A Walk in the woods

While our mechanic put new brake pads and rotors in our aging Toyota, I went for long walk in the Medway Valley Heritage Forest, a wooded preserve along the southern end of Medway Creek, which flows into the Thames further south and east. It was an easy walk from my mechanic's to the trail head.

I hadn't been down there in years and I don't think I ever actually made it to the banks of Medway. I'd forgotten how peaceful it can be in a forest, especially so early  in the season when not many other people are about. I had over an hour of tramping about without seeing anyone.

There has been quite a bit written recently about nature or eco therapy, the psychological benefits of getting out and walking in nature. I can attest to its effectiveness. I definitely came out feeling refreshed and relaxed. Not that I went in a bundle of nerves or anything. But it did put a smile on my face.

It helped that the weather was gorgeous: sunny and mild. It was mucky down there, though. The paths are not paved, which is actually good because it helps keep people away at this time of year. And it was possible to walk beside the path and stay relatively dry.

Of course, I took lots of pictures. It's part of the therapy.

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I did go for another walk this afternoon. This one did not put a smile on my face.

Karen and I started out together, walking along Talbot. When we came to the Fullarton-to-Queens Ave. block and I saw the derelict old federal building - where Karen once worked - I was reminded again how pissed off it always makes me. It's been sitting empty and moldering for - I don't actually know how long, probably ten years or more. It's a blight on the downtown, yet successive federal governments have done nothing about it. 

Sell it or develop it!

But don't sell it to Schmuel Fahri. Karen and split up at Fullarton and I walked down to Dundas St. It's a sad place, especially for anyone old enough to remember when it was the true shopping centre of the city. 

Today, the city government is still trying to revive it, most recently by spending millions to turn Dundas between Rideout and Wellington into a "flex" street - one that has vehicle traffic most of the time, but can be easily blocked off and pedestrianized for special events. They put down an expensive curbless brick roadbed and installed seating and decorative touches.

Trouble is, the new look doesn't do anything about the fact that Dundas is still a hangout for junkies and other street people because so many social services are still concentrated in the city centre. I noticed today that the little seating areas in the block between Richmond and Clarence, which are generally monopolized by street people, and were today, have already been damaged. It looked like somebody has taken a hammer to some of the polished stone table/seats.

And then there are the buildings, the beautiful old Victorian storefronts, most of which have been ruined. The worst offender is probably this one, yet another former federal government facility, with its angel stone facing. It's now owned by Fahri, empty and boarded up, as so many of his buildings are.

The mural on the side of the building is the only saving grace, and I'm not sure it will survive the construction going on behind those hoardings.

Here's another one, also owned by Fahri, also mostly or totally empty. It at least has been restored - although almost certainly not by Fahri, but some previous owner. It's right beside the new central library.

Best not to dwell on this shit. There must be something worth watching on Netflix...