Burn the sky down

Catch it while you can
Orlando, FL
January 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Who doesn't like a good fireworks display?

It is the quintessential exclamation point to a great party. As American as baseball (without the cheating), apple pie (reduced-sugar recipe), and Chevrolet (but not the ones imported from Mexico, because 'Murica!)

But it's 2020. And in between sharing and looking at cat videos, the digital literati have decided that fireworks may not be the most eco friendly way to celebrate something. They scare puppies and kittens. They light brush on fire. They annoy the daylights out of the old man down the street who's been cursing your kids for playing stickball in front of his yard since before they were born.

And they can hurt us. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says 9,100 Americans were hospitalized with fireworks-related injuries. Over one-third were children, and I'll leave the visuals out of it, because they're jarring.

And yet, they retain a certain elemental appeal. Who doesn't like to watch lots of stuff get blown up in the sky? Who doesn't want to stand on the ground and go "wow" over and over? Who wouldn't be moved by a pyrotechnic dance in the heavens?

Coordinated drone swarms are starting to replace fireworks here and there, and I'm guessing we'll see this trend continue. Because, hey, technology!

But as I stood beside a giant lake with my family and watched the sky fill with the very signature of Americana, I couldn't help but think that in the right hands, at the right moment, under the right conditions, there was nothing quite like a good old fashioned fireworks show.

We should take them in while we still can. Because nothing lasts forever.

#orlando #florida #fla #canada #road #trip #disney #disneyworld #waltdisneyworld #epcot #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #vacation #explore #fireworks #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

A chef sings in an alley

Hidden art
London, ON
January 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

You have to look carefully for the signs, but if you do, they're everywhere.

Of an undercurrent of creativity in this city.

Of artists looking for new ways - any ways, really - to find an audience.

Of building owners trying to tighten their connections to the community.

Of hope lurking in the darkest places.

Of new discoveries waiting around every corner.

I found this delightful example just off of Richmond Street. I had gone for a walk looking for inspiration, and once again my fair city didn't disappoint.

Some gifted stranger has clearly been busy. And on a gray afternoon deep in the shadows of a forgotten alley, I smiled at the prospect of someone I've never met having the power to move me, if only for the briefest of moments.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #downtown #urban #city #richmond #street #photography #streetphotography #art #color #alley #chef #restaurant #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Cool lamp in a cool hotel

Shedding some light on the subject
Knoxville, TN
January 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Let's get this out of the way right here: I shoot weird things. Sorry. (I'm also Canadian, so...)

It's my way of dealing with Planet Earth and all the unpredictable stuff that happens on it. Some folks get me. Some don't. That's OK, too.

My latest example of weird is this desk lamp, found in, of all places, a hotel room in Knoxville, TN. Weird as it may seem, this seemingly unassuming light fixture, in this room, in this place, on this day, helped shape a moment that our little brood will likely remember for some time.

A few hours earlier, we had found a delightful hotel tucked away in a quiet corner of a city far from home. Rather, my wife had found it. From her phone. As I drove on a crowded, darkened highway.

Technology. Wonder. Serendipity. Whatever we call it, the universe seemed to want us to stop at this hotel. So we did.

The place was fairly new, and whoever designed it was given free rein to fill it with the kind of flourishes that made weary travellers smile. It's a little thing, but ultimately it isn't. Good design matters. So do smiles. Never forget that.

As we happily buzzed around the room in the morning, getting ready to leave this place behind on our way home, I zeroed in on the lamp. I can still hear the banter in my ears as I composed and shot. It was a good moment, a sign from the universe that dark chapters eventually end. Or maybe they continue on, but you keep finding flashes of light amid them.

I'm actually not entirely sure how that works. But as long as you keep looking for the light, then chances are you'll find your way through. Or maybe it's as long as the light continues to find you.

Whatever the case, there was light in this place, and I didn't want to forget what it felt like before we continued on our journey.

#knoxville #tennessee #tn #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #vacation #explore #i75 #tru #hilton #hotel #stilllife #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

You're shooting the wrong way, moron

With the sun at my back...
Cocoa Beach, FL
December 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

While everyone shoots toward the horizon, I'm the idiot facing the other way. Why?

Directional challenges notwithstanding, I'm out here in the early morning for two reasons:

1) I don't enjoy hot days on the beach. I’m not particularly fond of crowds or oppressive heat, so the prospect of wedging myself in between towel-flicking groups of teens and middle-aged men spilling out of their Speedos while they fish crumpled Camel cigarettes out of their cracked blue-and-yellow pleather Adidas gym bags doesn’t rank high on my priority list. Goodness, this makes me seem old. So be it.

2) We were only in Cocoa Beach for the night, and would be leaving just after breakfast. So I needed to log some quiet time by the ocean before we loaded Stella up and hit the road.

Thankfully early mornings, when the beach is nearly empty, have always been my jam. And this morning, just south of where NASA and its partners launch rockets - and soon humans - into space, was a perfect example of why I love places like this. As I shot the sunrise, I dug my toes into the cool sand, and wished I could somehow capture, or freeze in time, what that felt like.

Once the requisite sunrise photos were taken, I turned 180 degrees and focused up the beach instead. I love these moments, when the low-angled golden sun paints shadowy evidence of all who were once here. Doubtless in a few hours it’ll all get jumbled again under the feet of countless new visitors to this place, but for now, it feels frozen in time.

I could feel through my toes the warmth slowly displacing the coolness in the sand, a sign that my quiet break from the rest of the planet would soon have to end. So I finished shooting and headed back, promising myself I'd return soon.

