Pizza waggon in park; stewarding continues; new graphiti; backpackers in park; dog ornament

On Friday 24th July I observed this pizza waggon in the arena carpark. It could have been the first sign of the City”s experiment with allowing food and beverage vehicles into the parks:

I talked to the guy in the van. He said he had not had much business and would return on Monday and Tuesday to see what sales he made. Here is his menu:

However, I was there on both Monday and Tuesday and there was no sign of him at the times I was there. Just judging from a sample of one, it does not appear that this experiment will be much of a success. We will wait and see!

The stewards were back in the park on Saturday 25th July, working on the slope opposite the arena. We were taking off the pods on DSV and also found some remaining garlic mustard.

Here is the group:

From left we are Esther (back with us again), Sebastian,. Justin, Rachel, Bob, Isabella and Anne. Anne is holding up some DSV and Sebastian has some garlic mustard.

I took the photo, then Anne took the photo with me in it:

The Monday group is not meeting on the long weekend, so some of them may join the Saturday group (which never gives up, thanks to Bob!).

New graphiti have appeared at both bridges recently. Here is one of them at Bathurst:

And here is another:

Meanwhile, this has appeared at Glen Cedar footbridge

The park is used for many diverse activities. Recently, I noted an activity I had not seen before. This was backpackers training for a long weekend trip to Bon Echo provincial park. Here they are:

Believe it or not, our very own Valentina Gastaldo was one of them! They were led by two women who have formed their own company to teach people how to do back country backpacking. The woman in the middle photo is one of them.

I rather like this dog ornament behind one of the houses on Arlington that back on to the path behind them:

Stephen Smith of Urban Forestry Associates will lead another of his inimitable guided nature walks on Sunday 4th October, starting at 2 pm from the children”s play area in Suydam Park (you can reach it either from Spadina Rd or Relmar Rd, where there is parking). If you need further instructions to find the place, please contact me.

I am off to UK on Friday 7th August, so this will be my last blog post until September. See you then!

John