ThatGrrl

The website I found this on is gone years ago. But, the idea is not. I have wondered why Canada doesn't have its own hocky league, not including teams in the US. Why is the NHL, not really the National Hockey League, for Canada instead of North America (not including Mexico, so far).

Here is what had been posted as the 'About' page on the old site:

The Campaign for Canadian Hockey Independence

WE - THE HOCKEY PEOPLE OF CANADA - are tired of waiting, paying and being ignored.... and, after much debate and discussion, on July 4th, 2009, the People came together to form a Revolutionary organization.

This organization - The Canadian Revolution - is a Campaign for Canadian Hockey Independence ... and we have a goal in mind. A cross-Canada, world-class professional hockey league that serves the interests of all involved: Owners/Cities, Players and Fans.

Our organization – at once both grassroots as well as connected – is comprised of a broad spectrum of Canadian hockey patriots. By agitating for our common purpose – and planning to deliver upon that promise – we are laying the foundation for Canadian hockey success stories written across this great land and for many years to come.

WE know that no task is easy. But once we have unveiled the plan – and we have all had a chance to debate and discuss the open and honest facts (for a change), the Revolutionary committee is confident that we will ‘fill the rink' with ease in terms of attracting interested cities (more than 25 cities in Canada have populations in excess of 100,000.... or almost 1,000,000 by American standards based upon a new statistical model, the Hockey Avidity Quotient/HAQ).

WE have heard the Players' Association lament the League's refusal to ‘pass the puck to Canada ' and we also know that the players, specifically the Canadian players, have been seeking a more equitable model of operation. The Plan will unveil a true partnership for all involved.

WE have heard the protests, the anguished pleas of the fine citizens of Winnipeg and Quebec City and we, the Canadian Revolution, avow to protect the rights of all Canadian hockey fans against the impartial removal of franchises (and, amazingly, the refusal to allow for their re-absorption back into the Canadian hockey hotbed).

WE are you – and YOU are WE. WE are all Canadian Hockey Patriots.

And, on August 1st, 2009, the Revolution will intensify as the Plan is revealed and, for the first time in our collective sporting history, Canadians will have the opportunity of controlling their own hockey destiny, clear of any undue or unwanted foreign influence.

WE THE HOCKEY PEOPLE OF CANADA STAND READY TO FIGHT THE CANADIAN REVOLUTION AND INVITE ONE AND ALL TO JOIN US IN THE CAMPAIGN FOR CANADIAN HOCKEY INDEPENDENCE !

The Communications Committee The Canadian Revolution July 8, 2009

I looked at the photos of barns in this post. To me, most of them are inactive, not actually abandoned. They are still maintained, enough to not be falling down, don't look salvaged for barn boards, etc. So, they didn't really seem abandoned or derelict. Probably someone else would consider any barn not actively used to be abandoned. I guess it is all perspective. Are you someone using a barn or someone photographing it, looking at it for history, art, or industry/ agriculture or architecture?

I have not (so far) found a link to the photographer, John H. Busch or his fellow explorer, Mary Lynn Busch. There are good points in the post about exploring, history and photographing old places in Ontario. I've copied and pasted parts of the post, not in order so I can keep topics, like photographing the barns together.

Tips for Photographing Abandoned Barns

It’s interesting how you can photograph the same subject several times in one day and capture a different result each time, depending on the location of the sun, cloud cover, and location of the point of view. I learned through experience that my best colour photos are taken on cloudy days, but it is hard to exclude sunny-day shadows for good contrast.

I have shot and compiled a selection of these abandoned barns. For various reasons, it’s sometimes difficult to get the proper perspective while photographing these structures. Some are set far back from the road; there is often the presence of trees and foliage; and sometimes the time of day isn’t ideal. I believe some of my best photos of these barns were taken during the winter months, due to the absence of foliage, but ironically some of the best colours were during the summer months. Most of the barns are plain and unpainted, but a few are painted “barn red” while the odd one is white or green.

The Beginning of the End

The barns with missing boards or ones that have had part of their metal roofs blown off are the ones I refer to as doomed. Once this process begins, the barn will collapse relatively quickly. A year or two of rain on the dry hardwood beams, coupled with an entry for the wind to blow through, often speeds up the process. Gravity always seems to win in the end.

Another factor that contributes to the disappearance of these old barns is economics, including property taxes. Once the landowner realizes that the barn, which is often completely empty, is costing extra money in tax assessment, an excavator is brought in and the barn is dismantled quickly, often leaving the original farmhouse as the only building on the property.

To this day, terms such as “top plate, girt, corner post, brace, bent, mortise and tenon” still come to mind whenever I see different barns.

Source: Readers Digest: Abandoned Barns of Southwestern Ontario | Our Canada

This is called a dawn redwood tree. In 2015, it was voted as the most unique tree in the Great Toronto Tree Hunt. Unfortunately this is now 404 on the site and I could not find the photographs of the winning, or nominated trees. This is a very strange looking tree. I hope it is still standing and lasts a very long time.

This type of tree has been around from the ages of dinosaurs and it can grow in zone 5 but likes lots of sun and water. I looked for more photographs of this tree. Not all were as red as this. It might depend on the lighting at the time the photograph was taken, or the conditions may have been just right for it where this tree is planted.

Interested in growing one in Ontario? I found a post about growing dawn redwoods, a variety called gold rush, for Ontario gardeners at Canada's Local Gardener magazine: Dawn Redwood.

Near the Children’s Centre and Teaching Garden sits a massive and rare find – a dawn redwood (aka metasequoia), believed to be one of the oldest deciduous conifers in Toronto. It was a winner in the uniqueness category of LEAF’s Great Toronto Tree Hunt, submitted by author Jason Ramsay-Brown. It’s said to have been planted in 1960 on a plot bathed in early-morning sunlight on June 20 each year – the birthday of the wife of the gardener who planted it.

Source: Hidden Toronto: a growing list of the city's best-kept secrets