Driver karma, finally

Good morning, officer
London, ON
July 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Sometimes karma drops in when you least expect it.

Like when you’re walking the dog and a stealthy EV police unit pulls someone over for driving like a doofus.

The driver of this lovely Mercedes coupe is no stranger to the neighbourhood. Despite the fact that he has a vanity plate - SEIZEDAY - that makes him ridiculously easy to remember, he has driven like an idiot on multiple occasions in recent months.

I notice these things while walking the dog because a) you can hear this one coming from a mile away, and b) I need to keep my head on a swivel to avoid being hit by the dorks like him who think streets are race tracks.

So it was a lovely surprise when he got nailed not far from home. This being the first time in decades that I’ve seen any on-street enforcement in this part of town - seriously, none - I felt compelled to record the moment.

If anything, it’ll give me a reason to smile when this entry pops up in some future memory. Sometimes justice is served. Not often enough, mind you, but I’m okay starting with this single example.

Fingers crossed this guy starts seizing something else.

In the meantime, profound thanks to the London Police Service - Canada for making the streets safer in our corner of town, and for using such an awesome vehicle in the process.

#ldnont #canada #traffic #roadsafety

My birthday wish for the country

Maple leaf forever
London, ON
May 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I feel torn as Canada celebrates its 159th birthday today.

On the one hand, it’s a pretty wonderful country. In just about every global ranking, we’re somewhere near the top of the heap. Everyone seems to really like us. Even Americans stitch the maple leaf onto their backpacks when they travel.

On the other hand, all countries have warts, and Canada is no exception. We have blind spots around diversity, equity, and inclusion. Not everyone feels equally welcome or supported. Hatred runs rampant here while various levels of government choose to look the other way. Our leaders are great at virtue signalling, but little else.

It hit me this week as I finished up the recycling on the front lawn. We had finished a box of Manischewitz matza and I was arranging everything inside the blue bin. When the flattened box ended up on top of the cardboard pile, I looked at it for a second before deliberately burying it out of sight.

See, I’m a Jew, and in Canada in 2026, I still feel compelled to suppress obvious signs of my background - even in my blue box - for fear of being targeted before the recycling truck shows up the next morning.

Because we are led by a prime minister and others who speak out of both sides of their mouths on issues of hatred for fear of losing the support of the majority who think nothing of hating folks who aren’t exactly like them.

Because my community has to hire security to protect us from haters who routinely shoot real bullets into our synagogues, schools, and community centres.

Because Jews, Jewish businesses, and Jewish institutions are being not-so-randomly attacked while leaders like Toronto’s mayor, Olivia Chow, wantonly ignore the rising tide and not so tacitly add fuel to it.

Because not all of us feel safe enough to even identify as being different in the first place. So we quietly hide who we are and hunker down under the radar.

That’s Canada at 159, and it all feels so very un-Canadian.

We can do so much better, yet we seemingly choose not to.

Why is that?

#ldnont #canada #canadaday

Cloudy dogs in the sky

Dance among the clouds
London, ON
June 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Our trusty puppy and I went for a walk last night, ostensibly in search of some inspiring sky.

The skies, unfortunately, refused to cooperate, with clouds that simply wouldn’t reflect the light. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you stand there in an act of pure futility. The camera stayed in its bag on my back as Calli munched on the overgrown grass and strangers smiled at her as they strolled past. An elderly man who could have been Wilford Brimley’s doppelganger sat on a nearby bench, lighting one cigarette after another while the ice in his highball glass slowly melted in the stifling humidity.

Just before Calli and I gave up for the night, I saw a shape in one of the clouds and decided it might be worth a test shot, a quick smartphone capture. Maybe it looked like a dog jumping through the sky. Or maybe it was just my overactive and, frankly, far-from-standard imagination. Whatever it was, I couldn’t leave without some evidence that we had been there. That we waited. Together.

I thought about this photo as we continued our walk. We do this often, the two of us, wandering to a wide-open park looking for something spectacular way above. Our hit rate is fairly low, yet still we go out, hoping against hope. Still we look. Still we try.

