Saturday Morning

Saturday February, 18th 2012 - One telephone call in the morning, one minute and the next you were at my door. It was crazy for me to understand and believe but there you were. One person who listened and who showed compassion when you were going through your own heartache.


You have been a thoughtful friend. You have been listening to me in my dark days. And you have shown me what forgiveness is like, ever if I do not believe in it, it makes me think that perhaps one day I will believe that it is real.


Union station was amazing to see, it has so much history and life there. The architect was beautifully done and the natural light from the skyway and windows gives so much warmth to such a large place.


Union Station was designed by the Montreal architecture firm of Ross and Macdonald in the Beaux-Art style as a joint venture between the Grand Trunk Railway and the Canadian Pacific Railway, with assistance from CPR architect Hugh Johnes and Toronto architect John M. Lyle. Its design was cited in 1975 by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada as being of "national architectural significance as one of the finest examples of Beaux-Arts railway station design in Canada."

The bilaterally symmetrical building comprises three connecting box masses facing Front Street West, with the main structure in the middle. Together, the three parts measure 752 feet (229 m) long and occupy the entire south side of the block between Bay Street in the east and York Street in the west.

The exterior Front Street facade is laid out in an ashlar pattern, constructed with smooth beige Indiana and Queenston limestone. The colonnaded porch which faces Front Street features 22 equally spaced Roman Tuscan columns made from Bedford limestone, each 40 feet (12 m) high and weighing 75 tons.


Fourteen 3-storey bays, each with severely delineated fenestration, form the facade on either side of the central colonnade for a total of 28 bays. The structures at either end have an additional ten bays. There are three rectangular windows in each bay, lighting the interior hall with plenty of natural light. However, the external profile of the building is quite hard and flat, with its line of huge columns, heavy ornamentation and strong symmetry....


Read more...


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Station_(Toronto)


It was a good day and a great escape from my life. Thank you for showing me, Union Station and more importantly, thank you for choosing to be a friend.


Push me to drive in that parking lot (not that I would call it driving) was a bit out there for me, as you could clearly see, but you are right, I do want to learn even through it scares the life out of me.

The St. Lawrence Market was great too but me and crowed places - just do not mix, well. I do want to try that one, again.


The walk to the CN Tower was good even through it was raining but I was not cold. The tower is really not as big as I always thought. Sorry, I know that sounds crazy but it is true and NO! I will not go inside or up it.



The Gooderham Flatiron Building at the intersection of Front and Church is one of Toronto’s most distinctive and historical buildings. It’s also one of the most photographed, though the usual tourist vantage point is a bit further back to fit the CN Tower into the frame. For the past few years the building had been cloaked in scaffolding undergoing a brick-by-brick restoration. I took this photo in January the first time I walked past and saw it with the scaffolds removed. It looks fantastic.


The Flatiron was constructed in 1891 by George Gooderham, who had his personal office in the top floor under the green roof where he could overlook his Toronto business “empire” which included the Gooderham & Worts Distillery, the King Edward Hotel, and the then nearby waterfront. Local historian Bruce Bell has much more to say about the fascinating history of this building, including true tales of underground tunnels. 



The drive there and back always makes me nervous and car sick so please do not think you are the only one who sees that side of me.


Oregano's was good and I hope you liked it. Your pizza choice surprised me but it was also good. But your drink was looking very gross to me. You like it so that is all that really matters. I hope you and your family enjoyed the Tasty Treats. It is a family favourite around here and growing up.


Thank you for everything.

Milky

A Day At Union Station by Tiel Aisha Ansari

Departure
At last, I'm leaving the familiar roof!
I'm undeterred by rain and wind.
This presentation should be quite a feather
in my cap. Eager, I clutch my ticket.
I'm going places. Not letting any grass
grow, not under these clever feet!

Pigeons
We admire one another's tiny coral feet.
Coooooo, coooooo under the roof.
Picking spilled popcorn out of the grass,
we read the news written on the wind...
Freezing tonight? warmth, that's the ticket.
We'll huddle in the rafters and fluff our feathers.

Arrival
My bags in my hands, as light as feathers.
Oh my aching back, tired feet...
I've grown to hate the sight of a ticket.
Just let me get back under my own roof.
I'm done with blowing about like wind--
time to stay home and mow my own grass.

Porter
Excuse me sir, please don't walk on the grass.
I wish they cared, but they don't give a feather.
I envy travellers, free as the wind.
They go where fancy takes them, rambling feet
The world to be their home, the sky their roof!
Oh, how I wish I could afford a ticket.

Smoke
You breathe me out, wave me away with your ticket
I fall from the train stack to blacken the grass.
They scraped years of me from the bright copper roof.
I spread through the air like grey-white feathers.
Clever nets of me coil at your heedless feet--
but oh, I'm helpless prey for a gust of wind.

Agent
Brrr. It's cold at this desk when the wind
blows-- Thank you; here's your ticket.
I had a little heater for my feet
but I was careless with the smell of burning grass
you know? Sorry, my head's full of feathers.
Boring job, but it pays for my roof.

Discards
Unused tickets moulder in the grass.
Shed feathers scatter before the wind.
Echoes of hurried feet crowd the roof.

UNION STATION

There is sorrow, there is laughter, As they meet beyond its doors; There are handclasps and embraces, When some leave for foreign shores. There is every rank and color As they hurry to their trains; Uniforms and vivid dresses; Blushing maidens and their swains. There is beauty in the structure; There is grandeur without ration; There is hospitality in Kansas City's Union Station. --Lizzie Fellows Heckart. UNION STATION DOORS The station doors beat tempo fast or slow, Pulsing to the throngs of kindred lands; In sentient greeting they swing to and fro. The heart of the Mid West that understands, Welcomes the clasp of warm and constant hands; All day and night, a panorama view, As Gateway sentries see the travelers through. --Grace Gladman Orme. UNION STATION A mother stood there waiting, A soldier train was due; She scanned the crowd for hours, Her boy was passing through. When she could wait no longer She rushed right past the guards, And ran on down the passage To search out in the yards. But, at the very moment His rank marched in he vowed He saw his mother running, Then lost her in the crowd. A brown-eyed sturdy soldier Was routed for his base, But when he missed his mother The tears ran down his face. Oh, why had she not waited, And stood in just one place? --Etta Gruen Dobbie.