On Grassl

The word ’extreme’ comes easily to those who try to define John Grassl’s spirit, adventures, and private garden. As an adult, John has leaped off the CN tower, hand-glided across Lake Ontario, and rode a ferris wheel for 20 days. But his most extreme task took over 30 years to come to completion. As a small boy raised in the suburbs of Etobicoke, Ontario, John built a small pond in his backyard. 34 years later, the pond has grown to become a large exotic lake: an underwater garden of fish, plants and flowers with a rustic cabin and wilderness trails surrounding it. Encompassing most of the backyard, this unexpected paradise is a natural escape from the sights and sounds of the big city for the man who lives life to the extreme.