Marilyn's Photos - May 19 2025 - Fireworks?

 

This is a fireworks day.  But things have changed in 70 years.  We had firecrackers going all day long - playing cowboys and indians with extra gusto.  I can remember met Dad having the bigger sized firecrackers and playing with them.  And then there would be a huge display in the school field at night. There would be a big crowd to see the display.  All gone now.  Hardly any fireworks for sale.  They used to be in all the stores, easily available. When I searched for what happened to fireworks, Wikipedia shows up as the top hit with the list of fireworks accidents and incidents.  I bet they are something!  Check them out HERE.  They start in 1869 with a fireworks factory explosion and  continue to the latest in North Macedonia in March 2025 with a nightclub fire that killed more approximately 60 people. Somehow they lit fireworks indoors.  The deadliest one looks like 1977 in China with 694 people killed at a public hall.   Last year, Toronto had a stor of a "fireworks fight" on Victoria day with young people shooting off fireworks across Bloor Street West - one of Toronto's mai streets.   Here's how fireworks are managed in Canada today:  "Fireworks are not allowed in parks or on beaches," the city's website says. "You are also not allowed to set off fireworks in a street, a parking lot, on a balcony, or on any private property that is not your own." On the positive side, this would be Niagara Falls' big night with both sides likely having fireworks displays.  Watch out for the traffic on the QEW! Maybe my "Blue Dahlia" looks enough like fireworks.

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July 4 2024 - Fireworks

 

We got a new bylaw in Grimsby last year limiting fireworks to the two days before and the day of the celebration of July 1st.  Many communities are limiting fireworks and some banning fireworks.  The exception would be Niagara Falls where one of the great fireworks displays happens all year long. It starts at 10:00pm in the summer and 8:00pm in the winter.  Looking at the map, there are displays on both sides- wouldn't this make it all the more exciting. Tonight's show is a special one -  9 minutes - that happens July 1st, July 4th and New Year's Eve.   Maybe Disneyland has fireworks every night. It looks like Canada's Wonderland has fireworks each evening.  So maybe theme parks are the place to go for fireworks every day.   If we were in Pismo Beach (that's near San Luis Obispo in California), we could celebrate the Fourth of July fireworks by surfing under the fireworks.That is a "bucket list" item - it made me wonder if we could find a series of places to surf under the fireworks. And then I wondered what other strange combinations make up bucket lists.    Here we are in the land of fairy garden moments.  This is a little gargoyle on my window ledge with a passionflower trailing over him.   There's room for a greeting - what greeting should we add?

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May 19 2024 - Fireworks Season Starting

 

When we lived in Toronto, we would be away the May Long Weekend and our neighbours would have a big fireworks display at the end of the dead-end street.  I'd find bits and pieces in the garden the week after.   But bonfires and personal fireworks are ono longer allowed or are deterred in many places.  Last year, the forest fire smoke dampened that activity.  This year in Guelph the Roary Club has stepped back from the Canada Day display due to funding and resources.   That didn't stop Niagara Falls.  It started a few days ago and will continue until Monday October 14th - Thanksgiving.  It has bonus fireworks at midnight on special occasions.  When I see the number of cars going towards Niagara Falls on the QEW, I imagine there are many people enjoying the fireworks every night.   Niagara Falls fireworks would be a very special thing.  It seems to be in the same category as Bastille Day in Paris, New Years Eve in Sydney,4th of July in New York City, and the Cannes Firework Festival. Montreal has the largest fireworks festival in the world. That takes most of the summer.  Vancouver also has a fireworks festival that takes place in July over the water.   Fireworks over water offer double the show.  And Niagara Falls has the illumination show to give even more impact.  Here's an article outlining the best places to watch the fireworks in Niagara Falls.  If you go to the Rainbow Bridge you get a top-to-bottom view.  What about going on the Niagara Skywheel - and reeling around the view.  Mostly the good views are from the Canadian side, with Porspect Point being the place to watch from the American side.    I took this picture of Niagara Falls one October from the Megalomanic Winery on the escarpment on Cherry Lane.

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May 23 2022 - How Clear is that Water?