Almost forgot to answer that why-I-face-the-opposite-direction question. Simple: I'd rather tell my own stories, which sometimes means going where others don't. Or looking where they aren't.

#cocoa #beach #cocoabeach #florida #fla #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #vacation #explore #sunrise #waves #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Learning a sweet, difficult lesson

Almost too perfect to eat
Cancun, Mexico
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Not a day goes by that we each don't learn some hard lesson about how tough life can be.

Yet as one hard day in a hard world gives way to another, I'd like to think we largely retain the capacity to hold on, hang in, and find the good amid the less-than-good.

Because I refuse to believe that we've been given life so we can fritter it away whining about how much it sucks. Headlines notwithstanding, it doesn't. Far from it.

This is a plate of desserts that was left in our hotel room during our recent vacation. These lovelies didn't last very long after this photo was taken, and for the record, they were divine.

The more I look at the sole remaining photographic evidence that they ever existed, the more I like the shot. It isn't often that texture, color, and composition somehow suggest sweetness, but somehow here they do.

And I'd give anything to have that moment back.

#cancun #mexico #food #foodporn #foodie #instafood #foodphotography #foodstagram #dessert #color #stilllife #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Finding Canada in a distant land

Maple Leaf Forever, Wherever
Orlando, FL
January 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

You can't help but smile when you find a tiny slice of Canadiana so far from home.

#orlando #florida #fla #canada #road #trip #disney #disneyworld #waltdisneyworld #epcot #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #vacation #explore #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Hanging out on the backlot

Light from darkness
Orlando, FL
January 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I don't think I view theme parks through the same lens as anyone else. Then again, I don't think I view ANYTHING through the same lens as anyone else. Part of the joy of being me, I guess, for better or for worse.

To wit, Hollywood Studios. Disney's newest park is a riot of overlapping storylines, themes, and architectures. Everywhere you look, there's some kind of stimulus, some kind of element, be it large or small, that defines the movie-ness of this place to the exclusion of all else.

There is no real world here, which is what makes being here such a remarkable experience. Just come on in and immerse yourself in the storytelling.

I admit I struggled a bit at first to take it all in, not sure where to look or what to focus on. It was the most obvious kind of sensory overload I've likely ever experienced, yet I enjoyed it way more than I thought I would. When I eventually stopped worrying about what I might miss along the way, I got back into my usual look-into-the-margins groove and started to really get the vibe of the place.

The Backlot Express is one of the park's countless restaurants, and it quickly became one of my favorites thanks to an aesthetic that seemed perfectly aligned with the "why" of this entire park. Standing outside the warehouse-like architecture, I was struck by how subtly it echoed what an actual studio lot might feel like, right down to the roughly scrubbed, corrugated metal shed that housed it all.

This photo belies the frantic pace that seems to define life in Disney's world, and transports me right back to a moment when we got to pause and take in a gently nuanced corner of the planet, under the watchful eye of a crescent moon.

Light, darkness, and composition: A perfect mix that moviemakers for generations have been striving to refine. In this frozen moment toward the end of an epic day for my family, it all somehow seemed to come together.

#orlando #florida #fla #road #trip #disney #disneyworld #waltdisneyworld ##hollywood #studios #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #vacation #explore #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Face-to-face with Space Shuttle Atlantis

Where she rests
Merritt Island, FL
December 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

So I saw Atlantis.

I grew up watching her and her sister ships expand our horizons in space. I would wake up early, stay up late, or even fake being sick so that I could stay home from school and catch a launch or a landing. I plastered my walls with newspaper and magazine clippings (so old school) and memorized every last data point about the program. I viscerally remember where I was and how I felt as I watched the Challenger and Columbia accidents, live on TV.

But I had never seen an orbiter up close - until now. And despite the fact that adults my age aren't supposed to be humbled by much, the moment humbled me. Profoundly.

She was born in an era when America still reached for the stars. Never mind that the original promise of routine access to space was laughably unattainable, or that the Space Transportation System as designed was fatally flawed from the start. It still represented the best in American engineering, and it built today's space reality.

At one point, I just stood under her, near the midbody, and simply reflected. I'd spent a lifetime following this program, and was now in the shadow of its very centrepiece. It felt strangely comforting to be so close to something that had been a faraway reality for so long. Something that defined both my childhood and my adulthood. Something that had lit the fires that pushed me into a technology-based career and fuelled the wonder that drives me to this day.

To that end, the value of an artifact like Atlantis goes far beyond the merely physical. The hundreds of people milling around her weren't just looking at a decommissioned, pockmarked spaceship. Almost without exception, I could see new fires of inspiration being lit, and future plans being drawn up.

It's how we build better tomorrows: By allowing past triumphs to open our eyes to what we'd each like to accomplish next.

#kennedy #space #center #ksc #kennedyspacecenter #florida #fla #spaceshuttle #shuttle #atlantis #ov104 #rocket #science #aviation #avgeek #spaceflight #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #google #pixel2 #teampixel #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

When twin tragedies hit home

No way out
London, ON
January 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

On a day when #LdnONT joined other communities across the country and around the world in coming to grips with the unspeakable loss in Iran of 176 of our best and brightest, one anonymous person tried to stay warm in the city's biting cold.

There is no easy answer for either one of these tragedies. Maybe if we tried being kinder to each other. Maybe if we looked outward instead of inward. Maybe if we stopped seeing others as "others" at all.

