Canada Lynx

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 2000 Meadowvale Rd.
Date: Nov 2016
Website: www.torontozoo.com

  A Canada lynx is a medium sized cat which closely resembles a bobcat.  The easiest way to tell a lynx and a bobcat apart is that lynx have longer legs and their back legs are actually longer than their front ones.  They appear to be on a bit of a slant when running or walking.  Like most large cats they are beautiful to look at, but scary to come across in the wild.

   We have only ever encountered lynx at the zoo as it is very rare to see one in the wild.  The Canada lynx above was at the Toronto Zoo and may be one of the parents of the two babies that were born in 2016.

  Canada lynx can be found throughout Canada as well as in the northern United States.  The lynx above was from the Assiniboine Zoo in Winnipeg and was already wearing his winter coat which made him look twice as large.

  In 2016, the Toronto Zoo was lucky enough to have two lynx kittens born at the zoo.  The Canada Lynx can be found in the zoo's Canadian Domain on a very steep hill that goes down into the valley.  The lynx are one of the first animals on the way down the hill for those that fear they may never make it back up if they venture down to the bottom.

  When we visited, the babies were already about 3 months old.  They were still as cute as ever.  A Canada Lynx's favourite meal is snowshoe hare.  As you can see from the picture above, this baby lynx has already developed a taste. 

The video above shows the babies walking around and giving wide eyed looks.

  We visited again when the lynx kittens were about 7 months old.  The two kittens loved to play fight and chase each other around the enclosure.

  The Canada Lynx usually prefers a quiet, solitary life and likes to stay hidden.  While these two juveniles are in the exhibit it is a great time to see these animals in action.

 

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Click here to take a virtual tour and see our collection of Toronto Zoo animal photos.

Map of Our World
Assiniboine Park Zoo (Grasslands & Boreal Forest) , Toronto Zoo (Canadian Domain)

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Post # 153

The Triple Dog Dare

Location: St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada
Address: 173 Niagara Street
Date: Jan 2016

   A Christmas Story is one of the greatest holiday movies ever made.  It is always playing somewhere on television during the holiday season.  One memorable scene is where a young boy named Flick gets his tongue stuck to a flagpole.  It was all the result of the sinister triple dog dare.

  The Victoria Public School in St. Catharines, Ontario is where they filmed all of the school scenes from the movie.  A group of children are out in the school yard where Schwartz has just double dared Flick to lick the flagpole.  The double dare soon becomes a double dog dare and from there, despite a breach of etiquette, it becomes a triple dog dare.

  Flick licks the pole and of course his tongue sticks.  The bell rings and all the other children head back inside leaving poor Flick behind.  On a trip to Niagara Falls we visited this filming location.  The school was now being used as a women's shelter and homes had been built in the schoolyard.

  One thing that had not changed since the movie was filmed in the early 1980s was the two houses that sit at the intersection of Gibson Place and Fitzgerald Street.  You can see these homes just behind Flick when the fire department and police arrive to help remove him from the pole.

    That would place the flagpole somewhere near this house that was built on the old school property.  If you are a fan of A Christmas Story we think that you should visit this location.  We dare ya!

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Map of Our World
Triple Dog Dare

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Post # 152

The Bay's Enchanted Forest

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 176 Yonge Street.
Date: Dec 2016
Website: www.hbcheritage.ca

  For many years the Christmas windows at The Bay on Queen Street showed the story of Santa and his elves preparing for the big day.  Now the animals have taken over.  This year the windows were changed and feature the animated animals of the Enchanted Forest.  As much as we enjoyed the previous display, we instantly fell in love with the new windows.  You can read about The Bay's previous Christmas windows here.

  The first of the five windows in the display features a fox den.  Two mischievous racoons are hanging a feather down into the den to disturb the sleeping fox family.  On a video screen at the back of the display a moose walks through the woods.

  The next window showed a group of squirrels rolling up some snowballs.  The intended targets appeared to be a group of ice skaters below.  A group of squirrels is called a scurry.  There was no worry about us being snowball pelted by squirrels, but one of us did almost get taken out by snow that slid off of The Bay store's awning.

