We have lived the past 28 years in Meadowvale, a community in the northwest corner of Mississauga (minus a 2-year detour to Streetsville).  Meadowvale is a planned community (maybe the only one in Mississauga) and, among other things, has an amazing amount of green space, most of which borders a multi-purpose trail that meanders through neighbourhoods (ours); around schools, churches, and parks; under or over main roads; through woodlands; and around 2 man-made lakes.

   

   

We have always lived close to this approx 15km trail system – 3 years half a block away, the last 23 years right out our back gate.  In earlier days, we used this system extensively for bicycling and rollerblading with our daughter, and for walking our dog – in more recent years, some bicycling and dog-walking.  Sometimes I feel we take this fabulous environment for granted, although I’m forever grateful to look out my kitchen window, or from my deck, at our park-like view.  (Now if only we could get rid of the traffic noise from Winston Churchill…)

   

Lake Wabukayne is an easy walk from home.  In fact, the Lake Wabukayne Trail starts directly behind our property (or, the Winston Churchill or Millgrove Trails start there, whichever way you prefer to go).  For the past few years, the Lake Wabukayne Association has been undertaking a beautification and ecological improvement program.  I headed out this morning to see what kind of progress they were making.

On my way to the lake, I went through the tunnel that took me under Glen Erin Drive. Very often in the past this tunnel would have been littered with random graffiti and smashed beer bottles.  Since I last saw it, the graffiti has been replaced with murals that reflect the environment and there wasn’t a piece of broken glass in sight!

   

And just before I got to the lake, I noticed the beginning of new placards installed around the lake that speak to either the animals, birds, flowers, or the butterfly garden.

   

   

Even the garbage cans are getting beautified!!! (apparently by school kids)

   

The lake has always been a lovely place to visit, but my approach to the lake-head today was a very pleasant surprise.  The rickety old bench is gone, the basic functional fence has been replaced by a funky piece of art, and the surrounding area has been landscaped.

   

Of particular interest was the beginning of a floating island that the association is introducing to clean up the water and to establish an ecologically friendly environment for the fish – it will also be visually stimulating once they get a variety of plantings finished.

   

There has always been a lovely boardwalk beside the lake, where folks stop to appreciate the view, or feed the ducks.  It will be the perfect vantage point to gaze out on the results of the floating island.

   

   

Heading up and around the end of the lake, I was treated to an early morning bunny (ran away before I could snap a pic) and a mink! scurrying across the top of the spillway before it slipped into the water.

   

   

As a final reward for getting up so early this morning, as I got closer to where I started I was thoroughly entertained by the excellent choir/band through the open windows of the church that’s tucked into a corner.  I walked a little slower, checked out the new tree carving, sat a bit by the funky fence, and hung out at the butterfly garden.  If there had been that kind of music at church when I was growing up, I might have been more loyal to the cause.

            

   

    

That was a well-spent Zen-like hour, early on a Sunday morning.  And, to top it off, everyone I passed met me with a cheery hello, so unlike (probably the same) people you come across out in the hustle/bustle world.

Sometimes you don’t have to go too far from home…