I just don't know. But something's got to change.

#london #ontario #canada #iran #iranplanecrash #ukraine #ps752 #downtown #urban #city #dundas #street #photography #streetphotography #alley #homeless #homelessness #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Spaceship Earth, up close

Multifaceted, defined
Orlando, FL
January 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

This may come as a shock to you, but I was a Disney Virgin* until a couple of weeks ago.

Never went as a child, and never much wanted to go as an adult. I love Mickey's sweetness and all that he represents, but I don’t much like crowds. Or wall-to-wall commercialism.

That all ended on New Year’s Eve with an absolutely wild and unforgettable trip to the Magic Kingdom. It was so crowded that they ultimately had to close the park to new admissions. At various times through the day, we stood sardine-like in the middle of the street, waiting for the throngs to clear.

Don’t worry, I have plenty of pictures of that, but it’s this one, taken on a much less frenetic New Year's Day at EPCOT, that sticks with me.

I’ve always had a thing for domes, and the iconic Spaceship Earth ranks near the top of list thanks to its multifaceted surfaces that could keep me occupied all day. I especially love how it's been the centrepiece of Disney's message on sustainability since long before sustainability was even a thing. This structure is inspiring on a number of levels, and we'd do well to listen up.

Of course, if I had the time, I'd shoot every facet of this remarkable piece of architecture. But we had a park to explore, so I shot quickly before we moved on.

I rather like how this one turned out, but I've already got other ideas. Guess we'll have to plan a return visit.

*Credit for the term “Disney Virgin” goes to our daughter, Dahlia. Find her on Instagram @dahlialevyphotography

#orlando #florida #fla #road #trip #disney #disneyworld #waltdisneyworld #epcot #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #vacation #explore #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Quasi-museum in a pharmacy

Classic lineup
Delray Beach, FL
December 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Pharmacies are supposed to be places where you obtain (legal) drugs, make squeamish jokes in the birth control aisle, make even more squeamish jokes in the adult diaper aisle, buy overpriced junk food, and wait in line while Thelma* pays for her Vitamin D supplements with exact change from her teal-colored patent leather change purse.

Pharmacies aren't supposed to be photographic studios.

Except, of course, when they are. When an unseen buyer in an anonymous concrete-block office in suburban Chicago orders too many slightly oversized toy metal cars for the almost 10,000 CVS locations that dot the American landscape.

When that same buyer ships them across the country and forces beleaguered employees from coast to coast to sell the hell out of them to people who just wanted to get some (legal) drugs, cheap (but hopefully effective) condoms, adult diapers that didn't look like adult diapers, and Vitamin D supplements that wouldn't turn their fingertips teal.

So why would Thelma buy a die cast vintage Mercedes 300 SL gullwing coupe? Well, it turns out she wouldn't. And neither did anyone else.

So these things were EVERYWHERE in this particular southern Florida CVS, cascading down and off of a giant display plunked right in the middle of the service desk. Where Thelma felt compelled to complain about the price of her supplements.

Be that as it may, I seized the opportunity to shoot some still-lifes in a place seemingly built for them. Canadian pharmacies, you see, aren't this cool. They're smaller. No toys. No exotic variations of M&Ms and Snickers.

And our versions of Thelma aren't nearly as entertaining.

* Names have been changed to protect the perpetually annoying.

#delray #beach #delraybeach #florida #fla #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #vacation #explore #stilllife #cars #carporn #retail #pharmacy #cvs #store #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Waiting for the light

The last day of the year dawns over the Space Coast
Cocoa Beach, FL
December 2019

Sometimes you need to find a beach before sunrise and just stand there for a bit.

Sometimes you don't need to do much more than close your eyes and feel the steady onshore wind on your face. Or smell the salt in the air.

Sometimes you'll want to wander down close to the spot where the waves break, where the sand is perfectly flat and shiny, and wait for the foamy water to spread over your feet and ankles.

Sometimes you'll need to stand there for a bit and watch the waves wash your footprints away, as if you had never been here.

Sometimes you'll have to pick seashells out of the surf not because you need to, but because you want to.

Sometimes you'll want to listen closely for the sounds of birds dancing through the turbulent air just above the waves. Or fighting with each other. Or both.

Sometimes you'll want to let your feet sink into the cool sand, for no other reason than it feels so elemental.

Sometimes you'll want to linger there longer than you probably should, because you wonder how long it'll be before you can return.

Sometimes you'll turn around one last time for one last look as you walk off the beach. Just because.

Sometimes you won't want to clean up the inevitable wisps of sand in the back of the car, because they serve as reminders of times you wish you could hold onto.

Sometimes, you just want to spend time doing things that make your heart and your soul smile just a little bit wider.

This is one of my sometimes. Whatever your sometime may be, I hope you find it, throw yourself into it, and then find some way to share it with the folks who matter.

Because a life with sometimes in it seems infinitely better than the alternative.

#cocoa #beach #cocoabeach #florida #fla #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #vacation #explore #sunrise #waves #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Light the way home

Filthy, but safe
London, ON
January 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Home. Finally. Safely.

Pics - and stories from the road - soon. But first, sleep.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #road #trip #travel #vacation #car #auto #automotive #carporn #dirty #stella #lights #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Neon dreams

Don't look too closely
Grand Bend, ON
July 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We often don't realize what we've lost until it's too late.

This occurred to me as my family and I strolled along Grand Bend's main drag on a hot and sunny afternoon last summer. Not far from the beach that gives this town its name, we came across an ice cream store that seemed to have been around forever, and I was instantly drawn to its vintage neon sign.

