Two Wheels To Nowhere

for over ten years now I’ve been making it a point to rent a bike and explore a little of the City and surroundings beyond the city limits, after working all week within the urban, concrete confines of the Strip and the Convention Center and the sights seen in between. from the perspective of a…

innumerable distractions in Sin City. these are a few less conventional sights that captured my short little span of attention

another cold, crisp Winter’s day. The blue sky and sinking Sun drew me out from my work to shovel the snowfall onto the burgeoning banks and then run a few errand downtown. Jeremy at the Trek shop shared my hopefulness with the noticabley longer days. a reminder to me how awesome it is to live…

-24c when we woke up this morning with the low Winter Sun streaming into our front room. Mikayla and Jordyn, still in their jammies ate breakfast and were raring to get outside. We shovelled, played around on the snowbanks and walked Artie a bit before I took off for a roll around the Bay in…

Blue Monday is a term for the third Monday of January, widely marketed as the “most depressing day of the year” due to a combination of post-holiday debt, broken resolutions, cold weather, and low motivation. it seemed like the perfect time to bundle up warmly, head down to the Flying Monkey to hoist a pint…

some sights that left a meaningful impression on me in this cold, dark, snowy month, so far

every once in a while, I need to remind myself that it actually is this simple, despite it seeming so difficult at times

powder snow continued to fall on New Year’s Eve stifling the City’s celebration in Barrie and presumably in other snow belt communities. Chris and I headed up the highway with Artie to have some fun with the Orillia gang. such an enjoyable time with Rae and Luke and the kids! Harrison and Lily love playing…

for reference, this is Chris & me at twenty-three

the photographer’s gifts that keep on giving

leaving home in dark studded tires pop like hot corn cold air bites my face leaving work, Sun’s lowpedals bring me to the darktwilight glows beyond

Monday’s commute brought me, once again, past my equine friends as they grazed breakfast on the cool, grey morning. they seemed rather frisky after they trotted over to me for a nuzzle. one of them found my sweaty jacket sleeve and enjoyed the salt lick while I gave the others a gentle rub. I suddenly…

What I remember, vicariously, through my father’s and mother’s stories…   Both my parents were Dutch immigrants to Canada in 1960. All my siblings and I were born in Canada. Growing up, we’ve heard many wartime stories (World War II), vividly remembered by mom and dad who were ten and twelve years old when the war…

walking home from City Hall last night, the peaceful evening and waning Moon conspired to create some spectacular scenes along the path home

as the Sun slowly sinks towards the Solstice, I feel that long black cloud of November is coming down on me. October was generally gorgeous outside as I got into the rhythm of my new (and longer) commuting routine. that made for mostly favourable riding to my new workplace in Oro-Medonte. Until this past weekend’s…

I rode downtown after work today to meet a colleague for dinner. Ben, from Seattle, is the marketing team’s photographer and video guy. Ben was in Ontario to capture photos and drone footage of the new Hörmann Oro-Medonte facilities as well as product application videos in and around Southern Ontario. As we arrived at the…

I figured I spend so much of each year enjoying the beautiful Ridge Road that I should help maintain it’s beauty. so, I contacted Simcoe County and told them I wanted to adopt a section of road. Lucky for me, they had the first stretch of road leaving Barrie available for me. The inaugural Two…

I had lunch today sitting at a picnic table outside our new workplace in Oro-Medonte, enjoying the Sunshine and scuttlebutt with some coworkers. our conversation was interrupted by the lazy rhythmic drone of a Lockheed C-130 Hercules’ big engines. it’s a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft, that I guess took off from the nearby Lake…

Beasts of burden graze Autumn Sunshine’s golden hour They know not their beauty

a spectacularly scenic route along the Big Chute Loop, perfect weather, and a photogenic and capable crew made for some fun photography on the two-wheeler today. starting and ending at Quayle’s was Orrin’s perfect plan. thanks for the drive, Orrin!

this cup plant’s bright blooms that Artie and I pass by on our neighbourhood walks are busy with foraging bumblebees the last few days. fascinating to stand and watch them work

ironically, the shadow looks like a Big Mac

Mikayla Leah and Jordyn came to my work for a surprise visit! awesomesauce

“it was a rainy day in Pizzaville…” after many weeks of drought, I was actually happy to see the welcomed rain, despite my plans for a long bike ride. we need it. badly. however, for the people previously considering joining me for the fifth annual Southwood Road Ramble, the rain wasn’t attractive. nevertheless, seven other…

a slow, tired walk with Artie in the evening golden hour brought us past some beautiful blooms and a busy bee that caught my eye. the warm glow of the August evening Sun provided just the right colour and amount of light I needed for these captures

