by Deirdre McCluskey, Administrative Coordinator, Harlequin Series
Condo life has its advantages: security, sharing big home maintenance costs, no shoveling snow or scraping ice off the windshield and getting into a freezing car in winter. (I do not miss that!) But as someone who used to garden passionately, I sometimes miss being close to nature.
I love the juxtaposition of industrial and natural elements.
On a street once lined with mills and factories, flowers thoughtfully planted
by a brick wall add colour and interest, and evoke the graceful beauty of times
gone by.
Condo life has its advantages: security, sharing big home maintenance costs, no shoveling snow or scraping ice off the windshield and getting into a freezing car in winter. (I do not miss that!) But as someone who used to garden passionately, I sometimes miss being close to nature.
My condo is in a former
industrial area, so there aren’t a lot of lush trees or gardens nearby. But Toronto
is actually a very green city, with a good number of beautiful parks. The jewel
of these is High Park, 399 acres of trails, sports facilities, playgrounds,
gardens, a zoo, and even a train!
The area by the pond is completely naturalized, home to a
huge variety of birds, plants and animals—including some extremely brazen
chipmunks. (I mean, seriously, they would knock you to the ground and demand
all your peanuts if they could.)
In my neighbourhood, a new park called Corktown Common has
been landscaped with indigenous plants to create a little bit of Canadian wilderness
in the heart of the city. A mini-wetlands is surrounded by reeds, native trees,
shrubs and wildflowers, and as the sound of the city falls away, you can hear
bees moving from plant to plant, and bullfrogs calling to each other.
And where plants are missing, creative souls conjure the
natural world in other ways.
So even though I grew up in the suburbs, I’ve come to love
the city so much. To experience the mix of past and present, natural and urban,
quiet and noisy, along with an incredible variety of people and cultures, is
exciting and makes me happy.
Are you a city person or a country person?
I'm with you on the advantages of condo living--especially when it comes to snow. I love your photos of nature in the city. I grew up with acres and acres of big and small parks and the Lake Michigan shore in Chicago. Then I moved to an island in Maine and have lived in places of varying sizes ever since. It's not either-or--I love cities, the country, and small towns. I claim all as my own! Thanks for the post. It reminds me of the things I love.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading, Virginia. An island in Maine sounds like heaven - but I'd also
Deletelove to visit Chicago!
Love seeing your pictures, Deirdre. I'm from Arizona and the desert. While beautiful in its way, not very green. Going to Seattle over the holidays to visit my daughter and hoping for my first white Christmas since I was a child :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Cathy! Hope you get a white Christmas. :)
DeleteDeirdre, I'd love to see Toronto. Like Cathy, living in Arizona we don't have a lot of green. I moved to a townhouse about 7 years ago. There is still too much yard work to suit me. I have a fairly substantial back patio and yard that doesn't have grass, but gets a lot of weeds. I have a front courtyard with cacti that always need trimming and weeding under them which is hard. I do have views of two sets of mountains which I love. I don't miss the cold and snow, though. So much is a trade-off when choosing a place to live.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the trade-offs. I believe the answer is multiple homes, but I haven't been able to make that work yet!
DeleteWe are lucky in Toronto to have so many green spaces and there are lots of hidden gems scattered in residential areas which make up for the negative aspects of big city living. Nice photos,Deirdre! Maybe there are some allotment gardens in your area, to satisfy your gardening urges!
ReplyDeleteThat is a great idea, Janice!
DeleteVery little snow in Northern Mississippi! lol. I live in a small town surrounded by trees and squirrels and birds and even a snake or two. And sometimes find crayfish on my carport. Enjoyed seeing your part of the world!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds great! Sometimes I visit my sister for bird and squirrel-viewing. She has a big backyard at her house in a town nearby, with lots of big trees.
DeleteI love your photos, especially the rain dripping from the berries. I grew up on a farm. As an adult, I have lived on a small country plot and on city lots. I've only tried condo life when we've gone on vacation, but I can see the appeal of no worries over septic tanks, lawns, snow, exterior painting, etc. Wherever I am, gardens make me smile and give me breathing room, and I agree that pockets of nature are especially precious in the city. Even a tiny window box or a birdfeeder can make a huge difference.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Yes, even the smallest bit of nature is very welcome - even if it's a restaurant patio with potted plants. :)
DeleteDeirdre, what fabulous photos and since I was just in Center City of Philadelphia this past weekend, I truly missed the city life. I've spent a great deal of my life living in cities, even in South America...Quito, Ecuador to be exact. So, I know that glorious rush of elation over these juxtapositions of nature and industry. Great post!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Catherine!
DeleteHi Deirdre, I love your photos! How wonderful that Toronto is finding ways to add nature into the city. I lived in San Francisco for years and loved it, but I've also worked on farms and with horses so I guess I'm both a city and country person. We have a garden but I don't have enough time for it these days. It looks pretty sad right now. Thanks so much for sharing a bit of your world with us!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Claire! If I was closer, I would offer to help out with your garden. I've been known to do a bit of "guerilla" weeding and pruning in my sister's backyard!
DeleteThanks for these beautiful pictures, Deirdre! Corktown Commons sounds like a great idea. Living in the Adirondacks, I’m surrounded by wilderness and that untamed beauty is magic. You’ve given me even more reasons to visit Toronto :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Karen! We would love to see you in Toronto. :)
DeleteBeautiful pictures! I really enjoy the advantages of a city, but it's the traffic that gets to me, so I prefer living in smaller towns. Still, there are cities in which I'd like to spend extended time. Seattle is one, Albuquerque is another. I've read a lot about Vancouver and your description of Toronto definitely makes it a place on my visit list. I've spent time in London and very much enjoyed it, also Paris, Rome, Venice, and so many others! Would love to visit Tokyo someday...well, let's just say my list is pretty long.
ReplyDeleteWonderful travel list - I'd love to visit any of those cities!
DeleteDeirdre - thanks for sharing all those little slices of nature! It's amazing how easily we can bring flowers and wildlife into our surroundings. I'm in the Southwest US where we have some beautiful flowering shrubs and cacti, and I keep houseplants to get my greenery fix indoors, too.
ReplyDeleteHigh Park sounds like a fantastic place to visit, and I'd love to wander through Corktown Common.
Weirdly, even though I love outdoor gardening, I am so bad with houseplants...At least outside I don't have to dust!
Delete