The maple leaf flag's 60th birthday

More than just a flag
Port Stanley, ON
September 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Canada’s maple leaf flag first flew over Parliament Hill 60 years ago today.

Now, I normally don’t explicitly remember our - or any - flag’s birthday, but this year is different.

Canada is under siege by the president of a nation we once thought was our closest ally, but is now, suddenly, an enemy in so many ways. Our neighbour is being led by a mentally deficient man-child who gleefully rules by edict, lies with chilling ease, worships dictators, and thinks he can bully us into becoming the 51st state by targeting our economy with crippling tariffs.

First, Canadians will happily do without school shootings, watered-down beer, and losing their homes because they dared visit the ER for a broken leg.

Second, we see the dismantling of democracy taking place south of the border, and we’d really rather not be a part of it. Through no choice of our own, we may now live above the meth lab on the other side of the planet’s longest border. But that doesn’t necessarily mean we actually want to hang out there or wear the label.

Third, speaking of labels, we rather treasure our global reputation for politeness. We happily sew the red and white maple leaf flag onto our backpacks and clothes before we pack for a trip - and we bristle when Americans try to do the same.

We’re genial and welcoming, but we’re not pushovers. We may be small in numbers, but we’ve always shown up to fight for the oppressed, and will never bend to the will of those too stupid to learn from history. “Never again” still means something here.

So on this unexpectedly resonant Flag Day, Canadians across the the Great White North have emptied stores of their flag inventories and are flying them with unabashed pride.

It might have taken a sustained threat to our sovereignty to shake us out of our malaise, but today the simple act of flying a flag signals to our once-upon-a-time besties that this fight is only just getting underway, and we have no intention of rolling over and taking it.

Because just as we might have fought off bullies as children, we must do the same now. Otherwise our flag is just a colourful rectangle of fabric blowing in the wind.

#portstanley #ldnont #london #ontario #canada #ohcanada #madeincanada #iamcanadian #mapleleaf #forever #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

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Finding Canada in a distant land, January 2020

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Happy Canada Day, eh? July 2010

My country's birthday, July 2009

Icy driveway surprise

Look closely
London, ON
February 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I had plans. The universe begged to differ.

Those plans were simple: shoot the sunset. So I scanned the skies from the house, and decided things looked promising enough to walk over to the nearby park with my camera.

Unfortunately, the clouds rolled in in the 5 minutes it took to get there, and I was greeted by a perfectly grey sky from edge to edge.

Normally I’d wait it out for a bit, because sometimes the clouds shift and the post-twilight sky will put on a surprise reflective light show. But not this time.

So I bailed without having even taken the camera out of its bag. Walked home through the post-blizzard streets and slowly ambled past our snow-covered car in the driveway.

Figuring I shouldn’t waste the opportunity, I decided to clean the snow before it froze into an impenetrable shield.

And that’s when I noticed the streams of ice that trailed down the sides of the car, frozen remnants of a brief burst of sunshine earlier that afternoon.

Before long, I found myself shooting artsy compositions of the weird ice formations against the reflective red paint. I didn’t have much time amid the fading light, but it was enough.

In the end this isn’t the photo I set out to capture. And I snagged it only because of an unpredictable chain of circumstances that started with an uncooperative sky.

Maybe it’s a lesson from the universe that we aren’t in charge. Or that tangents are to be embraced and not feared.

Let’s go with that last one, then. It might come in handy in the not-too-distant future.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #ice #frozen #winter #weather #wx #onstorm #abstract #street #stilllife #streetphotography #reflective #red #car #carporn #automotive #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

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Winter storm, alternative view

Blanketed
London, ON
December 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Large swaths of Ontario and Quebec are feeling winter’s wrath this morning as a major storm dumps near-record amounts of snow and freezing rain across the region.

It’s easy to see why this is a source of stress for so many. Any kind of travel in this weather is equal parts cold, miserable, inconvenient, and dangerous. There’s no minimizing it, even if Canadians wrote the book on winter survival.

Yet no other season announces itself quite like this one, or paints the landscape with such a delicate palette.

So as we round the corner in the woods and come face to face with this, it feels appropriate to stop for a moment to appreciate it.

The walk home will still be annoying and treacherous. But for just one moment, we immerse ourselves in the hushed magic of this remarkable place.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #forest #tree #snow #winter #weather #wx #naturephotography #landscapephotography #monochrome #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

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Snow dusted, January 2022

The sheltered forest

We've got you
London, ON
February 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The trees gather together high overhead, protecting everything and everyone below.

If they can work together against the threatening skies, so can we.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #walnutwoods #forest #trees #gameoftones #cathedral #canopy #texture #naturephotography #landscapephotography #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

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Where the forest covers the sky, August 2020

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A cathedral where nobody prays, October 2011

Every sunset is deserving

Welcome, night
London, ON
February 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

A half-hour after the sun last showed itself here, I walk past the nearby park with our well bundled dog and wait by the tree while she buries her nose in the fresh snow.

