I took The Partners out for a long walk in Sam Smith Park today. We sure are fortunate to have a treasure like this a few minutes walk away.

It’s a grey day, cool but comfortable, with a wind coming off the lake.

We walked by the leash free area between the water filtration plant and the park and it was empty. It’s a sad little leash free area really. Imagine a huge field in which the City has come along and fenced off a little featureless chunk, added a couple garbage pails, and a sign telling you the rules. I like to walk the main park with The Partners. I keep them on the leash but we must have come across 10 dogs on our walk today off leash outside of the fenced off area. Every now and again the City sends by-law officers out and they fine a few people, but I don’t think enforcement is the solution. The solution is creating an interesting leash free area, big enough to walk in, with some features and access to the water. Can it be done? I can think of two excellent leash free zones around here. One of them is along Etobicoke Creek below Dundas – a wonderful spot our dogs love – and the other is Jack Darling Park out in Mississauga, which – aside from not having access to the lake – is excellent. Still, an on-leash walk all around Sam Smith Park is excellent.

I don’t usually see a lot of interesting mushrooms in the park, but today we came across some shaggy manes.

We walked over to the pond. Mr. Heron was there, doing a little fishing. It reminded me of a day I enjoyed fly fishing on the Grand River. Mr. Heron set up shop about 60 feet upstream from me and did a fine job out-fishing me all afternoon.

We didn’t see a lot of songbirds on our walk, but we did see a couple birdwatchers out there with long camera lenses and binoculars. In peak migration times, you can see many birdwatchers in the park. It’s a so-called migration trap and people come from all over the place to enjoy the bird action. Walking with 2 Newfs is not the best way to see songbirds. We make an awkward and obvious convoy.

The dogs are napping now. They like a good nap after a long walk. Me too, actually. I might just pull up a sofa and settle in for an hour.