COVID Toronto

Since our son moved to Toronto, I have discovered that I really enjoy the city, and love visiting he and his partner and exploring all that the vibrant city has to offer. However, visiting during the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly been different. Toronto had a serious outbreak and the area where our son lives was one of the most affected areas of the city for the virus. On the upside, they were able to get fully vaccinated quicker than even us ‘seniors’ back in Nova Scotia. Things have certainly settled down a lot, infection numbers are way down and with all of the family fully protected by two vaccinations, we felt quite safe, but dealing with the virus and the pandemic in a big city is different than in Nova Scotia. The population density is just so much greater and there is not as much space anywhere to social distance. Back home you might meet one or two people when walking somewhere, where here there is a steady stream of people sharing the sidewalks with you. For the most part people in Toronto are taking the virus very seriously, and most people out and about either wear a mask or have one around their neck, ready to pull it up for protection when needed. As a result, we are tending to spent time visiting the children at home rather than out exploring the city as much as we did. However, on a rainy Sunday after we arrived, I did decide to explore the neighbourhood around their new condo. It is an interesting neighbourhood, with many old heritage homes, and some beautiful newer condos and apartments, but as with any big city, also some seriously diverse areas, so the walk around the streets in the neighbourhood was an interesting one. I saw beautiful gardens, lovely parks but also tent dwellings for the homeless, some low rent buildings and, even one woman having a violent fist fight with an innocent garden plant that was obviously causing her concern. She was literally beating the s*** out of the poor plant with her fists as she cursed and swore at it - I moved out onto the street and hurried by worried that I might do something equally concerning to her.

I have attached a few photos from my exploring the neighbourhood.
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A beautiful city garden

Just one of my "Art" photos

One way to encourage people to get vaccinated

Just another one . . . .

How long before the windows are covered?

Plants sharing space with natural gas lines