Rural life on Toronto's fringe

[miketoronto]

Last weekend I had to go to my brothers house for my nephews birthday party. Here are just a couple pics of rural life just beyond Toronto's sprawling suburbs.

My brother works in Toronto, however him and his wife have a farm just east of Oshawa.

My brother loves the isolated rural life, and not seeing neighbours, etc. So here is a little look into rural life.

They use to live in Whitby, but that was to crowded for him and his wife(his wife grew up in a farm just down the road from their home in Clarington). So she is not use to urban life at all.


Anyway welcome to rural life.

On the highway. Huge open pieces of land.

Turning onto my brothers street.

Driving down my brothers street.

My brothers street.

Driving up my brothers driveway.

My brothers backyard. Behind those trees is a pond. Nice realaxing backyard. No neighbours to bother you, no people, just trees. My brother loves it. Isolation at its best :0

The front yard of my brothers house.

 

[Mislav]

It's nice to visit the country as I do many, many times a year. But honestly I don't think I could live in a rural community.

 

[CliffColeclough]

I win the lottery, I am so there (or somewhere like this).

 

[Canuck 36]

Someone would have to give me their massive lottery winnings for me to entertain the thought of living there.

 

[troodie]

don't you think that is a little harsh? this is his brother's home your talking about.

 

[Canuck 36]

No, I accept people want different things. If that makes him brother happy, good for him.

I would be miserable out there.

 

[miketoronto]

troodie, he is not being harsh.

Everytime we go out there to my brother, mom and brother have a huge debate, over where to live. My mom can't stand it out in the country, and my brother always bugs her to leave the "discusting city". So they have a huge debate, with my mom telling him how bad country life is

Its nothing new. Hes the only one of our family who prefers the country.

You should have seen my brothers eyes when one of his sons said he wanted out of the farm and wanted to live in downtown Toronto with Uncle Mikey, in a condo

Anyway I try to culture the kids a little. I take then into Toronto for the ROM, Science Centre, to eat out, etc. They just love it. Because if you leave it up to my brother, the kids would never see the city.

It was funny, I took my nephew downtown not long ago, and we went out for Japanese food. He had so much fun, he went back to the farm and told everyone.

Actually when my nephews have field trips into Toronto, I usually take off work and volunteer to be a adult supervisor with the group. And I am always a hit with all this classmates, because I am the "cool city guy" who takes the subway to work. Its so funny.

I like visiting the farm for a couple hours. The view I have to admit of the hills are nice, just for a couple hours. Its to isolated, and the teens have nothing to do, but sex and drinking.
You should hear the stories that come out of that small town. Makes the city kids look like angels.

But whatever makes you happy. My brother does not mind the one hour or longer ride into Scarborough everyday for work. And he even did the drive down into downtown each day when they transfered him for a couple months, into downtown.
But then my brothers work seems to be covered with city haters and country lovers. His co-worker use to drive in from Lindsay everyday, and I think you would be hard pressed to find a worker of his that actually lives in Toronto. They may keep our lights working(Toronto Hydro), but they don't want to live here

 

[building babel]

My friend Ron used to live in Markham and my partner and I went out to stay for a weekend in '84. Strawberry picking and going for long, long walks in wide open spaces was about as exciting as it got. We could hardly wait to get back to T.O. and never went out there again.

Further back in the mists of time, somewhere in the mid '70's, I visited the Bagnani's in Port Hope for lunch and tea. What a lovely old couple - Stewart was the great grand daughter of Sir John Beverley Robinson of the Family Compact, and Gilbert was a historian, academic, and collector of antiquities. Vogrie, their "Baronial Hall" as Gilbert called it, was crammed with all kinds of fascinating art and sculpture - everything from Piranesi etchings to a mural by William Ronald. They made visiting the country a pleasure.

www.trentu.ca/library/arc...97-003.htm

Apart from visits to a boyfriend who went to Guelph in the late '70's I've keep as far away from the countryside as possible.

 

[cdl42]

As a former rural dweller, all I've got to say is...

Ahhh... it's good to be surrounded by people who see the countryside for what it really is.

 

[roch5220]

'just north of Oshawa'

= future prime subdivision land.

 

[Jarrek]

10-15 years and I'm there

 

[thx1038]

booring