Glass block magic

Squarely yours
London, ON
May 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We all have our weaknesses. More precisely, we all have many weaknesses, and one of my many weaknesses is glass block.

Weird, I know.

I can’t explain why glass block speaks to my creative soul, but it seems to come alive when viewed through a lens, and I’ll never get tired of shooting it.

I don’t think I’ve ever shot it monochrome, though, so I guess there’s a first time for everything.

What’s your photographic weakness? What themes or scenes do you find yourself returning to over the years?

Bonus points if yours are weirder than mine.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #walkabout #urban #highbury #avenue #starbucks #glass #block #architecture #design #architecturephotography #building #monochrome #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #health #everything

Remembering what we lost

What life was
Laval, QC
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Two years ago today, my wife lost her dad, our kids lost their Zaida Irving, and our family lost its patriarch.

Every memory I have of him either begins or ends - or both - with a smile. From him I learned that family isn't just who or what you're born into, but what you cultivate. His home was always open, he always made the time, he was always there, even when we pulled into town at an ungodly hour.

To our kids, he was everything, and it is their deeply rooted memories of him that have helped somewhat ease the pain of losing him. He planted some profound seeds in them, and having him in their lives made them better people as a result.

I took this photo as my wife and I were cleaning out his condo last year. At various points in the process, I found myself hovering over things, trying to remember their significance, trying to commit that feeling to permanent memory.

The top of the hutch in the bedroom was almost like a rogue's gallery of a life well lived, a glimpse into where his and my mother-in-law's life together started, and how it evolved.

And as I stood there in the silence of a place where everything was now in the past, I felt some comfort that we became who we became largely because of the life he decided to live.

We continue to do our best to honor his memory, and we're limitlessly thankful to have had him for as long as we did.

Still, it's entirely human to wish we could have had him longer.

#laval #montreal #quebec #canada #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

This old house (for now)

Timeless
London, ON
October 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

You probably don’t have to go far to come across delightfully old buildings hiding in plain sight.

Time may have been kinder to some of them than others, but they’re all worthy of a little extra attention.

Because eventually time runs out for most of them, especially when heritage runs hard up against the cold economic realities of a fast growing city and intensifying development pressure along a high-volume corridor.

So we take pictures like this one because nothing lasts forever, even if we wish it would.

#ldnont #london #hyde #park #ontario #canada #throwback #architecture #design #architecturephotography #century #old #building #brick #window #monochrome #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #dslr #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Today was a day...

Pick a direction
London, ON
June 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Today was a day to wander.

Today was a day to point the bike into the wind and see where curiosity might take us.

Today was a day to get some dirt in the tread.

Today was a day to go somewhere new.

Today was a day to stretch the envelope a little further from home than we went last time.

Today was a day to stand on an old bridge and watch the water flow past.

Today was a day to smile at complete strangers. Just because.

Today was a day to be thankful.

In other words, a day like any other.

But only if we made it so.

So we did.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #cycling #cyclist #cycle #bicycle #bike #cyclinglife #bikelife #instabike #bikeporn #orange #devinci #hatchet #gravelbike #meadowlily #bridge #green #thames #valley #parkway #tvp #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Along came a spider...

Charlotte would be proud
London, ON
September 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

In the middle of a pedestrian bridge over the river that defines our town, a spiderweb stands up to a relentless afternoon wind.

Its thin strips of silk look so fragile, but looks are clearly deceiving in this case. And when I return to this same spot a couple of days later, not only is the web still there, but it’s even larger and more elaborate than it was before.

The spider’s defiance feels somewhat inspiring as I get back on the pedals and continue on my way.

Because if a tiny insect can so successfully face and overcome such overwhelming odds, then so can we. #ldnont #london #ontario #canada #throwback #thames #valley #parkway #tvp #river #springbank #park #bridge #landscape #landscapephotography #monochrome #stilllife #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #dslr #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Related:

Charlotte's Web, redux? November 2019

Spiderman's lair, November 2017

Spiders from Mars. Or Montreal. August 2015

Raptor. Burner. Vapor.

Let's make holes in the atmosphere, shall we?
London, ON
September 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I have many strange habits, and one of them involves taking photos of flying machines.

They don’t have to all be apex predators like the F-22A Raptor I captured during last year’s #ldnont air show, but a little bit of afterburner never hurts, either.

The vapor trails off the wingtips are an added bonus. Yay physics!

#london #airport #ontario #canada #throwback #SkyDrive #AirShowLondon #aviation #lockheedmartin #f22a #raptor #stealth #fighter #flight #aircraft #avgeek #aviationphotography #planespotting #instaplane #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #Nikon #nikonphotography #photography #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

On forgiving your enemies

"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much."

