Cape Spear, Newfoundland

Here it is folks: our proud flag standing on the spot that ushers in Canada Day first!

Cheers!

Walking along the Welland Recreational Canal towards the Main Street Bridge 2011

I have always considered the Welland Recreational Canal one of the most picturesque places in the community - even when I first moved here nearly twenty years ago. But lately its appeal has intensified - starting with the birth of the new Civic Centre. Then came the delectable IlluminAqua series and now, as I sit at its home on Merritt Park's amphitheatre steps, I almost feel as if I am on vacation... I am surrounded by the sort of scene that makes me happy to be away from the routine of everyday. But I am just five minutes from home!

It was a beautiful June day alive with a post-parade buzz, the flowing stream of triathalon runners, and the occasional kayak being pushed through the placid water, all seasoned with a classic rock selection of songs being performed over at The Bridge. The date was Sunday, June 24 and the topic is impressions of the 2012 Welland Rose Parade.

You are probably wondering why I have a colourless canal picture adorning my Rose Parade blog entry! Well, since events that took place earlier that day almost resulted in my missing the parade altogether, I managed to appear at the apex of the Main Street and Division Street Bridges on time but without camera in tow!!!

Oh it was painful, let me tell you, but I proceeded to suck it up telling myself at least I am getting to experience the cavalcade in its entirety. And I was perfectly fine until the appearance of the first transport truck with its polished mirrored bumper taunted me with a delightfully distorted reflection of the crowd sitting before it. Reflections are my guilty photographic pleasure, so the pangs of camera deprivation struck again when a row of shining tubas was placed gently onto the ashphalt, reflecting the swirling, warped images of of the crowd in its bell. Despite the absence of evidence, I thoroughly enjoyed this year's Rose Parade. There was no question as to the theme of the event thanks to the adornment of roses flanking truck grills and woven into tire rims and tucked behind the ears of the ladies waving to the crowd from their respective convertables. The weather was perfect and the rolling entertainment stellar and intriguing. Particularly the bands! I'd read in the Welland Tribune that there were 16 marching band entries this year - a report that made me want to attend even more vehemently than usual!

There was a great representation of musical talent ranging from a simple but classic Drum and Bugle band to the mature Asian women all dressed in yellow striking the red drums at their sides to the final group: a sea of young, red attired musicians from Burlington that nearly occupied the entire length of the Division Street Bridge! (which would have made a FINE picture...!) In addition to the carefully calculated marching sequences, I love witnessing the choreography of hydration distribution during parades - I bet on a hot summer day, those with the bottles of water stacked up in their arms attentively offering sustenance must be just as important as those with the white tubas coiled around their backs or taught drums clinging to their stomachs.

In addition to the marching bands, we were treated to a delightfully quirky pair of  Chinese Dragons, not a sight you get to see everyday! They swirled about on the pavement weaving around human counterparts whose legs, curiously enough, sported the same flamboyant material as those on the dragons... oh right, they were obviously the relief, the second shift...

We marvelled at the massive horses marching proudly in unison (rows of robust legs that would have / could have served as another fantastic photographic subject...!) before coming to a stop right in front of our seats. Just after them, a kid on a four wheeler came to a successive stop, accompanied by another young man who, judging from the resemblance, we decided had to be his brother. I wondered what they were doing in the parade because there was no advertising or other decoration on his vehicle or their clothing. Then we watched as the one boy proceeded to shovel horse droppings from the pavement into a metal can affixed to the back of the four wheeler!! He couldn't have been more than fourteen years old and here he was doing this unpleasant task in a parade, all the while sporting a monumental smile! It was great and I enthusiastically joined in the applause offered from the crowd when he was finished.

So we walked away from the parade with nothing more than a bouquet of lollipops safely tucked into the band of my little guy's sock! But the absence of pictures didn't take too much away from the afternoon. In fact, it may have allowed me to experience it even more acutely, or at least from a different perspective!

Spotted in the crowd across from the Table Rock area, Niagara Falls, ON   

June 15, 2012 around 6:00 pm

So I decided that I was going to watch the performance at home in light of the perceived congestion and of important tasks that could not wait until Saturday. But thankfully a wise friend suggested to me "why not drive over there after work just to see firsthand where everything is going to be taking place later?" Why hadn't I thought of that?! I was approaching the decision on whether or not to go to the event as all or nothing, but here was a way to experience it both ways!


I was able to see the origins of those monumental crowds that you saw clustered around Table Rock later in the night. I spied families camped out on blankets and lounge chairs around the great illumination building as they adjusted their binoculars and steadied their tripods. They played card games and took naps and tickled their laptops while keeping the Nikola Tesla statue company. They arrived with stacks of pizzas and portable coolers while grasping tiny hands and pushing wagons and even a double-decker dog stroller! Diverse collaborations of visitors to Niagara Falls are a given, particularly in the summer months, but during the crescendo of the crowd on this particular night it wasn't hard to tell that it was going to be very close quarters as the main event drew nearer.


