Distractions, reflections

Almost finished double lobster: Down to the last pieces of shellfish from the double lobster portion of the dinner. Started with peking duck, then shark’s fin soup, whole steamed fish. Grand Ocean Seafood was my father’s choice for a well-executed family (Scarborough, Ontario) 20110801

Blood pressure 129 over 84. Had acupuncture to relieve fatigue. Mental and visual acuity restored. Afterwards, Dr. David Lam took my blood pressure, finding it 129/84, which is normal for me. In May, after trip to Las Vegas, blood pressure was low, at 109/84 (Toronto) 20110802

Urban forestry on Booth Avenue. Sounds of chain saws across the street, as crew removed tree from back yard. The tree in the front yard is owned by the city, and thus cared for by municipal employees. The tree in the back yard is at the property owner’s prerogative, so it’s not much different than any other plant with a life cycle. (Toronto) 20110804 1640

Danforth, east of Chester, Taste of the Danforth. Despite intermittent rains and swampy heats, mobs still flock to Taste of the Danforth late on Sunday afternoon. Our family went to the first and second years’ events, when there was more community participation. Now, it seems to be mostly a local small business event. To avoid crowds and summer heat, we prefer to patronize the businesses for lunch in the dead of winter. (Toronto) 20110807 1740

Toronto nightline from Polson Pier. Avoided heat by bicycling at night. Southbound to Portlands, west to Polson Pier. Cool view of downtown Toronto. Steady stream of taxis dropping off clubbers. (Toronto) 20110808 2111

Withrow Park evening softball. Rode bike past Withrow Park, where a friendly game of softball was being played on a cool summer evening. On the way uphill to deliver foo jook soup to a friend. (Toronto) 20110810 1950

Toronto Necropolis Mary Watson 1869. Grave marker for Mary Watson, died 1869 at age 6 years, 11 months. The oldest legible date that I saw at Toronto Necropolis, originally opened in 1850. A tranquil spot in today’s downtown Toronto that would have been far from the harbour so many years ago. Northeast of Wellesley Street and Parliament Street (Toronto) 20110811 18:05

View southwest from Birchmount Road. bridge north of Ellesmere Road. Rail tracks straight shot southwest to downtown Toronto, towers in the distance. From an overpass on Ellesmere Road., which might otherwise be a flat bike ride southbound on a slow slope down to Lake Ontario. for a change of scenery, I rode subway to Kennedy station, then loaded onto front of bus up to Huntingwood Drive. Don fuelled me up with spaghetti and conversation, so I felt so much better on the ride home. (Scarborough, ON) 20110812 2002

Pretzel Logic Lakeshore Mardi Gras 2011. Steely Dan cover band plays at a summer community festival in Etobicoke. If the you’re going to play covers, making ridiculously difficult content seem easy is a challenge worth taking. pretzellogic.ca (Toronto) 20110813 1841

Torrential downpour at Regent Park. Should have checked the weather radar before going cycling. Rode to other side of Don River before rain started pouring down. Took refuge under big trees for five minutes until rain lightened. My preferred time for exercise coincides with after rush hour, so today’s air may have been cleaner than usual. (Toronto) 20110815 1801

Brass Transit at Unionville Bandshell after dark. Sidestage at the Unionville Bandshell to hear Brass Transit covering Chicago, over 2 hours of music. Audience gave standing ovation. Bands in Toronto rearranged, as saw Paul De Long (drums), Don Breithaupt (keyboards) and Bob McAlpine (guitar) with Pretzel Logic playing Steely Dan just 5 days earlier (Unionville, ON) 20110818 20:43

Edward Gardens 26th Renewal of Vows. For the 26th consecutive year, DY have returned to renew our vows at the same fountain where we were originally married, at Edward Gardens. The answer was, again, that we’re committed for another year. It pays to reflect on the year past, and look to the year forward on our relationship as a regular event. Forecast for tornado later in the evening didn’t deter us, we can’t remember ever being rained out. (Toronto) 20110824 1815

Ryan checking in for YYZ-PEK on Air Canada. Family saw off son #4 to Renmin University of China. Following the pattern of three older brothers, with Noah halfway through his two years in Beijing. Will expect to hear from him on Skype by tomorrow morning our time (Toronto) 20110830 1120

Seicho no Ie temple, Scarborough, Ontario. Striking modernist temple with Japanese touches is Seicho no Ie, the world’s largest New Thought group. Never heard of this religion, had to look up on Wikipedia. In eastern Toronto, on Victoria Park Avenue just north of Danforth Avenue, encountered bicycling south from St. Clair (Scarborough, Ontario) 20110831