Lake Ontario

Sunrise in the time of COVID: Part II

/ Oleksandra Budna / 1 Comment

Last year, when the word ‘pandemic’ split our world into the before and after, I headed to Lake Ontario to watch the sunrise – my attempt to find an anchor, something to hold on to in the face of uncertainty. Last week, I found myself on the same spot at Humber Bay Park, next to an uprooted tree trunk, stripped and polished by water into a work of art – a foreground for many of my Lake Ontario pictures. A few of its roots and branches had gone missing since last year – a big triangular shape that had worked so well for framing the CN Tower was now gone. Other than that the scene looked no different from last year – the same fiery orange paint spilled along the edge of the sky in anticipation of the big star’s entry, the same comforting lull of the lake…

Waiting for a sunrise at Humber Bay Park on Lake Ontario
Waiting for a sunrise at Humber Bay Park on Lake Ontario

Same spot, two images a year apart

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A serious case of butterflies

/ Oleksandra Budna / 3 Comments

Butterflies have been plentiful this year. All day they flutter by my office window, flaunting their exquisite dance moves and the kind of freedom that is only possible if you have wings. Lured by their charm and hoping to finally capture them in their glorious multitudes, I grab my camera and head to Colonel Samuel Smith Park near Lake Ontario. After an hour of unsuccessful wandering around, I am finally rewarded with a butterfly mosaic clustered in a tree. And while they don’t amount to millions, like in this story from University of Ottawa biology professor Jeremy Kerr about his visit to the monarchs’ overwintering site in Mexico, it is still a mesmerizing sight.

monarch butterflies in a tree Continue reading →

Great Lakes Water Walk: #BecauseOfWater

/ Oleksandra Budna / 7 Comments

Nibi, Gizaagi’igo, Gimiigwechiwenimigo, Gizhawenimigo

Water, we love you, we thank you, we respect you

Nibi Nagamowin (The Water Song)

We make our way through J.C. Saddington park to the waterfront where beautiful Lake Ontario stretches before our eyes. Bathed in early morning light, its waters glisten and melt into the coral sky.

Lake Ontario in the morning

Lake Ontario bathed in morning light, one of the reasons we joined Great Lakes Water Walk Continue reading →

A Trip to Scarborough Bluffs

/ Oleksandra Budna / 22 Comments

It is a beautiful November afternoon. We are on our way to Scarborough Bluffs, one of Toronto’s famous natural attractions that I have heard so much about but never got time to visit. As we drive through the east end, my friend and I listen to Queen and talk about our cell phone obsessed culture and Toronto’s diverse neighbourhoods. My son falls asleep in the back seat.  It is a long drive. Sometimes it feels we are in a different city altogether.

We finally turn onto Brimley Road South. It winds its way downhill through the fall-coloured parkland, half of the trees already spot bare branches. We round another turn, and the blue waters of Lake Ontario come into view. I can hear my friend gasp next to me. I must admit that even though I knew the lake was coming at the bottom of the road, this inundation of open space and water is startling.

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Embracing Microadventures: Exploring Jack Darling Park and Rattray Marsh Conservation Area

/ Oleksandra Budna / 19 Comments

Every year as the fall rolls in, we find it more and more difficult to get out of the city. School, work, homework, extra-curricular activities, Halloween costumes, piles of tests for my husband to grade, somehow these activities take up more and more space and all of a sudden we can’t go camping every other weekend anymore. But it is not necessarily a bad thing because it frees up a lot of time for local explorations. Lately, I realized that quite often when I think about nature and adventures I cast my eyes far beyond the horizon to places up north or parks south of the border. Richard Louv, author of The Nature Principle and The Last Child in the Woods, calls this phenomenon ‘place blindness,’ a tendency to overlook the beauty of nature close to home. Don’t get me wrong, I still need my quiet and solitude that can only be found in remote places. However, by embracing microadventures, I discovered that lots of beautiful natural spaces can be found close by, even in a big urban area like Toronto.

View of Lake Ontario at Jack Darling Park in Mississauga

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Nature in the City: Adventures Close to Home

/ Oleksandra Budna / 5 Comments

If I could go camping every weekend, I would. Things tend to get in the way though. Swimming and art classes for our younger kid, university assignments for the older one, grocery shopping and laundry, not to mention piles of tests to grade and report cards to write for my husband. So January went by without a single opportunity to get out of the city. We did go for walks around the neighbourhood but without any snow and temperatures well below freezing, it wasn’t as much fun as an outing in the woods would be. Last week, it finally snowed in Toronto so we spent the weekend rediscovering nature next door.

Colonel Samuel Smith Park

The park is located in Toronto’s west end right by Lake Ontario. Beautiful views of the lake and nice walking trails attract lots of visitors. In the winter, the park has a popular skating loop and a pretty big tobogganing hill. People bring their skis to do some cross-country skiing along the water. We also watched guys  kite skiing on the frozen marina. It looked like a lot of fun, although I am not sure if I would put it on my bucket list.

Lake Ontario in the winter

kite skiing    kite skiing

Since we didn’t bring any equipment for skating, skiing or tobogganing, we had to find some other ways to entertain ourselves. Our son got excited about ice-covered boulders by the lake and spent a good hour exploring them in search of a perfect icicle. Even as it started getting dark, he was refusing to leave with the words: “I am sorry, mum, but I am having too much fun.”

snow angel

winter-9

kid playing in the snow

kid licking an icicle   kids playing the winter

kid in the winter     kid under a lantern at night

Centennial Park

Centennial Park is famous for its tobogganing hills so on Sunday morning we grabbed our sled and headed over there. There is a trail running not far from our building all the way to the park. It’s great for cycling in the summer and takes about 15 minutes to get to the park. Walking through the snow with frequent stops to break ice on the nearby creek and watch a group of extremely cute ducks required way more time but it was all part of the fun. After all, it’s all about the journey as they say.

winter

ducks in the winter

frozen stream

The destination was just as exciting though. The hill was ringing with laughter and screams from children and adults alike. After about an hour of sledding experiments (forward, backward, sideways), we headed home treading through the snow and breaking more ice along the way.

tobogganing hill

sledding

tobogganing  tobogganing

falling off a toboggan

Waterloo Park

Ok, Waterloo Park isn’t exactly near our home but it is close to Waterloo University where our older son is currently a student. So on a Sunday a couple of weeks ago, as we drove him back to Waterloo after a weekend at home, we decided to explore the nearby park. There is a small lake right in the middle with a pretty boardwalk and gazebos along the shore, a few walking trails and a small river (you guessed it, more ice to break). The park also has a small zoo and some historic buildings, like the first school house and an old mill. The best thing was finding some snow since Toronto was pretty much snowless at the time.

kids by a frozen river

frozen river   walking in the woods in the winter

first school house in waterloo park

old mill in waterloo park   barn in waterloo park

white peacock in waterloo park     red cardinal

frozen lake

It was all great fun but now I am looking forward to the Family Day weekend when we can finally spend some time in the woods. Only a few more days to go!