Macgregor Point Park 露营记
往年的四月中下旬已春暖花开，是湖畔赏绿、田野踏青的好时节，所以早早计划四月份的复活节长周末南下去Finger Lakes，hiking+camping+拍照，可天公不作美，貌似今年春天的雨水比往年多，天气预报长周末不但连阴天，还会有两天都是20-25mm 的降雨，只得取消了南下的念头，但又不想三天的长周末宅在屋里，于是在在放假前一天的下午决定去Macgregor Provincial Park，周四晚采购了食品，整理了物品，装好背包，一切就绪，这是今年的第一次露营，很是期待啊。
周五的天空依然是阴沉沉的，到达公园里的营地已经快一点钟了，整好帐篷，还在野餐桌上方搭了个大的tarp，以防随时可能的大雨。下午走在湖边的小径上，居然还有几处未融化的积雪。在Visitor Centre 那里看到介绍，这个位于休伦湖畔的省公园，有7公里的湖岸线，沿湖湿地，茂密的树林和沙丘，是春季观鸟的好地方，春季还有斑龟出现。在5月份来游玩会是个比较的时节。
像往此的出游一样，拍照日出、日落是我们camping 的保留节目，这次也不例外，早5:30 起床，来到湖边等待日出与水平面交汇的那一瞬间，傍晚在湖畔的沙石上迎风而立久久不想离去。
黎明前的光影：
傍晚，天空露出了一丝霞光：
第二天清晨，太阳终于露头了：
清晨霞光下的湖滨：
实际上，这个公园比想象中的小多了，在春季青黄不接的季节也没有太多的游玩项目，所以第二天我们又北上杀到了Bruce 半岛，还是那样碧蓝清澈的湖水，但却少了夏日时分的人头攒动。
在这里还看到一队背着背包的年轻人，居然换上了泳装跳进冰冷的湖水中嬉闹，而我还穿着夹克衫和鹅绒背心，正是后生可畏啊。
Blackberry Playbook
So I just got a 16GB Blackberry Playbook…
7寸触控屏幕方便携带，正合我意，WiFi和蓝牙无线功能查看email,浏览即时信息很方便。
巅峰记忆
《巅峰记忆》主要以登山者李兰的第一视角切入，影片使用情景再现和访谈实录为表现手法，重现了8年前北大山鹰登山队发生山难的那一天的情形和救援活动。
下面这篇《山巅之魅》的报道可能对户外运动爱好者更有借鉴作用，都是专业登山者的经验体会。
Home, Sweet Home – Tax Tips For Homeowners
by Jamie Golombek
With spring comes the official launch of house hunting season. So, what better time to ensure that you are maximizing the tax benefits associated with home ownership, especially since the 2010 tax return filing deadline is fast approaching.
If you purchased a new home in 2010, don’t forget to claim the relatively new Home Buyers’ Tax Credit. Introduced in 2009, this non-refundable tax credit is based on a $5,000 amount for first-time homebuyers which, at the 15% federal credit rate, is worth $750.
Interestingly, you are considered a first-time homebuyer if neither you nor your spouse or partner owned and lived in another home in the calendar year of purchase or any of the four preceding calendar years. In other words, you could have owned a home previously, but if you sold it and then perhaps rented for four years or so, you still may qualify as a first-time homebuyer for the purpose of claiming the credit if you bought a home in 2010.
Did you use the Home Buyers’ Plan when purchasing your home? Under the HBP, a first-time homebuyer can withdraw up to $25,000 from her RRSP to purchase a home without having to pay tax on that withdrawal. Any funds withdrawn must be repaid over a maximum of 15 years or the amount not repaid in a year is added to the participant’s income for that year.
If you participated in the HBP previously and were required to make a repayment for 2010, be sure to designate a portion of your RRSP contributions as a HBP repayment on Schedule 7 of your personal tax return, under “PART B – Repayments under the HBP. ”
You may also be able to get some tax relief from your property taxes, depending on your province of residence. Quebec provides a refund for property tax paid during the year, while both Ontario and Manitoba provide a tax credit for property tax or rent paid during the year.
Still have a mortgage? If so, have you considered whether you could restructure your financial affairs to make your mortgage interest effectively tax deductible?
If you have non-registered investments, consider selling them to pay off your mortgage (non-deductible debt) and then borrowing back the funds for investment purposes (tax-deductible debt). This allows you to effectively write off what otherwise would have been non-deductible personal mortgage interest.
This strategy has often be referred to as the “Singleton Shuffle,” because it was named after Vancouver lawyer John Singleton’s 2001 Supreme Court victory, which upheld the notion that you can rearrange your financial affairs in a tax-efficient manner so as to make your interest on investment loans tax-deductible.
Before doing so, be sure to consider any tax consequences of selling your non-registered investments along with any prepayment fees associated with paying off your mortgage early.
Finally, if you sold your home in 2010, the good news is that the gain is likely taxfree, provided you didn’t also own a second home.
The principal residence exemption (“PRE”), if available, can shelter the gain on a principal residence from capital gains tax. A principal residence can include either your main home or a vacation property, even if it’s not where you primarily live during the year as long as you “ordinarily inhabit” it at some point during the year.
The CRA assumes that if no gain is reported on your return for the year of sale, the PRE has been used to eliminate the gain and therefore, no other property (such as the vacation property) can be designated for the years in which the PRE was presumed to be claimed on the sold property.
As a result, a conscious decision should be made as to whether the gain should be reported, as failure to report jeopardizes claiming the PRE in the future on the sale of your other property for the years in which you owned both properties.
– Jamie Golombek, CA, CPA, CFP, CLU, TEP is the Managing Director, Tax & Estate Planning with CIBC Private Wealth Management in Toronto.
新春第一骑
气温回升，阳光灿烂，今日和几位好友一同骑车活动，9点在cherry st 的大统华停车场集合，沿着waterfront trail 西行到 Humber Bay park，然后原路返回到TT Park。
湖边清新的空气，平坦的trail，真是跑步、骑车的好地方，凉风轻轻拂过脸面，让人觉得神清气爽，悠悠哉哉骑了35公里。
抓住冬天的尾巴
虽然阳光灿烂冰雪渐渐消融，，但寒风冰纷却是冬日依旧。上个周末的清晨冒着零下10多度的严寒来到Ashbridges Bay，抓拍了日出的湖滨小景。
晨曦中的Tommy Thompson Park
周末难得的好天气，自行车队的Geoff 召集了今年的第一次骑行，8点钟在TT Park门口会合。
因想着可以顺便拍片，easywave 提议7点前到达，拍日出和骑行两不误。
因周六去了Tiny Beach 拍日落，到家已经10点半了。想到几个月没骑车，该给自行车的轮胎冲气了，折腾到11点多。 早晨6点钟闹铃响了，磨蹭好久才起床，6:40出发，到公园门口，见到easywave 的汽车停在那里，人已没影了。赶紧背上相机包、三角架，骑上车往公园里赶。
一路上见到几位背着相机，边走边拍，不过没有我们两轮的速度快，可以选择不同的拍摄地点。
拍完照往回骑的时候，远远看到一个骑车的人影，正是Geoff，他已经在公园里骑了两圈多了。
Oshawa Beach
一直计划到湖边拍日出，周日早不到6点钟出门前往Oshawa Beach，天空中飘着零零落落的雪花，地面上似乎有一层薄薄的冰雪，我一路小心翼翼的开车，由于没换雪胎真有点担心打滑时控。
在那里转了两个多小时，然后顺便去了darlington park， 那里的积雪很厚啊，下次可以来xc-skiing.
淡泊高雅清丽的兰花
二月十二、三日，在Toronto Botanical Garden举办了兰花展。以前曾多次逛花卉展但这回却有所不同，只因近来迷上了摄影，还添了个红百微，正好可以练练手。
只有周日的早场可以使用三角架，所以不到九点就来到了展厅， 兰花的品种不少，一些盆景精致养眼，但场地有限，确实人很多，脚架一个挨着一个，要见缝插针才行，另外闪光灯此起彼伏，有些干绕。
这次拍兰花，基本上都是用的小光圈加大景深，没用闪光灯，慢速拍摄，用了快门线和mirror lock-up, 另外调好对焦和曝光后还用了LCD放大5-10倍来查看对焦效果并进行微调。
拍微距、花卉，真的要静下心来观察、揣摩、练习。
Worldy's Footprint 
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