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| Shine the light on democracy London, ON December 2022 This photo originally shared on Instagram |
Nobody likes this windswept concrete jungle, either.
Originally built as something of a civic gathering place - ergo the picnic table to frame left - it’s devolved into little more than a shadowy, soulless spot where weeds grow up between the fractured paving stones.
Even the squirrels who overrun the showpiece Victoria Park across the street deftly avoid this sad example of 1970s-era placemaking. The only people who walk here are residents of the apartment building next door as they hunker down in their coats and take the shortcut home.
The late Queen Elizabeth paid a visit here once. She did not return.
Yet on this bitterly cold night on the verge of winter, the rear entrance to city hall casts an oasis-like pool of light onto the transient footsteps in the fresh snow below. I can’t stop looking, and for a brief moment I find myself smiling at this unexpected joy and comfort in this unexpected place.
It’s a reminder, perhaps, that there’s virtue in the imperfect, that even the forgotten deserve to have moments in the light, that beauty isn’t absolute, but how we choose to perceive.
I’ll come back here again looking for it all. Maybe I’ll bring some squirrels with me.
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