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A couple walking through the woods in High Park, 2010-04-18.

During our Sunday walk through High Park, Jen and I stopped by Grenadier Pond after checking out the cherry blossoms. Nice view of the pond from here, and a great place for people-watching.

This man and his yorkie settled in for a nap on the grass in front of us.

Jen and I were out for a walk in High Park to see the cherry tree blossoms. I think half of the city had the exact same idea, except that many people drove there, gridlocking the roads around the park.

It's so much easier to walk, cycle, or take the subway to the park. No getting stuck in traffic, searching endlessly for parking, or worrying about getting a parking ticket.

Parks are so much better when they're not full of idling cars, angry honking motorists, and smelly exhaust.

The shadow of one of the sculptures along the West Toronto Railpath, south of Bloor St.

I've been trying to post a photo every day on my blog. Almost missed today's deadline by just a few minutes! This photo is from a walk I took a week ago. Some sheep-people (or something???) graffiti on the back of the Moloney Electric building on Sterling Rd.

Time for bed.

Jen and Saulius on a sidewalk in Mosėdis, Lithuania. This is probably the nicest sidewalk I've ever walked down, and the photo doesn't really show it off as well as I would like. It's actually at a lower grade than the road, and separated by huge rocks (some covered in moss) and all kinds of trees and flowers. Sort of like walking down a fairy-tale forest pathway.

I could just imagine having something as nice as this in our own 'hood.

We finally got some more snow here in Toronto. This winter has been pretty pathetic weather-wise. During the previous two winters, we had hardly any space left to store our shoveled snow, but this year we have to look hard to find a snowflake.

Anyway, I was excited that we had a snowfall last night. I took a slightly longer walk on my way home from work so that I could enjoy some of the snowy sights around my neighbourhood. Here's a snow-covered bike on Perth Ave. just north of Ernest Ave.

Walking through the woods with my mom's cousin Rasa and Jen, in Šeškinė, a suburb of Vilnius, Lithuania. Instead of heading into the city on this day, we went for a walk around Rasa's neighbourhood. We walked through the residential areas, as well as the local outdoor market, and some nearby woodlands.

Most people coming to my website would probably expect to see me write about cycling. All the time. And maybe some occasional computer nerd stuff too, I guess.

But the truth is, the few stories I posted about pigeons seem to be attracting the most people who write comments! I kind of miss those filthy yet beautiful birds on my balcony in Etobocoke, but in so many other ways I'm much happier in our new (old!) house closer to downtown.

Anyway, this post is not about cycling, computer stuff, or even pigeons. I just wanted to catch up and tell you about all the walking I have done lately. I still ride my bike to work most of the time, though I've been taking transit when I've been sick or the weather has been particularly bad, but I've started walking more often for more local tasks, and to explore my neighbourhood and city.

Here are some walks I've been on in December and January. Not surprisingly, I always had my camera with me! Click the links for more photos and commentary.

• December 1: A Saturday afternoon walk with Jen down Sterling Rd. and other parts of our neighbourhood.
• December 16: I was on a work trip to Ottawa when that big snowstorm came through Ontario. I went for a long walk around downtown and took plenty of photos.
• December 31: Another walk around the 'hood, this time with lots of photos of the Wallace Ave. bridge.
• January 1: A snowy New Years Day walk down Sterling Rd., through High Park, and more.
• January 5: Some interesting sights while walking downtown.
• January 12: Another walk downtown with Jen. MacGregor Park, Queen West, Trinity Bellwoods, murals, and more.
• January 20: Walking downtown again (we're really saving on TTC fare!). Zig-zagging through the side streets down to Queen West, and more.
• January 26: Yesterday I finally dragged myself out for a walk after being sick for almost a week. We went up to St. Clair W., enjoyed the view from the escarpment etc.

I have also been enjoying Michael's Bloor-Lansdowne blog lately. He posts some neat information about the neighbourhood, often from the perspective of all the walking he does.

Kensington Market's Pedestrian Sundays (note: website rarely seems to work for me) are an event where several streets in Toronto's Kensington Market are opened up to pedestrians. Automobile traffic is blocked off, and people are free to roam the streets. Not only is it a chance for people to enjoy all the extra space without the (slowly) moving and parked cars, but it's an opportunity do other fun stuff in the streets: play music, skateboard, dance, and even something as wild as walking down the middle of the street.

I forgot about this week's PS Kensington event. I just happened to stumble across it after shopping at the Urbane Cyclist and going for some pho on Spadina Ave. I was glad I found it, as I had never been to a PS Kensington event before.

As I wandered through the market, I stopped to watch a punk band play some "oldies" for a while, followed by an electric sitar and didjeridoo duo that really rocked. I watched kids skateboaring. People were learning to tango in the street. Cargo was being moved through the market on bicycles and carts. Kids were running around playing. Stilt-walkers towered above us.

Another interesting feature was the More Parks, Less Parking! petition. Basically, this was a car that was completely painted white, where people could sign their names asking for more appropriate use of public space. The car / petition was delivered to City Hall on Monday.

I had a great time there. Bumped into a few people I knew, and spent way more time downtown than I had originally planned. I'll have to rmember to check out more of these events in the future.

I had my camera with me, so of course I took a ton of photos.