Skip to main content

The Universe at Work

When we lived in Toronto, we rarely went further past Spadina on Queen Street.



Not that I had anything against the street, it's just that I spent more time up Church Street or down to Jarvis and Front or up to Bloor and Yonge than I did in that direction. Ryerson's near the Eaton's Centre. I was a lazy student. I just stayed closer to home.




This weekend my lovely friends from Korea K and W met D and I downtown for some visiting and potential sightseeing.




As the weather was garbage - not unusual for February - we ended up walking underground for awhile.



After a quick lunch near the Eatons Centre we ventured outside towards City Hall and onto Queen Street.



I knew it would be a street that K would like I also knew that W has lived here before and probably frequented this street as well.



So we walked, in the slush and the snow and the rain (yes, it was raining. IN FEBRUARY. And making this mucky and wet and melted and brown).




W said he knew of a place where we could sit, have a coffee, tea, glass of wine and relax.



None of this was at all out the ordinary. And when we managed to walk too far, he simply wanted to pop into a place to ask about where it was.




So, the 3 of us waited outside and I took this picture:











And K took this picture:








I've only just looked at it today and I had an extreme moment of the shivers.



This week there was a terrible fire in Toronto. It burnt down an entire block of historic buildings and also destroyed a 9 decade old bicycle business.




After spending 6 years living in the city and 5 years living away from it, I had never heard of this shop nor had I eve walked past it.




But on Sunday, I got one of the last shots of it standing before it was destroyed.




I'm not one to mourn over buildings, and if you are, you can find lots of coverage about it here, here and here.



I feel bad for the businesses that have lost their livelihood, especially the ones that have been there so long.



But what I mostly am feeling is spooky. What are the odds of that? That we would choose to go down Queen Street. That we would choose to stop in that place. That we would choose to take pictures in that EXACT SPOT.



The universe does work in mysterious ways.

Comments

kim joo mee said…
OMG OMG OMG, I'm such an amazing photographer and captured the shot so perfectly. I knew it was going to happen. That's why I made Wes pop in for directions and you stand with old man in front of it. Holy Crap.

Popular posts from this blog

They Started a Heat Wave

(sing) a tropical heat wave.... (White Christmas fans? anyone? c'mon..) Yes, there is a heat wave, with warm sun and highs of 30 but NOT HERE IN KOREA. Yes, it is warm and humid but there is no sun. Do you want to know where the sun has ended up? BELFAST!! Lucky bastards....I wanted a tan by August gosh darnit - I should have stayed with the Guinness. And, it wouldn't have been a day on this blog without some reference to the weather. The weekend was a nice long relaxing one but super panic hit on Monday night and I was ready to get out of the house. I was freaking out yet again about the garbage (what the hell is wrong with me?) and didn't have a great sleep. There is something to be said for cooping yourself up in your house to watch English speaking DVDs for a day. But I think this only stops you from experiencing the culture. I did venture out on Saturday by bus (whoa, crazy bus drivers) to Pusan where the open markets you can barter and get cheap shirts - thanks to my...

I'm baaaack!

Hard to believe that last entry was almost three years ago! Many moons ago, I set this blog up to chronicle our journeys. Once we were grounded a bit more, it kind of lost its way. I spent some time working on my writing offline, taking on different projects and working full time as a technical writer. It was difficult to keep this blog up. Not for any real reason I can articulate. Just had my words redirected to other avenues for awhile. But, I'm pleased to say, after over a decade away, we are back in the UK, living and re-experiencing a place we enjoyed in the mid-2000s. Social media has certainly changed the way we look at blogs. I'm excited to navigate this new world, explore just what people post, what people read. What's better on one of the many new platforms and what's still appropriate for good old fashioned blogosphere. For now, here's a peek at where we're staying -- in a pretty little village just outside of Oxford. A temporary home ...

Korean Drivers Manual

1 - First and foremost, you are the only car on the road. Please drive this way. 2 - Be sure to keep a tally of the number of pedestrians you hit. 10 points for old ladies, 20 for young children (they can run faster you see). You can also add 5 points for each near miss and pat yourself on the back for trying. 3 - Red lights can tend to get in the way of your driving. Simply proceed through them if you need to. Honk your horn to make sure the cars that actually have the right of way know you'll be sailing through the intersection. 4 - Signalling is recommended but your car does not have blind spots. Just go ahead an change lanes. 5 - It works best if you keep one foot on the gas and one foot on the brakes at all times. This will allow you to continually pump the breaks all the way down the street avoiding 'other cars' while still revving your engine and going at the speed of light during those intervals when you are not slamming on your brakes. (By 'other cars' I ...