 

Bing had a recent feature about one of the world's strangest rivers.  The Rio Tinto - Red River - gets its name from the reddish hue of its water, with high levels of iron and sulphur.  That's in southwestern Spain. What about the opposite?  Where is the clearest water in the world?   The clearest water in the world is located in New Zealand - Blue Lake.  What is the visibility?  Up to 262 feet.   "Because it's considered sacred (or tapu) by the Maori locals, humans are not permitted to enter the water, so you'll be forced to either admire the clarity from the shore or check out an aerial view by booking a scenic helicopter flight." No long flights for a while, given our travel challenges.  If we lived in Alberta, Peyto Lake is said to have the clearest water in Canada.  Surrounded by glaciers that keep the lake filled with pristine glacial water, Peyto Lake is situated near Banff, and famed for its clear, deep-blue water. But a short flight is no better.  Let's consider travel by car - closer to home. Where is the clearest water in Ontario?  Tobermory, Elora Quarry, Topaz Lake in Sudbury, Katherine Cove in Wawa, Canatara Beach in Sarnia.  The addresses are HERE.  There are quite a few and the pictures are splendid.  Mostly they show mid to late summer swimmers. I think it might be too cold to go swimming over the next few weeks.  I wold like to settle on Ontario's blue water views that are just like the Caribbean.  There's Lions Head Lookout, Devil's Monument Loop on the Bruce Peninsula Trail, Halfway Log Dump (what a name!) in Tobermory, along with Overhanging Point, and of course, Flower Pot Island loop.  The addresses and instructions are HERE.  But we interrupt these beautiful views with a story on celebrity geese.   Go to Drake's backyard where he's seriously upset because two geese are pooping on his lawn.  He lives in the Bridle Path.  There's an article about the huge mansion and his noisy parties of up to 100 people.   "When asked what he’ll do if the neighbours complain about his huge home and the potential noise that comes along with Drake living next door, he says he’ll buy their damn house! And he’s not joking. He’s already done it in Hidden Hills".   But aren't geese protected? How do you buy out the geese? I have a great idea. He can start up all of his cars.  The noise would drive them out: Bugatti Veyron Bentley Continental GTC V8 Brabus 850 6.0 Lamborghini Aventador Roadster Rolls Royce Phantom McLaren 675LT Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren.

It is Wisteria Weekend and this is the large shrub that lives around the corner.   It is very accessible and I spent some time yesterday morning taking multiple exposure shots.  The top photo is my version of May 24th Fireworks.

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July 1 2021 - Fireworks and Phat Boy

 

I consider today, July 1st, to be the pinnacle of summer - it seems the midpoint of the year for me whether it is a leap year or not.  Close enough.  Mid-summer is also fireworks time.  "PHUN WITH PHATBOY: This name has become synonymous with the Big Boom Theory! Phatboy Fireworks is a leading retailer..."  That's it. So tantalizing to find out about this insultingly catchy named company.   That's all there is to find out about Phat Boy the fireworks company.  It is all over Canada with its retail and wholesale fireworks facilities.  I expect to find out about the Phat Boy name after I've done all these various searches.  It will pop up in the days to come.   Just like the screaming tunnel - there's an even longer tunnel in Brockville worth visiting. Tunnels everywhere via Pinterest.   This is QEW at Seventh Avenue St. Catharines.  We might call it overpass and roses.  This rose field in 2020 was harvested last fall.  There would have been close to or more than a million of little roses in the field - a heavenly scent.  But of course, gone now. I have to do a little drive about to find this year's fields.  They have to move every year.  I did think this was a telling picture - the highway that most people travel to go to Niagara Falls Canada or to Niagara Falls US and Buffalo.  Many more cars than roses travel this road.  Of course, little in the way of border crossing this year.  We've enjoyed the highway being less congested.

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July 4 2020 - Car Parade Day Today

It is Car Parade Day today for the Fourth of July.  Chicago's Daily Herald has a listing of where to find car parades. The article says that this year's trend is house-decorating contests and routes replacing traditional July 4th parades.   I think that a mid-summer festival of lanterns would be successful in both the U.S. and Canada for our national celebration days given they are mid-summer.  I've promoting this with Rotarians, but they seemed to want the summer off last year.  I also like the idea of Christmas in July.  There would be upside-down trees with summer themes and deciduous tree structures that are decorated with summer themes.   Back to the traditional national celebrations in the U.S.: There still are fireworks around the country but generally the sites are not accessible to the public. Or the displays can be seen from cars in the parking lots. That's completely different in Washington D.C. . The fireworks display is scheduled for Washington DC between 9:07 and 9:44 with 300,000 cloth face coverings available and ready to be distributed to visitors.  Can you imagine 300,000 people together now?   The official estimate is crowds of over 7,000 are expected.  There are many national celebrations coming up - what will France do on July 14th?  They have cancelled the traditional military parade.  They will still have 2,000 participants and 2,400 guests at a military ceremony.  It won't be open to the public.  There is also a claim that the French Open Tennis will be played with people in the stands in September  That's 20,000 people. Here's a Koi image today.

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May 18 2020 - Fireworks over the Falls?