Oscar Wilde

Golden hour by the side of the road

Today we race the rising sun
Middlesex Centre, ON
June 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Wonderland Road North, 6:03 a.m.

I love my sleep just as much as everyone else, but the instant I pull out of the subdivision, point the bike toward farmland and accelerate up to speed, I realize just how much I need to be here, how much I crave this, how much I need to feel the wind in my ears, the power of my legs cranking on the pedals, the tiny ripples in the road working their way through the bike and into my fingertips.

Cycling may very well be an exercise in physics, a balancing act, a power-to-weight ratio, a coefficient of friction, a spreadsheet of meticulously gathered data, or any combination thereof. But once you get past all those numbers and formulae, it’s ultimately about how it makes you feel.

And to put it bluntly, it makes me feel alive. Engaged. Happy.

Which probably explains why I tend to smile while I ride. And why the endless road seems to always beckon me forward. And why I’m only too happy to follow its lead.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #cycling #cyclist #cycle #bicycle #bike #cyclinglife #bikelife #instabike #bikeporn #orange #devinci #hatchet #gravelbike #wonderland #road #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Deadwood

Life goes on
London, ON
March 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Echoes of a primordial being...

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #medway #valley #forest #tree #trees #bark #walkabout #abstract #landscape #landscapephotography #nature #naturephotography #photography #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

When puppies sleep...

Dreams from above
London, ON
April 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

She can fall sleep anywhere, but still she has her favorite spots throughout the house, including the middle of the living room couch, where our daughter's big fluffy blanket can often be found.

I wonder what she dreams of. I wonder if she knows how grateful we are that she's become one of us.

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

Hanging out with the cows

Pasture party!
Middlesex Centre, ON
June 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I made some new friends on this morning’s bike ride.

I came across these lovelies as I rode just north of #ldnont, and they were probably more curious about me than I was about them. They walked over to me at the the fence line, and I spent a rather magical few minutes talking gently to them before it was time to let them get back to their grazing.

I can’t explain what makes me stop what I’m doing so I can talk to, wave at, or otherwise hang out with cows. We obviously don’t speak the same language, but the simple act of looking at each other somehow brought me comfort.

I hope they felt the same way. #ldnont #london #ontario #canada #cow #cows #moo #farming #cycling #cyclist #cycle #bicycle #bike #cyclinglife #bikelife #instabike #wonderland #twelvemile #road #roadside #morning #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Empty school at night

Kids learned here once
London, ON
September 2020
This photo originally shared on Instagram

There's an elementary school in the neighborhood that, like so many others in so many other neighborhoods in the province, across the country, and around the world, has been empty for what seems like an eternity.

I share this not to reopen the debate over whether governments here and elsewhere should or should not be mandating a return to the classroom before the school year ends.

Lord knows our own provincial government has dropped the ball so many times since this all started that the ball is likely no longer sphere-shaped. It's fact: we have terrible leadership.

Rather, I share this photo simply because I want to remember what it was like when centres of the community spent over a year largely devoid of life.

Whether we like it or not, we're witnessing history here, so we may as well record bits and pieces of it along the way.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #random #school #building #architecture #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #night #nightphotography #nightmode #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Canada Post delivers...design

Not a play button
London, ON
June 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Never let it be said that Canada Post doesn’t grace our neighborhoods with some beautifully designed mailboxes.

I share this particular photo here, and now, because it represents a particular form of photographic escapism that’s especially needed at this point in time.

Because life can be unfair and the world can be cruel. So I hope you wont’t mind if I spend a few minutes every day or so composing, shooting, and sharing the most trivial of images.

And if you want to join in on my burgeoning movement, you are, of course, absolutely welcome to do so.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #canadapost #mail #postal #signs #messages #random #urban #richmond #street #streetphotography #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

On dreams and dreamers

"Dreams have only one owner at a time.

That’s why dreamers are lonely."

William Faulkner

 

Early morning rides through the countryside

Resting by the side of the road
Middlesex Centre, ON
June 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The world remains an ugly place, and I’m under no illusions that it’ll get fixed anytime soon, if at all. So I'm trying a new thing: regularly taking the bike out in the morning, before the rest of the world wakes up.

Way back BK (before kids) when we lived in Montreal, I would roll my two-wheeler out at dawn, climb Mount Royal, circle the paths to the summit a few times along with the other morning runners and riders, then ride back home and prepare for the workday.

There is no mountain where we live now, and there's a lot more responsibility these days. But still, I had forgotten how cathartic these early morning experiences were, and kicked myself that I had allowed myself to fall out of the habit.

I realize figuring out a new-to-me set of wheels is going to take some time. I'm undoing nearly three decades of muscle memory, and adapting to the kinds of cycling technologies that didn't exist when my vintage machine first hit the road.

