Toronto Tree Tour

When I lived on a river that backed onto hectares worth of forest, the trees were my backdrop so I didn't give them much notice. I woke to their leaves rustling, walked beneath their majestic canopy, and stalked my cats who in turn stalked every living thing smaller than them. I have a dozen tree books from second hand stores and as much as I tried to educate myself with bark identification tests and leaf diagrams I still felt confounded when I came upon a tree I thought I knew in new different season. Call me a tree geek or a wanna be arborist. In the city, I'm devoid of much exposure to trees, so when I came upon a chance for a free Tree Tour in Toronto I leapt at the chance. I knew it might be odd. Who goes on a tree tour in downtown Toronto on the Saturday of a long weekend? Well, me, and apparently a sold out crowd of other nature lovers.

The tour was led by a quirky, witty, urban arborist and we met on the steps of 401 Richmond (which I've written about before but if you haven't been you must, must check out this space!). We proceeded inside and into the courtyard full of chirping birds, climbing ivy, and splindly tall trees growing skyward in search of sunlight. There was a spiral staircase that led to the rooftop and we were encouraged to climb or take the elevator. I am afraid of heights especially when you can see through a grate many stories below to the ground. But nobody made a move to the elevator and I sort of got swept in the crowd like I was being carried on the top of a mosh pit of elders and I began the climb. Once I got climbing I couldn't really turn around so I kept climbing. Anyone else that is afraid of heights knows that the higher you get the more intense the vertigo becomes - you begin to vacillate between pulling yourself away from the edge and wanting to leap into it. We emerged onto the rooftop garden and were embraced by a variety of potted plants, a naturalized green roof, an apiary for budgies, a greenhouse and a humbling view of sky, skyscrapers, and canopy cover all through the lens of green.