Air conditioning for garden sheds, pt.3
Posted on April 11th, 2010 –
…continued from previous part.
I hope I haven’t misled you, dear reader. As the name implies, Rosedale isn’t all weird and unusual structures. The common Meadow Rose is rumoured to still spring up there, if that’s any indication of the place’s frilly beginnings. Probably still some growing around some of the older buildings. A testament to the fact that some of those buildings have been around since Rosedale got the name.
Back in the day, the community was thought to be waaaay out in the sticks. Maids wouldn’t travel out there so people didn’t want to buy houses for fear of having to “rough” it. No shit. And there were some interesting goings-on too, like the disappearance of Ambrose Small in 1919, just after he’d sold all his theatre properties for $1.7 mill. Lots of suspicion on the wife, one of Small’s employees makes off with $100,000; sounds like good Sunday afternoon reading. Doesn’t Rosedale seem like a good setting for it?
Also there’s the story of Bill Bull, a prolifically ironic writer on church history, who in ‘31 had Al Capone trying to kill him. Hey, no one ever said that all the neighbourhood money was legit, did they? It certainly would explain why all the buildings have such imposing facades too. Plenty of spots for snipers to sit in wait for assassins. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that moats had once existed around some of these homes.
Rosedale, like all the other piddly little communities was subsumed, first by Yorkville, then by Toronto. In other words, Toronto won. :D
The city ceded some things to Rosedale like the good winner that it is. Most of the names stuck, as did houses — as long as they stood, and Jarvis Street was named after the Jarvis clan who were responsible for building a lot of stuff in the area.
Yeah, it is the kind of place where you feel like you may need an invitation. But the streets are public so too bad. Besides, if they’re going to go to the trouble of building some of these crazy structures, they should expect people to stare. I can’t say I’d recommend the car around Rosedale, and be prepared for some hills, but there are worse ways to spend a spring afternoon. Summer probably too. Autumn possibly as well.
... with pictures
... with sounds
... with videos
... with opinions
... that's shorter
... that's longer
April 11th, 2010 2:15 pm
The pictures you took are amazing…beautiful flora. It's really a picture of spring. Yet, I've heard that you're still experiencing "wintry" weather there.
April 12th, 2010 7:30 am
At this time of year, Bingkee, it's not unusual to see a few flakes fall. And they did. Typically the practice in Toronto is not to put flowers into the ground until the May 24 holiday weekend due to the possibility of night frosts. So it's actually strange how warm it's been lately, not the snow. :) (and thanks)
April 11th, 2010 6:05 pm
That second picture is a sure fire winner – love it!
April 12th, 2010 7:33 am
Thanks, Grace. I like that one too.
I should point out (to anyone reading this reply), that everything here is licensed under the Creative Commons license (see bottom of page) — which means you're allowed to use the images / text on your own site, etc., in pretty much any way you like (including commercially), without prior approval. The license states that you should link back to where you initially got the content, but I won't lose any sleep if you don't. Would be nice though :)
So if you see anything you can use, please feel free.
April 12th, 2010 1:18 pm
I just cannot withstand to add little comment to this part of your blog. It might sounds shallow as everybody are impresed but your pictures are really so beautiful that sometimes it is breathtaking. And contents are really educating, thanks for all the beauty.
April 13th, 2010 6:51 am
It's my pleasure to share it with you, Stanya, but I can't take credit for the stuff existing in the first place. :)
April 12th, 2010 10:32 pm
I love the pictures, especially the second and last one!!
April 13th, 2010 6:53 am
Thanks, BioTeck. Flowers are in no short supply at the moment so they weren't much of an effort.