Cycling through the weather

Just grab on
Middlesex Centre, ON
August 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The plan was to wake up with the sun, then ride.

But there was no sun. Just thick clouds and the looming threat of thunderstorms.

I rode, anyway.

It didn’t take long to leave the city behind, and soon enough I was waving at cows and horses and one very sad farm dog as I zoomed past.

The rains held off. I crossed paths with countless other cyclists who also decided to bet against the weather. We all waved at each other, happy to just be out there.

I pointed the bike toward new roads, unsure what I’d find along the way.

Eventually I needed to double-check the map, so I stopped beside a field filled with hay bales for some up close and personal time with Google Maps. I also snapped a few photos and grabbed a snack. Because every ride needs to be remembered. And fuelled.

Somewhere in the distance a tractor was digging a trench around the edge of a corn field, the stalks hiding most of it from view.

Overhead, a hawk dove out of the sky and disappeared behind a gravel pile, re-emerging seconds later with a very large piece of something unidentifiable dangling wildly out of its beak.

Eventually it was time to turn for home, and I pulled into the driveway filled with gratitude.

From the outside looking in, it might have looked like an ordinary ride on an ordinary early morning. But there’s no such thing as ordinary when we’re on a bicycle.

I’ll have to keep finding new roads, then.

#ldnont #middlesex #canada #cycling #justride

Mirrors and clouds

Painted
London, ON
July 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

There is always more than one way to look at the sky.

Come to think of it, there’s always more than one way to look at just about anything.

Anyone, too.

#ldnont #architecture #reflective #bluesky #cloudspotting

Little Man turns 26

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

Noah has been our Little Man since the day he was born, but as he celebrates his 26th birthday, I wonder if the title even applies anymore.

Because there’s nothing little about him. He’s limitlessly kind, whip smart, incredibly funny, and the best uncle two little girls could ever ask for. He is loved beyond measure by everyone who knows him, and reminds us daily why we’re so proud of the remarkable human he’s grown into.

I don’t know where the time has gone, and I wish we could slow it down a bit. But as our youngest starts his second quarter-century, he continues to make every moment together count, and we all appreciate just how blessed we are to have him.

#LiveLaughLevy #birthday #life #parenthood #family #everything

Mother Nature takes out her colours

Multi-hued sky
London, ON
July 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Mother Nature decided she couldn’t end the day without a bit of a show in the skies.

Luckily I happened to be walking the dog when she did.

Luckily the dog decided to pull the leash in an entirely new direction, so we were under an especially open patch of sky just as the sun was setting.

Circumstance is a fascinating thing, an unknown and unseen convergence of countless factors that puts us in certain places at certain times, that dictates which stories get told, and which ones don’t.

And last night, this is the story that played out far above our heads.

We were lucky to witness it.

#ldnont #sunset #cloudspotting #optimistpark #shotoniphone

Snowbirds to be grounded

Dreams take flight
London, ON
September 2025
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The Royal Canadian Air Force’s 431 Air Demonstration Squadron - better known as the Snowbirds - is flying its final airshow season in its geriatric CT-114 Tutors.

Soon enough, the jets will land for the final time as the team goes on hiatus for a few years before its new CT-157 Siskin II turboprops are ready.

We saw them last September, and they’re not scheduled to return here before standing down.

I’m going to miss the jets.

Apparently so will he.

#airshowlondon #ldnont #canada #aviationphotography #planespotting

That northern Ontario hotel lampshade aesthetic

Light the way there
Wawa, ON
May 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Every time we stay in a hotel, I like to find ways to remember the experience.

To a certain extent, all hotel rooms are remarkably similar. And given that the logistics of the typical road trip revolve around fitful nights of sleep before hitting the road early the next morning, we rarely have the time for much reflection.

But on occasion we end up with a spare minute or two amid the rush to get from here to there, and I find myself recording the tiny details - lamps, room numbers, fixtures, window views, whatever - that make these otherwise forgettable places a little less forgettable.

It’s an admittedly weird habit. But if it helps us hold on to moments and experiences that would otherwise be lost to time, I’d argue it’s more than worth hitting the pause button for a bit.

#wawa #ontario #canada #travelphotography #stilllife #throwback

Defiant leaf

Survivor
London, ON
October 2024
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Time hasn’t been kind to this leaf. And if I had to guess, bugs and parasites have had their way with it, too.

Yet it still manages to catch the late-afternoon sun just enough to stop me dead in my tracks. And as I hover over this worn-out example of nature’s respiratory system, I ponder the fragility of life, and the fact that most of us would simply look away.

Humans seem to have some odd - or, more precisely, narrow - notions of what is and is not beautiful. Which likely means they miss out on anything outside the limited range of what they deem worthy of their time and attention.

Soon enough this leaf will be gone. Its quiet lessons will stick with me much longer.

#ldnont #medway #green #backlit #stilllife

They're shooting at Jews again

Abstract distraction from reality
Dryden, ON
May 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Two locations of a beloved Toronto bagel bakery chain were attacked yesterday, with at least one of them showing evidence of gunfire.

We’ve been to Kivas many times over the years, and the never-ending wave of violence against Jewish-owned businesses continues to rattle us to our core.

