… November is my least favourite month of the year. If it happens to be when you celebrate your birthday or anniversary or any other occasion that’s important to you, please don’t take it personally. My distaste for November has nothing to do with you.
I don’t like it because it’s dreary. Dull. Sure, there’s the odd sunny day, but mostly it’s grey and damp and dismal. The days get shorter. It gets dark earlier. Piles of leaves cover the roads and sidewalks and Continue reading
This past Sunday I decided, on the spur of the moment, to visit The Danforth, otherwise known as 
Greektown in Toronto. It was warm and sunny, glorious really, the kind of day that always attracts locals, visitors from throughout the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) and tourists to the Danforth in droves. Not surprising with its abundance of boutiques and family-friendly restaurants and cafes — most with terraces and patios.
But of course, this wasn’t just another summer Sunday on The Danforth. One week earlier, on a beautiful summer night, this lovely, lively, friendly, family-oriented, safe, beloved neighbourhood was the scene of a horrific crime.
As seniors and twenty-somethings and students on summer break and parents with children talked and laughed and ate and sipped and licked dripping ice cream cones, shots suddenly rang out. And Continue reading
I was six or seven years old and we were up north for the summer. It was a beautiful, warm, 
sunny day and I seemed to be alone with my grandmother, who is pictured here, at my parents’ wedding.
She was hanging freshly-washed sheets and clothes on the line and I was “helping” her. When we were done she asked if I was hungry, which I was. Must have been lunch time.
After we brought the empty laundry basket and the bucket of unused clothes pins back into the house, she grabbed a big bowl and we went out into the garden again. She explained how to tell if the tomatoes were ripe and then Continue reading
While talking to a friend last Friday, she said something that sort of freaked me out — not because it 
was shocking or surprising — only because I’d thought the exact same thing myself, a few hours earlier.
Turns out we’ve both decided we’ve had more than enough of summer.
Don’t know about where you live but here, in Toronto, it’s been relentlessly hot . Day after day of humidity so high it Continue reading
“How do I know?” you ask. Well, last Thursday night I went out for dinner. Hadn’t been out all day so I
assumed it was as hot as it’s been pretty much all summer. Wrong. When we got to the restaurant and were offered a table on the terrace we both decided it was way too cool.
Before you say anything let me cut you off: Yeah, I know one evening does not the end of summer make. But it was September 1 and we all know what that means.
The leaves will soon start changing colour, the days will get progressively cooler and shorter, pumpkin pie mix will Continue reading
I’ve always dreaded Fall. Silly really, especially as it’s probably one of our most beautiful seasons; 
but in all honesty I’ve never appreciated it because winter follows, and I certainly couldn’t be called a cold weather enthusiast.
Something’s happened though and, dare I say, autumn is fast becoming my favourite time of year. I know, perhaps I should lay down and see if it passes.
First off, there’s the colours. Some of the reds are so intense, so almost neon it’s as if the leaves are on fire. And all the different shades of yellow and gold and orange and rust and green and even chartreuse, all mixed together willy nilly, as only nature could Continue reading
This past weekend was the Victoria Day long weekend here in Canada. It’s known as the May Two-Four and it’s when 
we celebrate Queen Victoria’s birthday, which is, you guessed it, May 24. For some reason this year the party happened a week early. Queen Victoria, in case you don’t know, was the current Queen’s (Elizabeth II) great, great grandmother.
But for most Canadians Queen Victoria’s birthday is the unofficial, official start of summer. When hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of cottage owners make the trek to their small and rustic (or large and luxe) slices of heaven, wherever in Ontario they may be, and Continue reading
Considering this has been one of the coldest winters (and snowiest in some parts of the world) in history I can hardly believe 
I’m saying this: I was shocked the other day to read we have to change the clocks again next week, March 8 to be precise. So soon?
Where’s the winter gone? Oh, I know there are a lot of you reading this who think I’ve lost my mind. Especially those who live in Boston and may not see pavement again until June or July. If you’re lucky.
Let me clarify. It seems to me it was always later in the season when we did this. You know, move the clocks ahead. Spring forward. Fall back, spring forward? Continue reading
Last Thursday morning when I returned home, from the market, they were mowing our front lawn. Yes, even though I live right in the heart of the city, in an 
apartment, we’re lucky enough to have lots of green, with both a large front and back garden. No concrete jungle here. We’re surrounded by lots of beautiful old homes, on gorgeous tree-lined streets.
Anyway, I LOVE the smell of freshly mowed grass. Always have, even when I was a child. It’s especially fragrant after it’s rained. No rain the other day.
But the scent was still so intoxicating I just had to stop in the middle of the driveway and inhale several times, breathing it all in, before making my way indoors. If I hadn’t been afraid the gardener would think I was completely out of my mind, I would have scooped up a handful and brought it upstairs with me.
Then I could have sat on my balcony, watching the world go by, sniffing away to my heart’s content.
In that instant I knew summer was well and truly here. Because to me, nothing says “summer” like the scent of just cut grass. Well that’s not quite true. This morning, as I made my way from my bedroom to the kitchen I seemed to walk right into a
It’s a long weekend here, in Canada. The first of the summer season. Victoria Day. In honour of Queen Victoria’s birthday. She was born in 1819 and is the great, great grandmother of Britain’s 
current reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth. A more interesting factoid is, Prince Philip (Queen Elizabeth’s husband) is her great, great grandson.
Which means Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth are not just husband and wife. They are also third cousins.
Not that the purpose of this post is to give you a history lesson. Or get into the perils of in-breeding.
The truth is, I’m not sure what’s more significant about this, particular, long weekend. The fact we’re Continue reading
365 And Counting 