Toronto, Ontario; Montreal, Quebec; Brussels, Belgium
Ontario Place Marina: Placid lagoon with exhibition pods overhead, first opened in 1971 and now underused. North section of docks with boats still in the water, leaves haven’t yet turned to autumn colours. Exhibition Place beyond, with BMO Field a splash of colour amongst towers. (Ontario Place Martina, Lakeshore Boulevard West, Toronto, Ontario) 20211001Delicious Shawarma & Falafel: Unusually warm fall Saturday made outdoor dining on a covered patio feel like travelling to tropical climes. Fast food counter served takeout falafel wrap and beef shawarma with garlic sauce and fries in large quantity. We wore masks inside ordering, no vaccination passport required. (Delicious Shawarma & Falafel , Birchmount Avenue, Scarborough, Ontario) 20211002Collision Gallery: Popup @culture_to #ArtworxTO exhibition with #LauraGrier in Take Space for Self Care in Urban Centres. Wood panels smudged with ink in the performance of caring activities, staged by the windows overlooking Tembo, Mother of Elephants, and the Commerce Court Courtyard Fountain. Venue semi-hidden in the financial centre, received a personal briefing from the curator, with offers of tea and blanket for warmth. (Collision Gallery, Commerce Court Courtyard, Toronto, Ontario) 20211008Riverside neighbourhood: Thanksgiving dinner with Peking Duck, since the only family member who really liked turkey is now vegan. Yee family from Vancouver now represented with one cousin a Toronto resident, and the other visiting from university in Montreal. Celebration started by writing in small handmade gratitude books, circulated around the table. (Riverside neighbourhood, Toronto, Ontario) 20211011Regent Park Athletic Grounds: Semi-spontanous organization in a field large enough for at least three soccer games. Occasional runner around the outer track, then a couple putting down small orange cones to mark space at the sound end of the field. Dusk arriving within the hour, neighbourhood residents get a little exercise before it’s totally dark. (Regent Park Athlectic Grounds, Shuter Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20211012Riverside neighbourhood: Post-pandemic, it takes my sister and brother-in-law to come in from Houston, to bring my father down from Scarborough for a visit. It’s been years since our sons used to see their grandfather every month for dim sum. Entertaining at home with takeout food allows more time for conversation, when we’re all on workday schedules. (Riverside neighbourhood, Toronto, Ontario) 20211013Playter Estates: Salon hosted by @redesign + @playthink, in advance of systemic design conference in a few weeks that will be centered in Delft, across the Atlantic Ocean. More social than topical, amongst colleagues who haven’t met in person in many months. As with many parties, everyone ends up in the kitchen. (Playter Estates, Toronto, Ontario) 20211016Wellesley-Parliament Square: Street corner wall has water babbling from top over brick and slabs, fronted by green bush, and obscuring the parking lot behind. Minor decorative amenity at the south end of a complex of high rise towers, as the densest population district in the city. Proposals to redevelop the area since 2018 would probably repurpose the surface parking lot, and presumably remove this mundane feature. (Wellesley-Parliament Square, Rose Avenue, St. jamestown, Toronto, Ontario) 20211019Willison Square: Midweek evening in Spadina Chinatown, restaurants are open for business but few pedestrians. Weekly family dinner out for a change, checks at the door for double vaccination and identification. Noticed lighted art installations on the drive home, we would be more conscious tourists if this wasn’t our home town. (Willison Square, Spadina Chinatown, Toronto, Ontario) 20211020Playter Estates: Local preconference hosted by @redesign, in advance of @RSDSymposium. Last session @aupward on progress @FlourishingBiz with origin story, and challenges with publishing in academic journals. All-day meeting an opportunity to meet active researchers in person, I arrived late afternoon due to prior commitments. (Playter Estates, Toronto, Ontario) 20211023Centre for Social Innovation: First return to CSI building in almost 2 years, murals are brighter than i remember. We decided to scope out the readiness for a regular Systems Thinking Tea, in the Climate Ventures space, having continued core team meetings triweekly. Looks like community mostly hasn’t returned to shared offices, doors are locked by 5pm. (Centre for Social Innovation, Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20211028Maple Leaf Lounge, YUL:. Hot entrees under chrome warmers, but service to passengers seated in the lounge, quickly delivered by an app with an NFC locator. Sated, so that we might sleep on the 6.5 hour flight to Brussels. I miss the old days when the international lounge was more freewheeling. (Maple Leaf Lounge, Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport, Montreal, Quebec) 20211130
Eglise Sainte Alix: Walked up a slow incline towards a quiet neighbourhood square for provisions, as we’re jet-lagged in suburban Brussels on the Sunday of a holiday weekend. Fruit stand, bakery and small grocery store offer the basics. Mother Alix Le Clerk (1576-1622) had a vision of education for for all girls, rich and poor, Catholic and Protestant, following the rules of St. Augustine. She was beatified by Pope Pius XII in 1947. (Église Sainte-Alix, Woluwe Saint-Pierre, Brussels, Belgium) 20211031
