237 total.
They are delicious!
Today my brother and I made an attempt to take down a tree. A very short while into the project we realized that the obstacles surrounding the tree and the sprawling nature of the tree made it a task beyond our capabilities. We did take down a couple limbs, and this is a cross-section of one.
I am addicted to this stuff, have been since my grandma use to put a few drops on a hanky and stuff it in my pocket on the way to school.
New Comments