I couldn't remember the last time I had seen one, and while I instantly chimed into why this was the case, I nevertheless felt oddly nostalgic.

Neon isn't terribly energy efficient, especially compared to newer display technologies. It's expensive to make, and ponderous to maintain. It may be difficult to find anyone who knows how it works. It just can't compete against today's giant-sized high-def screens that turn streetscapes into multimedia playgrounds - all controlled by a smartphone.

But this isn't a discussion about the latest technology. It's about art, and the things it says about us, about certain eras, and the lives that were led during them. It's about the way art serves as a signature to who we are, and defines us.

Neon would have dominated long before I was born, when the world looked, felt, and worked very differently than it does today. It painted the urban look when my parents and in-laws were young, and the city at night was their playground. It was their story more than mine.

And when neon vanishes, the stories may fade as well. Which is why despite the fact that old neon signs look pretty sad in the daylight, I'm not quite ready to say goodbye to them for good.

#grand #bend #grandbend #ontario #canada #beach #great #lake #huron #neon #glass #sign #architecture #summer #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #dslr #instagood #photooftheday #nofilter #nofilterneeded #photography #life #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Revisiting the old Roadmaster

The Griswolds would be proud
London, ON
July 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

In the waning days of 2018, on a brutally cold morning deep inside a parking garage underneath a Montreal hospital, I came across a dusty old Buick Roadmaster wagon.

It was shaping up to be another terrible day among a string of similarly dark ones, and this relic of a bygone era sitting ignored in the shadows was an ideal, if temporary, refuge from the overwhelming struggles of life playing out a few floors above.

I wasn't finished with big old American barges, though.

In the dog days of summer, I came across that car's twin - right down to the fake wood and time-worn light blue paint - in a forlorn lot in the shadows of an abandoned factory in London's industrial east side.

Was the universe playing with my head? Was it trying to remind me that things sometimes happen in clusters, and for no apparent reason? I'd like to believe so, as a little bit of mystery in our lives can't be a bad thing.

Or perhaps I needed a reminder to keep looking for inspiration in the places where no one else pays attention anymore. Because this is where we'll find the things, stories, and experiences that might otherwise fade, unnoticed, from our midst.

After all, if we don't look for them, who will? And what will we be left with when they disappear for good?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #random #parking #lot #urban #street #photography #shoot #shooting #car #auto #automotive #carporn #buick #roadmaster #wagon #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Tilt shift neighborhood

Big buildings in the big city
Toronto, ON
July 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Play with shapes and lines long enough and eventually you see something neat. Or many somethings.

Note to self: Spend more time telling stories from big cities. Bonus points if everything lines up. Even more bonus points if it doesn't.

#toronto #yyz #ontario #canada #photography #concrete #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #design #lines #tiltshift #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Eat your eddoes, or else

Really weird fruit
London, ON
December 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

On occasion, I'll see something that instantly begs to be recorded, simply because it looks neat.

Consider today's photo one of those things.

I've added "Wandering through the fruit and vegetables section" to the To Do list, and hope to see you there, too. I'll be the guy with the bewildered look on his face.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #stilllife #vegetable #spontaneous #macro #grocery #store #photo #shoot #texture #food #retail #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

One immodest puppy

Happy new year, y'all
London, ON
December 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I don't do resolutions. But hardly a day goes by when I don't wish I could be a little more like a dog.

They're kind in ways many humans will never understand. Or deserve.

They revel in the simple things, as anyone who's played hours of fetch with a drool-covered ball would attest.

They're ridiculously loyal, as anyone who's ever come home to a hero's welcome would appreciate.

They're fiercely protective of their people. This one deliberately stands between her humans and strangers when we first meet. Her big-brother-dog Frasier did the same thing.

They always have room for more love. Calli will jump all over everyone she meets. But she goes especially bananas over a few of our closest friends. Dogs always "just know".

They're remarkably consistent. All those traits don't somehow disappear because they suddenly change their mind. This isn't high school, and they're not part of a fickle-membered clique. They're a part of you for life.

Mind you, this one could learn to be a little more modest when the camera is around, but unrefined edges and all, we love her more with each passing day.

To me, that feels like the basis for a better year, and more importantly a better way to squeeze more goodness out of every day, no matter what the calendar might say.

May all your days be as charmed as this little one's are, and may we all find ways to inject a little more of whatever it is that makes her tick into our lives.

Not a resolution. Just a recipe for life, and the way I'd like to live mine.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #calli #callitheachnauzer #dog #dogs #schnauzerpuppy #schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzergram #schnauzers #dogsofinstagram #instapuppy #actofdog #pets #newyear #2020newyear #newyear2020 #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Bird on a synagogue dome

Stand tall
Toronto, ON
July 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Thank you all for the overwhelming response to yesterday's entry on anti-Semitism. I wanted to follow it up not just with words, but with some kind of inflection point, a change.

I took this picture on a muggy evening in Toronto last July. We were wandering the Kensington Market area when we came across a synagogue in the distance. I took a quick picture of the architecture - I had never seen a Star of David perched atop a dome like this - and promptly forgot about it.

Fast-forward to now, and I realize I don't have many overtly Jewish-looking photos in my archives. I rarely bring my camera into synagogues, and I typically don't catalog the examples of Judaica that we have in our home. And if I'm not shooting it, I'm not writing or talking about it, either.