I saw this truthy nugget printed on a coworker’s t-shirt on Friday (dress down for inventory). based on many experiences in my adolescence and early adulthood, it struck me as a very poignant reminder of how we become wiser and more cautious with age, but that we lose some of that reckless abandon that comes…

starting with a flat before we even rolled out of Meridian Place, delaying our start a little, allowing late-arrivers a bit more time to get ready and leave with the rest of the group after the puncture was patched up. heat was a factor today. 32c midday when we parked the bikes for lunch in…

the classic Loop with the A-crew. fast and furious. fun!

Chris and I pedaled across town to celebrate Jordyn’s three complete trips around the Sun. we stopped by the Airshow to see several skilled and spunky pilot above the Bay and a few ignorant and idiotic spectators around the Bay. of course, most people were great and happy to share the spectacule in the sky…

another successful year of the TWTN spring classic!

the forecast for the fourth annual April fondo ride was looking pretty grim during the week leading up to it. late March and early April were mostly cold and a little wet and I really needed a pick-me-up; I was hopeful this ride would help me shake the blues. a pleasant surprise that Paul made…

now there’s something you don’t see very often… contrail ahead of the airliner!

the horrible, beautiful ice storm disaster of Spring twenty-five… to a meteorologist, it’s a rarity to a tree hugger, it’s a crying shame to a photographer, it’s a rare spectacle to a property owner, it’s a liability to a mayor, it’s a state of emergency to a provincial premier, it’s a photo op to a…

despite the cold, grey, wet weather, Chris and I decided to walk about with Mikayla, Jordyn and Artie. the icy environment comes into sharper focus when seen through children’s eyes. the lights in our home had flickered several times before we left for our walk causing us to speculate there may be several branches down…

Lily’s eyes are so striking. wide with wonder. blue as the great beyond. sparking with a spirit of spontaneity and joy.

for millennia humans have been altering our environment to better suit our desires. we have developed a self-assured hubris that we can dominate and control the Natural world that surrounds us. yet, Nature proves to us time and again – think pandemics, hurricanes, wild fires, to name a few examples – that our hubris will…

the wonders of modern medicine: this was all before Doc got me on the right meds. I’m much better now 🤪

I biked to work this morning on dry roads but by noon wet sticky snow was falling. by evening, when I was forced to leave my two-wheeler at work and walk to Mom’s place and back, I experienced a cognitive dissonance as I was cursing the slippery, snow clogged sidewalks while simultaneously enjoying the beauty…

long after the colourful foliage of Fall has dropped from the branches that continue to reach for the grey Winter skies, I can’t help but look up in wonder. I marvel at the stark dendritic patterns that are silhouetted against the dark Winter sky above. often, these gnarly branches house a squirrel’s sanctuary high above…

walking with Artie on a morning when the temperature hovers around zero; hours before the thermometer will plummet. the last drops fall just before they freeze.  yesterday, Mikayla was awarded for simply being who she is. the embodiment of kindness. like her Mom. like her Gramma. my recent clavicle image tells me the regular activity…

Luci. Little LuLu. Lucifer. Fkn Luci. Luzer, are a few of the many handles she carried in our house over the course of thirteen years. years ago, Chris googled how do you make a Chihuahua stop barking… “don’t get one” was the response. her shrill bark was like fingernails on a chalkboard. Luci was always…

apparently nobody misses them… dozens of shredded copper pairs. you’d think Bell service techs would be all over it but apparently no one complains; it’s been like this for a while looks like a City lawnmower or snowplow got the better of it, LoL 😆

eye catching creations gallery link

in twenty twenty five:• may your life be simple and uncomplicated• may you remember that the “little things” really do matter• may those little things result in a boatload of happiness and gratitude Magnificent Seven, the Clash

photos by Eric vW song by Rebekah Hawker

a wet one for December. Artie wasn’t keen to walk in it

pre-Christmas views around the hood where Artie and I like to roam in the evening and Louie struggles with his saliva. Winter is officially here, whether we like it or not

a dark, dreary December is illuminated by bright family faces and our neighborhood’s colourful Christmas decorations. these views help to buoy my mood as I struggle through the darkest days of the year. a few more days until the day’s light begins to lengthen…