So, as a teenager growing up in the north end of Toronto, I would frequently ride a series of paves bicycle paths that wound through the nearby ravine. Lush with trees, and the matching animal life, they are a jewel in the city. I remember my younger self finding them dull after awhile, boring, actually. So, I had to find different paths, and yet more different paths, always seeking variety. I have lived in many places since then, St. Catherines, Toronto proper, South Korea, but through a series of unrelated incidents I find myself living in the same neighbourhood again. This summer I have had a lot of time to ride my bike again (I am a teacher, and thus bask in a two month holiday), so I have been revisiting these paths, sometimes with my son along for the ride. I can’t believe that I ever got bored of these trails.
Every trip along them is different. New flowers are continually in bloom, I have found a rabbit’s warren that often has multiple rabbits bounding around it, there are so many different birds, butterflies, and insects that it is impossible to catalogue them all. It is simple amazing. More amazing is the reaction of my two year old son, as he delights in seeing all of this nature around him. The bunnies are always shy when he is with me (I think they hear his delighted WHEEEE! as we bike over the wooden arch bridge that crosses the Don River), but hopefully we will see some before the summer is out.
Now, I don’t want this to come across as some sort of Zen hippy bullshit about being rooted and connected to natue, or how we see through diferent eyes when we have kids, or anything. I’m just saying, is all.