Thanks to a clear sky, it isn’t a terribly spectacular scene, but I’m captivated by it, anyway, and decide to take a single photo before we continue on our way.

I toss it around in my mind all the way home, about the fact that I had decided to shoot a decidedly meh moment.

But the more I ponder, the more I realize it was never meh at all. Even the most plain skies, after all, are still worthy of attention, still worthy, period.

And we remember them not because they may have met some arbitrarily subjective metric of beauty. But because we get to experience them at all.

Because we miss a lot more than we gain by dismissing skies that don’t somehow qualify.

Because the number of skies in our lives isn’t limitless.

Because this isn’t just about skies.

Thank you for attending my TED Talk. I’ll be hanging out with the dog under the maple tree at the edge of the park all week.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #sunset #cloudspotting #weather #wx #bluesky #optimistpark #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #apple #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

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Golden Hour over Wonderland Road, November 2020

Striking her dog show pose

Make sure you get my best side, please
London, ON
February 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Our #TikkunOlam photography project continues.

If you’re just joining us, it’s our seemingly trivial attempt to use photography to repair the world.

Participation is simple: share a photo, any photo. Tag it with the #TikkunOlam hashtag. And if you want to tag me - @carmilevy - along the way, have at it.

I’m just naive enough to believe that pretty pictures can soothe the sting of a world gone mad. Or, if not mad, then perhaps depressingly chaotic. Whatever we call it, now is the time to seek refuge in tiny acts of kindness and inspiration.

Photography has always been a kind and inspiring place to me, and I’m reasonably certain I’m not alone.

And since y’all liked our last photo of our beloved pup, Calli the Wonderschnauzer, she’s back for another moment of canine joy. This time, she decided to pose for her Westminster Dog Show application photo beside the dining room table.

No, that’s not exactly true. Or at all. She’ll never qualify for this or any dog show given her extreme lack of manners or sanity. She’ll never be a dog show dog, yet we love her to bits and pieces all the same because she has a heart of literal gold. Or maybe it’s figurative. Whatever. We like her and she likes us, even if none of us is remotely conventional.

Okay, your turn. A picture that brings you joy. Go.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #calli #callitheschnauzer #dog #actofdog #schnauzerpuppy #schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzergram #schnauzers #dogsofinstagram #instapuppy #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

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A sunny afternoon on Cabell Street

Linear history
London, ON
February 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

On a bitterly cold, brilliantly sunny afternoon, I find myself walking the deserted streets of an industrial neighbourhood.

I had brought my camera, but thanks to the sun-polished ice I’m too afraid to take it out of its cushy bag lest I take a tumble. So I’m shooting with a smartphone.

The only sound at first is that of the wind whistling through the electrical wires overhead. Yet the longer I stand perfectly still in the deep blue shadows, the more the soundtrack emerges.

Somewhere in the deep blue shadows, a loosely bolted street sign taps out a gentle rhythm. A single Canada Goose honks angrily above the brickwork before disappearing into a speck in the deep azure sky.

I imagine this neighbourhood once bustled with activity, fuelled by the energy of those living in the perfectly aligned rows of Victorian-style brick homes built hard up against the time-worn factories and warehouses. Zoning sure was different back then.

Soon enough the clock beckons me back to the everyday. I could stand in the middle of these hushed streets forever, but life on the outside doesn’t stop, especially for idyllic visits to a vanished past.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #brick #industrial #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #downtown #doors #cabell #streetphotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

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Evidence that we were here

Visualized traction
London, ON
February 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

After the snow falls, trips still get taken, and lives still get lived.

And as we move from here to there or there to here, we leave tracks in our wake, tangible evidence, however tenuous, that we were here, that we mattered.

Soon enough, though, those tracks will be gone.

And then what?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #winter #snow #weather #wx #onstorm #streetphotography #abstract #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

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With gratitude

A simple message
Toronto, ON
September 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Following yesterday’s entry about my late brother, I simply wanted to express my profound gratitude to everyone who took the time to respond.

Originally I wasn’t sure if I should say anything, but thanks to your collectively overwhelming support and kindness, I now know it was the right call.

Let’s keep shining the light, then. It’s what good people do - and you’re all good people.

And what about this photo? Taken in a McDonald’s drive-through, which my brother - who had also been bitten by the photography bug - would have found hilarious.

Related:

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I keep seeing signs, April 2020

Older brothers don't leave, do they?

My older brother, Ari, would have been 60 today. He was 53 when we lost him, and I am now older than he will ever be.

