Winter in Canada

For those living in a more temperate climate, I thought I'd share some snaps of what these days look like in Toronto. I watched a short film about singer/poet/photographer Ingrid Chavez's life in snowy New England (I've linked the second half of the film at the bottom here). It's so beautiful and it shows the mystique of a snowy, cold winter. It also captures the solitude. When we're stuck on a treadmill of daily routines, it's hard sometimes not to appreciate what we have. Take a minute to look around. Play a song, stare out the window, look up at the sky...

View from our kitchen: I took this picture as I was getting ready for work one morning last week. The clouds looked like floating funnels. Believe it or not, the sky is bright at 6:45 a.m. compared to a month ago.

I thought it was high time that Duncan go skating for the first time. We went down to the skating rink at Harbourfront yesterday. It's magical skating by Lake Ontario with frozen boats in the harbour. Check out the infant behind Duncan. Some parents are really hardcore about getting their tots out on the ice. "C'mon, you can walk, you can skate!" Check out Duncan's "poor relations" helmet which consisted of a tuque with a bike helmet strapped on top. Hey, when I was a kid, we didn't even wear helmets. We just took our concussions graciously.

That's a concert stage in the distance. I've seen so many shows there: Billy Bragg, Junior and the Peas, electronic festivals, Rosanne Cash, Inuit throat singers, the list goes on.

Skating must be in the blood of Canadian kids. Duncan had no problem walking in his skates off the ice. He literally threw himself onto the ice without any fear.

This isn't to say that he didn't spend 90 percent of his time on his bottom, but he had a good time.

First Zamboni sighting.

Here's a view of the frozen harbour from a pedestrian bridge we were standing on. You can see the Roger's Centre between the condos across the street. I hate that they changed the name from the Sky Dome to the Roger's Centre. Why must everything be so corporate? If I had billions of dollars, I'd just invest it quietly into hospitals and the arts without having my name splashed about.

This boat was really pretty. I'm not sure where it came from. In the next picture, you'll see it's name.