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Sunday, August 31, 2025

Bovine standoff

Protecting the little one
Nairn, ON
August 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Somewhere near Nairn, Ontario, I pedal past a pasture filled with cows and inexplicably decide to hang out with them for a bit.

I’m not entirely sure why I repeatedly turn a ride through the country into a random collection of roadside smartphone photo shoots, but I suspect it has something to do with the fact that we live among some of the richest agricultural lands on the planet.

Or maybe I just have a thing for cows. Let go with that, then.

These particular moo-moos are a little skittish, and as I wander over to the fenceline, they position themselves like gangsters might when their mortal enemies show up for a rumble. They eye me warily as I speak gently to them, and this is about as close as we ever get.

I leave as quickly as I arrive, fearful of spooking them any further. Next time maybe I’ll bring a longer lens.

As I accelerate up to speed and leave my new wannabe-friends behind, I smile at the randomness of moments like this, and promise myself to seek out more of them.

#ldnont #london #nairn #ontario #canada #cycling #bicycle #instabike #cow #moo #farming #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone


Saturday, August 30, 2025

Painted purple and orange

Saturated sky
London, ON
August 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram


Mother Nature cracked open her purple and orange paints the other night and splattered them all over the sky.

It didn’t last long, because soon enough the light faded and it was all just a memory.

But those of us who were there to witness the show won’t soon forget it.

And we’ll be out there again waiting for her to pick new colours to play with.

If we’re lucky enough to be given the chance.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #optimistpark #sunset #orange #purple #cloudspotting #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Related:
Jupiter comes to Earth, September 2024
Difficult sunset, June 2019

Friday, August 29, 2025

Visiting Winnie the Pooh's birthplace

Forever filled with honey
White River, ON
June 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram


In the leadup to the First World War, a trapper catches a black bear near the Ontario town of White River. He then sells it for $20 to a Canadian soldier and veterinarian, Harry Colebourn, at the train station as he’s on his way to meet his regiment in Quebec before they all ship out to the U.K.

Harry names her Winnipeg Bear, after his hometown. Winnie, for short.

In England, Winnie becomes the regiment’s mascot, and the soldiers often play with her while they wait for their deployment orders. But when those orders come to ship out to France, Winnie must stay behind. So she’s loaned to the London Zoo, where she becomes a beloved attraction. Eventually, the loan becomes a permanent donation.

In 1921, British writer A. A. Milne takes his son, Christopher Robin, to Harrods department store and buys him a stuffed bear. The little guy first names it Edward, but soon changes it to Winnie in honour of that same cool bear he had seen so often at the zoo. He adds Pooh after a family friend’s swan.

Five years later, Milne publishes the first Winnie-the-Pooh book - a collection of stories featuring characters based on his son’s stuffies, including Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Owl and Rabbit. Tigger comes along in the second book.

In the town of White River, along the Trans-Canada Highway, the Winnie the Pooh Memorial stands in the shadows of a gas station and a fast food joint. Whenever we’re passing through, we’ll visit him in his honey tree and reflect a little before continuing on.

I’ve lost count of how many children’s cartoon characters came and went throughout my life. But only one remains into adulthood. Only one feels as deeply personal as this unassuming bear and his (not-so-) merry band of lifelong friends. This one’s ours. We can drop in and revel in an origin story that’s based not so much on fantasy as it is on a colder reality where soldiers facing their worst fears found comfort in a gentle cub from the woods.

May we all find similar comfort among life’s journey, wherever we may be headed.

#whiteriver #ontario #canada #throwback #transcanada #highway #photography #apple #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

Related:
On the wisdom of Pooh, November 2011
Sad Pooh, June 2005
Tuck in, March 2005

Thursday, August 28, 2025

The potential of colour

Where it all begins
London, ON
March 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram


In a beloved art studio run by a beloved family of gifted creatives, paint containers stand at the ready for the next lesson.

Precisely what will be created once the paints inside are applied to canvas remains to be seen. Only the artist knows - or more likely feels - how raw artistic materials like these will ultimately be transformed into magic.

So for now they’re just some well-used plastic containers sitting on a table, all quiet potential, waiting for brushes to be dipped and for visions to become reality. Art has to start somewhere, after all. Indeed, everything and everyone does, too.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #artventure #art #studio #stilllife #rainbow #colour #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

Related:
Rainbow sidewalk, July 2025
Rainbows far from home, February 2024
Eat the rainbow, March 2022
A rainbow of potential, September 2017
Rainbow connection, January 2011

Wednesday, August 27, 2025

Tire appreciation 101

Don't tread on me
London, ON
August 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram


Everyday life can look ridiculously mundane.

Like noticing one of my wife’s car’s tires needs a little air, so out comes the air compressor for a spontaneous driveway inflation session.

Riveting, isn’t it?

Since the compressor is as slow as molasses - first world problem, I know - there’s lots of time to sit beside the wheel and catch up on some reading.

Or, perhaps, photography.

Because tire tread feels like a fun thing to shoot. It is quite literally, the only thing between us and the road, the singular factor that determines whether or not we end up where we want to go.

It’s also one of the most overlooked parts of a car, the thing we ignore until we have no choice.

So on this sunny morning, I remind myself that the ignored and the mundane deserve a little attention every once in a while.

Maybe not so riveting after all, but important all the same.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #stella #red #car #tire #tread #driveway #photography #apple #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

Related:

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

When the display goes dark

Low productivity
London, ON
August 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram


Someone in the neighbourhood didn’t read the instructions about not including electronics for curbside pickup.

So the display remained on the side of the road for days while its onetime owner presumably ignored it. Or hoped it would magically walk itself to the recycling centre. Stranger things have happened.

I thought the scene looked particularly fetching in the mid-afternoon sun, a forlorn study in angles and shadows and ignorance. And maybe also a reminder that even the simplest of scenes may have a backstory destined to forever remain a mystery.

Who am I to judge?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #random #roadside #streetphotography #lg #monitor #garbage #technology #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

Related:
Chaos, close-up, November 2005

Monday, August 25, 2025

An unusually empty waiting room

Patience...
London, ON
April 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


They say the waiting is the hardest part.

Wait, maybe it was Tom Petty.

Whatever.

Still, would it have killed them to spruce up the waiting room a little? Maybe a nice print or mural?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #throwback #shoppersdrugmart #pharmacy #retail #waitingroom #monochrome #photography #apple #apple #iphone #shotoniphone

Related:
Take a seat, August 2023
Waiting, uncomfortably, December 2018
Please be seated, February 2010
Waiting. Haunted. September 2009

Sunday, August 24, 2025

The first fallen leaf

Seasons change...
London, ON
August 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram


I noticed it as I was cycling the other day, the unmistakable staccato crunch of tires on dry leaves, the rhythm of one season defiantly giving way to the next, possibly long before many of us are ready.

Then on this morning’s walk, Calli the Wonderschnauzer stopped to admire this single leaf in the low-angled sun. She gently bumped it with her nose a few times before sneezing and moving on to the nearest tree stump.

Since she doesn’t have her own calendar, and she’s never asked to read mine, I don’t think she much cares what date it is, or whether the seemingly sudden appearance of falling leaves is the travesty of time so many humans seem to think it is. I think she was happy to just be outside amid the shifting sights, sounds, and smells of an ever-changing landscape.

I figure she’s like most dogs in that they just don’t worry about this stuff. So I’m going to follow her lead and do the same.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #sidewalk #streetphotography #leaf #texture #stilllife #autumn #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

Related:
Old dead leaf, December 2024
Wet, fallen leaf, October 2024
When leaves end, October 2021
Dirty old leaf, October 2020

Saturday, August 23, 2025

Po returns to her childhood market

Home again, sort of
Dollard-des-Ormeaux, QC
August 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram


Po the Teletubby tagged along as we visited the old market - Marche de l’Ouest - that was once our go-to when we lived nearby all those years ago.

This ancient Happy Meal toy has been hanging off of my camera bag for decades, often bringing smiles to the strangers she meets.

She’s become somewhat tattered and faded, much like the market she now revisits. The parking lot is nearly empty, the corridors of empty storefronts echoing what few customers remain, the place a shadow of its once-vibrant self.

Yet like the forgotten children’s toy that still hangs on for her next adventure, the market continues to open its doors, continues to serve those who remember, continues to soldier on despite not knowing what might come next.

Markets and toys as metaphors for life. Makes sense to me.

#montreal #ddo #dollarddesormeaux #westisland #quebec #canada #po #teletubby #red #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone


Thursday, August 21, 2025

Diners, drives, and gems

Try the poutine
Port Hope, ON
August 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram


It had been a long day on one of the busiest highways in North America. A series of major accidents had us picking our way through countryside detours at speeds barely faster than my bicycle.

The backlog extended to the OnRoute rest stops along the 401, which were so crowded that we couldn’t find parking.

We were fed up and hungry, so we decided to bail on the overstuffed OnRoutes and let our fate be decided by GPS. We quickly found a delightful diner just off the next exit, and it turned into the most opportune find we could have imagined.

The Port Hope Diner is a time capsule resto in an unassuming strip mall, with walls covered in nostalgic prints overlooking red vinyl booths and a trademark checkerboard floor. But it’s the sound that captured our attention, the gentle thrum of neighbours chatting about anything and everything in a space designed more for neighbourly engagement than turnover.

It felt kind and homey in a way most restos today simply don’t. We bantered with the server over their heartier-than-Quebec poutine and discussed the merits of Maria cake (spoiler alert: worth it).

Despite being nowhere near our final destination, we didn’t want to leave.

I’d like to think every town along the way is home to a place like this. I’d also like to think we’re doing what we can to keep them alive.

#porthope #ontario #canada #diner #restaurant #travel #travelgram #roadtrip #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone


Orange meets blue

Where memories were once made
Montreal, QC
August 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram


It’s officially known as Gibeau Orange Julep, but Montrealers simply call it OJ.

It’s a giant orange ball that looms over the landscape beside a crumbling concrete expressway, an historic icon that stands in defiance of the mix-and-match chains and franchises that now litter our cities and towns.

This place has been a rite of passage for generations, including mine. As a newly minted teenaged driver, I’d beg for the car, then meet up with my friends in the parking lot, where we’d bond, often loudly, over greasy hot dogs and fries, washed down by OJ’s eponymous whipped drink. We never could figure out precisely how it was made, but we knew it tasted like friendship and life well lived.

Eventually we brought our kids here and as we munched away we shared the stories from long ago that had played out in this very parking lot that curves around the historic structure.

This place of rough asphalt and haphazardly painted lines is comfort and home, something that wouldn’t otherwise exist today. Already the condos are being built ever closer, as well as a multi-billion-dollar mall just down the road. The area is gentrifying and redeveloping, and it’s likely only a matter of time before a developer makes an offer no one can refuse.

Nothing lasts forever, after all. But for now, I needed to stand in the parking lot and appreciate the simple scene of orange backdropped against a perfectly blue summer sky. It was an integral part of my narrative, and I was lucky to have experienced it.

#montreal #quebec #yul #canada #oj #orangejulep #streetphotography #abstractphotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

Related:
Even birds prefer OJ, January 2013
Paying homage to OJ, November 2009
A closed window, October 2009
A OJ memory, April 2009
A photographer grows, October 2006

Wednesday, August 20, 2025

Snowcapped desert on the way to Vegas

Why we look out airplane windows
Las Vegas, NV
November 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram


The Nevada desert offers up its own quiet diversity lesson to a planeload of Vegas-bound passengers.

I wonder if the snow will still be there the next time I find myself south of the border.

I wonder if I’ll even want to go back to Vegas at all.

#lasvegas #nevada #throwback #flight #travelphotography #travelgram #aircanada #aviation #avgeek #desert #mountain #snow #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel

Tuesday, August 19, 2025

Dreamliner in the abstract

What a nice APU you have!
Vancouver, BC
November 2018
This photo originally shared on Instagram


We woke this morning to news of a tentative deal between Air Canada and its flight attendants that will end the strike that stranded thousands of travellers far from home.

It reminded me of simpler moments spent in distant airports, when labour disputes took a back seat to staring out windows looking for abstract scenes.

Because amid the headlines and the stress, we can find snippets of joy if we allow ourselves the luxury of looking for them.

#yvr #vancouver #airport #throwback #boeing #dreamliner #aviation #planespotting #aviationphotography #travel #travelphotography #aircanada #flight #flying #aircraft #airplanes #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography

Related:
Airshow photobomber, September 2024
Winging it, August 2023

Monday, August 18, 2025

Industrially framed

Windows 1905
London, ON
July 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram


I often wonder about the stories old factories could tell.

Turns out they’re there for the taking, and all we have to do is look out their windows.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #100kellogg #100kellogglane #digoev #building #factory #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #glass #geometry #monochrome #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Related:
Screened in, January 2025
Window to the sky, March 2024
Airport at rest, March 2023
Picture window, November 2022
Stained glass logo, December 2017

Sunday, August 17, 2025

Into the storm-ravaged skies

Remnants
London, ON
August 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram


The drought-ravaged earth desperately needed rain, yet all the skies could muster were a few fast-moving storms that withered almost as soon as they had formed.

They left scattered remnants in their wake, a painted reminder that not everything works out as planned, and a promise perhaps of better days ahead.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #optimistpark #sunset #orange #cloudspotting #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography


Saturday, August 16, 2025

The bear strikes a pose

I believe you had mentioned treats
London, ON
August 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram


My hoomans keep pointing these weird rectangular objects at me and asking me to look at them.

They give me treats when I do, though, so I guess it’s okay.

I don’t know what a picture or a photo is, but they say I look pretty in them, so that must be an okay thing, too.

Then they give me even more treats. And we snuggle. And play with my favourite blue ball. And they let me nibble on the grass for as long as I want.

I’m beginning to think my hoomans will let me do just about anything short of actually catching the squirrels who live in our maple tree. They say that’s gross.

They’re funny, my hoomans, aren’t they?

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

Related:
She watches, June 2025
Nap like a dog, June 2025
Dog therapy, May 2025
No joke. Dog. April 2024
Go on, I dare you, March 2025
That Schnauzer stare, December 2023

Friday, August 15, 2025

Goose searches the surf

I know I left it around here somewhere
Port Stanley, ON
July 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram


We’re all looking for something.

Only those who persist will ultimately find it.

#portstanley #ontario #canada #beach #lake #erie #birds #angrybirds #goose #geese #canadageese #flight #wildlifephotography #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Related:
Geese aplenty, August 2023
Flight into the wind, September 2018
Your goose is cooked, October 2011
Wounded bird, December 2006

Thursday, August 14, 2025

The storm comes for Air Canada

Turbulence on the ground
Winnipeg, MB
December 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


Today seems like an appropriate day to share this photo, taken last December, of an Air Canada Airbus A321 taxiing across the tarmac toward the gate as an intensifying blizzard turned Winnipeg’s airport into a snowglobe.

As negotiations with its flight attendants union hit the skids, the airline is cancelling flights ahead of a possible strike at 1 a.m. Saturday. As they normally carry some 130,000 people globally every day, it’s no surprise that this worsening labour strife is already rippling across the country and around the world.

I’d hate to be flying now, and I can’t imagine what it must be like to be stuck far from home with the airline responsible for getting you home going AWOL.

This shot feels poetic, then, as the plane battles through the storm, leaving chaotic turbulence in its wake. At the best of times travel can seem like running a gauntlet through a storm, and those winds are about to kick up. Hopefully the storm passes before long so the FAs can get what they so richly deserve, and those who rely on them can get home safely and soon.

#winnipeg #manitoba #mb #canada #throwback #airport #ywg #aircanada #airbus #winter #weather #wx #aviationphotography #avgeek #aviation #instagramaviation #planespotting #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Related:
Give me some skin, April 2012
Caption This 46, November 2007
Niner, waiting, April 2007
Pretty plane, January 2007

Wednesday, August 13, 2025

Straight out of the Ikea catalog

Where we sit on the yellow chair
Dryden, ON
June 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram


Simple isn’t always so simple.

Like this scene captured a few months back in an Airbnb far from home. Normally a dining room chair and table wouldn’t merit much attention beyond a casual glance, but for reasons I’ll likely never be able to explain, the scene grabbed onto me and wouldn’t let go.

This happens to me all the time, where I’ll suddenly notice something overtly mundane and before I know it I’m thinking of ways to capture it.

I recall thinking it felt like an Ikea catalog, that curious mixture of stark surfacing and occasional pops of colour, all bathed in a gauzy kind of light. But beyond the marketing tie-in, it also felt like a space disconnected from anything else, a spot where a single person could spend some quiet time undisturbed by the outside world.

