The calendar for the first three months of 2026, with today, Saturday, January 31, highlighted. February begins on Sunday and lasts for exactly four weeks, ending on Saturday.

We have a perfect Rectangular February coming up, first time we’ve had one since 2015

Maybe this is what finally closes the loop and fixes the world

A cylindrical barbecue with a chef's hat of snow.

Soufflé de neige, 2026

The “Persian Empire Distillery” of Peterborough, Ontario, distills Persian-style arak, which has been illegal in Iran since ‘79

An LRT vehicle along Finch Avenue West in Toronto on the opening of Line 6 on December 7, 2025

A Queen Streetcar stranded on Queen Street East in Toronto on a rainy December 2025 evening.

An Upper Ottawa bus on Queensdale Avenue in Hamilton, Ontario at sunset

Marquee of the former Eglinton Theatre on Eglinton Avenue in Toronto on a rainy night in December 2024.

Hello, #PortfolioDay!

Blair is my name, and I spend a LOT of time travelling on public transit in Toronto, Canada.

While most of my subject matter is transit related, I enjoy the beauty of a good sunset, urban and rural landscapes, and the odd sign or two.

Thanks for checking my stuff out! 🙏💙

Painting created with dots and dashes of two Black girls in red and purple dresses walking away, one with their arm on the other's shoulder

Sister and Friend, 2024 ♀
by Betty Acquah, Ghanaian feminist painter #WomensArt

#OtD 6 Jan 1971 the Militant Mothers of Raymur, 25 mothers from the Raymur Place housing project in Vancouver, Canada, blockaded railway tracks to get a pedestrian overpass to protect the 400 children who crossed the tracks to and from school stories.workingclasshistory.com/article/1061...

Well, if that isn't the sweetest term for a baby porcupine!

Massive car interchange from the air

Never forget, car dependency is the opposite of freedom.

What’s more “free” than cars, you ask?

Choices.

Know Your Locals: Double your impact when donating to YWCA Peterborough Haliburton this holiday season | kawarthaNOW By Megan Gallant. Donations made before December 31 to support women and children recovering from gender-based violence will be matched by Olivia and Gord James up to $60,000.

Know Your Locals: Double your impact when donating to @ywca-ph.bsky.social this holiday season. Donations made before Dec 31 to support women & children recovering from gender-based violence will be matched by Olivia & Gord James up to $60,000. kawarthanow.com/2025/11/03/k...

i’m just so mad because if we absolutely had to elect an unqualified media personality to be president we should have gone with either of the guys from CAR TALK

Picture of wide, blank, dead downtown street

If your downtown still has many wide and fast one-way streets, then your priority is to move cars as fast as possible thru a weak downtown. It’s NOT to create a vibrant downtown, help downtown retailers, keep people safe, support walkability and accessibility, reduce pollution, etc. #TrafficSewers

Glasgow CC announces LEZ success | LocalGov The introduction of Glasgow’s Low Emission Zone (LEZ) has resulted in air pollution levels being cut by a third in the city centre.

Low emissions zones work to protect public health.

Since the scheme was introduced in Glasgow:

- Pollution levels have reduced by a third in the city centre.
- There has been a 21% reduction in harmful pollutants outside the LEZ area.
- It has met legal limits for the first time in three decades.

When it comes to achieving more housing in and around downtowns and urban places, remember, we’re not building “units.” I hate that word. We’re building homes.

And we’re not just building homes — we’re building livable, lovable, mixed, diverse neighbourhoods that people really want to live in.

The @grievousangels104.bsky.social are at Canterbury studios in Toronto this week recording album #10.
It's called Revolution.
We will be at the Peterborough Folk Festival on Saturday.

"The City of Paris has chosen to prioritize quality of life in central Paris by introducing new regulations for traffic as this traffic has a major impact on the quality of life of Parisians and visitors to the city,"

People riding bikes in a protected bike lane in downtown Vancouver

It’s REALLY important that #Vancouver’s Downtown Business Association, who were originally against downtown bike-lanes, are now among their most vigourous supporters, because of the evidence that they are better for downtown business than any street parking they replaced.

Bike-lanes mean business.

Right turns on red puts pedestrians at risk, Mineta study says A 1970s-era federal law requires states to allow right turns on red lights. Mineta Transportation Institute researchers say it’s time to change that.

Right on red was only introduced during the 1970s OPEC crisis as a fuel-saving measure. Turns out it doesn't save fuel, and instead is SUPER dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians! We should get rid of it everywhere!
Source: www.smartcitiesdive.com/news/right-t...

Language matters A LOT!

We have built our entire civilization around the automobile and it is going to take a generation or more to recalibrate cities away from complete car dependence.

