Rainbow Tunnel

Location: East Don Trail
Date photo taken: 23 January 2021

This rainbow tunnel is likely familiar to any who have driven up the Don Valley Parkway. It sits on the east side, just south of the Lawrence exit and it's been around since the very early 1970s. It was originally painted by a youth named BC Johnson as a memorial to a friend who died in a car crash on the nearby roadway. Every time the city painted it over, which happened often, he would return and repaint. Eventually the City embraced the mural and in 2013 it provided funding to Mural Routes to refresh the rainbow and to create a further mural on the inside of the tunnel. If you want to visit it in person it can be accessed from west of the Don Valley via Moccasin Trail Park, or from the east side via Milne Hollow and the East Don Trail.

Trumpeter Swan

 

Location: Humber Valley Pond in Summerlea Park

Date photo taken: 22 May 2015

Last weekend I found myself on the waterfront down by Tommy Thompson Park and I'm pretty sure there was a family of 5 trumpeter swans hanging out in the bay. They were a little too far out to say for sure, but I checked the park's website and the 2019 Bird Nesting Report confirms that there were two active nests located that year. This is pretty exciting because until relatively recently, these swans were extinct in Eastern Canada. Native to Ontario, hunting and habitat loss led to their disappearance in the wild about 200 years ago, but in the 1980s efforts were undertaken to reintroduce them. While their numbers are still dwarfed by the more common mute swan, which is an invasive species, it's nice to see that they are successfully breeding, even in the city.

Blast from the Past - Lick's Homeburgers & Ice Cream

 

Location: 1585 The Queensway

Date photo taken: 12 May 2014

This week's post offers up a double dose of nostalgia. Licks was a Canadian fast food chain that offered up better than average food, including their meatless Natureburger and decadent milkshakes. The chain actually started with a single ice cream parlour, opened in 1978. The 1970s, especially the later years, experienced a spate of 1950s inspired movies, music and television (think Grease and Sha Na Na) which carried over to general culture, and obviously influenced the branding at Licks. I just love the nostalgic vibes coming off this sign! 

When I snapped this picture, the chain's decline was already well advanced, with the flagship location having closed in 2012 and many of the franchises closing in the subsequent year. While they have largely disappeared, Licks' demise was not total. A Google search has revealed a lone Lick's Homeburgers & Ice Cream on the Golden Mile, and according to their menu, their milkshakes are still made with real ice cream.

Bear

 

Location: Guild Park

Date photo taken: 15 March 2020

The Guild Park & Gardens in Scarborough is littered with wonders but this roughly life-sized carving of a brown bear was a stand-out for me. Apparently it's also very popular with children who are not discouraged from climbing on it. The bear is the work of E.B. Cox, with help from Michael Clay. Cox was a Toronto based sculptor who worked primarily in stone and who is credited with having more sculptures on public display in the city than any other artist. This particular piece was commissioned in 1979 by Spencer Clark who used to own the property on which the park now sits.