Ontario:Trivia and Facts

Yes, it's spring and I am a gardener, but these are wild flowers. In fact, this is Ontario's official flower, the trillium. It grows at the edge of the woodlands in May. These photos are from High Park near Grenadine Pond. If you are in any big parks or in the Ontario countryside, look into the forest. You will see these small white flowers scattered under the trees. If you are really lucky, you will see a dark red trillium which is rare. One warning! Please don't pick the trilliums. It is illegal to pick our provincial flower.

To celebrate this Ontario flower, here is a trivia quiz about the province. Are you an Ontarian? Then you should know the answers to most of these questions.

Remember, if you do not understand a word, double click the word. Then you will get the meaning and more information.

1. The capital of Ontario is

a) Toronto b) Ottawa c) Kingston

2. Ontario is between

a) Alberta and Quebec

b) Nunavut and Manitoba

c) Quebec and Manitoba

3. Ontario is beautiful, but is does not have

a) Niagara Falls b) Rocky Mountains c) Algonquin Park

4. Toronto is the biggest city. Tourists will not find

a) CN Tower b) Casa Loma c) Banff

5. The premier of Ontario is

a) Dalton McGuinty b) Stephen Harper c) Jack Layton

6. The large body of water to the south is Lake Ontario and to the north is

a) Atlantic Ocean b) Lake Erie c) Hudson Bay

7. Which Canadian singer was not born in Ontario

a) Shania Twain b) Celine Dion c) Justin Bieber

8. This Canadian actor or actress was not born in Ontario

a) Jim Carrey (The Mask, Dumb and Dumber)

b) Michael J. Fox (Back to the Future, Stuart Little)

c) Ellen Page (Juno, Inception)

9. The official bird of Ontario is the

a) Canadian Goose b) Loon c) Blue Jay

I have lived most of my life in Ontario, so the first questions are easy for me to pull from my head. The next questions are Ontario statistics and I got some help from "Ontario Travel". Try these questions. Then check your answers below.

10. Ontario has 250,000 lakes or

a) 20% of the world's fresh water

b) 1/3 of the world's fresh water

c) 1/10 of the world's fresh water

11. The population of Ontario is 12 million or

a) 1 in 5 Canadians

b) 1 in 10 Canadians

c) 1 in 3 Canadians

12. Spring is from March to May. The average spring temperature is 8 Celsius (46 Fahrenheit) to

a) 18 degrees Celsius (64 Fahrenheit)

b) 22 degrees Celsius (72 Fahrenheit)

c) 15 degrees Celsius (59 Fahrenheit)

Would you like to learn more about Ontario? Try these sites.

• About Ontario
• Ontario Travel
• Government of Ontario

Answers: 1a, 2c, 3b, 4c, 5a, 6c, 7b, 8a, 9b, 10b, 11c, 12a

Spring in Toronto:High Park

Picnic season is starting. One of the best places for a picnic is under a cherry tree in High Park,Toronto. Better yet, if you go at the end of the cherry blossom season, the pink flowers will fall of the tree and float down around you. Cherry blossoms fall off rather than fade away.

This photo is from the weeping cherry tree in my backyard. For a spectacular show, see the rows of mature cherry trees in bloom at High Park right now.

Where are the blossoms?

High Park Blossom Map

What's at High Park?

High Park is a huge park in the west end of Toronto. I've taken a bike on the subway to the High Park stop. You can bike in the park. There's a children's playground, a free zoo, a swimming pool, a dog park and a restaurant. In the summer, there's an outdoor theatre. Watching a play under the stars is a lot of fun. For more information, check out the official High Park site.

High Park Toronto

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April Buds Open

April showers bring May flowers.

Yeh! The flowers are blooming. The last photo (below) shows the buds in rainy April. Now look at the colour in May! It's just starting.

Expressions of Spring

April showers

Bring May flowers

This year, we got a lot of rain:( When you look around the world, I think our weather isn't that bad. The cloudy days affect us all, but we live in safe dry homes.

In a few days, the flowers will blossom on this bush. Maybe, I will be able to photograph this plant in bloom. It usually blooms around Mother's Day which is the second Sunday in May.

