I haven’t had a good look at Brock’s Monument since my high school band travelled here for a concert years ago.

Perhaps we played on the bandstand which is still there:

Brock’s Monument is a 185 foot column atop Queenston Heights near the Niagara River. It is dedicated to Major General Sir Isaac Brock, one of Canada’s heroes in the War of 1812. Though he died during the battle, his troops were successful in defending Upper Canada from an invasion by the United States.  The current monument was constructed between 1853 and 1856.

I visited it on a dark and lightly raining March day.

A Canadian heroine is also celebrated here:

There is a tree growing in the park here which we seldom see in Toronto. The Sweetgum is native to the southeastern United States but does well in Niagara.

The fruit is abundant and covers the ground underneath each fall.

Much of it stays in the tree all winter:

I am told that these fruits cause a lot of accidents in the United States for bicyclists and motorcyclists when the fruit falls on roads and creates slippery conditions.

I took photos of the 5 or 7 lobed leaves of a Sweetgum on the Toronto Island:

Other sights at Queenston:

NATURE POETRY

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields. – Col. John McCrae

Miles Hearn