I think for me, the most captivating part of the Nik Wallenda experience was seeing and hearing how excited he was to be living out his dream. He not only displayed mental and physical prowess, he was like a kid at Christmas, giddy to be seeing Niagara Falls in a way nobody else in his audience could ever see. Apparently, unlike what most would consider a smart move for such an elevated feat, he always intentionally looks down as he's walking. I imagine that this contributes to his exuberance, experiencing his craft wholly and intensely and enthusiastically.


Here is a man who had worked hard and persisted relentlessly to attain permission to do what he fully knew he was capable of doing. I bet the possibility of failure wasn't even an option for him and there was no "daredevil" factor involved at all. Of course I am just speculating here, but this is what he does. I like to think it affected him the way someone else would feel upon finally standing before the Eiffel Tower, or receiving a law degree after years of concerted effort.


Nik Wallenda may not have been saving the world from medical woes, or other feats that some feel would warrant all the fuss afforded him. But I have no doubt that he did inspire people to proceed in the direction they know in their hearts they ought to be going, just from his determination and his sheer exhilaration to be doing what he'd always wanted to do. Steering away from potential risk isn't an option. This is a man who is truly living.

Niagara Falls, ON as seen from the Niagara Parkway

The calm before the aerialist storm.

Okay, not exactly. I shot this nearly a year ago - long before a two inch thick cable became stretched across the brink of the falls excitedly awaiting its 30-40 minutes of fame. That's how long they say it will take Nik Wallenda to walk across it tomorrow night and make history.

I was so sure I would be in attendance, watching the performance live! I don't have a problem with stunt revival at this natural wonder nor do I think the artistry and thrill of his endeavour will be reduced with the addition of a tether. Wallenda is still an expert funambulist perceived to possess nerves of steel but who probably approaches walking a tightrope with the same comfort as we do when walking along the sidewalk. And if I lived close enough, I would walk there just to be a part of the crowd and feel the exhilaration firsthand.

I revel in this stuff... the escape from the routine... the diversion... I love the flurry of excitement on New Year's Eve when people are getting off work early and running around getting last minute lemons and crispbread and ice for their celebratory parties or picking up cases of Steam Whistle to bring to their friends' parties. I relish the patriotism and camaraderie and collective television focus that accompanies the Olympics. Basically anything that enlivens the atmosphere and sprinkles a little cayenne pepper atop everyday activities and a predictable landscape is fantastic in my books. I can feel the buzz even from where I'm sitting.

I live about a half an hour away from the location of this photo - driving time that would be exponentially increased amidst tomorrow's traffic - and yet I would love to have gone. It seems kind of shame to watch it on television like all those who are too far away to realistically drive there. But then I remind myself that not everyone who lives in Vancouver watched the Olympics in person!

I'll relax at home knowing my vehicle is parked in an exclusive (and free) parking spot in my own driveway and enjoy the comprehensive coverage offered online by the local newspaper complete with background information and interviews and overviews. I'll watch it with warm familiarity of the exact spot where Nik Wallenda will emerge from the illuminated mist and claim his glory. I revel in this stuff.

Conception Bay South, Newfoundland

This is what does it for me.

Yes, I do fall under the spell of the precipitous boundaries of the coastal cliffs, with all of its charismatic and raw beauty, its unapologetic roughness, and its savoury, sprawling vistas. I revel in its gritty soundtrack of the screeches of gulls and the zigzagging of fiddle bows. I love to sink into my Dad's comfy chair as I feel the weight of everyday responsibilities and considerations lifted from my weary shoulders. Newfoundland provides the refuge that I need, in many immeasurable ways.  

But beaches such as this one at Foxtrap in Conception Bay South is what tugs at my heart and makes me long to go back. I love to stand on this rippled expanse of land, pleasantly populated with impossibly smooth rocks that are rendered even more charming from being repetitively varnished by the ocean's touch. When I look at any photograph that I've taken while there, I can smell the briny air - comprised of the salt spray from the Atlantic, the aroma of ocean castoffs baking on the rocks, and the richness of seaweed and other marine vegetation being basted by the water.

My favourite kind of beach rock is one such as what you see in the exact middle of the photo below, the ones that appear greenish with alternating rings of grey.

I think every time I am there, I swipe a few rocks to add to my landlocked existence. I am amazed at how they always seem to retain the smell of their salt water home, no matter how many times I slide them around in my palm. And sometimes I run one under some water to replicate that shine... just for old time's sake.