There’s also a story being told by what isn’t visible, the rest of the table just outside of the frame, the other chairs that may or may not be empty. A reminder, perhaps, of the choices we make when we compose a moment, the things we decide to include vs. the things we leave out.

In a way it’s a photo of a seemingly empty table and chair, but the more I ponder not only this photo and all the others I seem to take, I’m thinking maybe it’s some kind of broader metaphor for how we choose to live our lives.

Because even if it looks like we’re alone, there’s always more to the story than what we first see.

#dryden #ontario #canada #throwback #diningroom #table #yellow #chair #texture #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone16 #shotoniphone

Related:
Picture window, February 2024
Hotel room chair, June 2021
Light from below, January 2008

Tuesday, August 12, 2025

Follow the wind

Windblown
Port Stanley, ON
July 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram


It doesn’t matter where we’re headed.

It doesn’t matter how long it takes to get there.

It doesn’t matter which way the winds are blowing.

Just go.

#portstanley #beach #ldnont #ontario #canada #greatlake #erie #sailing #sky #azure #water #waves #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Related:

Monday, August 11, 2025

Hot dogs with mayo? Why not?

Stilllife culinary debauchery
London, ON
January 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram


This humble hot dog wasn’t my best nutritional decision, but I long ago gave up on the notion of never indulging a little.

We all deserve the occasional treat, of course, and as long as we’re keeping everything in its proper balance, it all works out in the end.

At least that’s the excuse I quietly tell myself as I layer on a little too much mayo and take in the weirdly magnificent sight of a strangely crinkled up wiener.

Texture in food, texture in everyday life. Sounds like a reasonable recipe to follow.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #hotdog #abstract #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

Related:
Hot dog still-life, January 2023
Did you pack a lunch? February 2021

Sunday, August 10, 2025

Rusty yellow stairs

Petroleum abstract
Port Stanley, ON
July 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram


On the far side of the beach, overlooking the harbour, a couple of hulking oil tanks provide fuel for the economy that drives this lakeside town.

They used to be painted with lovely murals depicting ships that long ago sailed these waters. They’re a much more sober shade of black now, the yellow staircases that cling to them rusting slowly under the summer sun.

The third tank was demolished years ago, its weedy footprint still scarring the ground it stood on.

For reasons I can’t explain, I want to remember them.

Maybe it’s because no one else ever bothers to. Maybe I figure if I step outside the crowded beach for a bit, I’ll find scenes and stories that would otherwise never be shared.

Maybe I want to imagine who has climbed these precarious steps. Maybe I’ve wondered what they might have thought as they looked over a shoreline filled with people whose focus was understandably elsewhere.

Not everyone or everything lives in the limelight. Their stories still matter to someone.

#portstanley #beach #ontario #canada #great #lake #erie #abstract #architecture #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Related:
Let's get tanked, July 2023
Oil tanks in our midst, November 2022

Saturday, August 09, 2025

That freshly graded gravel smell

Roadside selfie
Embro, ON
August 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram


My legs took me to Embro this morning, a town so pretty you have to pinch yourself to believe it hasn’t been painted by a grandmaster.

I’m doing more of that this summer: aiming for towns and villages and places a little further from home, stretching the rides a bit beyond my limits, testing out new roads and routes to get in a little more variety.

As I reflected on today’s route while pedalling home, I admitted to myself that picking one of the hottest days of an already-scorching summer probably wasn’t my best decision. It might have been wiser to stick closer to home and limit my exposure to the heat and humidity.

But when the map is beckoning with promises of a new adventure, it’s hard to push it off to another day. Sometimes we just have to pedal into the heat and see what we see.

And when we get to the turnaround point furthest from home, we take a weird photo. Just because.

#embro #ontario #canada #cycling #bicycle #instabike #century #photography #apple #iphone #iphone16 #shotoniphone

Related:

Friday, August 08, 2025

Which way the clouds?

Textured reflection
London, ON
July 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram


Sometimes when we look at something, it’s impossible to determine whether what we’re seeing is soothing or threatening.

Like these clouds. Are they ominously foreshadowing a coming storm? Or are they simply benign wisps reflecting the final rays of the day?

