Paying attention

I either have an attention deficit or a memory deficit. As I was walking along Richmond St. this afternoon, I glanced towards Victoria Park and noticed, for what seemed like the first time, the beautiful white-barked plane trees that dot the park. 

I have lived in this city for 56 of my 70 years, and spent countless hours in and around that park. How could I never have noticed these trees? Other people not noticing, I can understand, but how could I not. I'm a certified tree nut. I take pictures of trees for heaven's sake. And these are gorgeous, majestic specimens.

The other, more disturbing, possibility is that I've often noticed and admired the plane trees, and forgotten. Yikes!

In fairness, I have spent little time in and around the park in winter when the whiteness of the plane trees is on full display. In the summer, green foliage dominates the eye. And most of the time in winter, the sky is cloudy and the white of the trees doesn't stand out. Right now, against a blue sky, it does.

So I walked through the park, and stopped at the "war memorial" - not the cenotaph in the southeast corner where they hold Remembrance Day ceremonies, the statue near the bandstand with the rifle-toting soldier in a pith helmet. 

Again, had I just never noticed or simply forgotten that it's a Boer War memorial? Once you start noticing things, you start noticing. For example, that Boer War memorial is actually a more-than-competent piece of sculpture. 

The walk continued across the street in Centennial Square, site of some of the worst architecture in the city. City Hall, which sits on the south side of the square, I don't mind. But Centennial Hall, the concert hall, and Centennial House, an apartment block, both built in 1967, are horrendous. 

Centennial Hall was always ugly and never suited to purpose, with abysmal acoustics and poor sight lines. The mezzanine level seats face in to the centre of the hall rather than the stage! It should have been torn down years ago. The apartment building looks like a tenement  block.

And yet I took pictures.

I walked up Wolfe St. and took this picture of an interesting late Victorian duplex. I'd never noticed it either. (Or I had and just can't remember.) It's at 310-312 Wolfe.

And finally, this slightly odd pic of One Richmond Row appearing to grow out of the top of an apartment block on Kent St.

 As the pictures make clear, it was a gorgeous day. When I got home, Karen said Environment Canada claimed it was only 3C. It felt closer to 10. It felt like spring. Which is of course a trick that winter likes to play.