Fireworks?  No public fireworks this year in Toronto.  Home celebrations are allowed. How about Niagara Falls?  Their website says that they are open for fireworks and schedules are published with phone numbers to call.  But they aren't open.  All the public-facing venues are closed.  No familiar fireworks on this weekend of this year. We and Scotland are the only two countries that celebrate Victoria Day. We've had celebrations since 1845.  May 24th has a long history in Canada.  It became such a big deal that by Confederation in 1867, all-day celebrations were held.  Even after Victoria died in 1901, May 24th kept going - honouring her as the "Mother of Confederation".  Not worrying about the current Monarch and celebrating their birthday with the same scale of festivities. There's a nice alignment weather-wise to have this as the summer marker.  I think ahead of the festivals, getaways, cottage visits and similar events that are not to be this summer. Even if we do participate in something, it will be tinged with concerns and caution.  We'll be distance dancing our way through the summer of 2020. Driving in Niagara is still accessible. This amazing tree is at the corner of Honsberger Ave and Fifteen Streets in Jordan. This is an old-fashioned gravel sort of road, reminding one of the roads in rural Niagara in the early 1950s, before the wave of asphalt took over. If you go to google maps, the tree is alive in July 2012.  It would be great to find out how old it was - you can see how massive the trunk is.  To get this picture? This was photographed as a 5 picture panorama and put together in photoshop.

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Jan 1 2019 - If It's a New Year it's Nostradamus Time

There was fireworks everywhere to celebrate the New Year - Dubai's was the world's record-setting show - illuminating the world's tallest building and having the largest LED illuminated facade. It is amazing - see the video HERE.  Or watch the NBC News around the world HERE.  Our own Toronto show is HERE. We Canadians want to make sure that people know this is Toronto so have the 3D TORONTO Sign.  It was installed in July 2015 for the Toronto Pan American/Parapan American Games. The letters are 10 feet tall and the LED lights can transition to 228 million different colours.       And what predictions are there this year?  Let's turn to Nostradamus, or should we? He was born in 1503, and initially an apothecary. He 'latinized' his name from Nostredame to Nostradamus when he moved away from apothecary towards the occult.  His 'Les Propheties' was published in 1555. He attracted supporters at the time who were looking for predictions through astrology.  He was rejected by the academic community at the time and since then, but remains popular with the press and public.  This is the repeated reason throughout the internet: the persistence in popular culture seems to be partly because their vagueness and lack of dating make it easy to quote them selectively after every major dramatic event and retrospectively claim them as "hits". This is demonstrated by the Nostradamus predictions from the UK Express. "EXCLUSIVE: Nostradamus’ eerie predictions have baffled people for centuries – but did Nostradamus have any visions of what will happen in 2019? One psychic expert believes 2019 could be an incredibly turbulent year for the US, the UK and the rest of the world.   According to the psychic expert, Nostradamus warned of an assassination attempt on Mr Trump, armed conflict in the Middle East and renewed relations with his Russian counterpart between 2019 and 2020. Mr Hamilton-Parker told Express.co.uk: "I feel Trump will have a second term but Nostradamus's predicted an assassination attempt will be in the second term. One thing Nostradamus did not predict, however, is the result or the effects of the Brexit vote.  Mr Hamilton-Parker himself foresaw a no-deal hard Brexit in the pipeline which is why he said he was surprised to see Brexit omitted from Nostradamus’s prophecies". With stories like this, it is easy to side with the academics in their skepticism that Nostradamus' predictions could, should or even would be taken seriously. Today's image is a Japanese Maple fiery abstract.

Dec 28 - Christmas Past is Passed and...

We have the 'sugar-high' of Christmas and the next day the 'so sad' feeling that Christmas is over.  This is made worse by the extended analysis of everything that happened last year, as though it will close the door on the year that is passing. So much Christmas Past right after Christmas has passed! Mayim Bialik, of the Big Bang, has posted on social media about her 2 cats that are using the bed as a dominance battleground, and waging peeing and pooing battles.  Her post made the top news this week.  You can see it HERE.  How many people tried to cheer her up with comments?  More than 10,000 people.  The screen shot in the article showed 91,970 likes.   This likely explains why the Christmas thud rebound is to lead into the new year with comedies and comedians who distract and entertain us.  So I've found a few New Year's jokes: A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other. New Years Eve is the only acceptable time to wear body glitter without being mistaken for a stripper. My New Year's resolution is to stop hanging out with people who ask me about my New Year's resolutions. I have only one resolution. To rediscover the difference between wants and needs. May I have all I need and want all I have. What happened to the man who shoplifted a calendar on New Year's Eve? He got 12 months! Our picture today is a flowering wisteria - it looks like fireworks for the New Year.