Walking along the hidden trail

The hidden trail is accessed under the Westminster Bridge, not far from here. Despite loving nature, or what is left of nature in the city, I rarely walk on this trail. An article published on 19 September 2022, "A natural path to dealing with depression", states that getting out for a walk and being in nature is beneficial for one's emotional and physical health. Those getting out of the house and walking in nature will be more physically and healthy-minded for it; any walking is better than not walking at all. The curious thing about this trail is that you meet so few people on it, I think today's walk was exceptional, I passed three people and two dogs. You know, if you can get out and walk an hour a week, or a little more than that, and you can lose five pounds, which is almost impossible for most people, you can actually lower both your blood sugar level and your cholesterol level. Doing anything is better than doing nothing at all...

On Percival Avenue

 

Always walk where it is aesthetically pleasing, it's depressing otherwise. And walk for health, it's not sight-seeing, it's staying alive and healthy, so keep it brisk! Brave words but something I aspire to follow... 

Here we are leaving Strathern Park--I don't live in the Town of Montreal West, it is adjacent to where I live--but I like walking here. Then it's a left on Percival Avenue and, for the second year, coming across these cosmos flowers. Cosmos are not perennials but they are self-seeding and quite prolific. They are the garden cosmos, the Mexican aster. One day walking on Percival I remembered that my mother's doctor was Dr. Percival, a woman doctor. Strange how things come back to you, by association or by chance.

It's fall now and the birds are flying south

Things began to change a few days ago. It wasn't one or two birds visiting the bird bath, it was ten or twelve birds, most of them robins. Up to this time the birds were always, shall we say, polite? Well-behaved, considerate, they queued up, sat in the bird bath, and left. A few days ago the "politeness" was gone, they were bossy, assertive, and pushy. I suspect they were preparing for the long flight south, a last visit to the bird bath and then off they went. We've had some heavy rain this week, Wednesday was the last full day of summer, it's gotten a lot cooler, and the bird bath now sits empty. 

A Tiny Garden Near Here

I often walk by this garden on the corner of Nelson and Westminster Avenue, and I always admire it. Every house has a garden and many of these gardens are very nice, but I have not seen people stop to admire other gardens as they do for this one. This past weekend there was an article in the newspaper on the "tiny garden", and this would qualify as tiny. I think of my garden as small but it is large compared to this. The owners must be proud of what they have created.

 

Vincelli's Garden Centre, two

Here are the rest of the photos I took of Vincelli's Garden Centre, closed two years, gone back to nature, soon to be the site of a condo.

Vincelli's Garden Centre

Like many others, I always enjoyed visiting Vincelli's Garden Centre; it closed about two years ago. Many of the first perennial flowers I planted in my garden came from Vincelli's and they were always strong plants, good stock, and I still have them; in fact, these plants have multiplied and I've divided them so they're in different places in the garden. I guess the condo that is planned to be built here will begin construction one of these days, in the meantime the whole lot has gone wild. It looks great as is! The plastic greenhouse has been removed, the main building has a few broken windows, there is some old junk at the old entrance to the main building. Well, everything changes but it's sad to see the demise of a place that is dear to the hearts of so many people, including my own. If the garden centre at Reno Depot closed I would be inconvenienced but I wouldn't be nostalgic for the place; that's the difference between Vincelli's and where I now go for garden supplies. And I am not impressed with the idea of more condos. We are told the population is growing and we have to house people somewhere, that's progress, but I am not a believer in progress. Progress is overrated; I like things the way they are.  

Wild asters

These New England asters are growing near the senior campus of Willingdon School on Coronation Avenue near here; you see them everywhere, they're like weeds. 

"A Bird came down the Walk" by Emily Dickinson

A Bird came down
the Walk –
He did not know I
saw –
He bit an Angleworm
in halves
And ate the fellow, raw,

And then he drank
a Dew
From a Convenient Grass –
And then hopped sidewise
to the Wall
To let a Beetle pass –

He glanced with rapid
eyes
That hurried all around –
They looked like frightened
Beads, I thought –
He stirred his Velvet
Head

Like One in danger, Cautious,
I offered him a Crumb
And he unrolled his
feathers
And rowed him softer
home –

Than Oars divide the
Ocean,
Too silver for a seam –
Or Butterflies, off Banks
of Noon
Leap, plashless as they
swim.

"Within my Garden, rides a Bird" by Emily Dickinson

Within my Garden, rides
a Bird
Opon a single Wheel –
Whose spokes a dizzy music
make
As 'twere a travelling Mill –

He never stops, but slackens
Above the Ripest Rose –
Partakes without alighting
And praises as he goes,

Till every spice is tasted –
And then his +Fairy Gig
Reels in remoter atmospheres –
And I rejoin my Dog,

And He and I, perplex us
If positive, 'twere we –
Or bore the Garden in the Brain
This Curiosity –

But He, the best Logician,
Refers my clumsy eye –
To just vibrating Blossoms!
An exquisite Reply!

Birds preparing to fly south