   The next window was our favourite.  It featured a bear who was covered in snow while little mice played all around him.  Behind the bear flickered the Northern Lights.

  The bear looked back and forth while his little rodent friends tobogganed and snowboarded and enjoyed some winter fun.

  These two mice had just finished building a snowmouse.

   This mouse was making a snow angel.  None of the mice seemed concerned that their winter hill contained a big brown bear.

 

  The next window showcased night time in the Enchanted Forest.  Snowy owls flew across the sky backed by moonlight.  A mother owl opened her wings to reveal the babies hidden in her nest.

  The last window showcases the Hudson Bay Company's Canadian roots.  An army of Canada Geese in snowshoes march together. 

    After enjoying the displays we headed inside The Bay store.  We were happy to see that another group of wreath wearing Canada Geese had taken over a small section of the ladies wear department.
  One of us was also in New York City in December and while taking a bus tour saw a familiar sight.  The Lord & Taylor store in Manhattan has the exact same Enchanted Forest display this year.  Lord & Taylor is owned by The Hudson's Bay Company.  That means you have at least two cities you can visit in order to see this delightful holiday display.  We suspect that these happy woodland creatures will be making a return visit for many Christmases to come.

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This location is near Queen subway. Visit other Toronto TTC stations.
 
Map of Our World
Christmas Windows At The Bay

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Post # 151

Nyctophilia

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 1 Dennis Ave
Date: Feb 2016 
Website:  cgdy.com

  Nyctophilia means love of the night or love of darkness.  Nyctophilia is also the name of an art installation in Toronto.  The project consists of a cluster of about 30 street lights that can glow different colours.  It is located at the corner of Dennis Avenue & Weston Road.

    The light is generated by LED lights which gives it a softer glow.  Otherwise this would be the brightest street corner in the entire city.  When we visited, the lights reminded us of Christmas lights and some snow even started to fall.  If you find yourself in this area one night be sure to drive by and see the light.  Remember, it is not some sort of hydro company screw up, it's art.

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Map of Our World
Nyctophilia

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Post # 150

Chihuly

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 100 Queens Park
Date: Nov 2016 
Website:  www.chihuly.com

  We attended a Friday Night Live event at the Royal Ontario Museum.  This is where the museum stays open late and there are drinks and food and DJs while you browse the exhibits.  We were lucky enough that a special exhibit called Chihuly was running when we visited.

  The exhibit is named after Dale Chihuly who is known for his colourful glass creations.

  The first two works created by Chihuly and his team featured boats.  The first was full of giant coloured marbles and the second contained what looked like blue and purple flowers.

 

  The next huge display was like a jungle of swirling and twisted glass.

  Another piece seemed very familiar.  It consisted of glass in the shape of flowers sitting on top of a clear glass ceiling.

  The reason the colourful flowers seemed so familiar is that they reminded us of the Bellagio hotel lobby in Las Vegas (pictured above).  The ceiling there is covered with a work of art called "Fiori di Como".  It was created by none other than Dale Chihuly.

 

   Chihuly was thrown through the windshield of a car in a 1976 accident which left him injured and blind in one eye.  Since then he has relied on his team to help create these beautiful glass works of art. We paused to think that the very thing Chihuly loved to create with was what took away his vision and caused him harm.

 

  There were many coloured bowls and pieces created to look like icicles or giant spikes. 

  Some neon blue tubes looked like sparks of light.

  We made our way through a walkway covered by giant curved flowers in fall colours of yellow and orange.

 

  The last part of the exhibit showed aboriginal art and blankets.  We enjoyed the displays and marvelled at how Chihuly and his team had managed to coax glass into all manner of colours and shapes.  The Chihuly event runs at the Royal Ontario Museum until January 8, 2017.

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This location is near Museum subway. Visit other Toronto TTC stations.

Map of Our World
Royal Ontario Museum

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Post # 149