10/11/12

kudos, Autumn! you've managed, once again, to finger-paint all of the park floors. and this year's work really is some of your best. so bright, charming and comforting that, were it possible, i'd hang your floorings up on the fridgedoor like a proud parent. and then, if i could get my hands on a rake (*fumbles in vain around unsuspecting neighbour's shed*), i'd rearrange the leaves into a monstrous pile for flinging myself (and any agreeable nearby children) onto. because, let's be honest, that thrill never gets old!

people, on the other hand, do. get old, i mean. and, as it happens, today marks the day when i'm exactly one year older than thirty-four. (some call it "thirty-five.") you know what that means, right? free birthday hot chocolate. point! however, having made the "self-entitled" (says Grandma Mary) decision to take today entirely off of work, i'm not following the usual routine. instead, i'm opting to temporarily take the coffee shop + hot choc (sluuurp!) abroad. first, to the streets. then, to the national art gallery café.

on the walk, i'm reconnecting with my inner flâneur. perusing the downtown streets. wiggling in and out of laneways to see the canal or major's hill park or the (ever-beastly) U.S. embassy from slightly different angles. observing the people passing by. and thinking to myself that isn't it poetic that the war memorial is situated directly between parliament (the nation's would-be brains...no comment) and the château laurier (a romantic niche), somehow symbolizing the recurring struggle between head and heart?

but, from the gallery, you can't see the memorial. in fact, through these immense windows, parliament and the château actually seem much closer to one another. and the gallery's so quiet -- more like a library (shhh...) but with wine! -- that i can easily hear my own head and heart speaking in unison: pure bliss. but not the calm, lethargic type. the thrilling kind. like the perfect (soft, messy, crunchy) dive onto the pile of leaves. and it's not just the fleeting delight of 10/11/12, with its morning run, apartment dancing to Whitney, homemade mushroom-parmesan-pasta lunch, Virginia Woolf reading, hocho, urban meanderings, art gallery blogging with glass of vino, solo dinner out at murray street, evening social in, and slew of warm well-wishes. it's the knowledge and feeling that you're exactly where you should be.

and now back to translating...