Statistics Canada data puts numbers to the fear: 70% of all hate crimes that target religions in Canada are aimed at Jews - this despite the fact that we make up 0.9% of the general population. Let that sink in for a moment.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow was too busy celebrating the federal government’s Billy Bishop Airport decision, and did not feel it necessary to connect directly with members of the Jewish community. We’re used to this by now, the ignorance and indifference from the leader of Canada’s largest city, the barely concealed contempt that happily fuels Jew hatred among her base.

If you’re Jewish in Canada, a nation often considered a bastion of tolerance, the deal is stark: our fate rests in the hands of those in power who often view us with the same uninformed world view that results in shattered glass and random street assaults in the first place. They’ve run the math and have decided there aren’t enough Jewish votes to justify changing the status quo.

But here’s the thing: after they’ve come for the Jews, they’ll come for everyone else. Ms. Chow and her acolytes might want to learn from history, assuming they even care.

So don’t mind if I post trivial still-life photos of candied chocolate on an Airbnb dining room table. Because I’ll take any refuge from the relentless and increasingly normalized hatred. I have no choice but to live my life, even if I do so looking over my shoulder.

#antisemitism #enough

Rear view cyclist

Gravel bike, in its element
Middlesex Centre, ON
July 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The view from the office this morning was particularly inspiring.

#ldnont #middlesexcounty #canada #cycling #justride

Everywhere I see green

Game of (midsummer) tones
London, ON
July 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

There’s a walking path that winds its way through a nearby river valley, at one point crossing underneath four lanes of high-speed traffic.

The drivers high above, speeding from here to there and back, likely have no idea what lies below them. The only evidence from way down here of their passage is a constant thrum of rubber on asphalt, underpinned by the drumbeat of expansion joints being pummelled from above.

Which makes this scene all the more extraordinary, for it exists within an urban context seemingly focused on destroying it.

It’s around lunchtime on a Sunday when I find myself pedalling through here on the final few kilometres of the day’s ride. I capture a slash of multi-hued green out of the corner of my eye as I emerge from underneath the concrete overpass and decide it needs to be remembered.

As landscape images go, it isn’t much of one, just a quick capture of a scene that I could have just as easily cycled past. I don’t want to overthink the moment, and snag just a single frame under the midday sun before I continue on my way.

But that colour, the tones, the shades, the reflections, all of them existing in the very shadows of a city that could very well have swallowed it all, but miraculously didn’t.

As I get back on the bike and push off, I say a quiet thank you for the continued existence of this place, and others just like it. Sometimes we need timely reminders of just how much we need them.

#ldnont #canada #fanshawe #gameoftones #landscapephotography

Stop and smell the radishes

Salad, anyone?
London, ON
July 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Let’s make something clear: grocery shopping sucks these days.

Scandalous pricing. Stupid retail tricks like shrinkflation and skimpflation. Competition-killing monopolies controlled by Canada’s wealthiest families.

I’m not one to be driven to drink, but pounding down a few radishes, straight up, isn’t beyond the realm of possibility if we’re looking for ways to cope.

My weird dietary habits aside, it was the colour that got me this time, a vibrant mix of reds and greens that seemed to exist in a palette all their own.

And it got me thinking: grocery stores may very well have become places of frustration, but they still seem to have tiny pockets of wonder sticking out from the deepest corners of the vegetable aisle.

All we have to do is look for them.

#ldnont #canada #sobeys #fruitography #stilllife

Train crazy

Crossings
London, ON
July 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

When you live in a city of railroad crossings, you inevitably spend lots of time just waiting for the train to pass.

In an accelerated world, getting stuck behind the train can be a source of frustration, but I’d rather not view it that way. I’d like to think it’s more a case of the universe tapping us gently on the shoulder to remind us to slow down and take in the view.

So on this quiet morning by the tracks, I do just that.

Whatever awaits me on the other side can wait a few more minutes. No need to rush.

#ldnont #canada #train #perspective #shotoniphone

Where I talk about OpenAI agents going rogue

An AI agent from OpenAI escapes containment during a security test, gains access to the internet and successfully attacks systems owned by #HuggingFace, an AI startup. This isn't science-fiction: it happened last week, and I'm talking to CBC Radio stations across Canada this afternoon to explain why this marks a dangerous new chapter in AI development.

Morning by the waves

Watch your feet
Sunny Isles Beach, FL
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Wherever you are, cast a giant shadow.

That is all.

#sunnyislesbeach #florida #sunrise #landscapephotography #throwback

Into the clearing skies

Canvas in the sky
London, ON
July 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

While fires thousands of kilometres away continue to rage and consume communities, the winds have shifted, and have carried the widespread smoke elsewhere for a little while.

So last night we stretched our walk out a bit, as if to make up for lost time.

And we looked up, to skies that after days of being choked off by suffocating particulates, seemingly decided to put on a bit of a show before the rains moved in.

It didn’t last long, but even the most brief moments of joy can stamp themselves most profoundly on the soul.

May the winds continue to shift. May the rains continue to fall. May those touched by fire soon be touched by the light of the healing sky.

#ldnont #sunset #cloudspotting #optimistpark #shotoniphone

Costco me Elmo

Smiles in an unexpected place
London, ON
June 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Anyone who’s ever been to Costco knows how insanely busy it can be, with endless waves of distracted and rude customers making things miserable for the folks who work there.

So imagine my pleasant surprise when we came across a random Elmo perched on top of the point-of-sale display, a tiny effort by an overworked employee to bring joy to a joyless corner of the world.

There’s goodness out there. We just have to look for it in the spots we least expect.

#ldnont #canada #elmo #muppet #stilllife