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. 

But its just about Cloth . . . .

You remember that great book I was writing about months ago, 111 Places in Toronto That You Must Not Miss? Well one of the suggested places was the Textile Museum of Canada. But really what would be interesting about a museum about cloth, so I always found other places here in Toronto to explore that sounded more exciting. Now I do sew myself, and I had very cool  embroidered bell-bottomed jeans back in the 60’s, and I have friends who are skilled artists in cloth, so I should have known better but this place got skipped for a long time. 

But after three years here, I have pretty well seen everything in the book that was easy to reach. I have actually explored 72 out of the 111 places in the book, so really, the useful utility of the book was wearing thin, and most of the ones I have not seen are in out of the way. places. So, one day in early spring, with nothing else planned, the Textile Museum got moved up the “to-do” list and we decided to go check it out. It is described in the book as, 

The Textile Museum of Canada is a small, niche museum that is big on beauty and colour - Renowned internationally for it’s diverse and relevant exhibits in addition to it’s innovative programming, a visit here is both educational and entertaining.”

Now I admit, I didn’t actually read the description before I decided to go or I might have made up my mind earlier, because that does sound pretty interesting; I saw “Textile Museum”, thought “cloth” and skipped to the next item. 

Checking the address, we found that it was conveniently located downtown within walking distance, just off Dundas St, between the AGO and city hall, so it was easy to find. It is located down a side street and in a building that appears to be an apartment building. You enter and climb upstairs to the second floor and are greeted warmly by enthusiastic volunteers.  

And the museum is not just cloth and thread, it contains an amazing collection of items and not all of them are even made of Textile. How about a child’s waterproof suit sewn entirely out of fish skin; I expect that would keep the rain away, or a tapestry created by an entire village featuring thousands of tiny beads. There were hooked rugs, elaborate wedding outfits and simply amazing textile art work. Some of the things on display literally had me staring in awe - how could they do this?

I discovered an entire section on rug hooking and my grandmother did some amazing hooked rugs that she created using wool from her own sheep that she dyed herself and as kids we actually watched Scenes from Nova Scotia as we climbed the stairs to go to bed when visiting her. I found her old worn stair climber when cleaning out her attic and I have kept it,  so I even spoke to some of the volunteers about donating some of her work. 

There are pieces from all over the world, and most are really beautiful and truly amazing. Not only do they have a wonderful collection of textile artwork on display, they also maintain an extensive  collection in storage, and as you finish your tour you emerge to a workshop where weaving, rug hooking and other textile workshops are held. 

So if you are visiting Toronto and have any interest in textile art, the museum is certainly worth a visit.