The turnaround selfie

So when do I get a treat, Dad?
London, ON
December 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We have a strange little tradition whenever we embark on any kind of journey.

It could be a walk through the neighborhood or a drive or flight far from home. Whatever form the trip may take, we snap a random picture at the turnaround point.

It’s a tiny gesture, really, an easy means of saying we were here. Of drawing a virtual line in the virtual sand. Of marking it for next time, when maybe we’ll go a little further, stay out a little longer.

We’ll often send these random pictures home, another way of letting the folks who matter most know that we’re ok. That we’ll be home soon.

From the look on Calli the Wonderschnauzer’s face, it’a a tradition she can clearly live without.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #calli #callitheschnauzer #dog #dogs #schnauzerpuppy #schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzergram #schnauzers #dogsofinstagram #instapuppy #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

When geese fly south for the winter

Partnership
London, ON
October 2017
This photo originally shared on Instagram

NOTE: We're still sharing pretty pictures as a form of photographic distraction from the clusterf--k that is the pandemic. See yesterday's entry for more. Otherwise, feel free to pick up your camera and start shooting. Or dig into your archives and share your favorites. Feel free to use the following hashtag: #PandemicPics.

Now, on with the show...

You usually hear them before you see them.

Mournful honking coming from somewhere, but it takes a few seconds to figure out precisely where they are in the sky.

They work together to cut the wind, maximize the draft, help each other out.

That honking? Nowhere near random. Rather, a perfect communication system that we puny landlocked humans don't deserve to understand.

Soon enough, the sight, sound, and spectacle fade.

Where are they headed? Only they know. Like their language, we don't deserve to know that, either.

Humbling, isn't it?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #geese #throwback #bird #birds #flight #sun #sunlight #goldenhour #thames #river #springbank #park #shadow #nature #naturephotography #photography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Related:

Pretty pandemic picture #1: a Rhino lifts off, December 2022

The vaccination clusterf--k, December 2022

The vaccination clusterf--k

Hurry up and wait (for the jab)
London, ON
December 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Ontario is a lot like the Hunger Games these days, as ordinary citizens scramble to lock down an appointment for their third vaccine dose.

This was the scene in a bitterly cold shopping mall parking lot early this morning as we joined the fray.

We're the lucky ones: we have the means to both own and use the technology - smartphones, apps, mobile data plans, etc. - that so many others do not. We have a car to get us to whatever location has whatever availability, even if it's a few counties away. We have the resources to be in the middle of a shopping mall parking lot long before anyone really ought to.

What about those who don't have access to these resources but still want to protect themselves and help end this global mess? Not a whole lot of talk about them. Sure, they can call the toll-free lines and sit on the endless hold, only to be told there are no more appointments. Or randomly skip from one pop-up clinic to another. Because I'm sure they so look forward to waiting futilely for help that will probably never come.

As I stood in the windswept darkness this morning, I mused about the elected leader of our province, Premier Doug Ford, who as Omicron cases multiplied, slipped out in secret to his cottage. This is a theme with him, that he disappears whenever things get hot.

And for some reason it's getting zero media play. Imagine that.

I'm sure Mr. Ford has minions who book his vaccine appointments. I'm sure he has little interest in a few hundred Ontarians huddled in the predawn cold. Or the countless others wondering why it's so difficult to protect themselves, and why we haven't learned the lessons of previous vaccine rollouts.

The dichotomy is shameful. The lack of outrage is similarly frustrating. We can do better. Why we aren't is inexcusable.

I do hope you're having a great vacation, Mr. Ford. I also hope one of your candidates shows up at my door before next year's election, because I'll have lots of questions.

#PandemicPics #ldnont #london #ontario #canada #masonville #shopping #mall #retail #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Pretty pandemic picture #1: a Rhino lifts off

Watch what I can do
London, ON
August 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Let’s not kid ourselves: Planet Earth is a dumpster fire these days.

Thanks to Omicron, the pandemic now rages hotter than it ever has. Governments at all levels are failing to roll out vaccine doses in sufficient numbers, leaving citizens to scramble for appointments weeks and even months from now. That is, assuming they even have the means to scramble in the first place.

Chaos is the order of the day. So I’m going to try something a little different in my feed: pretty photos.

Maybe they’ll be of our dog. Or of a particularly fetching tree. Or of a building. Or of clouds. Or, as is the case here, of an airplane. A really wicked airplane.

It doesn’t really matter what the subject might be. If it makes me smile, or feel better, or think a little, then I’m hoping it’ll have a similar effect on you.

