Case Wood Lot thoughts of mine. Sometimes when driving to school every morning my six year old would be looking out the window and would ask me, ‘why do we have so many signs everywhere’. After I explained why, he would follow with ‘what is a vote?’ Then once he understood what a vote is, he would ask ‘and who are you voting for?’
At the school yard, before and after school, once in a while someone would be dragging a sign around. Some even tried to stand one up against a tree, just being a Good Samaritan. But most children do not consider the meaning of election signs as they walk over the fallen ones or have fun punching those standing up simply for the spring back effect. In the case of my six year old who asked valid questions, suddenly he tells you who to vote for because he cannot. The elections signs seemed to have an effect on everyone including children; however, seeing those signs every single day is becoming tiresome.
“Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing.” ~ Rollo May
Last weekend the Case Wood Lot walk was a planned escape, an escape to connect with nature and to enjoy the walk away from all the names that are calling ‘please please vote for me’. We have many beautiful trails in Aurora and each one of them is different. Case Wood Lot is especially beautiful in the fall filled with all shades of yellows and reds; but that weekend we arrived when shades of green were still dominant. We will be back. We usually walk in to the trail from Henderson Drive and walk around back out to Henderson, but not on that day. We knew that if we crossed the forest we would get to Mclellan Way where we would find Norm Weller Park and find the playground we promised our six year old we would visit.
Perhaps that day I escaped the temporary ugliness of signs painfully poking the grounds of our town but I wasn’t able to escape the thought of the municipal elections. I have been thinking. I have been thinking kind of hard about some of the things. I do appreciate the political engagement during this municipal election, that includes a record high 28 candidates campaigning for 8 Town of Aurora Council seats and 2 candidates for the Mayor seat. However, there are things that I do not appreciate.
Town of Aurora is a beautiful and vibrant community to live in. I know it and it’s a fact; I have been exploring Aurora for over five years constantly. I photographed and blogged about our town and believe it or not I have not seen everything yet. We explored trails, parks, playgrounds, sport arenas, attended events, fairs and ate out in many places in Aurora. Thumbs-up to all and bonus, all near our home.
We don’t have just parkettes in Aurora. We have a lot of fun places and playgrounds for children to come and play. We visited the majority of them, in fact over 30 playgrounds, each a different challenge. Many of them connected to trails or nature paths. We walked trails that connect to sidewalks, boardwalks, playgrounds and dog parks. We have been eating at some great cafés and restaurants around the town of which we learned through word of mouth. It’s not a wish, it’s a reality. It may not be perfect to all but it is to us. The essentials are all here, and while some candidates see it differently, perhaps they should explore the Town of Aurora first.
Anna Lozyk Romeo
Aurora, ON