Which got me thinking about how I no longer tell the full story of my name when asked. It's a Hebrew name. It means "my vineyard", and it is my full, non-nickname name. For months, whenever someone new would ask me about my name and my background, I'd simply respond, "Canadian".

I had become so tired of delving into my Judaic background for the benefit of strangers, because I simply didn't want to get into it. Or I didn't trust their intentions. Or both.

Whatever the reason, I realize now that I've been buying into the game that xenophobes play. They revel in calling us out for our differences and simultaneously instilling so much fear in us that we don't dare stand out. They deliberately force us into hiding. It's the Nazi playbook from the 1930s, but let's not kid ourselves: This has been happening for thousands of years.

So I won't play the game. I'll shoot more pictures and tell more stories. And if anti-Semites take issue with Stars of David in their social media feeds, then they're welcome to share their opinion directly with me.

But the days of my keeping quiet for fear of poking the racist bear are over. I'm a Jew. Deal with it.

#toronto #ontario #canada #jewish #judaism #antisemitism #racism #photography #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Light vs. hatred

Always look to the light
Delray Beach, FL
December 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

After a week of terrifying, escalating acts of anti-Semitism, where Jews celebrating Chanukah were attacked with a machete in their rabbi's home, it seems appropriate to share this photo.

Light banishes the darkness of hatred - toward Jews, toward visible minorities, toward all minorities, toward anyone defined as different, or other - that now seems to be spreading like a cancer across the globe. And into our very neighborhoods and homes.

Light sends the message that we will not stop being who we are or stop showing who we are simply because someone - or, let's be frank, many someones - decided to target us.

Light reaffirms that we will not live in fear. Not now. Not ever.

Light counters the insidious lies - from everyday racists and xenohobes and elected officials alike - now being used as foundation, cover, justification for whatever dark forces are at play here.

Light makes it clear that this isn't 1930s Germany - despite the fact that this is what it must have felt like then - and this time, we won't be led like sheep to the slaughter.

Light is the force of good in the face of overwhelming evil.

Light is the signal that evil cannot ever be allowed to win.

Light is the siren call to anyone on the wrong side of hate that silence isn't an option.

Light echoes the heroism of those who have had the courage to fight hatred with everything they've had - and those who have yet to join a battle that never seems to end.

So I won't be silent. And no matter where we all might fall on the spectrum of hate - victim, witness, whatever - neither should we all.

#delray #delraybeach #florida #chanukah #hannukah #howeveritisspelled #jewish #holiday #all #holidays #weareone #antisemitism #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Now we just stream it

Abandoned in place
Strathroy, ON
August 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Once upon a time not so very long ago, the way we entertained ourselves looked very different than it does today.

Our kids have vivid memories of pyjama-clad expeditions to the local video store where they’d troll the aisles in search of something worth watching. We’d often spend inordinate amounts of time in there, agonizing over what to bring home. Nobody wanted to make the wrong choice.

Eventually, after much negotiation, some stale popcorn, and perhaps a few spurious tears, we emerged from the store with a stack of VHS tapes - later DVDs - and fast-coalescing plans for the order in which we watched them.

The local video store no longer exists. Streaming services have wiped them off the map, and turned our long-treasured collections of content into dust-covered artifacts, buried in boxes and forgotten in shadowy basement corners.

We’re no longer stuck watching the same thing on the living room TV, either: Kids drift to their own rooms, smartphones, tablets, and even gaming systems stuffed with enough content to keep them busy through - and beyond - adulthood.

And as I stand in front of a long-abandoned video store in a town not far from ours, I wonder what we’ve lost along the way. Sure, we now have more convenience - no panicked runs to the return slot before deadline, and no late fees. But the whole experience is less rich, less, I don’t know, connected.

You don’t need to bundle into your jams for a trip with your family to the video store. The popcorn may no longer be stale, but the memories are nowhere near as strong.

#ldnont #london #strathroy #ontario #canada #urban #street #photography #video #store #retail #ruins #ruinporn #buildings #architecture #architectureporn #architecturephotography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Concrete boxes in the sky

Who lives here?
Toronto, ON
July 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The stories these concrete balconies in the sky could tell, if only they could talk.

The lives that play out, both on these precarious-looking grey rectangles, and just inside the glass.

The things the folks who live here would see, either through the window or, if they had the courage to venture outside, without any obstruction at all.

What it might feel like to be perched high above the city, the wind in their face, the sounds of traffic far below.

Or whether or not they're happy to be living here in the first place. Because you can never tell, from the outside, what people are really going through.

Each one of these empty porches has its own story, then, and it's just as well that that story will remain known only by whoever lives there.

For all our modern-era fretting over privacy, the big city still manages to keep its secrets.

#toronto #yyz #ontario #canada #photography #monochrome #concrete #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #design #lines #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

A forlorn sign at the airport

Searching...
London, ON
July 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I spotted this sign -"Lost Something?" - in our local airport, and it got me thinking.

The answer should be rather obvious: We all grapple with loss. It's a fundamental reality of life.

But you have to have something first in order to then lose it. Indeed, as our respective journeys play out, we accumulate stuff along the way. Hard goods. Experiences. Relationships. Whatever.

And inevitably, we'll lose some of these things - sometimes sooner, sometimes not. And despite the fact that we might think that makes us unique, it doesn't. Everyone loses. Everyone hurts to varying degrees. Everyone deals with it in their own way.

Perhaps that's something to keep in mind as we wind down the year - oops, decade - and reflect on where we've been, where we're headed, and how we'd like to get there.