Trivial? Immensely. Necessary? Absolutely. Am I kidding? I’ve never been more serious.

So today we’re looking at Blue Angel 6 lifting off, tucking in the gear, keeping the nose down, and letting its afterburners do their physics thing. It’s really quite the thing to watch.

Tomorrow? I don’t know yet, but I promise it’ll be fun. Maybe more airplanes. Whatever.

You in?

#nikonskydrive @airshowlondon @nikoncanada #ldnont #london #airport #ontario #canada #SkyDrive #AirShowLondon #aviation #usnavy #blueangels #boeing #mcdonnelldouglas #fa18 #superhornet #fighter #flight #aircraft #avgeek #aviationphotography #planespotting #instaplane #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #Nikon #nikonphotography #photography #lifeinthemargins

Related:

A Hornet burns a hole in the sky, August 2021

Raptor. Burner. Vapor. June 2021

Wheels up! September 2020

Follow the mama plane, September 2020

1 Mig, dead ahead, September 2017

When a Rhino makes its own vapor, September 2017

Shooting an Eagle, September 2017

Red and white in a perfectly blue sky, September 2017

Hornet's nest, July 2009

On facts and truth

"There's a world of difference between truth and facts. Facts can obscure the truth."

Maya Angelou

 

Darkest day. Brighter future.

Dawn
Deerfield Beach, FL
December 30, 2008
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Today is winter solstice, the shortest day of the year.

As with anything in life, it’s up to us to look at it through the right lens. We can choose to view it as the darkest of all days in the Northern Hemisphere, the arrival of winter, when the sun rises later and sets earlier than any other.

Or we can see it as merely the first of six months of ever greater amounts of light.

Totally up to us.

I took this photo almost 13 years ago to the day, from a beach in southern Florida. I remember the morning like it was yesterday. Because not only did I get to dig my feet into the sand and watch the sun rise alongside my wife, but this was also the morning we met Darwin the Dolphin.

Maybe “met” is a bit of a stretch. More like “watched him swim in the distance.” And maybe it was a her, as I’m admittedly not very good at dolphin spotting.

But the point is that the day, then as now, was a short one. Where the night lasted far longer than the day. Yet we still found enough light at the edge of the continent to be wowed. And to see a dolphin.

Because magic happens on any day. Even the so-called dark ones.

Happy solstice. May we all find our light. Today and every day.

#deerfield #beach #deerfieldbeach #throwback #florida #fla #atlantic #ocean #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #vacation #sunrise #waves #water #landscape #landscapephotography #naturephotography #nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Related:

A new day dawns, January 2021

Someone's selling seashells by the seashore, August 2020

Not every day merits a postcard, April 2020

Small boat. Huge ocean. Orange Sky. February 2020

Watching the waves roll in, February 2020

You're shooting the wrong way, moron, January 2020

Staring down at the pounding surf, January 2020

Waiting for the light, January 2020

Pounding surf on a windy day, January 2018

The end of the big blue ocean, June 2012

Where waves go to die, June 2012

Welcoming the new day, January 2009

Wordless Wednesday - Meet Darwin, January 2009

Waves and transitions, January 2007

A stranger's sojourn by the sea, January 2007

Tim Hortons sucks (the donut)

Not so special after all
London, ON
July 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

This is what passes for scandal in the Great White North:

Recently, national coffee shop chain Tim Hortons quietly reclassified its chocolate dip and Boston Creme donuts. They went from being regular donuts - which they had been since the beginning of time - to specialty donuts, which means they now cost more because they're somehow fancier.

Unlike the hugely hyped, limited-edition Justin Bieber Timbits (seriously, TimBiebs are a thing, and we should all be ashamed), this change didn't benefit from a national marketing campaign. I noticed the little signs in the display case and thought it odd.

To some, Tim's, is as as iconically Canadian as Mounties, beavers, and maple syrup. I don't see the appeal, but to each their own.

Still, the cynic in me sees this as a bit of a cash grab at a time when we all need less cynicism, not more.

And the Tim’s brand - owned by Restaurant Brands International, a controversial global food services giant - has been on the decline in recent years amid a never-ending litany of controversies.

From questionable treatment and payment of employees to iffy environmental practices, this organization consistently prioritizes the bottom line over sustainable, ethical business practices.

Which, from where I stand, means we're long past the point where Tim's deserves to be so integrally tied to our national identity.

And these donuts aren't so special, anyway. If I'm going to eat like a heathen, I'll buy local.

