The Search for Christmas... Lights

On Sunday after church and lunch I went on a search for Christmas lights. The night before they had the opening for Cavalcade of Lights at Nathan Philips Square. I was actually down in the area, but skipped it because it was drizzly.

After seeing my friend Gabe's shots I got the idea of going to Brookfield Place to take photos as well as at Nathan Philips Square and the Eaton Centre.

Brookfield Place had a snowflake theme going on. There was one large snowflake on the floor in the middle of the atrium as well smaller different coloured ones hanging from the ceiling in the surrounding buildings. In front of Marché they had this large, white tree sculpture hanging from the roof.

Next I went to the Eaton Centre. I was saving Nathan Philips Square for last because when I walked through earlier they were still dismantling the Cavalcade of Lights stage and things from the night before.

Except for the Christmas tree at the north end, the decorations at the Eaton Centre don't change much. I guess it's expensive to make new ones all the time. For the past few years they've had these large metallic deer set up around the mall.

This year the Christmas tree was an enormous one that sat on the lowest level (in the basement) and rose almost all the way up to the very top of the glass ceiling. You could barely see the green through the red and white lights that covered almost every single inch of it.

I walked the top level of the mall taking shots as well as some of the catwalks above and up the stairs to the parking garage in the middle of the mall. That gave me a few unusual vantage points to shoot from.

Lastly I went to Nathan Philips Square. For the opening of the Cavalcade of Lights they opened the skating rink at City Hall too. Unfortunately the upper level surrounding the square was blocked off. They offer you the best view of the whole square for shots. That was really annoying. I had to make do walking around at ground level.

I think I managed to get some okay shots there with the skaters and Christmas lights and Christmas tree. If I had a tripod it would have been better though.

Skating Outdoors

My friends and I went skating last week at Mel Lastman Square. It's the former site of North York City Hall. It's along the Yonge Subway line at North York City Centre stop. Of course, the picture above was taken at Toronto City Hall at Nathan Philips Square. It's just a representation of what it's like to skate outdoors.

I quite enjoy skating outside. It's really fun. Much more interesting than skating inside a grey concrete box where people normally go. You get to see the skies above you and the surrounding scenery. You may have to battle the elements though. But, if you're dressed properly it still can be nice skating while it's snowing or windy.

We hit the ice pretty late on Saturday when we went out. The traffic was terrible because it snowed quite heavily just before we got on the road. It was closer to 9:30 p.m. by the time we got started.

Luckily for us, the rink guy had just taken the Zamboni around the ice before we got on. As well, at that time of day there weren't a lot of other skaters on the ice. So that was good too. It gave me, for one, a bit more space to skate around and swerve in and out.

I really wanted to skate around the ice in a clockwise motion, but I really couldn't go against the flow. Everybody always skates in a counterclockwise direction because it's easier. But, you'll never learn if you don't go the other way.

Anyway, I had a great time. Afterwards we went to the Wendy's fast food restaurant across the street from the rink. I thought they would have had hot chocolate there, but they didn't. So my friends had a hot tea and coffee and I had a Frosty. I know it's a strange thing to have in the middle of winter, but I like them and haven't had one in a long time.

Olympic Torch Relay

Vancouver, British Columbia will be holding the 2010 Winter Olympics next February. Currently the world's longest torch relay (at 45,000 kms) is going on across Canada. Yesterday, day 49 of 109, it passed through my hometown of Toronto. The final stage of the day was held at Nathan Phillips Square at Toronto City Hall.

Women's Hockey gold medalist winner, Vicky Sunohara, was the final torchbearer of the day. She brought it in and lit the cauldron on the stage where the performers had been. The wait was way too long. According to the schedule I found on-line the ceremony was to have been at 7:00 p.m. In actuality it didn't happen until over an hour later. I'm not sure if it was planned this way or if the protesters along the way delayed them. At one point, at Yonge and College, there were about 300 native protesters (according to news reports) blocking the route. The flame had to be split into two to keep on schedule. Originally it was to have gone to Sick Kids Hospital first before coming to City Hall. It was reported they had one torchbearer bring it there and another continue on to City Hall.

My day began when I met my friend Gabe for lunch in Chinatown. After that I went to the library at City Hall to kill some time. At about 6:00 p.m. I made my way out into the frigid night air to stake out a spot to see the flame as it passed by. I was hoping to leave not long after 7:00 because I had to go to gym night. Well, that didn't quite happen. They kept on with the performances and shameless, self-promotion from the sponsors until my fingers and toes were about to fall off. The torchbearer finally entered the square at a few minutes after 8:00. I was so happy to finally see her. Mostly because I wanted to get my shots and get my butt out of the cold. I know it was probably a once in a lifetime experience. And though I had been quite looking forward to experiencing it, I wasn't so cheery after that.

On the plus side, since I missed gym night, I was able to visit a few of my homeless friends around Nathan Phillips Square afterwards. They weren't very happy about the sub-zero temperatures to say the least. Anyway, I hope they enjoyed the chat. I believe they did. And I enjoyed talking with them. Afterwards I had to take a pee. My hands were so cold I couldn't undo the top button on my jeans in the bathroom. I had to wait there a few minutes until they regained feeling. Luckily for me it wasn't an emergency or else you wouldn't be hearing about it ;-)

Homeless in TO

This is Paul's bed. I can't remember how long he's been out here, but he does sleep on the streets more often than not. He's originally from Sudbury, ON. When times are good he can find work as a roofer. When they're bad... well, you can see the result. Paul is one of a number of homeless men who call the grounds of City Hall home. They're allowed, by city staff, to pitch camp here at night as long as they're gone by 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning (before the good folk head into work nearby). It may not look so bad right now, but wait until February comes round and it's -15C (5F) out and the wind is howling and the snow is piling up beside your sleeping bag. See how you like it then.

I've had the pleasure of talking with many of the guys down here. They're a really nice bunch if you take the time to get to know them. Their backgrounds are as varied as the reasons that they're on the streets. Some are young, some are old. Some have physical disabilities, some have mental disabilities. Some have just run into a string of bad luck. Whatever the case groups like, Andy Coates, Project 417 are there to lend a hand.

Project 417 was started by Reverend Joe Elkerton to, among other things, ministry to the homeless where they live - out on the street. Andy has been on staff full time since January of 2004. He, along with other team leaders, lead volunteer groups through the streets of downtown Toronto on Sandwich Runs. The volunteers come from many different places. Some are high school students, others are church fellowship groups. There's even a singles group that comes out now and then.

A typical night will begin in the parking lot behind Knox Presbyterian Church at Spadina and Harbord. Andy will instruct the volunteers on what they will be doing that evening. He explains the pre-made bag lunches they hand out are a "calling card" that gives them a chance to speak with a homeless person. Many of them have the opportunity to grab a meal at a shelter if they wish. The bag lunch gives volunteers a reason to go up to a homeless friend to see how they're doing and find out if they're alright.

Normally, after Andy speaks, they will split the volunteers into two smaller groups to cover more ground. Darlene's group usually heads north to Bloor, then goes east to Yonge and back down to Dundas. Andy will lead his group south on Spadina, across Queen to Yonge and back up to Dundas. Both groups will converge at the Tim Hortons there where they can grab a coffee and donut and then Andy will debrief them.

Volunteers describe the experience as "humbling" and educating. They learned a lot about a side of society they never had much chance to interact with previously. It made them very appreciative of everything they had in life. And they found out that giving is good for the soul... not just those of the homeless, but their own too.