A little more empathy along the way, for what others have lost and how they're dealing with it, might be a reasonable place to start.

#ldnont #london #yul #ontario #canada #international #airport #flight #airplane #aviation #photography #city #travel #travelphotography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

The man in the yellow t-shirt

Smart Wear Street Sweeper
Toronto, ON
July 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Man in a yellow t-shirt sweeps the street just in front of the Smart Wear store. This is why street photography touches my soul.

#toronto #yyz #ontario #canada #urban #street #streetphotography #photography #stranger #yellow #tshirt #july #2019 #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #google #pixel2 #teampixel #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Story of a Marriage - Part 2

Life's not-so-rich pagaent
Toronto, ON
July 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Zoom in. Zoom out. See something different every time. What the heck am I talking about? Read on...

The previous photo in this series was of a wedding party - bride, groom, bridesmaids, and mother of the bride - apparently taking pictures in a public square near Toronto’s City Hall.

This photo is of the same scene, shot slightly wider. When you pull the lens back, you see things you otherwise would have missed.

Like the homeless man sleeping mere steps away from the happy couple. It’s the quintessential story of haves and have-nots, and the sad tragedies of modern lives playing out in uncomfortable proximity to each other.

My late father used to use the following phrase to describe how he felt anytime he crossed paths with someone he felt was less fortunate than he was: “There but for the grace of God go I.” It’s stuck with me.

He first used it the day I was born, as he sat in the hospital waiting room with another almost-dad. That man’s child experienced a distressed delivery, and was oxygen-deprived long enough to result in multiple lifelong disabilities. My dad, on the other hand, left the hospital with a happy wife and a healthy child.

I still wonder about the razor-sharp margins that separate me from the disabled child who shares my birthday. Or the ones that differentiate the seemingly advantaged family on the right from the clearly disadvantaged man on the left.

Life isn’t fair. It doesn't have to be. It just is. And I feel obligated in some way to observe the hard differences, no matter how unfair they may seem.

Maybe that’s the price we must pay for being haves rather than have-nots. Maybe it's how we ensure we never forget just how good we've got it.

#toronto #yyz #ontario #canada #urban #street #streetphotography #wedding #photography #zoom #parenthood #homelessness #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Story of a Marriage - Part 1

Perfection from above
Toronto, ON
July 2019
This photo originally share on Instagram

On a warm afternoon in July, a young couple got married at Toronto's City Hall, pausing outside to take pictures on this uniquely unforgettable day.

I don't know their names, their back story, or how they have fared since. I was shooting pictures through a hotel room window, high above the bustling public square, from the (very) outside, looking in.

I've done this kind of street photography before, and I'm pretty sure I'll be doing it again, because crowds of strangers can often tell the best stories, even if we never exchange a word with them.

This particular scene tells a typically gauzy wedding story of a perfect bride, lovely bridesmaids, handsome groomsmen, and every last detail looked after by everyone in the wedding party.

But this is photography, and by extension, life. Through my lens, I decided to compose the scene a certain way, carefully shooting the moment to include the elements I wanted, and exclude the ones I didn't.

This photo is the first in a series, the "before" pic, if you will, and it fails to tell the complete story of this fleeting moment on a busy downtown sidewalk.

I'll share the after photo in my next entry, as it tells a somewhat different story than the one we see here. Not better, not worse, just different than the one we're used to seeing on the average wedding day.

What does this have to do with one of the most significant holidays on the calendar, when gifts are shared and everyone is - or should be - reflective and thankful? Lots, and I'll explain more in a bit.

In the meantime, what is your wish for this couple?

#toronto #yyz #ontario #canada #urban #street #streetphotography #wedding #photography #zoom #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Light the world around you

So much potential...
London, ON
December 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Be the light.

Treasure your traditions.

Revel in the traditions of others.

Resolve to be kinder.

Find ways to inspire others.

Repair the world.

Drink in the details.

Carve out time to be together.

Because you can't buy more of it.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #chanukah #hannukah #howeveritisspelled #jewish #holiday #all #holidays #christmas #kwanzaa #weareone #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Look beneath the surface of the city

More than meets the eye
London, ON
December 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Standing on the outside, looking in, it's easy to spin a story for yourself, to convince yourself that you have precise knowledge of everything that goes on here, every subtle nuance, every moment.

Outsiders always seem to know, don't they? And when they venture into the murk for a bit, they claim to know even more. "I've been there." "I saw it with my own two eyes." "Trust me."

For the record, I don't much trust the view of the outsider. Because none of us ever really knows what goes in inside the life - or the mind - of another. We may see a drug addict shooting his arm full of unmentionable substances, then leave the discarded needle in a dirty corner beside the sewer grate. But we probably don't know this individual's back story, what led him or her to this place, at this time, in this manner.

We might feel like we have the right to pass judgment because no right-thinking human being would ever shoot up in a shadowy downtown alley. We don't. No one chooses to live a life in a place like this. Everyone has a back-story. Rarely is it shared.

People on the outside looking in think they're smart enough to know all this. They aren't. And they're often the last to learn this sad dichotomy.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #downtown #urban #city #richmond #street #photography #streetphotography #color #light #shadow #alley #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Little dog in a a big, special bed

Sleepy puppy
London, ON
December 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We held onto Frasier's big bed after we lost him, another one of those quirks of pet ownership that only other dog or cat or whatever-animal people understand.

For the longest time, we kept it tucked away, afraid this very different-from-her-big-dog-brother Schnauzer you see here would reduce it to a fluffy mess with her Jaws-liie teeth.