Canada has enough icons, anyway. This one won't be missed.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #donut #food #foodie #foodporn #instafood #foodphotography #foodstagram #random #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Related:

Life outside a smalltown Tim Hortons, October 2021

Drinking coffee on Tim's patio, July 2021

The case of the missing donut, April 2020

Sprinkled donut poetry, March 2020

Not just any donut, October 2019

Timbit philosophy on the kitchen table, June 2018

Chocolate-glazed donut shoot, May 2018

Donut or Doughnut? January 2010

Time to make the donuts, January 2010

Wordless Wednesday - Muffins, April 2009

5 years...

Love me
London, ON
February 2016
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Today marks 5 years to the day since we said goodbye to Frasier.

We blinked when we first rescued him.

Blinked every day we had him.

Blinked the day we lost him.

Blinked every day since.

That’s now time works.

It moves faster than we think.

We never get as much as we wish we could have.

We aren’t guaranteed tomorrow.

We can’t afford to waste whatever we’ve been given.

Frasier taught us to cherish time, those tiny moments that somehow become permanent memories indelibly burned into our souls. He was sweet, smart, cuddly, loud, expensive, wildly imperfect, yet also perfect in his own way.

He was, for every moment we had him and every moment since, a piece of us.

We miss you limitlessly, buddy. Thank you for making our family whole, for making us better people, for giving us countless reasons to have loved you in the first place.

I’d change nothing except that time thing. Wish we had more.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #dog #dogs #throwback #schnauzerpuppy #schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzergram #schnauzers #dogsofinstagram #instapuppy #photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Related:

4 years without Fray Fray, December 2020

3 years..., December 2019

2 years..., December 2018

A year without Frasier, December 2017

Pondering Frasier's handiwork, December 26, 2016

Canine muscle memory, December 23, 2016

When a dog's life ends, December 19, 2016

What's 10 in dog years? July 2016

Going on a cottage cheese adventure

Hmm, I wonder if this is for me
London, ON
December 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Fun fact: I often take silly-looking photos like this one.

They aren't remotely artistic. But they serve a specific purpose, and I take them because I'm headed out on a hunting/foraging expedition (read to the grocery store) and I've got to get a particular kind of something.

Since absent-mindedness is kind of my thing - I can remember the specific impulse of a Space Shuttle Main Engine, but not a particular kind of cottage cheese - I take pictures before I go.

Since we're being honest, this will often be followed by a similarly impromptu FaceTime session with my wife when I get to the grocery store. Because sometimes you just need to talk to your peeps.

And since we're being especially honest, I ended up rushing through the store after taking this pic, and I ended up forgetting to call via FaceTime.

Which is how I managed to bring home lactose-free sour cream instead of cottage cheese. Because I'm an idiot.

Thankfully the dog doesn't care, and as you can see here she's happy to help me out whether or not I remember to follow my own process. Such a sweet girl.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #grocery #store #dairy #cottagecheese #shopping #retail #random #stilllife #photography #actofdog #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

One small tree...

As one season ends
London, ON
October 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

It's but one small tree among many.

But what a tree it is.

Hmm...

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medway #valley #forest #tree #trees #thames #river #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #texture #gameoftones #monochrome #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Blankets in the park

Strangers watching out for others
London, ON
November 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I’m walking through Gibbons Park, a jewel of carefully crafted nature that stretches between the river to its west and some rather tony real estate to the east.

I’m ostensibly looking for any last remnants of leaves, anything, really, that grabs my eye in the few minutes I have before the real world beckons me back.

But it isn't leaves that jump out at me. It's a carefully rolled up scarf hanging off the end of a park bench. The tag attached to it says it all: "I am not lost. Take me if you need me."

I look around, and see similar packages - mittens, hats, blankets - on other nearby benches.

Part of me wants to cry, that in a city where the average home sells for seven figures and the ones on the hill overlooking this park easily sell for multiples of that, folks not too different from you or me continue to wrestle with homelessness.

And yet...

Some kind soul thought to look out for others in this subtle, non-judgmental way. Indeed, heroes live among us.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #tvp #thames #river #walkabout #homelessness #community #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #photooftheday #picoftheday #pictureoftheday #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Stella in white

Scene from a Canadian driveway
London, ON
December 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Snow paints everything with a deft brush.

So the least I can do is record it in some small way before it's gone.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #red #winter #frost #weather #wx #spontaneous #driveway #shoot #car #carporn #cargram #auto #vehicle #automotive #stella #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Scene from a driveway

Holding on for dear life
London, ON
December 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Every once in a while, we get to see the familiar through an unexpected lens.