I share this as a reminder that lives are finite, time is precious, and family, in any form, matters more than we might have imagined. It’s also a reminder that life can be dark for some of us, that it never seems to play out as we had planned, nor does it have a reset or a rewind button.

Yet we owe it to those around us - and to ourselves - to find whatever light we can amid that darkness, and shine it where it needs to be shone. Even if it hurts to do so.

Perhaps this is TMI, but we grew up in a family that never “got” mental health. Psychiatrists, psychologists, and other professionals were called “shrinks”. Relatives who had the misfortune of mental health afflictions were ridiculed - sometimes gently, sometimes not - and eventually shunned.

To this day, no one in my extended family discusses the how. As if it’s fallen into a dark hole, never to be revisited again. The stigma is deep-rooted, and I struggle with how to express myself amid its molasses-like hold.

I wonder if his life might have followed another path if our environment had been different. I wonder if I had known what lay ahead, if I could have done anything differently, or better. I wonder a lot of things, and the answers never seem to present themselves. I will ask those questions for the rest of my life.

I’m comforted that in his abbreviated life, he accomplished much, and left a trail of achievement for others to follow. And his memory is indeed, in classic Jewish lore, a blessing. And an example for us all to keep following.

Yet I’m still haunted. Those left behind are forever haunted by the not knowing.

If you do one thing today, please reach out. To someone, anyone who matters to you. Be the one. Be the light. End the stigma. Show those who matter to you that there is always another path.

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A milestone no one wants, September 2022

Frozen miracles in unexpected places

Here for now
London, ON
February 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

There’s a spot near the rusting sewer grate where paper-thin ice meets gritty asphalt, where the forces of nature shape and reshape the landscape seemingly by the minute.

So we stop what we’re doing and stare intently at the seemingly unremarkable scene halfway between the dog’s sniffling nose and our slush-covered boots.

There’s no big reason to do so. In fact, almost nobody does. Stop, that is. Too busy chasing the remarkable to pay much attention to the mundane.

But this is just one scene, and the planet is filled with countless battles between unseen forces of nature, between the dog’s nose and the tips of our boots, wherever we happen to be.

We’d know that if we looked down. We’d know that if we took the time to look for ephemeral miracles in unexpected places.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #TikkunOlam #water #gutter #ice #frozen #winter #walkabout #weather #wx #onstorm #abstract #street #stilllife #streetphotography #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

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Protective trees in a foggy park

Sentinels
London, ON
December 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Wow! The little #TikkunOlam photography project that we launched yesterday seems to have struck a delightfully bright nerve. So let’s continue, shall we?

I took a walk in the fog, and as I stood at the edge of an empty park and prepared to walk through it, I paused to take in the sight of countless giant trees protecting all who pass under them.

I probably hang around trees more than I should - particularly on foggy days - but I rather enjoy how it feels to stand face-to-face with them, to feel the gentle sounds that gradually present themselves to anyone who takes the time to listen.

We need mental health now more than ever. Mother Nature is ready for us.

Your turn. Go.

#ldnont #london #airport #ontario #canada #tree #fog #winter #weather #wx #optimistpark #naturephotography #landscapephotography #silhouette #monochrome #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

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Deepseek's deep problem - live on Medium

I've been staring at the ceiling at night worrying about #DeepSeek's deeper issues, and I know I'm not alone. I dig into it in my latest article. Enjoy the read!

Deepseek's deep problem

#ai #cybersecurity #thoughtleadership

#TikkunOlam Photography begins

Bringing joy, by default
London, ON
January 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Because the world feels a little darker than it probably needs to be, I hope you all don’t mind if I engage in a little photographic therapy for the next while.

It’s quite simple, really: I’m going to share photos that make me happy. And if I play my cards right, they’ll make you happy, as well.

I can’t make politicians less corrupt or damaged. Nor can I wave a wand and fix the economy, find folks a family doctor, or end homelessness.

But I’m able to conjure up words and images from nothing, and I understand that can be a handy skill to have when the going gets tough. Maybe it’ll even inspire us.

Our launch photo will be one of our dog, better known as Calli the Wonderschnauzer. And I’ll forewarn you: animals may be over-represented in this series. That’s because they know nothing of trade wars, tragedies, and unkindness.

Calli is just as ready to wake me with a sniffling nose on a quiet news day as she is on an insane one. She loves unconditionally, and never fails to stand between me and whatever she deems threatening.

I’m guessing the world would be a better place if humans could be more like her, so she gets to kick things off. Good girl.

And because everything has to have a hashtag these days, I’m going to use #TikkunOlam. That’s Hebrew for repair the world, and it’s a theme that’s resonated with me my entire life. I profoundly believe in art’s ability to repair the world and those within it, so here we are.

