Dear Readers, today we took a walk along Gerrard Street East in Toronto. We started with a Chinese Arch, went through one of Toronto’s Chinatowns, wandered through a stereotype-busting social housing project, and ended up in Little India, and I will be talking more about all of that over the next few days. But first up, I wanted to share some of the front gardens and municipal areas that we walked through with you, because for once we were actually here at what feels like the peak of spring, and today was such perfect weather.

Although the front gardens are mostly very small, people certainly know how to make the best of them. The sheer range of tulips was astonishing.Presumably the squirrels are not as fond of them here as they are in my garden, where they’re hardly worth planting because the little furry critters dig them up.

Furthermore, the magnolias are in full flower, and here’s a yellow one that I’d never seen before…

Plus the more usual pink and white ones…

And there’s a yellow Acer next to a yellow Forsythia…

…and lots of violets…

We stopped off for a coffee and had a chat with a woman who was in the potash business, and who had the loveliest Old English Sheepdog (though she did describe him as a ‘carpet’ which was descriptive if not kind). And then we passed this church, which was the first church in North America to marry a same-sex couple, though the pastor wore a bullet-proof vest, just in case. This was back in 2001, and the church was also very active during the AIDs crisis of the 1980s and 1990s. It continues to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community and for refugees and asylum-seekers.

Tomorrow, let’s have a look at some of the other communities along Gerrard, and how the street changes as you toddle along it.