I could have walked right on past, but where’s the fun in that?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #red #autumn #weather #wx #spontaneous #driveway #shoot #car #carporn #cargram #auto #vehicle #automotive #stella #reflective #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

On leaving stuff out

"The whole point of getting things done is knowing what to leave undone."

Oswald Chambers

 

A bridge (not) too far

Wondering what's on the other side
London, ON
December 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

"We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it."

I’ve heard that line so often throughout my life that it’s been burned into my brain, a go-to line that I trot out when I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself.

Which explains why I smiled as we came across this particularly fetching pedestrian bridge not far from our house.

I’m not sure why we wrap up so much meaning in the act of crossing from one side of a body of water to another, but I’m glad we do.

Because there’s always more to explore on the other side. More memories to make. More stories to tell.

So on this day, we paused to take in the sun’s gentle shadows on the deck of this lovely bridge, and then we crossed over to the other side. What we found there was well worth the journey.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medway #valley #forest #tree #trees #thames #river #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #bridge #shadows #light #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

A dog walks in the woods

The sun always points us home
London, ON
December 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

She is my loyal wingman, always by my side as we follow the sun and the shadows together.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #calli #callitheschnauzer #medway #valley #forest #trees #shadows #dog #dogs #schnauzerpuppy #schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzergram #schnauzers #dogsofinstagram #instapuppy #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

The forest loses its cover

How the Forest City gets its name
London, ON
December 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

All the leaves are down.

But the sky is thankfully anything but grey.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medway #valley #forest #tree #trees #blue #sky #cathedral #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Related:

Watching ghosts in the forest, February 2021

White tree. Blue sky. April 2021

Standing under the cathedral, December 2020

Dead trees against a blue sky, October 2020

Cathedral in the forest, March 2019

Thematic continues...all faves, all the time, January 2015

Thematic Photographic 273 - Treetops, December 2013

Before the darkness falls, December 2010

Frozen, a new season

Grab it while you can
London, ON
December 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

It’s an early Sunday morning, and the dog and I are walking deep in the river valley woods.

The apocalyptic rains have moved on and the howling winds that have been raking the region for much of the past 24 hours have died down.

The clear, frigid air left in the storm’s wake has coated the soaked, spongy earth along the path with perfectly thin wisps of crystalline ice. Calli is letting her nose explore the icy ground, looking up every once in a while to make sure I’m not missing anything.

I crouch down beside her to get a closer look at this impossibly intricate - and very temporary - scene. The rising sun is already lighting up the forest canopy far above our heads, and it won’t be long before the ground is bathed in sunlight, before this wondrous construction melts into history.

I snag a few fast frames on my smartphone. Because while there’s more than enough ice underfoot in the Great White North, I’m conscious of how unique this particular moment is, and I don’t want to forget what it feels like to be in this particular spot, on this particular morning, with this particularly curious pup.

Because how many of these moments do we really get, anyway? And how do we know if we’re making the most out of the ones we’ve been given?

I can’t answer either of those questions. But at the very least I can try to slow time down and do my best to appreciate what’s been laid out in front of us.

It’ll have to do. Until the next time Mother Nature decides to paint the land with her icy brush.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medway #valley #forest #water #ice #frozen #winter #walkabout #nature #naturephotography #stilllife #photography #apple #iPhone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Related:

Frozen miracles at our feet, February 2021

Another frozen miracle, February 2021

The ice show continues, January 2021

Driveway ice show, January 2021

Calli the ice-hunting dog, January 2021

As the snow begins to fall, January 2021

Frozen solid to the ground, December 2019

On ice and life by the river's edge, January 2019

Frozen lights in the sky, January 2007

Shh, don't disturb the sleeping manatees

The things we find at Loblaws
London, ON
December 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

They look like sleeping baby manatees, don't they?

Disclosure: I have a thing for manatees. So depending on my mood, pretty much anything can look like a manatee. Or can give me a springboard to talk about manatees.

Which explains this oddball moment in the Loblaws fresh produce section, and why I do what I can to manufacture them with little more than the smartphone in my pocket.

See, this pandemic would be manageable if I never had to leave the house. And delivery services notwithstanding (sorry, I just can't have strangers pick my avocados), sooner or later we all have to get out there. Which, necessity notwithstanding, stresses me out.

Indeed, if everyone behaved as they should - read stayed the sixth-letter-of-the-alphabet away from me - then we'd all be fine. But they don't. They close-walk. They close-talk. They ignore. They don't look out for others. They don't say thank you. Just writing the words is spiking my BP.