You’re absolutely welcome join in the fun and share your own #TikkunOlam contribution. Use the hashtag and tag me at @carmilevy. Let’s start something, shall we? The world needs it.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #calli #callitheschnauzer #dog #actofdog #schnauzerpuppy #schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzergram #schnauzers #dogsofinstagram #instapuppy #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

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Po, the CBC, and me, July 2012

On bleeding a certain shade of blue, November 2011

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The deal with resolutions, January 2005

Sorry, Canada isn't for sale. To anyone.

The maple leaf, forever
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram

NOTE: This entry has been posted in more developed form to my Medium channel. Head here to read it - and feel free to sign up for my newsletter.

Today, one day before the U.S. imposes 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports, one thing is absolutely clear: this is what happens when misinformation and disinformation are left unchecked.

Donald Trump has blithely used the excuse that Canada is allowing fentanyl and immigrants to pour into the U.S., yet the data paints a very different story.

Consider this: in Fiscal Year 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol seized 21,148 pounds of fentanyl coming in from Mexico. From Canada? 43 pounds. That’s 0.2% for those keeping score.

Same deal on the people side. over 1.5 million people were detained in FY24 crossing from Mexico into the U.S. On the northern border, 23,721 - less than 1.6% of the total - people crossed illegally.

Yet President Felon repeatedly insists Canada is a leaking cauldron of debauchery as he also claims they’re “subsidizing” us to the tune of inflated figures that have no basis in reality, and change with every rage-post to his failing social media platform.

In reality, trade imbalances are not subsidies, and Trump’s warped reasoning suggests a pathetic lack of basic economic theory.

Yet his base, trained by years of being fed a torrent of lies so intense that every word is now accepted as fact, applauds. Making matters worse, American media, cowed by frivolous lawsuits from a guy who wrote the book on predatory litigation, now pays Trump off as they pressure their own journalists into backing off from critical coverage.

No, the Jim Acosta case was not isolated, and there will be more.

Society does indeed die in darkness, and imagine where we’d be if a society now content to live in darkness had had the wherewithal to recognize the lies for what they were, and push back.

As a higher-tech rerun of the Nazi party’s 1930s playbook, we’d think Americans would know enough to recognize the signs that they’re being lied to.

Sadly, we’d think wrong.

I’m hoping Canadians have what it takes to finally appreciate mis/disinformation for the democracy-killing disease that it is.

I suspect my hope is misplaced. This, ultimately, is how empires end.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medwayvalley #forest #red #maple #leaf #autumn #stilllife

Related:

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Canada Day, Eh? July 2007

Canada Day, Eh? July 2004

An icy, successful failure

Blur!
London, ON
January 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Question: what happens when you don’t check the camera’s settings before stepping out onto the front porch to shoot the icicles?

Answer: an unplanned 8-second handheld exposure in all its blurry glory. In other words, an abject failure of a shot.

But is it really?

I was fully prepared to delete this one, just another of the countless photos that understandably never see the light of day. For all the precision of modern cameras, where even in manual mode it’s hard to mess up an exposure, leave it to me to find new ways to screw up a pic.

But the longer I hovered over the image after I imported it into Lightroom, the more I decided I liked it.

It screamed abstract to me, a chaotic mess of light and texture that could only exist in that singular, imperfect few seconds. Or a reminder that not all plans are meant to work out, and it’s perfectly fine to end up far away from your original destination.

So let’s call it a happy accident, then. Or an unplanned failure. Or maybe something I should deliberately shoot for the next time I pick up a camera.

Maybe there’s something to this failure thing after all. Maybe the very word, failure, needs a new definition.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #ice #icicle #drip #abstract #blur #winter #weather #wx #night #naturephotography #landscapephotography #doorstep #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

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Rage, rage against the dying of the light

Deep into twilight
London, ON
January 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

It’s been 32 minutes since the sun disappeared beneath the cloud-covered horizon, so I’ve hung around the frozen park just in case the grey skies decide to allow the light to break through one last time.

It’s called hopeless optimism, and apparently I suffer from a severe case of it.

I hold the camera in my hand, my fingers aching from the cold, and while my mind says it’s time to pack it in and head home, my feet decide otherwise, and stay planted in the hard-packed snow.

Suddenly the clouds shift just enough to expose a gentle orange glow in a tiny speck of sky just down by the treeline. It isn’t much, but I raise the camera and snap off a few frames before it winks out for good.

The barely-there light show is over in around 30 seconds, but it turns out to be the only 30 seconds I need.

On the slow walk home, I think about the notion of patience and time. Because if time is the only true gift we’ve all been given, it might make sense to consider spending it with more care. With or without a camera in our hands.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #sunset #cloudspotting #weather #wx #silhouette #bokeh #dof #optimistpark #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

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Do not go gentle... November 2021