See, she's a chewer, and despite the fact that we love her to the Moon and back, and then some, we don't much trust her. She's destroyed shoes, socks, pillows, blankets, toys, anything in her path. We've learned that silence in the house usually means she's either up to or into something.

We understand it's how Schnauzers are built, but she takes destructiveness to another level.

So it took a while for us to get her used to this ginormous (for her) bed - without the chewing thing.

As you can see here, we worried needlessly. She seemed to instinctively realize this was a special thing, no munching allowed. And she spends most of her quiet time curled up in a cozy ball.

I wonder what she dreams about. I'd like to think her mind is filled with happy thoughts, like going for walks with her humans, chasing rabbits and squirrels, getting cuddles, and eating as many treats as she possibly can.

It's what all us want, really: A safe place away from the tumultuous world around us, surrounded by those we love most.

Simple. But not.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #calli #callitheachnauzer #dog #dogs #schnauzerpuppy #schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzergram #schnauzers #dogsofinstagram #instapuppy #actofdog #pets #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Where writers go to find inspiration

Inspiring glass, just steps away
London, ON
December 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The scene: The office, where I spend my workdays writing things for tech folks and absorbing brilliance from my colleagues. Spend enough time staring at a screen* and eventually you need to look at distant objects.

So I've started taking the occasional walk through the historic building, allowing my eyes to graze the details and find something that inspires me for the next round of literary magic back at my desk. It's good for my baby blues, of course, but also my mind and, according to the step counter in my smartwatch, my health.

It's a gorgeous building, with moments of visual wonder lurking around pretty much every corner. Exposed brickwork. Wooden rafters. Historically preserved windows. Even the doors tell rich stories of a now-vanished chapter in this city's history. Words often fail me when I'm asked to describe where I work. You'll just have to come for a tour.

So all of this explains how within the space of a 5-minute stroll upstairs, my eyes found the glasses stored artfully in the kitchen upstairs. I seem to work best when I allow a scene to sink in quickly. When I don't give any more thought to the moment than it really needs. When I open my mind a little and just take it in. When I get to take that inspiration back with me, and kill it at the keyboard for the rest of the day.

I guess we all have our own productivity strategies. Feel free to borrow mine, if you wish.

* I lied. It's 3 screens. I have a slight problem with technology overkill.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #InfoTechRG #InfoTech #itrg #345Ridout #workhardplayhard #bestjobever #stilllife #life #glass #monochrome #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

3 years...

Master of his domain
London, ON
August 2014
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Three years ago today we said goodbye to our dog, Frasier.

I wrote about it that awful milestone here, and not a day goes by that I don't think about this sweet soul who shared our lives for almost a decade and gave us so many unforgettable family moments. We miss him tremendously, but we're thankful to have had him at all.

He taught us that life can be pretty amazing, even if it starts out in the wrong place, with the wrong people. He taught us, in visceral terms, what unconditional love looks and feels like. He made us better people.

I'd rescue him again in a heartbeat if the universe allowed me to go back in time. But since that isn't allowed - at least not using today's technology - we'll hold onto his memory instead. He may have been annoyingly loud, ill-trained, expensive, and completely illogical to have as a family member. But who ever said families had to be logical in the first place?

Dogs aren't remotely logical. And yet I can't imagine life without them, even if it never lasts as long as we hope it would. A little canine magic, after all, is better than none.

Thanks, little buddy. Know your imprint on us is forever. Know you're missed. Know you're loved.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #dog #dogs #doglife #puppy #schnauzerpuppy #schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzergram #schnauzers #dogsofinstagram #instadog #instapuppy #actofdog #pets #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

This is my locker story

Behind every lock...
London, ON
October 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I think we must all have a locker story buried deep in our respective memories. Probably many stories.

One stands out for me. It took place in a community centre. I was just a munchkin when it was built, and I practically grew up there.

The change room was deep underground, below the spanking new pool and gym, at the end of a couple of frighteningly long, steep, and slippery concrete staircases. The orange lockers were scratched and dented before the new-building smell had worn off.

It freaked me out to be alone down there among the adults, and I always picked a locker well away from anyone else's, then rushed myself to get out of there as quickly as possible. I guess I grew up in a different era.

Later I became a lifeguard, and graduated to the private change rooms upstairs. Public locker rooms weird me out to this day, and I studiously avoid them when I'm out and about. But this particular one, so central to my childhood, remains something of an anchor. Funny how that works, isn't it?

I recently came across the lockers you see here in the Costco near our home in London, and it triggered these powerful childhood memories. I stood in the crowded hallway and stared at them for a bit, wondering what was inside them. And who owned, albeit temporarily, each little cube of secured public space. I'm guessing employees.

Behind every locked door is a story, an experience, a future memory for whoever owns the lock. I hope whoever twirls the combinations on these appreciates how the seemingly simple act of stashing stuff away for a bit can plant powerful seeds for decades to come. I hope their memories are as charmed as mine.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #519ldn #519london #costco #random #urban #suburban #retail #store #shop #shopping #monochrome #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Eat your vegetables, will ya?

Hold onto your health
London, ON
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Let's get this out of the way: Peppers aren't my jam.

And in the interest of total transparency, I have issues with vegetables in general. I'll eat them because I sort of have to if I want to stay on the right side of the health curve. But the prospect of biting into a head of unadorned lettuce, or chomping down on a juicy tomato weirds me out.

