Continuing my tales of exploring London... to read the first edition of this, click here.
I left the farmhouse and continued bicycling around the city. I came across an abandoned building with an open door swaying in the breeze. The glass had been smashed out and lay on the stoop in a pile of geometric fragments.
I went inside to see what I could find. It was a roughly round building with a cone shaped roof. A small rectangular back room extended to the west side, but it was dark and smelled of decay so I dared not to tread too deep. In the tiny room that served as a bathroom, the only remaining feature was an oval mirror. It smiled back at me as I took it off the hook it hung on. The abandoned office sported a collapsing ceiling and a mouldering armchair. I thought this might be the napping place of a passing-through wanderer, so I left him a cheery greeting.
One eye of the smiling face had dripped, and it seemed to me that it might be crying as well.
In the main room, I could see that someone had read the Dark Tower by Stephen King. This is a series of very long novels and a personal favorite. Written in what appeared to be lipstick, or nail polish was "Oh discordia" and a common tagline found in the book, "Bangoskank was here". 
I'm glad I'm not the only one who appreciates those books.
I rummaged around a while longer. I had determined it had been a gardening shop. A sticker that held together some shards of broken glass from the window proclaimed that they had been a member of some Ontario landscaping association. I also found a red hexagonal sticker clinging to it's own glass. It proclaimed, "STOP! Contents marked for quick identification by polica break, enter and theft. Maximum penalty life imprisionment"
I find it humorous that I found this while I was exiting the building, and suddenly felt like I should leave.
Back on the road, I had to swerve suddenly to avoid a carcass of an unfortunate roadkill victim. And then another. And another! I found nine dead painted turtles, there they are standing in a row. Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head. (Okay maybe not that big).They all lay at the edge of the busy roadway in various states of decomposition. Now I will have it stated, that this species of turtle has been designated as a "Specially Protected Reptile" under the Ontario Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act which offers protection to individuals but not their habitat.
As if to illustrate this, I turned around to see where these poor unfortunate souls had come from, and a large sign proclaimed "PRIME LAND FOR DEVELOPMENT". I didn't know whether to throw up, or cry.London seems to be a city that is growing up and over a rich natural land. I said once to a friend that my first impression is London is a mutant hybrid of city, suburbia, countryside, and landfill (sorry to say it, but there is a lot of litter).
As if to prove my point,while I climbed a small mountain of grey earth behind a shopping plaza, I found a discarded backpack with it's contents strewn about and caked with dry mud. It looked like the remains some thief had left behind after rummaging out all of the "good stuff". The one item that caught my eye was a small stone square with a leather cord. A piece of white paper listed, what seemed to me as the 10 commandments. However, upon closer inspection, I think they are really just pieces of good advice. What I could make out is:
6.
7. ........................................ on Sundays.
8. You shall respect your peers their suggestions
9. You shall not cheat on your spouse
10. You shall respect the environment that you live
Last but not least, a throwback to my Sweeny Todd reference... I passed by an interesting barber shop. Even If I had a beard to shave, I don't think I would be a patron there.
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