Still, amid a global pandemic and close-to-home carnage on the same roads I ride daily (please see my previous entry if you're just joining us) being able to get out of the house and just spin my legs through rolling country roads is enough to soothe my soul for a bit.

In fact, I was having such a good time on yesterday morning's spin that my planned 10 km shakedown ride quickly turned into 26. Oops.

It simply wouldn't do to forget what it looked like along the way, hence the photo.

Wherever your journeys take you, I hope you record them, too. Because we all need to get away, especially when the rest of the world is doing its best to keep us from doing so.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #cycling #cyclist #cycle #bicycle #bike #cyclinglife #bikelife #instabike #bikeporn #orange #devinci #hatchet #gravelbike #medway #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #health #everything

Related:

Mass murder in my neighborhood, June 2021

Cycling from pink to orange, June 2021

Mass murder in my neighborhood

Hyde Park and South Carriage, 10:14 a.m.

I'm angry today, and you should be, too.

At around 8:40 last night, at a #ldnont intersection not five minutes from our home, 20-year-old Nathaniel Veltman plowed his pickup truck into a family of five people, killing three adults and one teenager, and seriously injuring the sole surviving member of this family, a nine-year-old boy.

Veltman drove off, and was arrested in a strip mall parking lot about 4 km away.

This was no accident. Police say they’ve collected evidence the driver deliberately targeted this family because of their Muslim faith. A hate crime. Here. The worst mass murder in this city’s history.

Veltman has been charged with 4 counts of murder and one of attempted murder. I’m not going to use words like “alleged”. There was no justice for this family taking a walk in a supposedly safe neighborhood, and I won’t give this cretin the benefit of assuming innocence until proven guilty.

Hatred led to this, and it came from somewhere. As we process our individual and collective shock, I hope we ask ourselves what we plan to do next.

What are we prepared to do to ensure anyone, of any background, can stroll the streets near home without fear of being targeted simply because of what they believe, or who they are?

What will we do to stop the cycle of intolerance that drives Islamophobia and other forms of racism and xenophobia? When will we say enough?

Members of minorities understand what it’s like to be singled out. Whatever our background, whether we’re visible minorities or not, sooner or later it happens to us all, simply because a stranger decided we didn’t deserve to feel safe.

Or to live.

So I’ll say it here: enough.

#london #ontario #canada #hydepark #southcarriage #cherryhill #callitwhatitis #murder #enough

Related Coverage:

CTV London

CBC London

London Free Press

Reuters

Associated Press

BBC

CNN

Return to St. Joe's

Geometry against a perfect sky
London, ON
June 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Last October, I broke my pinkie in what can only be described as a freak dog-walking accident.

We encountered another dog around a blind corner, and I wasn’t prepared for 15 pounds of Schnauzer to suddenly leap into action.

The leash had been wrapped around my hand, and the immediate and significant tension was apparently incompatible with maintaining bone consistency.

Thankfully we have phenomenal health care here, so when the docs and nurses finished fixing my boo-boo, I did what any immediately discharged patient would do: I stood outside the hospital and took placemarker pics of the building with my smartphone.

The other day I had some extra time in between nearby appointments, so I returned to the neighborhood to take some more pictures of a place that’s been more than good to our family. Our two youngest were also born here, so I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for it.

It was a much nicer day than it had been last October. I had my camera-camera with me this time, and all of my fingers were working as designed.

I even had an audience, a couple of friendly nurses on break who wanted to know what I was up to and happily chatted with me while I sized things up.

The experience reminded me once more why I so often return to places I’ve already been. Because as familiar as they may be, there’s always another chapter to add to their story.

Makes me wonder what I’ll find the next time I return.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #stjosephs #hospital #lhsc #architecture #design #architecturephotography #building #street #streetphotography #photography #blue #sky #weather #wx #Nikon #nikonphotography #nikon_photography #dslr #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #health #everything

Related:

Staring into the telescreen, October 2020

Seeking sanctuary in the woods, October 2020

Canine destroyer of worlds, October 2020

Busted finger, same old perspective, October 2020

Sour cream down!

Cleanup, aisle 9
London, ON
June 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We know we’re not supposed to cry over spilled milk.

Does this apply to sour cream, as well?

Asking for a friend.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #loblaws #grocery #store #sourcream #cleanup #shopping #retail #orange #floor #reflective #random #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Waiting for the game to begin

Alone time
Tillsonburg, ON
May 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

A stranger checks his phone in the bleachers beside an otherwise empty baseball field.

I hope his story is a happy one.

#tillsonburg #ontario #canada #road #trip #travel #street #streetphotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Tres saucy

Marketing 101
London, ON
May 2021
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I would buy this pasta sauce just for the label.

Would you?

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #sobeys #supermarket #grocery #store #pasta #aisle #sauce #shopping #retail #random #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #iphone11 #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything