Lester B. Pearson Garden for Peace and Understanding

The Lester B. Pearson Garden for Peace and Understanding, located on the St. Michaels College Campus at the University of Toronto Campus, in Toronto Ontario, Canada. This garden is located along what the students call "Philosopher's Walk". It is just past [Emily]Carr Hall, bordered by the EJ Pratt library for Reformation studies, and just around the corner from the Northrop Frye Hall.

In an age uncertain of its future, it is nice to be reminded of ideals which once shaped our country.
The inscription on the viewing platform above the waterfall reads:
""Let us give the student a faith, a sense of mission,
an understanding of social and moral values
Above all, education,
especially at a university such as ours,
must be based on a belief in something deeper and higher than oneself,
whatever it may be called...
Misunderstanding ... arising from ignorance breeds fear,
and fear remains the greatest enemy of peace.
Educated persons ... will place the desire to put muscle into missiles
below the desire to put
dignity and decency
into living;
moral values into action;
beauty into words
or images.
They will put the search for the good life in peace and freedom
above every
other
search."

As role models go, Pearson ranks as one of the highest. The inscription to the garden continues: "

The Lester B. Pearson Garden for Peace and Understanding

This garden is dedicated to the legacy of the Right Honourable Lester Bowles Pearson; a 1919 Victoria College graduate, Chancelor of Victoria University from 1952 to 1969; and Canada's fourteenth Prime Minister. Pearson established Canada's reputation in the 20th Century as one of the world's great peacekeeping nations and helped define Canada's modern foreign policy. In 1957, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his International achievements. Victoria University believes it is important to remind future generations of the central role pearson played in finding peaceful solutions to the world's problems."

I am honoured to have had the opportunity to visit this garden of all the gardens I could have chosen to visit. It is a shame that the same ideals do not hold true today.

The young women sitting behind the tree were piecing together a huge mural using the flags from countries all over the world. I thought it was somehow fitting, and only now wished I had spoken to them about what they were up to.

USA-Canada / Canada-Ontario

Lat: 43° 39' 58.93" N
Long: 80° 24' 27.58" W

Elevation: 348

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: High. Pinpoints the exact spot.

Nikon Coolpix 3700. A tripod. Patience. The gracious assistance from members of the WWP community (thanks Bo, thanks Markus).

My brother graduated from the University of Toronto as a teacher which is why I was 1000 kilometres from home during the window of time for this event.

Being completely unfamiliar with the city, I had no idea where anything was, or where any gardens were. It was quite by chance that I stumbled across this garden situated beside the EJ Pratt Library - if I had not seen a bench through the trees off in the distance, I would not have even thought to walk in that direction.

Not being familiar means not knowing what plants are there, their significance, or difficulty in growing/maintaining. The caption on the garden though was enough for me to consider it for this event (even though it could just as easily fit into the sanctuary or water events of the past).

The season for blooms in Canadian perennial gardens is a little later than June 21 hence the greenery, but I am guessing that while in bloom, this garden is breathtaking. It was quite a joy to photograph this serene retreat on the morning of June 24th.