These pictures aren’t in any order.

I took this one right before the rain started around 5 pm yesterday. It then rained 90mm over the next hour and caused major flooding in the city, elsewhere.

The lines, the white on grey, the face. Love.

A portion of Cape Breton seen from the plane yesterday morning.

Haida-style bee I think?

I kind of want to try this.

I love anchors and red on teal.

This was a few hours before the rain started.

People have these postage-stamp sized yards.

Another postage-stamp yard, this one bricked-in.

What I’m reading in between adventures. Review to come soon!

On travel: despite having done a fair bit of travel, big cities always surprise me with just how many people there are. Is it because I’m from a small town and a small island? Maybe. Good chance. There are just SO MANY people here! Millions! And all different shapes, sizes, skin colours, styles of dressing, styles of hair. Having conversations on phones just like there was no-one around. Living their lives that will likely never cross with my life again. Walking by, biking by, driving by, packing the streetcars, waiting on the sidewalk, filling the restaurants. All around. My curious side wants to stare, watch, check it all out. The polite side tries not to outright stare.

Travel is a funny thing. I love it, for sure. It’s inspiring to wander a place you’ve never been, looking on things you’ve never seen, smelling and feeling new and different sensations. It’s like collecting visual information, just by walking around.

It’s also tiring, all that newness. Figuring out what subway or bus to take, what street to turn down, where to go to eat or to buy wine. Wanting things to be both familiar, and strange. Wanting to make ‘the most’ of the time available.

It feels a bit like we’re in Thailand or Vietnam here in the Trinity-Bellwoods part of Toronto, to be honest. It’s so warm, muggy and rainy. There are a lot of Asian faces on the street and Asian languages on the signs. Our hotel is a bit sketchy and our window looks out onto a motley of rough roofs and odd-sized doors. The power kept cutting out last night and there was reports of flooding around the city.

But, it’s all good. A vacation is a vacation. Time to relax, sleep in, wander for breakfast, see friends, have fun. If my shoes get wet? That’s OK. Buy a big umbrella. Smile.