Well, I almost forgot about inchies this week, what with Christmas and all.
And this week's theme wasn't the easiest.
But there is a cute little story behind what I finally decided as my interpretation:
Rainbow
Toronto's major access route from the suburbs to downtown and back, is the Don Valley Parkway. Running along the side of the Parkway at a certain point -- and you can only see it if you are going northbound -- is a pedestrian underpass for people wishing to enjoy the adjoining parkland..
Back in 1972, a 16 year-old, Berg Johnson from Norway, got the great idea to paint a rainbow around the outside of the tunnel to bring some cheer to commuters heading home from work at the end of the day, especially if they were stuck in rush hour on what is facetiously often called the Don Valley Parking Lot.
Parks Departments being what they are, they immediately painted over Johnson's rainbow. But he persevered and each time they painted over it, he repainted it -- 40 times! -- eventually winning them over. It was quite a daunting task to paint the rainbow. There is what was thought at the time to be an unused CN rail track running above the tunnel. Johnson was hanging upside down from a rope attached to the rails in order to paint the tunnel when a train whizzed by, slicing the rope and sending him down the embankment where he suffered a broken leg. He used a ladder for the next 39 times!
Various people have tried to restore the deterioration that has taken place over the years, but only recently has the city decided to restore the landmark so familiar to Torontonians. The $20,000 two-phase project will turn the entire tunnel into public art, with the help of local youth. It only took them 40 years (there's that number again, AJ and snafu) to come to their senses!
This is what it looked like at its worst....
...and at its best:
I am sure there will be some fascinating rainbow inchies here this week. Why not pop over and take a look!