So my antidote is to find happiness wherever I can, even if it means fast-shooting still-life abstracts of the ginger display.

Maybe they're manatee-like and maybe they aren't. The picture isn't the thing, anyway. The moment is.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #grocery #store #loblaws #fruitography #manatee #ginger #shopping #retail #random #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Blue Angels, echelon formation

Steady...
London, ON
August 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Never doubt the power of teamwork, and the magical things we can accomplish when we work closely with people we admire and trust.

#nikonskydrive @airshowlondon @nikoncanada #ldnont #london #airport #ontario #canada #SkyDrive #AirShowLondon #aviation #usnavy #blueangels #boeing #mcdonnelldouglas #superhornet #fighter #flight #aircraft #avgeek #aviationphotography #planespotting #instaplane #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #Nikon #nikonphotography #photography #lifeinthemargins

Dirty floor under a bright sun

Lines have been drawn
London, ON
December 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I take pictures of well-worn, filthy floors at local shopping malls so you won't have to.

But if you want to, you're always welcome to join me.

There's plenty of optical room to go around. And we could all do with a little random musing in the dirty places most everyone else would otherwise ignore.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #cherryhill #mall #store #shopping #retail #sun #sunlight #shadow #random #everyday #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Tree? Lightning?

Branched
London, ON
November 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Mother Nature has a funny way of stopping us in our tracks, doesn't she?

I don't know how many times I've spun my two-wheeler past this very tree. It sits beside a major bike path, not far from the river, and has probably played a quiet background role in millions of tiny moments for countless people since it was first planted long before any of us was alive.

Yet on this Saturday afternoon, I'm on foot. You see things when you walk that you'd otherwise miss. The ordinary suddenly becomes extraordinary. This branch, long hidden by leaves and the combined pressures of schedule and speed, paints a picture I simply can't afford to pass up.

So I explore it through glass. Slowly. Deliberately. Its chaos on stark display for the first time. To me, anyway.

This tree, so beloved yet so often overlooked, won't be a quiet, ignored background player today.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #gibbons #park #tvp #thames #river #walkabout #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #photooftheday #instagood #photooftheday #picoftheday #pictureoftheday #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Where swimming meets sky

It's all in the details
London, ON
November 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

They say we should keep returning to the places that mean something to us.

I'm still not sure who "they" are, but I'm inclined to listen to them when it comes to this.

Which explains why I keep coming back to the Canada Games Aquatic Centre here in London. Our kids learned to swim here, which echoed my own experiences learning to swim so far away and so long ago.

Any time I'm near a pool, I find myself drifting back to those resonant years when our kids were first learning to love the water.

Inevitably, a camera comes out. And you know what happens then...

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #throwback #random #urban #street #monochrome #streetphotography #photography #building #architecture #cgac #aquatics #swimming #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Related:

Same pool. Another perspective. February 2021

Aquatics, life, and that friendly glow, February 2021

Little man learns from failure, December 2006

Layered mystery, October 2006

Talk to the orange hand

Safety first
Sault Ste. Marie, ON
October 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We see things - like this traffic signal - all the time. But are we truly seeing them?

Are we slowing down to take them in, to appreciate the little details that reveal how extraordinary they are?

I get it: it’s a freaking light.

But there’s something comforting about standing on a sidewalk and teasing out new ways to see the familiar.

#saultstemarie #ontario #canada #throwback #roadtrip #travel #travelphotography #traffic #light #red #orange #walk #random #street #photography #streetphotography #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #instagood #photooftheday #picoftheday #pictureoftheday #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

On wealth vs. health

"The first wealth is health."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Saturdays at Cherryhill

Comings and goings
London, ON
December 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

They say retail is dying. They'd be wrong. At least here.

This local mall, built in the shadows of one of the largest clusters of apartment buildings in the city, is unique. The area skews to an older demographic, so the mall often feels more like a community centre than a retail establishment.

It's already busy enough early on this brightly-lit Saturday morning, with holiday shoppers drifting in as the stores slowly open up shop, and families like this one bringing their kids to have their hockey team pics taken at the photo store.

Disclosure, our daughter is helping out behind the camera, and after dropping her off, I've decided to take a slow walk back to the car just in case I see anything worth some pixels.

It's a day-in-the-life kind of place, where folks go through the minutiae of the everyday without necessarily thinking all that much about it. Yet step off to the side and peer back in for a closer look and it ends up being a lot richer than anyone might have thought.

I think to myself that this is a special place, and I don't think I'm wrong. But any place can be special if we allow it to be. That is, if we allow ourselves the time and the space and the patience to see it through the right lens.