I’m not even sure that the photo is the goal. Rather, time is. Quiet. Reflective. Disconnected. Where the only thing that matters to her is sniffing the neighbourhood out and keeping up on the comings and goings of all the dogs she loves to bark at.

The photo just helps us remember what that felt like. And encourages us to keep heading out even if what we see when we get there is uncertain or incomplete.

Life is never certain, anyway. For us or for our dogs.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #jayceepark #sunset #cloudspotting #actofdog #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone

Po knows baseball

Return to the Thunderdome
Toronto, ON
May 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

There are two divergent stories playing out in the world of sportsing these days: Canada’s men’s soccer team is making history as it qualifies for the first time in history for the round of 16. Meanwhile, the Toronto Blue Jays, who last year came heartbreakingly close to a World Series title, have lost 6 games in a row amid an increasingly disappointing season.

We’re seeing a lot of comparisons of the two, particularly as bandwagon-followers jump from the Jays to the World Cup. Everyone loves a winner, apparently, so it’s not hard to understand.

But here’s the thing - and this may explain why I’m a terrible sports fan: It’s a game. And when they lose, as the Jays did on that Sunday in May when we hung out at the ballyard, I still refuse to see the experience as anything less because of it.

Sure, I would have been happier if they had beaten the bad guys, but I still got to spend an afternoon watching ball, surrounded by my favourite people. We ate ballpark food, took silly pictures, tried repeatedly to start a wave, and took our first-ever trip on the LRT. I appreciate that the day wasn’t Raptors-win-the-NBA-title-level sports fandom, but that wasn’t the mission in the first place.

So we watch the show, however it plays out, whoever’s on the field. And we enjoy the experience with people who matter, taking the time to appreciate not just the score, but what it feels like to be in the stands, and how that day ends up burying itself in our core memories.

Not every day brings a championship. Yet there’s magic in every day regardless, assuming we choose to look for it.

Po said so, so it must be true.

#toronto #yyz #ontario #canada #bluejays #rogerscentre #stadium #skydome #baseball #sports #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone

A stranger's phone call

Art meets reality
St. Catharines, ON
June 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

On a brutally hot June afternoon, a woman who we’ll never know takes a call in the shade of a crumbling brick building just off the town’s main commercial strip.

She paces back and forth, her body language suggesting this may not be her friendliest call of the day.

I quietly wish her peace as I gently brush the shutter, the camera capturing a moment I hope soon turns as colourful as the mural beside her.

#stcatharines #ontario #canada #streetphotography #art #nikon

Riding through the early morning fog

Quiet pause
Middlesex Centre, ON
June 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The horizon beckoned, so here I am.

#ldnont #ettrick #canada #cycling #justride

Return to the Kowality Motor Inn

Reading the sign
Dryden, ON
June 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

This isn’t the first time I’ve pointed a lens at the Kowality Motor Inn’s weathered sign, and I hope it won’t be the last.

It is, after all, one of the last of its kind. Owned by an actual family instead of a corporate chain. An echo of a much simpler time when we all knew who owned the local businesses that anchored our communities.

And they knew us.

Every time I’m back here, I have to double-check to ensure it’s still in business. There was one car in the parking lot this time, and the last online review was posted just a couple of months ago, so here’s hoping.

So I snapped a few photos, and as I walked away hoped they wouldn’t be the last ones I’d ever take.

#dryden #ontario #canada #throwback #monochrome

Tornadoes in our midst

Eyes to the sky, #LdnONT and region. #EnvironmentCanada has just issued a #TornadoWarning.

Dancing light over the ocean sky

Let the day begin
Sunny Isles Beach, FL
February 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

When the rising sun dances between banks of clouds clinging stubbornly to the horizon, the only choice we have is to take it in quietly, thoughtfully, thankfully.

Because we won’t ever see another sunrise quite like this one.

