The Lower Don

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Three years after it re-opened (and us living practically next door to it) we finally walked part of the Lower Don River trail today. We Uber’d to the Brickworks, mistakenly thinking the trail was accessible from there, then walked the ~15 mins to the access point. What was meant to be a ~0:50 walk turned into ~1:20, but it was really nice. Even with the cars grinding down the DVP just out of sight, it felt nice to be surrounded by trees and water and scurrying wildlife.

We walked south under the Bayview exit, then under the Bloor viaduct, under Gerrard, and under Dundas, before climbing up the stairs to Queen Street. It immediately felt super-weird to be back in that kind of density.

It probably felt the least like Toronto of any place in Toronto I’ve been, but also made me feel more connected to the city than I have in months. I’m glad we snuck this in the week before we move to more than a stone’s throw from the Don.

lower don river trail
Image from BlogTO

.:.

Cover photo from the City of Toronto site

Cover photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

Outstanding, Miller.

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The latest TV kick has been British crime dramas. Lindsay started Broadchurch (imdb | rotten tomatoes) before I did, but I caught up and we finished the whole thing. It’s just so good. All the hype, lived up to.

Then we binged The Stranger (imdb) and Safe (imdb | rotten tomatoes), both written by someone named Harlan Coben, whom I’d never heard of, but I take to be a mystery writer of some kind. Anyway, The Stranger was pretty entertaining, but Safe suffered from Michael C. Hall’s presence in the lead role. I’m sure his dialect coach was trying very hard, but my goodness. No.

Now, with some recommendations from a friend, we’ve set our sights on Retribution and Line of Duty.

.:.

Cover photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash

UTI

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A few weeks ago our cute boy Kramer started peeing on our stuff, sometimes just in little drops. That’s usually a sign of a UTI in male cats, so we hurriedly procured some over-the-counter urinary tract health drops (and a few natural cures, just in case) to help him pee. It helped for a couple of days, but then a week later things got bad again. Real bad.

We knew it could get much worse too — left untreated in males it could turn into a deadly blockage. After calling around to some vets, we tried — for the very first time — to get him into a carrier so we could bring him in to a vet. It…did not go well. The poor little still-kinda-feral guy was fighting for his life, kicking and scratching and hissing and spitting. I think he thought he was being taken away from us. 😦 Anyway, we just couldn’t get him in the bag.

One of the vets had recommended Toronto Mobile Veterinary Services, so we called them. They turned out to be a godsend. Within a few hours (we were lucky they had an opening, and were nearby) they came, got Kramer into the bathroom, gave him some shots, drew some blood for testing, and even trimmed his nails. They left us with a bunch of meds which, within a few days, seemed to have him healthy again. It wasn’t cheap (COVID has made things really difficult for them) but the vet who came — her name was Dr. Tina — simply could not have been more helpful, sweet, encouraging, or calming. Eight hours after being in a state of total panic, we felt such relief. She followed up with us in the days after to make sure Kramer was okay, and even gave us advice for how to manage his move at the end of the month.

After our clumsy transportation attempt + his medical ordeal we thought it would take weeks for Kramer to forgive us, but a few hours after the vet left he was asking us for attention and scratches. This past week he seemed totally back to normal. The only downside? From now on we have to feed him wet canned cat food, which makes me BARF.

.:.

Photo by Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash

RIP, Eddie

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I did, in my youth, go through a pretty solid Van Halen phase. It petered out around the second Sammy Hagar album, but I knew all the DLR albums inside and out. Because I was a drummer the Van Halen brother I was most interested in was Alex, but I recognized the genius of Eddie Van Halen. He was the band, really.

The band has long since faded from my musical rotation, but hearing that Eddie passed away last week still felt like I’d lost something important to me as a kid.

Also, it was only after he passed away that I learned something I’d always wondered as a kid: did Eddie Van Halen really play the guitar on that tape in Back To The Future? Turns out: yes.

The ‘ton

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It’s been nearly five months since I got the Peloton. I mentioned a week after getting it that I was worried I’d get bored of it, but I haven’t yet.

Far from it, in fact. I’m closing in on two hundred rides. My average outputs keep climbing, and I keep breaking my own personal records. I’m by no means elite level — I can usually only just crack the top decile on the toughest rides — but I can feel myself getting stronger.

I do need a padded bike seat for those 45+ minute rides though, Lord have mercy.

Cover photo by myrealnameispete, used under Creative Commons license

Paper wings

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Not long ago a shuffle play served up an old Damien Jurado song called Paper Wings. It’s an excellent song. Listen for yourself:

I first downloaded it twenty years ago, a time when I was probably using Audiogalaxy to download MP3s, and the version I have is a demo with Jurado introducing it himself, to promote his new album. We hear his son Miles, probably sitting on his lap.

I know I should blow away the old MP3 from my library and get a clean one, but at this point — nearly twenty years after first downloading it, I feel some affection for this version. Some nostalgia. It reminds me of 2002.

.:.

Cover photo by myrealnameispete, used under Creative Commons license

We started in the Ēst

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Last night, for our first dinner out since COVID hit Canada, we sat on a makeshift patio (read: the right lane of Queen Street) outside ēst restaurant. It was weird to eat with Queen Street foot traffic wandering by, and a streetcar whizzing by my head every few minutes, but still: it felt great to be out, and enjoy a nice meal.

We had sweet & sour tofu w/ fermented red pepper aioi and scallon, and a beautiful tender pork secreto with fish sauce caramel, and glasses of Lambrusco. Then came aged black angus prime rib eye w/ shishito peppers and dusted dried smoked beef heart, and smoked potato w/ confit garlic, parmesan, and truffle oil, paired with a bottle of 2011 Chateau Chantelune Margaux.

We had no room for dessert but they brought us some housemade Amaro, which was delicious.

All in all, a pretty solid re-entry to dining out again. Maybe our only outing, since all indications are that we’re headed for a second wave.

.:.

Cover photo from the restaurant’s site

Thanks Raptors

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After a brutal 7-game series against Boston (who kind of had the Raps’ number all season, including in the bubble) the Raptors are out of the playoffs in the second round. They could have — should have, maybe, with 18 turnovers — won game 7, but overall the team vastly outperformed in a season where everyone wrote them off. They weren’t supposed to be this good without Kawhi Leonard. They played themselves into a 2-seed and looked poised to run deep. Despite being blown out in a couple of games the Raps had some magical moments in the series, like OG’s buzzer beating 3, and Kyle’s turnaround jumper to seal game six, so it felt like there was some still some magic. But game seven was a disaster.

Had even three of the five starters played well last night they would have gone on to play Miami in the next round. Despite Miami’s dispatch of Milwaukee, I would have like Toronto’s chances to reach the finals…and then who knows?

Anyway, it was a longer and more enjoyable season than most, including myself, would have guessed. And the fact that we had basketball at all was a gift. Thanks fellas. Can’t wait for next season.