Snowbirds and a Parade

Every Labour Day week-end there is an airshow along Toronto’s waterfront, which means 4 days (Friday is included) of various aircraft flying overhead.

I haven’t actually gone to the show in many years after having been taken once as a child by some family friends and while it was an appreciated treat to go, it really was a whole lot of sitting around in the blazing sun. For safety purposes it makes sense that there are long pauses between acts, to ensure the airspace is clear, but I do remember lots of waiting. We are talking a show that lasts 3 1/2 hours, which is a long time on a holiday that could be spent doing other fun things. (Note: this is just my opinion and I’m sure there are plenty of people who really enjoy the airshow. Heck, it happens every single year, for 4 days, so clearly there are!)

So although I don’t feel strongly about going down to see the show from a close vantage point, it really is interesting and special seeing them flying through the sky as you go about your day though. And each year, if I have my camera when I see an interesting plane, I point it skyward and try to get a picture. Meaning I have many blurred images of what could just as easily be a bird as a plane. Many are jets that move at jet-speed (obviously!), so random picture taking is not really on. In fact, you actually have to be looking at the sky before you hear them since light travels faster than sound, so by the time you’ve heard the jet, it has already swooped by.

But this Labour Day I was prepared. Bearing my newish camera and telephoto lens, and enjoying a gorgeous afternoon outside on the deck, I was ready. Well, actually I jumped up when I heard the final act thundering by, The Snowbirds. This is an aerobatic team comprised of active members of the Canadian military and the flying tricks they do are really quite stunning. Read about them here – Snowbirds if you are interested.

These are some shots I caught of their show on Monday, taken from my front yard. Are there better pictures of The Snowbirds? Of course there are. But these are mine, and allow me to cross an item off my bucket-list of photos I’d like to take at least once in my life. Snowbirds? Check.

I am particularly happy with this one that includes the whole team, all nine jets.

Oops … wrong kind of birds in this next shot. I like how it looks like they are discussing the show!

Earlier on Labour Day, Nick and I went to the park for a walk/run. And we came upon a parade going by along Queen Street West! It was a parade paying homage to labour unionsm which is admittedly not the most interesting of parade subjects, with much of it being only people walking by carrying flags and banners. Nonetheless, I found some ‘floats’ that were picture-worthy. The restored streetcar is from 1951.

New visitors to my blog (Welcome!!) would be lead to believe that mine is only a photography blog, based on the last several posts. I’ve been on a bit of a picture taking frenzy these past few weeks!

But, to show you that there is more to see than only photographs around here, below are some DIYs and recipes that I posted in August. (Click the picture if you’d like to see the post). I highly recommend that pasta salad! It is soooo tasty.

Thank you, as always, for your visit. If you write a blog, leave a link in the comments, as I’d really like to check it out!
xo loulou

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