Are we?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #cherryhill #mall #store #shopping #retail #random #everyday #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Monolithic architecture against the winter sky

All lit up for the holidays
London, ON
November 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The Canada Life building stands sentinel over London's Victoria Park, an anchor in a city and a world where stability often seems to be in short supply.

Maybe it's an illusion and maybe it's real - it almost doesn't matter as I stand on the downtown sidewalk and try to take in the imposing facade of this iconic structure.

I worked here once - moved my family here in the dead of winter to follow an unknown path. At the time, I remember standing in this very spot wondering whether I had made the right decision.

It dawned on me that my entire professional life in this very alien-to-me town revolved around this one company, in this one building - which, frankly, was a bit of a frightening thought.

Thankfully, time often has a way of filling in the gaps. We grew roots here, and I eventually found other places to work, bigger stages to grow my career. The monolithic company that brought me here no longer seemed so monolithic. Or dominant.

The company's changed hands a few times since we got here, and the really big decisions are now made far, far away. No one knows what the future holds, for this or any other firm. Life is a lot less predictable than it was all those years ago.

But the architecture...well, some things are timeless, and we're glad they're still around to cast a warm glow over the city they helped build, over the place we’ve come to know as home.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #design #lines #brick #urban #city #downtown #streetphotography #night #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Polytechnique at 32

In the end, it's just light
London, ON
November 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

32 years ago tonight, a man walked into an engineering school in Montreal, separated the women from the men, and shot 14 women dead.

The massacre should have been a watershed moment, a point where society finally got the message about violence against women, and committed to doing something about it.

It’s a harsh phrase to write: should have been. Because here we are, 32 years later, and we haven’t quite figured out how to build a world where women don’t live in fear.

We give speeches, hold rallies, fundraise, build monuments, and light buildings - like London’s City Hall - in purple. But my daughter and wife are still afraid to walk the dog alone at night. And women still die at the hands of men. Because they’re women.

We can do so much better. I wonder why we don’t.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #polytechnique #massacre #cityhall #shinethelight #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Related:

Polytechnique at 31, December 2020

New Zealand mosque shooting targets us all, March 2019

They hate Jews here, too, October 2018

On finding the good amid evil, April 2013

Newtown, Connecticut Shooting - No Words, Many Words, December 2012

Scarborough shooting - here we go again, July 2012

Publish Day - Ink Blog - Fallout from an assault, February 2006

Reflections in (un)forgettable architecture

Evening over Hyde Park
London, ON
December 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

This could very well be the most forgettable building in a city that's filled with them, a concrete-and-glass box stuffed with medical, financial, and legal offices.

I've cycled past this place thousands of times but probably never gave it a second thought.

Except this time I wasn't balancing the laws of physics as I tried to avoid becoming someone's hood ornament. Rather, I was standing in a parking lot across the street, and the setting sun was painting an unreal scene in the usually featureless vertical windows between the drab slabs of concrete.

Mirrored glass can be fun to play with. Who knew?

So I told my ever-understanding wife that I was having another vision, and before I knew it I was reaching for my camera and picking just the right spot on a nearby sidewalk to compose the scene.

It took a couple of minutes to figure out, as I was forced to shoot through four lanes of Christmas-shopping-insanity traffic. But in the end I think I succeeded in seeing a building I'd been ignoring for years in a completely different, eye-opening manner.

The more I look at this photo, though, the more I wonder if this phenomenon can apply to people, as well.

I’m thinking it can. You?

#ldnont #london #hydepark #ontario #canada #architecture #design #architecturephotography #geometry #building #sun #sunset #weather #wx #street #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

May the light never go out

All lit up
London, ON
December 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

A week ago we lit the first light, and tonight we lit all eight*.

It’s a bittersweet moment. As the house glows its brightest, the candles will soon burn themselves out for the final time this year.

The hope is that we’ll get to do it all again next year. And between now and then we’ll have to figure out other ways to find the light.

Because tonight it comes from candles. Where it comes from tomorrow and every day thereafter is entirely up to us.

Chag sameach, gang. May we all have much to celebrate, tonight and every night. #ldnont #london #ontario #canada #chanukah #hannukah #howeveritisspelled #jewish #holiday #all #holidays #weareone #photography #apple #iPhone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

* I know there are actually 9 candles. The shamash, or helper candle, always has to run the show. It's a Chanukah thing. We've got extra latkes if you want any.

Outdoor patio. Oasis. Same thing.

