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April 9, 2014 – Riverdale Park East, Toronto, Canada – Shot by John Zeus

Spring thaw clean up. Time to remove the fallen trees from the garden caused by last December’s destructive ice storm. Quite sad, to say the least.

The ice storm caused significant damage to the tree canopy across Toronto. Approximately 20 per cent of the city’s tree canopy has been lost.

It was a big job, one that would have cost me about $1500 If I hired a tree cutting service. The decision to undertake the task myself not only saved money but provided me with the personal satisfaction and pride in a job well done. Thank you to The Home Depot Tool Rental (Curity Ave.) for their reliable gas and electric chainsaws, instruction, safety tips and great customer service. Not to mention their complimentary safety glasses, removed for this photo op, lol.

April 04, 2014
Photos by Mary Tokatlidis, Mom – (first 4 photos)
Home Depot (Curity Ave.) photo from Google.

A woman is reflected in a puddle from rain and melted ice as she walks her dog during winter in Toronto, January 11, 2014. The frigid air and “polar vortex” that affected about 240 million people in the U.S. and southern Canada will depart during the second half of the week, and a far-reaching January thaw will begin, according to weather forecasts. The picture was taken by placing the camera upside down in the puddle.

More Of My Posts About Winter

Source: REUTERS/Mark Blinch (CANADA – Tags: ENVIRONMENT ANIMALS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY), via A woman is reflected in a puddle from rain and melted ice as she walks her dog in Toronto.

November 24, 2013 | Photo: CN Tower & Condos, Toronto, Ontario – Looking east from the waterfront | Taken by John Zeus on a Samsung Galaxy S3

Photo Thoughts: Condos & Migrating Birds

Toronto is a booming city with a new emphasis on urban intensification. It seems like a new glass condo tower goes up every other week.

The city lies in the confluence of two major bird migratory paths so there is a higher than average concentration of migrating birds. New condo developments present a wall of glass-clad high-rises in the middle of the birds’ routes. When these glass condos reflect the surrounding environment, the birds take it for natural landscape and fly right into the glass.

Millions of birds die this way in the city every year. I hope the condo developers, city hall and Torontonians find a permanent solution to this problem. The birds are depending on us.

The first snowfall of the season. Taken at Toronto’s Don Valley Brickworks during a morning walk.
November 27, 2013 – Photos by John Zeus

Airport passenger ferry “Marilyn Bell I” crosses one of the world’s shortest regularly scheduled ferry routes.

Sunrise over Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport – a small airport located on the Toronto Islands.

Island Airport Sunrise
A ferry crosses the channel from Billy Bishop Airport on the Toronto Islands to the mainland at sunrise.
Photos by John Zeus

Toronto’s Mayor, now stripped of his non-statuatory powers by city council continues to grab international headlines and provide free fodder for late-night comedians.

Why is Rob Ford still the Mayor of my city? When will this circus at city hall end? When will Mayor Ford finally get help for his problem? I keep asking myself the same questions, every time I go online, turn on the TV, listen to the radio, pick up a newspaper, talk to my colleagues.

It must be extra tough being Mayor in a city the size of Toronto, which really should be its own province. And, when you add on vast quantities of booze, a crack pipe, coaching football, maybe a little sex and a lot of public drunkenness, a video rant and god knows what else onto the mayoralty agenda it makes it even tougher. Eventually the addiction, the destructiveness and the lies catch up to you and everything in your private and public life unravels.

In a few months alone, Mayor Rob Ford brought dishonour to public office and our city. His actions continue to embarrass Torontonians and provide still more joke fodder for late night TV comedy. On The Tonight Show, host Jay Leno called the mayor ”God’s gift to comedy” and mocked Ford’s statement to Fox News last week that he one day wanted to become prime minister.

Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Jon Stewart, Jimmy Fallon, Conan O’Brian and David Letterman continued to mock Ford on their shows this week as they have done since Ford admitted to smoking crack cocaine earlier in November. ^

“I love him, I really do. Every time he’s in public he does something great.” – Jimmy Kimmel

Video clips sourced from YouTube

Chris Daughtry Sings “The Ballad of Rob Ford” – Jimmy Kimmel Live

Whoopi Goldberg On Mayor Rob Ford – The Tonight Show with Jay Leno

Ron Burgundy Sings Mayor Rob Ford’s Campaign Song – Conan O’Brian

by John Zeus
Video Source: YouTube

Leaf On The Windshield On A Sunday Morning
Shot in Riverdale, a Toronto neighbourhood
Photo By John Zeus