Waiting for Spring

I’m impatiently waiting for spring. So when my hibiscus bloomed last weekend I soaked it in, starting with a time-lapse video of the flower opening.

The Grand River

When I moved to Bloomingdale last October I started walking along the Grand Valley Trail towards Snyder’s Flats. I took pictures often from one lookout spot. I’d hoped to have a full year’s worth of photos, but moving back to Kitchener interrupted the flow. So here is 10 months (October to July) on the Grand. (Take it full screen for best viewing.)

The Wall

For many years now, probably since Mom and Dad moved into this building in 1997, there has been talk about putting up a sound barrier between our street and the expressway. Traffic noise was so loud I would have to close my windows to talk on the phone, I couldn’t stay out on my balcony very long as it was just too uncomfortable for the ears and I never left my bedroom window open all night. Once we were told the wall would happen built in 2012. Nothing. Ah, this is the magic year. We finally have a wall!

It started on May 19th:

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On the morning of May 26th I was so excited to see the sound barrier slabs going in:

IMG_0352I went up onto my balcony and recorded a few seconds of the sound. On Friday afternoon (May 29), when with just half a wall in front of our building, no further work had been done on the wall for 2 days I recorded again.

To my great surprise, yesterday (June 5) I came home from work to find much of the wall finished. Once again I recorded a few seconds of sound. You can hear for yourself what difference the wall makes.

Last night I slept with the window open about 3 inches! I expect to spend more time on my balcony this year.