#sunnyislesbeach #florida #sunrise #landscapephotography #throwback #nikon

Remembering the ride

Wheels stop
London, ON
June 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The day’s ride started out just after sunrise with fog so thick I had to keep stopping to clean my glasses.

It only got worse as I pushed deeper into the countryside.

It was glorious. I was alone on empty roads, my only companion the occasional cow having breakfast on the other side of the fence.

Eventually the sun began to burn through as it rose higher in the sky. I cast shadows on the pavement that shrank as the morning wore on. I passed still more cows, who had by then moved onto the bovine equivalent of brunch.

After turning for home, I crossed a bridge on the bike path and decided this would be an ideal spot to reflect for a few minutes.

To anyone else it might have seemed like any other ride on any other day. But to me it was its own unique journey, one worth holding onto with a story and an image.

Because every ride is worth remembering somehow.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #tvp #cycling #bicycle #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone

One lakeside tree

To infinity and beyond
Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON
June 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

A single tree grows in the grass beside the lake.

Today the sun is shining, the sky a perfect shade of blue, reflected just as idylically on the gentle waves below.

But I imagine not every day is like this. That some days the skies are grey and threatening. And that same tree would still stand, alone against the elements.

We can’t control whatever may roll in from beyond the horizon. We can, however, dig our roots in and stand tall against whatever may come our way.

And here I thought this was a simple photo of a simple tree.

#niagara #notl #canada #lakeontario #landscapephotography #nikon

Green leaf after the rain

Soaked
London, ON
June 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Monday dawned rainy in our corner of the Great White North, a damp, miserable stamp on a day no one ever liked to begin with.

Thanks for nothing, Bob Geldof.

Be that as it may, there’s something to be said for the way rains repaint the landscape. And if we look closely enough, we just might see something worth remembering.

Our dog did indeed look closely enough, and in doing so found this dewy leaf just across the street, then stood quietly off to the side while I grabbed a quick photo.

I should follow her lead more often.

#ldnont #canada #streetphotography #stilllife #droplet

Dog vs. storm

Stand firm
London, ON
June 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The storm is moving in fast. The winds are picking up. Thunder rumbles in the distance. My phone is screaming with weather warnings. And I’m pretty sure I just saw “funnel clouds” on my smart watch.

Yet for reasons clear only to a dog, Calli the Wonderschnauzer has her nose buried in the grass of a neighbourhood park. Despite my gentle tugs on her leash, she digs in and keeps sniffing.

As the first drops begin to fall, she finally relents and we sprint the few blocks back to the house. Just as we get inside, the skies open up with hail and winds that sound like a freight train.

The dog jumps onto the top of the couch and assumes her usual neighbourhood watch pose by the window. Weirdly for her, she shows no fear amid the chaos.

What I wouldn’t give to know what’s going on inside her head.

#ldnont #canada #schnauzer #onstorm #actofdog

Small town life

Mass transit
Bruce Mines, ON
May 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The Trans-Canada Highway isn’t so much a highway as it is a really long, largely two-lane road that connects tiny communities across this rather great land.

Unlike superhighways that bypass small towns in the interest of maximum speed, this one winds its way through the middle of them. You know it when the speed limit drops and traffic lights suddenly appear out of the fog. It’s a glorious reminder that speed is oversold.

Bruce Mines is one of those countless burgs along the way, and I was sitting in the passenger seat watching it slip past when I thought it might be fun to shoot with a camera.

Most of the images were pitiful - blurred messes of random composition and roadside grit. But this one feels like it could only happen here, where life slows down just enough to enjoy the view.

#brucemines #canada #roadtrip #antiques #shotoniphone

Wind farm

Bucolic
Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON
June 2026
This photo originally shared on Instagram

If you’re ever given the opportunity to walk through the countryside and watch tall grasses blow in the wind beside a brilliantly yellow farmer’s field, take it.

Because life is too short to miss out on moments that take our breath away.

And grasses don’t live forever.

#niagara #notl #canada #naturephotography