But every day, people are choosing to drive less, sell that second car, join Modo, buy an e-bike, put the kids in a cargo bike, and ride

People of all ages and abilities walk, cycle, sit, and socialise on the low-traffic streets of Ghent, Belgium, which are lined with buildings, trees, benches, and terraces.

People of all ages and abilities walk, cycle, sit, and socialise on the low-traffic streets of Ghent, Belgium, which are lined with buildings, trees, benches, and terraces.

People of all ages and abilities walk, cycle, sit, and socialise on the low-traffic streets of Ghent, Belgium, which are lined with buildings, trees, benches, and terraces.

People of all ages and abilities walk, cycle, sit, and socialise on the low-traffic streets of Ghent, Belgium, which are lined with buildings, trees, benches, and terraces.

Watteeuw was rewarded for this bravery, with silent supporters significantly increasing his vote count in the next election. Ghent's bold move to prioritise people over cars is now a reference point for global cities looking to change their streets into healthier, safer, more vibrant public spaces.🔚

People of all ages and abilities walk, cycle, sit, and socialise on the low-traffic streets of Ghent, Belgium, which are lined with buildings, trees, benches, and terraces.

People of all ages and abilities walk, cycle, sit, and socialise on the low-traffic streets of Ghent, Belgium, which are lined with buildings, trees, benches, and terraces.

People of all ages and abilities walk, cycle, sit, and socialise on the low-traffic streets of Ghent, Belgium, which are lined with buildings, trees, benches, and terraces.

People of all ages and abilities walk, cycle, sit, and socialise on the low-traffic streets of Ghent, Belgium, which are lined with buildings, trees, benches, and terraces.

Within two years, the benefits became apparent to everyone, with car traffic decreasing by 17%, through traffic by 85%, traffic injuries by 33%, and air pollution by 30%. Cycling increased by 60%, and public transport usage by 25%. Business in the centre grew by 20% and bankruptcies were down by 7%.

People of all ages and abilities walk, cycle, sit, and socialise on the low-traffic streets of Ghent, Belgium, which are lined with buildings, trees, benches, and terraces.

People of all ages and abilities walk, cycle, sit, and socialise on the low-traffic streets of Ghent, Belgium, which are lined with buildings, trees, benches, and terraces.

People of all ages and abilities walk, cycle, sit, and socialise on the low-traffic streets of Ghent, Belgium, which are lined with buildings, trees, benches, and terraces.

People of all ages and abilities walk, cycle, sit, and socialise on the low-traffic streets of Ghent, Belgium, which are lined with buildings, trees, benches, and terraces.

A traffic circulation plan is one of the most effective ways to improve your city’s accessibility, liveability, safety and quality of public space: eliminate unnecessary through traffic—as Ghent did in 2017—and watch the streets quickly return to life with people on foot, bike and public transport.🧵

It’s always pretty interesting to have some folks try hard to dispute car dependency by describing their conditions that suggest that driving is the obvious choice and other options are non-viable, thereby pretty much describing car dependency, without seeming to get the irony of that.

Painting looking down to a glass cup filled with a reddish tea and with teabag floating inside, the cup makes a shadow to the left on the white surface on which it rests

Leah Gardner, contemporary Chicago-based oil painter #WomensArt #Sunday

These are beautiful.

Happy Pride. 💕

Peterborough-area politicians join province-wide movement to ‘Elect Respect’ | kawarthaNOW By Megan Gallant. Joy Lachica, Bonnie Clark, and Carolyn Amyotte are among the signatories pledging to restore civility and respect to public service.

"We want to treat everyone with respect and pledge to that and reject harassment, personal attacks, and focus on ideas, policies, and debates." - Bonnie Clark, Peterborough County Warden - kawarthanow.com/2025/06/25/p...

Lawmakers Vote to Decriminalize Abortions for Women in England and Wales

Lawmakers Vote to Decriminalize Abortions for Women in England and Wales. The landmark decision will prevent women from being criminally prosecuted for ending their pregnancies, by Stephen Castle www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/w... via @nytimes.com #abortion #ReproRights

Kudos to Toronto Chief Planner @jasonthorne.bsky.social for getting the Planning Department on Bluesky. Is it the first planning department to establish a presence here? If so, hopefully the first of many. And how many City Halls are here? No reason why they wouldn’t be. #UrbanistShoutOut

Illustration featuring a plant with six red fruits and oval dark green leaves against a cream background

Strawberry plant from "A Curious Herbal Antique Botanical Illustrations", 1737 by Scottish botanical illustrator/author and engraver Elizabeth Blackwell #ReframingWomenPrintmakers