Make it a lovely salad with dressing and I'm in. But as a straight-up snack, not so much. Call it a very first-world problem.

But shooting pictures of them is another story altogether, and I've been pointing lenses at both fruits and veggies for years. I even came up with a name for it: #Fruitography. It's led to a number of fun moments in grocery stores - including some tense conversations with the security folks - but thankfully no arrests or lifetime bans. Yet.

So here's an orange pepper in the midst of a bunch of other orange peppers in the local Farm Boy store. Between the color, the texture, and the light, it was a none-too-subtle reminder that I need to get over my overgrown-child food hangups and eat more of these things.

Or maybe I should just stop fretting over what I eat and enjoy the glory of something grown from the earth. Simple and complex at the same time. Apologies, grocery security types: I'll be back.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #stilllife #orange #pepper ##vegetable #spontaneous #macro #grocery #store #photo #shoot #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Colorful cookies in a Mexican bakery

Bet you can't eat just one
Cancun, Mexico
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Whatever you do this week, make it sweet.

And colorful.

And plentiful.

And happy.

And creative.

And memorable.

Because we only get a certain amount of weeks. Or days. Or moments.

We should make them count.

For ourselves. And for everyone around us, too.

#cancun #mexico #food #foodporn #foodie #instafood #foodphotography #foodstagram #cookies #macaron #macarons #dessert #color #stilllife #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Rooted to the ground

A river runs through it
London, ON
October 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

There’s nothing a good walk in the woods can’t solve.

Thankfully we live near a particularly lovely example - the Medway Valley Heritage Forest - so we regularly find ourselves wandering under the canopy until the sound of the burbling creek drowns out the distant thrum of the city that surrounds this magical place.

The city has wisely chosen to leave it alone. No asphalt or gravel-covered paths, nothing built or engineered. Just the occasional sign to point out the time-worn path that meanders through the valley.

Nobody walks quickly through this place. Too many obstacles, elevation changes, slippery surfaces, random stuff. Everybody looks down. Deliberately picking through the old growth. Deliberately picking a path that minimizes risk. Because no one will hear you fall in here.

Which, I guess, is the entire point of coming to a place like this. Not to get anywhere quickly. Or at all. There’s no destination. No ETA. No GPS. Just you, a towering forest cover overhead, and an impossibly diverse forest floor below. How you fill the rest in is entirely, gloriously, up to you.

I almost tripped as I stepped over this root, and it was enough to stop me just long enough to notice it. I bent down and slowly ran my fingers over its textured surface, each knot and burl another chapter in a story the massive tree it anchors started writing long before any of us existed.

I’d been walking this path regularly for years, but never took note of this particular tree, or this particular root. Because every journey, no matter how familiar the landscape, will always offer up the promise of something new.

But only if we move slowly enough to notice it - and allow ourselves the luxury to stop and take it in.

Perhaps I should stop calling this a luxury in the first place.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #canadian #medway #valley #forest #trees #roots #texture #nature #naturephotography #landscape #photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #google #pixel2 #teampixel #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Spreading happiness, one cookie at a time

Bite me
London, ON
December 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Everyone could use another reason to smile.

So ask yourself what you’re doing to make that happen. What simple things are you going to do today to bring a little happiness to the people who cross your path?

I’ll start: Instead of my usual gaze-to-the-floor, stone-faced look while I’m walking among strangers, I’ll look up and look happy. Maybe even make eye contact with an occasional like-minded soul.

Because tiny kindnesses and connections can sometimes have the most profound impact. And we'll never know if we don't at least try.

So that’s my thing. What’s yours?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #smile #cookie #stilllife #food #instafood #foodstagram #foodporn #photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #google #pixel2 #teampixel #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

One blue plane

Almost airborne
Cancun, Mexico
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Planespotting. Anywhere. Anytime. Just because.

#cancun #mexico #airport #aircraft #airplane #aviation #plane #planeapotting #avgeek @jetblue #bluesapphire #airbus #a320 #notanactualbus #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #photography #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Watching the sunrise from the pier

Where sun meets water, clouds, and sky
Cancun, Mexico
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Rarely do I wake up in the morning and instantly jump into the day. I like to linger under the covers for a bit as I slowly transition from sleep to full-speed life. It's like a car merging on the highway: Smooth, consistent, drama-free. Any other way is just too jarring.

If it were up to me, I'd linger in that delightful half-dreamlike state for hours. But even when you're away and ostensibly on vacation, experiences await. You don't want to sleep it all away.

That's how I found myself standing at the end of a white-painted concrete pier jutting out into the Caribbean Sea, waiting for the sun to peek over the horizon.

My logic was simple: Most days it isn't an option for me to stand beside a large body of water and take in the sunrise. So today I thought I'd take advantage of where I was and sacrifice a little sleep for a minor photographic adventure.

The sun held up its end of the bargain, and after I was finished shooting its slow creep above the edge of the planet, I sat quietly under the thatched roof and drank in the silence.

Except it wasn't silent at all. Waves lapped the shore. Birds argued with each other on decaying pilings. The wind gradually picked up. Other sun-seekers strolled onto the beach and took pictures with their smartphones. I drank in the sounds of a seashore coming alive.

Soon enough I was trundling back to our hotel room, sand stuck between my toes and thoughts racing through my head. I decided losing a little sleep in exchange for moments like this was absolutely worth it.

#cancun #mexico #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #explore #beach #sunrise #sun #sea #sky #clouds #nature #morning #landscape #photography #naturephotography #landscapephotography #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything