Joy Of Writing - Nice Relaxing Sea-Days

Three sea days; days with no stops, no shore tours, just cruising the ocean. They had stopped in Madeira and would soon be headed out into the Atlantic and across the ocean to Ft Lauderdale, so there would be three days before the saw land again and then more sea days before they got to Bermuda and finally the USA. The forecast was calling for pretty calm seas but being in the open ocean they had brought motion sickness pills just in case. But they did not need them so they were just relaxing out on the balcony with cold drinks watching the water rush by. 

After a while they started to notice that the ship seemed to be slowing until it stopped moving at all. 

From inside their stateroom they heard an announcement, and he went inside to hear it better. When he returned he told her that apparently there was a boat with refugees in it in distress with a motor that had failed and they had been told to stand by. The coast guard was on the way but would be at least an hour or more and they had been asked not to intervene, just to keep watch. The coast guard would rescue the stranded people when they arrived. 

The captain told everyone not to throw things to the people in the small boat, no food or no water, they were not to do anything but keep watch on the boat unless things became serious.

Everyone moved to the ships railing, searching for the boat which was still in the distance; not really close to their ship. This was a bit of an adventure adding to a relaxing day at sea and the guests were all interested in watching it unfold. 

The small boat was distant at first, but slowly came closer and closer Then that faulty motor suddenly came to life and it was instantly alongside and that was when the grappling hooks and the guns came out. 

Joy of Writing - Black & White Slippers (Before)

The pair of slippers were neatly sitting on the sidewalk out in front of her apartment building. They were white and black fluffy slip-on slippers, and they were not there when she walked by on the way to the library before lunch, but now they were sitting there. Someone must have left them there since her last trip down the sidewalk. Strangely they did not look like some one had actually thrown them away, they looked clean and tidy. They actually looked kind of comfortable and they matched the housecoat she had in her closet. 

But did she really want to pick up a pair of slippers off the sidewalk? What if someone she knew saw her. Plus, she could have easily afforded to buy new slippers if she wanted to. They really did looks like nice comfortable slippers though. 

Finally she decided to just leave them sitting there and she continued on to the store to get the groceries she desperately needed in her fridge before her relatives visited. Oh, but perhaps if the slippers were still there when she came back by she could pick them up, take them home and wash them for her guest to wear, since they never brought slippers. She did not have to tell anyone that they were found on the sidewalk outside her apartment. 

After her grocery cart was full she left the store, and wondered if the slippers were still there. Maybe she could stop and pretend she was doing something else and quickly pick therm up and slip them into her shopping cart. She had never done something like this ever before, but those nice black and white slippers were calling to her . . .

Then as she finally made up her mind to try to pick them up on the way home, she noticed the little old man walking towards her. And he was wearing her nice black and white fluffy slippers and he looked very comfortable in them. 

Ireland Park - a Disturbing Memorial

Today I discovered Ireland Park. I had this attraction marked off as “visited” in my book, “111 Places in Toronto that you Must not Miss” so I thought I had been there already, but coming on it by accident today I realized that I had not seen it. I assume I had confused it with Norway park which I indeed had visited. Ireland . . . . Norway . . . who knew.

I went for a walk along Toronto’s waterfront today and my goal was to walk down to Billy Bishop Airport before taking streetcars back to the condo. I have walked this route many times and really I was just expecting to see how the area was welcoming in the fall weather. Just before you get to the airport there is a large neighbourhood centre and schools with Malt Silos for the Canadian Malting Company behind it that I always just walk by along Queen’s Quay, but today I realized that there was a walkway that went along the side of the building allowing you to explore a little bit more of the lakefront with a view over to the Airport. Hidden behind that building I discovered Ireland Park, and it was a slightly disturbing discovery. 

Ireland Park is a Memorial to the Irish Immigrants who escaped the Irish Potato famine by coming to Canada aboard  the “Coffin Ships”. The poor people in Ireland were perishing of starvation so many were willing to take the dangerous voyage in crowded under provisioned ships which ended up also being disease infected and many did not survive the trip - thus the name, the “Coffin Ships”. Even when they arrived on this side of the Atlantic, they were quarantined in “Fever Sheds” where hundreds more died.

As you round the Last of the Malt Silos you come face to face with life-sized, gaunt, realistic bronze statues of haggard, ragged Irish immigrants. They statues are seriously disturbing; the people look barely alive. They are thin with ragged clothes hanging off emancipated bodies. Seeing these statues you can’t help but understand what these people went through. The park is within steps of the entrance of Billy Bishop airport where I have flown in and , so I did not know it was there because it is separated from the airport by a massive Irish Limestone sculpture representing a ship and engraved with names of hundreds of the victims of the voyage. 

Finding this park today I was amazed that I had walked by it so many times without knowing it was there. The next time you fly into Billy Bishop Airport, rather than just jumping into the handy shuttle to go to Union Station and the rest of Toronto, turn right and walk down to Ireland Park; it is worth a visit. You can always catch the next shuttle.

Joy of Writing - Remember

 The road was deserted when he pulled out of the driveway, and looking down the expanse of empty asphalt he decided to let the old Road Runner really go and he floored the throttle. The back tires broke loose and the howl from the tortured rubber was a thrill to him. It wasn’t very often he could do this anymore. The roads were filled with compact foreign vehicles and their drivers probably couldn’t remember what it was like to actually have more power under the hood than you needed. Then there were the proliferation of the electric cars that did not even make any noise at all. Really?

The Road Runner with it’s 426 hemi engine was definitely old school. It even still had the original 8-track in the dash, although it was hard to get any tapes that actually worked in it. 

He ran the car to redline in second gear and slammed it into third, breaking the tires free again with a chirp. Looking at the speedometer, he realized that he was well over the speed limit already, but the road was still clean so he pushed the gas pedal down hard again as the car hit 90 mph. 

Then with a sign, he took his foot off the gas and let the car slow, shifting down again into third to at least hear the engine growl as it slowed the car.

God that felt good!

He woke with a start as his wife poked his - “Bob, you really have to try to stay awake or I”m going to make you drive next time. This new electric Tesla just seems to put you to sleep every trip!”

Sometimes the Trees Win

 I have noticed that trees and fences do not get along so well. If a fence is put up close to a tree, the tree grows and often begins to encroach on the fence. If the fence is light weight the tree will just push it out of the way, but a heavy duty fence such as put up around parks and cemeteries do not budge easily and sometimes the tree is forced to grow around the part of the fence close to it. On my explorations around cities I often find examples of trees and fences that have become merged, the tree growing around the metal of the fence. I started taking pictures of these interactions between trees and fences and sometimes the trees win the confrontations but often the trees ended by damaged to the point of having to be cut away from the fences. It does however make for some interesting photos. 

I think this fence lost

This tree lost his battle!

Kindness of Strangers 2026

 Toronto was sunny and hot on a Saturday when I decided to take some visitors from the Netherlands on one of my special “Toronto Walking Tours”. One of their requests was to visit Toronto’s  St. Lawrence Market, so after walking around the our neighbouthood, we took a bus ride downtown and  arrived to a VERY busy market with six thirsty tourists. Getting something to quench their thirst was not a problem, but finding someplace to sit and enjoy it was simply impossible.

However as an experienced ‘tour guide’ I knew that a short walk down a side street would find us a place with both drinks and seating. And sure enough we found a little  cafe with empty seats. As a bonus, there was a jazz band setting up in the venue. Perfect!

It was an odd spot, and we discovered that is was a summer “Pop-up” that made use of an unused parking lot, and always featured jazz music all summer. However, although we could see that there were lots of unoccupied chairs , finding enough for all of us out of the hot August sun took some doing. Finally, seeing an elderly gentleman sitting at a large table by himself we asked him if we could join him. 

“Of course, I only need one chair for my granddaughter who will be joining me.”

He told us that the band that was setting up was a regular at this venue and that although it was only a “summer event”, it had been operating in the same spot for 35 years. Waiting for our drinks we chatted with him about many things, and he had us looking forward to hearing the band. 

The band started playing and his granddaughter arrived, and the band was every bit as good as he said, so we stayed longer than we had expected to enjoy the music. 

Then as the band leader singled out our table host we discovered that indeed he had been attending the event for 35 years and had started bringing his granddaughter to enjoy it since she was five years old. It was so nice to share the table with him and sing along with the special song the band played just for him. Just another example of the kindness of strangers; thanks for sharing your special table with us. 

Joy of writing - Story 10 - Discovered

She found the plant at a local flea market, reduced for a quick sale as things were closing up for the day and she decided it would be perfect for in her kitchen window. She carried it home, stopping to pick up some new potting soil and a nice green pot to put it in. 

She lovingly repotted it, noticing that it seemed to have a healthy set of roots and the new pot gave it plenty of room to grow. And she was right, it did look very nice in her kitchen window. 

The plant seems to agree with its new home and it grew rapidly, doubling in size quickly, and required a bigger pot and more soil. It’s leaves spread and it was soon blocking out the light coming in the window. She decided to move it to the patio door where it would get the full benefit of the afternoon sun. 

However it soon because a nuisance because she could not longer even open the patio door to get out to her back yard. So since the weather had turned out warm and pleasant she moved her plant out onto the back patio where she planted it in the garden and it really thrived, soon towering over the fence. 

That was when she discovered what her new plant actually was. The police officer who knocked on her door questioned her about whether she had a licence to grow marijuana for her personal use.