I was walking the dog in the rain and thinking of the many English expressions that use weather vocabulary. Here are ten sayings or expressions. Most of these use words from spring weather. Can you guess the meaning of these expressions?

1. I feel under the weather:(

2. Don't rain on my parade.

3. Get your head out of the clouds!

4. It's raining cats and dogs.

5. I'm going to my friend's bridal shower.

6. He showered me with gifts:)

7. He is no spring chicken.

8. It never rains but it pours.

9. Could I take a rain check?

10. The calm after the storm.

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Spring in Toronto 4/14/11

• The first flowers are blooming.
• The grass is turning green.
• The buds are on the trees.

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April: Earth Month

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Winter in Toronto, 2011

Last week, Toronto had some storms. A walk at Lake Ontario shows the trees and bushes covered in ice. The last two weeks of January and the first two weeks of February are usually the coldest part of the winter. This is early February and it was cold! My camera got so cold, it stopped working.

I look at these winter photos, but I know the February thaw will follow. The ice will begin to melt by the end of February. March is always unpredictable. We could get some snow storms in March. We have had a lot of snow this winter and it looks like it will be here for some time.

Check out the weather in Toronto here.

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Toronto in December, 2010

Where are we? Downtown TO

Well, this is Ashbridges Bay. It's quiet in December, but the parks along Lake Ontario are still open.

Do you notice Toronto's landmarks?

The CN Tower can be seen from many directions including the lake.

Check out the CN Tower here.

Winter in Toronto 6

My feet are cold.
By Grant MacDonald

A picture is worth a thousand words. Winter has hit in Toronto. It's one of those Sundays, it's best to cuddle up with a good book or a laptop and wrap yourself in a warm blanket. Just looking outside makes me feel cold. The newsman says the cold weather is going to be around for a few days.

However, there is no snow yet in Toronto. Further north like in Ottawa, it's very white and beautiful. Right now, it's too cold to snow, but the snow storms will come. Soon enough, the snow ploughs will be humming up and down the streets and the homeowners will be shovelling heavy snow. There is actually a law in Toronto that requires all sidewalks to be cleared after a snow fall. Luckily, senior citizens can have their sidewalks cleared by the city. So right now, is the calm before the storm. Lots of snow brings chaos to the city!

Feel like venturing out this winter, check out the winter activities organized by the city. Toronto's WinterCity Festival starts end of January. Press here.

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Tulips in Bloom
Originally uploaded by szuberi

May means spring flowers and trees. Enjoy the tulips and cherry trees at High Park. Edwards Garden and Osgoode Hall, York University also have those beautiful pink cherry blossoms.

Spring in Toronto

Toronto Pillow Fight by Reza Vaziri


March 21, 2009, Torontonians met downtown for some fun at Dundas Square near the Eatons Centre. Everyone brought a pillow for a massive pillow fight! There were lots of young people and parents arrived with their children. Some of the participants wore silly costumes to celebrate the free cultural event. At 3:00 p.m., the signal was given and the annual Toronto Pillow Fight began.

The participants had to follow some simple guidelines. Newmindspace helped organize the annual event and here's their suggested rules.

Rules: Please follow these guidelines to ensure a safe and fun pillow fight for everybody!

+ Soft pillows only!
+ Swing lightly, many people will be swinging at once.
+ Do not swing at people without pillows or with cameras.
+ Remove glasses beforehand!
+ Wait until the 3:00 to begin.
+ Pillow fight ends when the sun sets.
+ Do not abandon your pillow at the location.

Cleanup: Please limit your use of feathers. As the pillow fight grows in size, so does the mess. By participating, you are pledging to clean up twice the mess you made :)

Good news for those outside of Toronto: Tomorrow is World Pillow Fight Day!

In Canada, Quebec City and Vancouver have signed up for Saturday, April 4th. Many cities all over the world from New York City, US to Paris, France to Cape Town, Africa will hold massive pillow fights.




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Wanna be Wednesday 4/1

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I want to be farmer. Then I could train chickens to mother puppies. This farmer decided to give the puppy, Lucy, to the hen after the mother dog died in a tragic accident. The hen kept Lucy warm and looked after the poor little thing. The dog thought it was a chicken and would follow the mother hen everywhere. Lucy had to be given puppy food, but she would peck at it like the mother hen.


Also, I want to be a modern cowboy. I saw this commercial on television. Now that cats are worth more money than cows, cowboys are finding jobs herding cats. I love cats. Watch this video and you'll see the cowboys describe their new work. Press here.


So, maybe you don't believe these two stories? April fools!

The real truth is I want to be a practical joker, so I can try to trick people. It's fun to play practical jokes and on April 1st until noon, people get tricked. Even newspapers have fun on April Fools.

Wanna be Wednesday 3/18

Mature trees are in the many parks along the Rideau Canal.

I want to be back in Ottawa. I just got back from a visit to Ottawa which is the capital of Canada. I am very familiar with Ottawa as I graduated from University of Ottawa. It is a much smaller city than Toronto. In fact, Statistics Canada 2007 recorded Ottawa's population at 1,168,788 while Toronto is well over 5 million.

Ottawa has a different flavour than Toronto. Because it has a smaller population, you notice the students more. There are two universities and a community college. Downtown is the University of Ottawa which has English, French and French Immersion students. It's natural for the French language to be in the capital of Canada.

Why does the French language thrive in Ottawa? One reason is Ottawa is near the border of Quebec. A bridge over the Ottawa River joins the two provinces, Ontario and Quebec. The first language in Quebec is French. Also, Ottawa is full of federal government workers. The two official languages in Canada are French and English, so many of the government employees in Ottawa are bilingual. There first language can be French or English.

In Toronto, English is the dominant language and there are seldom opportunities to speak French. When I moved to Toronto, it became difficult for me to practice my French. You know what happens if you don't practice a language. Now I can't use my French language very well.

Another noticeable characteristic of Ottawa is its attention to art and culture. It has many different kinds of museums from planes and rockets in the Aviation Museum to some of the best Canadian art in the National Gallery of Canada. Always a favourite is the famous paintings of Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven. I especially like the small paintings these painters did up north in the wilderness. They would use these to later paint the final bigger canvass paintings. The small ones sometimes have a spirit or feeling the larger ones can't capture.

Having lived five years in Ottawa, I always feel comfortable returning to Ottawa. I like the French culture there and enjoy visiting old friends who use both their French and English. To live in Ottawa, it's best to be bilingual and be prepared for a long cold winter as it is further north than Toronto.


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5 Reasons I Love Toronto

• The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). My grandmother took me there for my seventh birthday. The totem pole, the mummies from Egypt and the dinosaurs still excite me. Later, they added the bat cave and the Canadian animal section. Recently, the new "crystal" addition was completed.

• Restaurants. There are restaurants all over the city. There are cheap to expensive restaurants. Also, you can eat food from many different countries. For example, I like Chinese, Japanese, Mexican, Italian and Korean dishes.

• Big green spaces. The Toronto Zoo is a great place to walk. We have some big parks like High Park and Centre Island. Lots of parks are along Lake Ontario.

• .Education.There are lots of good schools in Toronto. There are many different kinds of high schools, so students can follow their interests. We have several colleges and universities.which offer different programs.

• The CN Tower. It gives Toronto strength. You can look up and find it anywhere downtown. It works like a compass because it is in the centre of the city near Lake Ontario. I remember my kids were worried about the CN Tower when the Twin Towers in New York City were destroyed 9/11. I visited the CN tower the first year it opened and on it's thirtieth anniversary. The CN Tower is no longer the tallest building in the world, but it is one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

5 Growing Pains for Toronto

• Rush hour in Toronto. Too many cars. The TTC subway breaks down and the buses can be slow in cold weather..Its hard to get a seat. In really cold weather, - 20 degrees Celsius, the electrical switches for the GO train don't work.

• Toronto is a poor city. It doesn't get enough money from the Canadian government. The home owners and renters pay too much city taxes.

• The pollution. In the summer, we get smog alert days. The smog gets too high on really hot days. The winds blow it east, so it is worse east of Toronto.
  

• A new hockey team. Our poor Maple Leafs haven't won since 1967. The American and Canadian hockey teams compete for the Stanley Cup. It's the prize for the best hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL).
  

• Crime in Toronto. The crime rate is low in Toronto, but there are some gangs who carry guns. They think they are cool?! Our gun laws need to be stronger. The kids in public school and high school need lots of good programs to keep them out of trouble in the city.

What's happening in Toronto this weekend?

Check out the Toronto activities or events here


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Valentine's Sweets on the Danforth.


Valentine's Day is coming. The weather is warming and I was actually able to get out and take pictures for about an hour before my fingers started to get cold. When I was snapping pictures, I could only wear a pair of thin leather gloves.

The candy store, Suckers, is from the Danforth which starts about Jones Avenue and goes to Broadview Avenue or from Donlands Subway to Broadview Subway. Do you see the people and snowy street behind the store sign?

The Danforth is known for its many Greek restaurants. In the summer, there is Taste of the Danforth. It's Toronto's Greek festival with live music, cultural dances and lots of places to try some food. Thousands of people walk the street. The cars are not allowed for the weekend.

There were many stores decorated for Valentine's Day. Take a look at the Danforth with this little slideshow.



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Groundhog Mound by Occozzaglia@Flickr



This photo was taken one year ago on February 2, 2008 in Toronto. It is called Groundhog Mound because February 2 is Groundhog Day in Canada and United States.

Groundhog Day is an annual holiday when a small animal, the groundhog, peaks out of its winter burrow. If it doesn't like the weather, it will return to its burrow for six more weeks.

Every year in Ontario, there is a morning celebration in the town, Wiarton. People gather to watch the groundhog, Willie. They want to see Willie emerge from his burrow. It is important whether the groundhog sees its shadow. Why?

1. If the weather is cloudy, the groundhog will not see its shadow. No shadow means winter will soon end and spring weather will soon arrive.

2. However, if the weather is sunny, the groundhog will see its shadow and return to its burrow because it knows winter is not over. A shadow means a long winter and spring will not arrive for another six weeks.

Can you guess what happened in the town, Wiarton today? Well, was it sunny today? Yes? Willie, the groundhog saw its shadow.

I agree with Willie. I think we are going to have a long winter and the snow will not melt yet. I hope you were able to get outside on Sunday. It was the last day of January, but it was a bright day above zero Celsius. I enjoyed a trip to the park with my dog, Lucy. There were other neighbours at the park and we all wished this was the start of warmer weather. Canadians know better! Get ready for the temperatures to dip or go down again.

Would you like to see a picture of a groundhog? Take a look at the groundhog on page two.


About the Photograph

The photo was taken in a downtown neighbourhood called the Annex. Go to the photographer's site to see The Annex, Toronto (pool of pictures).



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"Yup, still snowing". The photo was taken by gardinergirl@flickr.


Do you know where this picture was taken?
Chinatown, Toronto

Would you like to explore Chinatown?
You can start with this map. There is also a satellite image.
Click on "Choose Neighbourhood". Then click on East Chinatown or Chinatown.

Do you know what celebration happened in Chinatown last weekend?
The Chinese New Year

Do you know what year it is?
According to the Chinese Zodiac, it is the year of the ox.


The biggest celebrations started on the weekend in the eastern part of the world. It was bitter cold last Saturday, so I sat back with my laptop computer and looked up what was happening in China. I was able to find a sneak preview of the Spring Festival Gala. So try to warm up with some
Chinese New Year entertainment.

*** Remember to click on underlined words for additonal activities or information.




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Ride the Rocket in Leslieville

Gerrard East Streetcar in a winter storm. Taken by William Self.


How's the weather?
Toronto continues to get a lot of snow. A snow storm is predicted for the weekend and then cold weather again.

Did you freeze during the blackout?
We had minus twenty (-20) last weekend. Some people in the west end were in a blackout for about 24 hours. They had no electricity from around ten o'clock at night on Thursday to ten o'clock the next night. Many people went to bed early on Friday with lots of blankets and were thankful to wake up in warm homes.

There was a lot of Internet activity as people tried to find out if their area had electricity or not. The lucky ones got their electricity back on Thursday. If you are interested, you might like to read the comments on blog TO



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It's freezing now, but it's suppose to be okay by the weekend. This is a photo of Broadview Avenue Hill taken by Bob Duck. It's just north of Broadview Subway which is near the corner of Broadview and Danforth Avenue. Can you see what they are doing? Tobogganing.





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