Sundial Folly

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address:  25 Queens Quay West
Date: July 2015

  Sundial Folly is a large concrete ball which sits on the edge of Lake Ontario. It was created by John Fung and Paul Figueiredo and was installed at Toronto's Harbourfront in 1995.  A folly in architecture is a building built for decoration so maybe it has no higher function.  It is supposed to work as a sundial, but we couldn't figure it out.  These photos were taken at 3 PM if you wish to try.  Even if you don't know how to use it as a sundial, it is an interesting piece of art and you can actually go inside of it.  That is exactly what we did.

  We approached from the Ferry Docks and could see the small waterfall that flows into the lake.  The sundial was hidden behind the trees.

  From the front you can see the ball appears to be split into two pieces.  There is rusted metal in the trees behind it.  This is where you have to go if you want to get isnide.

  We walked around the ball and on the other side you can see it is sitting in a pool of water.

  A red-winged blackbird chirped at us from the branches hanging above the water.  Red-winged blackbirds have a chirp that sounds like "Hey what are you doing here?"

  We ignored the bird (after taking its photo) and we found ourselves on the metal structure attached to the ball.

  We went along the walkway towards the sphere.

   Inside the ball there was light coming through the crack in one direction.  This light would change as the sun moved across the sky.  The crack in the ball faces south so perhaps it does work as a sundial after all?  The crack curves up towards the sky.

  We had to exit the same way we came in.  Afterwards we went  around and peered through the crack at the back of the ball.

  We then went around the front to see if there were any other creatures in the water or plants around the sundial.  Thankfully when we went inside the sundial we were all alone.

  From the Sundial Folly you can see the Toronto Islands ferries as they bring passengers back and forth.

  If you take a ferry ride over to the islands, you can get a good view of the sundial.  This photo above was taken from the ferry.

  When you look at your photos of Toronto's waterfront again you will notice the sundial.  In our photo above it is tucked down beneath the condos in the bottom right corner.  We suggest you find the time to visit Sundial Folly.  We had a ball.

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This location is near Queens Quay. Visit other Toronto TTC stations.

Map of Our World:
Sundial Folly

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Post # 220

Exploring The Athabasca Glacier

Location: Jasper, Alberta, Canada
Address:  Columbia Icefields Discovery Centre, Icefields Parkway
Date: June 2005
Website:  www.banffjaspercollection.com

   The Columbia Icefield was once part of a giant sheet of ice that helped form the Rocky Mountains.  The icefield still covers hundreds of square kilometres today.  One of its toes is the Athabasca Glacier.  This glacier can reach depths of up to 1000 feet.  We visited the Athabasca Glacier when we were in Alberta back in 2005.

   To travel out onto the glacier we went in an Ice Explorer.  These are large all-terrain, giant wheeled vehicles.  The wheels are taller than some people.

    There was an old snowmobile that looked more like a tank.  This would have been the Ice Explorer used many years ago.

    First our Ice Explorer crept down a steep incline and then we travelled along a road that had been worn into the glacial ice.

    Then we parked right on top of the glacier.  Now we could enjoy more of the mountain view around us.  Despite being June, there was a cold crispness to the air.

 

  We stepped down onto the ice between the mountains and did some exploring of our own.

   We looked up at some of the mountain peaks..  These very mountains were formed by long gone glacial ice much like what we were currently standing on.

  We went higher up and could see the glacier continue on beyond the mountain.  The Athabasca Glacier is just one small part of the Columbia Icefield that extends beyond that point.

  The glacier can be a dangerous place.  Blue pylons warned us not to venture out into unsafe territory.

  Each year the Athabasca Glacier is slowly receeding.  This marker in the photo above shows roughly where the glacial ice would have reached back at the end of the 1960s.  Today the ice has receeded even further.  The ice water that melts out of the glacier could be snow that fell almost 150 years ago.  The glacier gave us a glimpse of what this part of Canada looked like tens of thousands of years ago.  We enjoyed our walk on the ice and we also cannot stop admiring the mountains that it left behind.

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Map of Our World
Athabasca Glacier
Colombia Icefield Discovery Centre

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Post # 219

Merhorse VS Giant Clam

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address:  90 Cordova Avenue
Date: June 2018
Website:  www.ranee.ca

  We were taking a walk on Islington Avenue headed towards the many painted murals that can be found along Dundas Street West.  Not very far north of Islington subway station there was a fountain outside of an apartment building that caught our eye.

  To us it looked like a group of baby pacifiers pointed to the sky.  Very interesting, we thought.  As we turned around we caught a glimpse of something on the other side of Islington.  It looked like a woman riding a large white horse.  Very interesting indeed!

   As we drew closer we realized this was not a regular horse but a seahorse.  It looked like a regular horse rearing up on its hind legs, except it didn't have hind legs.  Instead it had a tail like a fish. We have chosen to call this a "merhorse".   In Greek mythology, Poseidon was pulled across the water on his chariot by a team of hippocampi (seahorses).  Poseidon is known as the god of the sea.  He is also known for creating the horse.  So if he wants to spend his day out on the water with half fish, half horses pulling him around, who could stop him? 

   The sculpture sits outside of some rental apartments on Cordova Avenue.  From the opposite side it appears that the merhorse has no hind legs or tail.  We couldn't find any real history about this sculpture so we are inventing our own.  To us it looked as if the horse probably did have legs and then something happened to the sculpture.  Maybe it was damaged?  We do not know.  Maybe it came from part of another larger sculpture?  In order to help support the sculpture it was decided to put some blue rocks.  Now with the legs missing a tail was added.  If you look at the picture of the tail above it does look to be made from different material and is much whiter than the rest of the horse. Sorry, the merhorse.

   Now who is the natural nemesis of this mighty water stallion?  Why of course it is the giant clam.  A real giant clam lives off of algae and opens its mouth when there is sunlight so the algae inside it can photosynthesize.  When there is no sun, it closes its mouth again.  It does not spend its day chomping on various sea creatures.  This still doesn't mean you should go sticking your hand inside a giant clam any time soon.

  The woman riding the merhorse is not your average woman either.  She is a mermaid.  Closer inspection reveals that she is not your average little mermaid.  She has two legs with flippers instead of just a tail.  Some research shows that this makes her a siren or two-tailed mermaid.  This would definitely make it easier to ride a horse instead of always going side saddle.  A two legged mermaid is also not as unusual as you might think.  Now where have we seen one before....

  Only everywhere!  The Starbucks logo features a two legged mermaid.  You can see her green legs up on each side of her head.  Earlier versions of the logo even used to show her full body.  Melusine is one character from folklore who is half woman, half fish and who had her husband swear an oath that he would never watch her bathe.  This way he does not realize she is part fish.
  This sculpture is a very interesting piece of art that brings up a lot of questions both about its creation and what it is depicting.  Yes, there is a Starbucks at Bloor & Islington so grab a coffee and then spend some time trying to figure it all out.

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

Map of Our World:
Merhorse VS Giant Clam

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Post # 218