Take a load off
London, ON
September 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

In this pandemic-panic-charged era, everyday activities that were once done without a second thought - picking up groceries, getting together with friends, seeing a movie in a theatre, eating at a restaurant, you name it - are now fraught with worry.

Outdoor patios offer something of a compromise, a place to pretend that everything's normal when everything and everyone screams otherwise.

Canadian winters being what they are, though, I'm not eating here anytime soon. But when this scene from early September popped up in my feed, it triggered me, and suddenly I found myself looking forward to a warm day in spring when, perhaps, I'll be able to return here and enjoy a quiet moment with someone who matters.

I think we're beyond the point where we think we'll ever return to normal - whatever "normal" ever was.

But as this bonkers inflection point in history continues to drag on - with teases like loosened travel restrictions and limited-scope get-togethers with friends we haven't seen in ages suddenly yanked away by the rise of Omicron - I think it makes sense to look for safe harbors here and there to help us weather the storm.

If my safe harbor involves a few minutes hanging out in an alleyway while I wait for my tea to cool, I'm perfectly fine to wait a few months to experience it firsthand.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada @bxcrdonuts #masonville #retail #store #shoplocal #donuts #outdoor #patio #design #lines #brick #random #urban #monochrome #street #streetphotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Colonel Sanders get burned

Definitely not edible
Sault Ste. Marie, ON
October 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Canadian Tire stores are as core to the Canadian identity as hockey, Tim Hortons, Mounties, and beavers.

They're more than mere stores: they're often the anchors of the communities they serve, gathering places for citizens of this sparsely populated, weather-challenged nation.

Sometimes, they carry some really weird items. Like fried chicken-scented, KFC-branded firelogs. Oh my, if only I could have been a fly on the wall at the pitch meeting for this.

I wonder what Colonel Sanders would think.

#saultstemarie #ontario #canada #roadtrip #travel #travelphotography #retail #store #canadian #tire #kentucky #fried #chicken #kfc #firelog #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #instagood #photooftheday #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

The last (sunset) picture show

When it ends...
Laval, QC
June 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I think this is one of the last photos - if not THE last - that I took from the balcony of my father-in-law's place after he passed away.

Sunsets from here were always something of a thing for both him and my late mother-in-law, especially when I cracked the camera out in the middle of dinner and ran outside to capture a particularly resonant moment in the western sky.

I'm pretty sure they got a serious kick out of my photographic weirdness.

I miss being able to take photos like this from this spot. But I miss them both so much more.

#laval #chomedey #montreal #yul #quebec #canada #throwback #sun #sunset #orange #sky #cloud #weather #wx #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Related:

A perfectly imperfect sunset, June 2019

Another sunset, albeit someone's missing, June 2019

Difficult sunset, June 2019

A candle nobody wants, June 2019

Even the skies know, February 2013

Big sky country, July 2011

Who watches the sunset? April 2011

Memories of an abstract childhood, December 2009

Little man, big sky, August 2010

When monochrome...isn't

Painted white forest
London, ON
November 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I’m an unabashed fan of monochrome photography, and will often set the camera to shoot in monochrome mode as a deliberate way to force my brain to think differently.

The funny thing about this particular photo is that it’s actually in color. Mother Nature rather conveniently painted the landscape a rich shade of white and grey, so much so that she left no room for anything off the greyscale.

The snow was largely melted a few hours after I took this, so I’m kind of hoping we get another blanket of the white stuff before long. This color/no-color phenomenon could be a fun thing to explore further.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #tree #trees #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #monochrome #winter #weather #wx #snow #random #street #night #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

No Rhinos for Canada

Where's the carrier?
London, ON
August 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Canada is an awesome country on so many levels, but we more or less suck when it comes to equipping our armed forces.

To wit, the CF-18 Hornet fighter jets tasked with protecting our airspace are almost 40 years-old, and multiple federal governments have spent much of the past couple of decades fumbling the football around their eventual replacements.

Meanwhile the heroes who maintain and fly them continue to work miracles - largely involving the aviation equivalent of duct tape and twine - to keep them in the skies.

The most recent chapter of this saga has Boeing (again) on the wrong side of the ledger, as its F/A-18 Super Hornet was deemed to have not met the requirements of the program. This leaves Lockheed/Martin’s F-35A Lightning II and Saab’s JAS 39 Gripen E still in the mix.

Sorry, Canada, no Rhinos - like these two U.S. Navy E models - for you. If I were a betting person, I’d say the fix is in for the F-35, but my gut tells me the Gripen would make for a neat underdog choice with way better back-end economics.