The answer isn’t always apparent, yet as the scene overhead gradually fades into deep dusk, I realize a little uncertainty is more than likely part of the equation. And the skies above so often seem to echo the lives we live below.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #optimistpark #sunset #orange ##texture #cloudspotting #naturephotography #landscapephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography

Related:
Under an angry sky, August 2021
Clouds at sunset, June 2010
After the storm, June 2009

Thursday, August 07, 2025

Saying hi to an old friend

Backlit
Old Woman Bay, Lake Superior Provincial Park, ON
June 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram


The last time we visited Old Woman Bay on Lake Superior’s eastern shore, we were lucky enough to be there just after the sun had tucked itself below the hills that rise gently out of the water just offshore.

This place has become something of a touchstone for our family, a peaceful spot to rest and reflect during long journeys across the province. It recharges our souls to let our feet dig into the sand for a bit before we continue the drive.

On this particular June evening, the cloudy skies formed a protective cover of sorts for the lake as it prepared to tuck in for the night. The trees atop the ridge stretched into the resonant skies, backlit by a gentle sun that had already promised to repeat the process tomorrow.

We wouldn’t be here by then, of course, but the memories would linger all the same.

#oldwomanbay #algoma #throwback #lake #superior #ontario #canada #roadtrip #travel #abstract #silhouette #naturephotography #landscapephotography #beach #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography


Wednesday, August 06, 2025

Building buildings with a ruler

Geometry in the sky
Toronto, ON
May 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram


We played with lines and shapes as children.

We should continue doing so as adults, even if we look a little silly in the process.

#toronto #ontario #canada #yyz #throwback #royalbankplaza #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #downtown #geometry #monochrome #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography

Related:

Tuesday, August 05, 2025

12 years on...

At the crossroads...
Middlesex Centre, ON
August 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram


I probably shouldn’t be here, as 12 years ago today I was lying paralyzed and speechless on my deck after suffering a stroke.

I’m one of the lucky ones, as I’m still here, and am largely back to who I was before my brain decided to reboot itself.

While others who recover from events like mine often like to celebrate new birthdays, that’s not really my thing. Still, the date resonates with me, as it marked a moment where things could have gone one of two ways, and we had no idea which one would win. Thinking about what it felt like to dangle there, not knowing, is stomach-churning, even all these years later.

I have a possibly unhealthy relationship with the spot where the entire episode began, the rural intersection where I made a u-turn on my bike to avoid construction and accidentally tore my carotid artery. Where Wonderland Road meets Nine Mile Road is as unassuming as intersections can be, surrounded by farmers’ fields for as far as the eye can see. But I like to return there every once in a while because somehow it helps me wrap my head around the entire misadventure.

I’ll ride my bike over, because that’s how I got into this mess. And riding today still feels like a quiet act of defiance to the universe. The difference now is the roads are wide open in every direction, and I’m more than capable of getting wherever I want to go under my own power.

12 years on, I appreciate the seemingly simple ability to ride a bike more than is likely logical. I write about it often - perhaps too often - because I never want to forget how grateful I am to still get to do this. That ride on August 5, 2013 might very well have been the last one I ever took for granted, because every ride since has been a hard reminder to cherish the small things, even the ability to pedal myself beyond the horizon.

Maybe my balance is terrible and maybe if you listen closely you’ll hear it ever so slightly in the way I speak. But I’d like to think I’ve been given 12 extra years (and counting) to be a better human being. That’s got to be worth something.

In the meantime, I’ll be the guy on the orange bike seemingly smiling at nothing. You’re always welcome to join me.

#strokeawareness #family #health #everything

Related:
START HERE: So, about that stroke - August 2014
#3: More stroke stuff... - August 2014
Stroke survivor shares his story, London Free Press, Aug 14, 2014
Coming up on Canada AM - Lookahead to February 2015 interview
Winding down the day that was - February 2015 - incl link to Canada AM/Heart/Stroke Month segment
Two years on... - August 2015
Three bonus years - August 2016
Four years later - August 2017
Five years on - August 2018
Seven years on, August 2020
Eight years on, August 2021
Nine years on... August 2022
Ten years on... August 2023
11 years on... August 2024