Whatever we get, it needs to happen soon. Those Russian bombers knocking on our northern borders won’t be going away anytime soon.

No one ever said deterrence, national sovereignty, or keeping global bullies at bay would be easy or cheap.

#nikonskydrive @airshowlondon @nikoncanada @usnavy #ldnont #london #airport #ontario #canada #SkyDrive #AirShowLondon #aviation #boeing #mcdonnelldouglas #superhornet #fighter #flight #aircraft #avgeek #aviationphotography #planespotting #instaplane #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #Nikon #nikonphotography #photography #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Treed lightning

The calm after the storm
London, ON
November 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I'll never get tired of staring at trees after they've been dusted by snow.

Or gradient-painted by the streetlights.

Or a bit of both.

I'll also never get tired of shooting them.

Sorry.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #tree #trees #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #monochrome #winter #weather #wx #snow #random #street #night #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

On being your best self

"Only do what only you can do."

Edsger W. Dijkstra

Bright tree on a dark night

Ready for winter
London, ON
November 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Even on the darkest night, you will find the light if you keep your eyes open long enough.

Or so that’s what I try to believe.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #tree #trees #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #monochrome #winter #weather #wx #snow #random #street #night #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

#IfYouReadOneThingToday - On the 737

Patrick Smith is a commercial airline pilot who also happens to be a tremendously gifted writer. I've followed him on his site, Ask the Pilot, for years, and recommend him to anyone with even a passing interest in aviation. If you're the kind of person who thinks airports are the neatest places on Planet Earth, you'll enjoy his work.

This piece is from 2019 - the Before Times, apparently - so it's been around a while. But I re-read it this week and thought it would be worth sharing here as part of our ongoing #IfYouReadOneThingToday series.

Long story short, he looks at the Boeing 737 MAX saga through a specifically historical lens, and explains the market-driven forces that ended up with Boeing deciding to stretch its venerable 737 just a little further rather than come up with a new clean-sheet design.

If you've been following the MAX story, this is a must-read. Then again, we should all read it, because it casts light on the factors behind what planes get developed, and how.

The Airplane That Isn't: Boeing bet the future on a 50 year-old design. Did it lose?

By Patrick Smith

Ask the Pilot

December 16, 2019

Chasing snow at night

Fresh tracks
London, ON
November 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I wasn't much in the mood to shoot last night. If we're being honest, I haven't felt like shooting much lately, which is rather unlike me, and frankly a little terrifying.

Life, you know?

But something clicked in my head as the dog and I were wandering through the newly-snow-covered neighborhood. I thought about all my friends and family who, like me, record the planet around them in pixels. They've been out there shooting their neighborhoods, too: snowy ones, wet ones, grassy ones, whatever.

And I'm sure they, like me, have days where they just aren't feeling it. Where they feel a little darker than they'd like. Where it would be easier to just do nothing. To remain silent.

Yet somehow, they persist.They find the magic inside that helps them tell their stories to others.

Indeed, sometimes our inner voices go silent, which is all part of how we deal. Yet we still rely on those around us to fight that silence and get out there.

Consider me inspired, by them, to get out there. Last night, it looked like this.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #tree #trees #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #monochrome #mental #health #ishealth #random #street #night #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

My Chanukah non-wish wish

The one where we look for light

Tonight is the first night of Chanukah, the Jewish festival of light.

Forgive me for not posting the requisite happy holiday message on my socials. I get why this has become a thing in the social media era, but it’s not me. Random wishes on a feed feel, I don’t know, insubstantial. There’s got to be more.

So here’s where I stand on this holiday. It’s all about light. About miracles of survival when logic dictates you probably shouldn’t. About prevailing despite it all. About believing in the underdog. About not bowing down to oppression.

Whatever your background and whatever you do or do not celebrate, I’d like to believe that we all share these common values, and then some. I’d like to believe that we’d all feel something by shining light into places where darkness once prevailed. By being better people to each other.

So even if you don’t celebrate this particular holiday - or maybe you do, yet you spell it a different way - please accept my invitation to go beyond the realm of the conventional holiday wish by sharing what you will be doing to shine the light and banish the darkness.

Your mission, then, is to leave an answer to this simple question: what’s the one thing you’ll be doing to be better to others?

Please leave a comment here, if you’re so inclined. I’ll start: I’ll call out unkindness when I see it rather than standing idly by.

Your turn. Go!

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #chanukah #hannukah #howeveritisspelled #jewish #holiday #all #holidays #weareone #photography #apple #iPhone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything