One of the visual images that resonates with Toronto visitors and residents is…the CN Tower! But there’s also the Royal York Hotel, a close runner-up. Peter and I visited this grand old lady last weekend to see how she was dressed for the holiday season.

The Roayl York, built in 1929 by the CPR company, was the tallest building (with 28 floors and 1,000 rooms) in the British Empire at the time. It offered radios, bathtubs, and a telephone switchboard to overnight guests. The opening in 1929 was rather bad timing for a luxurious hotel. But it survived the depression and 2 extensive renovations.

In 1949 the hotel lobby was used as a field hospital for victims of a fire on board a cruise ship in the Toronto Harbour. In the 1950’s the big bands attracted hundreds of wealthy patrons to the Imperial Room for dinner and dancing. I remember my parents going there once, an unusually extravagant expense for them. They talked about that night of dancing with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra for years. Peter remembers going there too – in the 1970’s – to see Tony Bennett, his favourite Italian-American singer.

Many guests, much more famous than our families, have stayed there overnight: Ronald Regan, Justin Bieber, Jennifer Aniston, Leonardo DiCaprio to name a few. The hotel was the venue for the G20 Toronto Summit, hosted by Stephen Harper in 2010. The Queen had a Royal Suite there, which will now be occupied by King Charles, should he decide to visit.

Today the Royal York is just as luxurious as ever. Attached to the underground PATH and to Union Station, it is easily accessible for guests. When we visited on the weekend, a train had just arrived at Union, and the line-up of visitors waiting to check in circled half the lobby and the huge Christmas tree.

if you decide to visit, don’t miss the specially-decorated Christmas bar, The Thirsty Elf. The bar opened a couple of years ago in December, a tiny nook in the basement. Now it has pride of place on the main mezzanine, near the display of photographs depicting the hotel’s history. It’s a place to relax and marvel at all the Christmas kitch you have ever imagined.

Anf now I have to get back to decorating my living room. The Royal York has set the decorating bar pretty high.

Sue

When I looked at our calendar for the next couple of weeks, there wasn’t anything interesting to write to you about, except a couple of fitness classes, grocery shopping, cleaning silverware, and downhill from there. Then I saw it – an appointment with the dentist! Surely you would want to read about that; right?

Why doesn’t anybody like going to the dentist? Could it be that it is painful and expensive? I remember that, even as a little kid, I dreaded visiting the elderly and gruff Dr. Sim. His office was right next door to our house and I was able to watch him “practising” on his patients. The window was usually closed so I couldln’t hear them screaming in pain – but I imagined it. There was never any excuse for not going, either. Not even a hailstorm or bad brakes on the car prevented my mother from walking next door with me to see Dr. Sim.

Nowadays kids havve it easier. There are special children’s dentists who have toys in the waiting room and funny cartoon shows blaring from the ceiling above the dentist chair. And I have heard, but maybe it is a rumour, that candy is given out with the free tooth brush at the end of the visit.

As we get older, our teeth get worse. I understand that it might be caused by less saliva in the mouth to wash away bacteria, or less bone density to hold the teeth in place. I remember that my mom had a “partial plate” a spidery-looking thing that was always disappearing. As my dad got older he ended up with full dentures, top and bottom. His days of eating corn on the cob, his favourite food, were over.

In the 21st century we have more options, and the dentists are only too happy to describe them. After a filling breaks down, we can have the tooth built back up and a crown to cover it, for only several hundred dollars. Or we can have a bridge to hook a weak tooth to the one beside it. Or how about a root canal which takes only about 4 visits? The creme de la creme of options is an implant with tiny gold posts drilled into bone. The cost for this? Well maybe you’d rather have a new car.

i visit my dentist’s office 3 times a year for cleaning by the hygienst, Bella. She is very pleasant, and begins our one-sided conversation:

Bella: So Sue did you go away anywhere this summer?

Me; hoo wah la na gah goh

Net week is my annual visit with the actual dentist. First she takes x-rays. She stuffs as much equipment into my mouth as she can, and then runs out of the room to take a picture while I gag. Then she pokes aroudn with a sharp pick. And finally she pulls my tongue way out, twists it around, and looks underneath. What on earth is she expecting to find under there?

The dentist huddles with the hygienist, staring at the x-rays and whispering. Finslly she announces, “OK. You’re good to go until next year.”

I head to Tim Horton’s for a maple-glazed, cream-filled, doughnut.

Sue

In Ontario we have all been suffering under the leadership of Doug Ford. It started out almost as a joke. Remember the new licence plates he ordered, where the paint wore off after just a few weeks? Or the “buck a beer” campaign? We all laughed at this big goof, never imagining that he could figure out how to do us real harm.

But now the tide has turned and we have enough documented evidence to be worried. During the pandemic, Ford killed thousands of older people by not overseeing the running of for-profit nursing homes which, as it turns out, were owned by his rich buddies or campaign donors. Then he tried to usurp public lands, notably the greenbelt, for housing developments, once again owned by buddies and donors. Recently we were overwhelmed by his decision to tear down the Ontario Science Centre and rebuild just a tiny part of it somewhere inside his posh new spa at Ontario Place.

Cries of “Ford Has To Go!” rang out. Peter and I heard the call. We are on a mission – to find a replacement for Doug Ford.

First we assessed the political landscape and joined the liberal party. A few dollars for membership is a small price to pay to have a say in Ontario’s future. Yes, the liberal party has made mistakes in the past, McGinty’s gas plants for example. And, during the last election Steven Del Duca did not inspire nearly enough confidence in voters.

When Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie announced her decision to run, we went to her opening day meet-and-greet. It was a pub, with wine and snacks. We met her partner who was supportive from behind, a great place for a partner in this endeavour. We greeted her son, Jonathan, whom we already knew from his involvement in previous elections. We were introduced to another campaign worker, a man I knew because he has donated hundreds of children’s books to our local food bank. We met Bonnie’s mom, likely in her late 80’s – in a pub at 9:00 pm. Pretty good support all around.

At the next public event, Crombie and 4 other candidates met for a short presentation. It was more business-like. Only coffee and cookies were served. Each of the 5 candidate spoke for about 5-10 minutes and I must tell you that all of them seemed worthy, They all have university degrees and speak well. Each has political experience, either as an MP or an MPP. But we didn’t hear much about their platforms that night.

At our third event we listened to an actual debate. No food was served that night – it was all business, One candidate had dropped out in order to throw his support behind Crombie, but the other 4 all talked for a couple of hours, answering questions submitted by the panel. In short, they mostly agreed on the big issues: affordable housing, health care, and cost of living. Once again, we felt that any of them could run our province effectively. But the big question still remained: Which one of them could defeat Doug Ford? Stay tuned for the next blog post.

Only kidding… Peter and I have to make up our minds by next Sunday, voting day for liberal party members. We were disappointed when 2 of the candidates joined together to try to defeat Crombie. It has a feel of anti-feminism we just can’t get past. Crombie has done well as Mayor of Mississauga, and as MP before that. She has the political experience and the smarts. Most of all, she is feisty. We can really imagine her standing on stage with Ford, and fighting back. She will not let him push her around.

So, dear readers, on Sunday we will be voting for Bonnie Crombie on behalf of you, the residents of Ontario. You deserve someone better than you have, as Premier.

Sue

Peter and I both have relatives who were involved in WWII. Peter’s father fought for Italy and my uncle was killed on a mission to Germany. On Saturday, November 11 we were tied up with household chores, so we postponed our remembrances. But on Sunday we decided to take a stroll down University Ave, one of Toronto’s most stately streets, and visit some war memorials there.

We began, and ended, at Queen’s Park. At the first corner Peter spied a soldier on a horse. He wondered if it could possibly be Garibaldi, his favourite war hero, displayed in all big cities across Italy. But sadly Garibaldi had not immigrated to Canada. Instead it was King Edward VII, the monarch who officially opened the park back in 1860, even before the legislative building was there.

Next we came upon 3 small gardens dedicated to the late Queen Elizabeth II: her Golden Jubilee, the diamond one, and the most recent Platinum Jubilee just before her death. According to a tourist strolling near us, there was supposed to be a brand-new statue dedicated to the long-reigning Queen. We wandered farther until the woman shouted: “There She IS!” Well yes she was, but I think the sculptor could have done a better job on her face.

As we rambled along, we discovered that the Queen’s Park grounds host 32 plaques and monuments, dedicated to various Monarchs, Ministers, and causes. Sir John A. Macdonald has a statue. William Lyon Mackenzie, Toronto’s first mayor, is represented by a bust. Sir Oliver Mowat, Ontario’s third prime minister (as they were called back in the day), stands tall near the front doors of the building. I stopped in my tracks. Did this mean that All the provincial premiers would be here, even the bad ones, no names mentioned? I wasn’t sure I wanted to see any more.

But we needed to find the war memorial so we carried on. We were looking for something tall and we almost missed it. But there it was, built in 2006, tucked into the side of a hill: a 30-meter granite wall with lazar-etched photographic images depicting scenes of Canada’s role in war and peace-keeping since 1867. The most recent inscription reads: “campaign against terror.” In front of the wall more than 75 wreathes had been placed on Remembrance Day.

This wall and the other memorials in Queen’s Park are not just about WW I and WW II. Nearby is another sculpture, this one dedicated to Canadians who died during the war in Afghanistan.

And at the south entrance, the most poignant memorial of all. Donors have laid down children’s shoes; reminders of those who suffered in Residential schools in our past, and children who are suffering today in Ukraine, Israel, Palestine and around the world.

At this point, about 3:30, the sun was beginning to set. We would have to save our southward journey along University Avenue for another day. But we were glad to have spent some time remembering the sacrifices that others made, so that we could enjoy a lovely fall afternoon in a beautiful park.

Sue

My suggestion recently for an outing to the Bata Shoe Museum did not meet with Peter’s approval. I have loved shoes since I was a kid, but Peter is not interested, as you can see below:

Peter’s shoes:

Museum Shoes:

The Bata Shoe Museum is a unique structure. The shoe collection started as a hobby for Sonja Bata, wife of shoe magnet Thomas J Bata. When her collection became too big for their house, they hired architect Raymond Moriyama to design a building.

Moriyama was born in BC and created his first structure at the age of 12: a treehouse where he imagined he could hide from the Canadian Government’s plan for internment of Japanese immigrants during WW II. Since then he has designed several masterpieces including the Toronto Reference Library and the Ontario Science Centre. Perhaps fortunately, he died in September of this year, so he won’t have to witness the possible demolition of the Science Centre.

But I digress…

The Shoe Museum, completed in 1995, features elements of Moriyama’s style: lots of light and lots of wood. The new exhibit, Dressed To Impress: Footwear and Consumerism In the 1980’s, grabbed my attention. According to the introduction, ( and my foggy memory), the 80’s are known in the fashion world for an emergence of new styles: bright colours, stiletto heels, and high-status sneakers. This was a decade that encouraged fashion as a way to promote one’s individual style. Fashion advertising became common. You may remember music videos, Jane Fonda workout shows, other TV shows and movies that promoted fashion shamelessly.

One of the displays, Let’s Get Physical, features athletic footwear. Here you can see several kinds of sneakers: Reeboks, Adidas, comfy sneakers designed for women who were now commuting to work. Another 1980’s trend, technology, is represented in “computer shoes” which contain a chip to record running distance and time, similar to today’s Fitbit. The famous Air Jordan takes centre stage in this exhibit; and how about a shoe for Jordan’s girlfriend?

During the 1980’s, famous people promoted specific styles. In the Museum you can see cowboy boots belonging to Robert Redford, and black boots worn by Molly Ringwald in The Breakfast Club. Princess Diana sported a pair of low-heeled shoes fashioned after men’s saddle shoes of the 1950’s. Diahann Carroll wore these shoes befitting the “filthy rich.”

Other new styles of the 80’s included deck shoes for yachters, jelly shoes for young teen girls, and high-fashion shoes for celebrity actors like Madonna. Devotees of punk found footwear to their liking too: stilettos decorated with studs for goth girls, and these “brothel creepers’ for the guys. Notice the thick rubber sole, perfect for sneaking around:

By the end of the 1980’s, footwear was a defining element for every well-dressed man and woman. Who better to represent them than the Queen of Shoes who owned over 3,000 pairs? Presenting:

So grab your best sneakers and run on down to the Bata Shoe Museum for a nostalgic glimpse into the past.

Sue

Peter and I live in a neighbourhood where Halloween is a BIG thing. In honour of all our neighbours who put so much work into this event, I have chosen some haunted yards to share with you. Enjoy.

Here are some of our neighbours hard at work:

Celebrating the evening are bouncers, dragons and polka dot cuties:

And the perfect couple:

Trick or treating: take a boat, drive a car, or hop on spider rider:

But don’t get caught in a graveyard like these guys:

Tell your grandkids to be very very careful.

Then sneak up behind and steal their candy.

Happy Halloween!

Sue

Ps Like my new haircut?

Just a short drive from Toronto, readers can find a conservation area well worth a visit. Crawford Lake sits amid the Halton Hills, surrounded by walking and hiking trails.

Peter and I joined friends there last week, friends we have known for over 15 years. We first met on an organized hiking trip to Corfu, Greece in 2008. It was a memorable trip – in fact it was our honeymoon! Not every couple chooses a hiking trip as a honeymoon destination. Most prefer to spend their energy elsewhere. But we had been living together for a while, and we ended the trip with a romantic cruise of the Greek Islands.

During the Corfu part we met 15 other like-minded souls and we bonded. Since then we have met at least once a year, in the fall, for a reunion and a hike. The reunions started off with a weekend away, to Prince Edward County one year, the Adirondacks another, and somewhere in Quebec another. We would have a sleepover a couple of nights so we could stay up late drinking wine and sharing stories.

As we grew older the trips grew shorter. Now we hike (or walk) somewhere local and have lunch afterwards, with water or coffee to drink. There are fewer of us too, alas… But we still enjoy each others’ company and being together in the outdoors. Crawford Lake Conservation Area is a great place for us. And maybe for you too.

The trails are of varying length and difficulty, from a 1-kilometer boardwalk around the lake, to a 9-kilometer hike up and up to Rattlesnake Point. On this particular visit, we chose something in between, a route which led to a view from the escarpment. The colours were beautiful. We walked past the original Crawford homestead, now just a cement pad. The Crawford family bought the land in the late 1800’s and used it as a summer residence. Then, in 1969, the forward-thinking descendants sold it to Conservation Halton.

The view from the escarpment

Next we strolled on the boardwalk around the meromictic lake – 2 distinct layers of water that never mix. The sediment at the bottom collects evidence of history, including corn pollen, which led researchers to look for the remains of an Iroquois village. This village is re-created on the property. Visitors can browse through 10 longhouses full of Indigenous artifacts.

Winding our way along the Woodland Train toward the exit, we came across several beautifully crafted wood sculptures. Local artists have outdone themselves representing wildlife in the area and providing seating for tired hikers.

Then it was time for lunch. We drove to the nearby village of Campbellville, where the restaurant choices were limited to an upscale dining room with linen tablecloths and expensive wine, or a neighbourhood hang-out with plastic on the tables and coffee on tap. We chose the latter and found a large empty table on the patio.

After a while it became clear that the waiter on duty was also the cook, host, and cashier. A few hikers got up and found cutlery, menus and water pitchers. Somehow I got to be the stand-in waitress. Despite my lack of recent experience, ( Peter often waits on me!), everyone got the food they had ordered. We raised our water glasses and coffee cups in a toast to another great reunion.

Sue

PS Some of the other hikers took a few of these pictures – thanks!

Technology is changing so fast in our lives that sometimes it’s necessary for an update: a few tidbits that don’t make a whole story but that change our lives in small ways. Sometimes good, sometimes not.

In the news last week an actress married to Canadian pianist and composer David Foster confessed to a serious version of losing your device. Her toddler son who had an ipad – what 2-year-old needs an ipad? – was using it too much. So she did what any distracted mother would do: she hid it in the oven. Then Thanksgiving dinner came along, and you probably guessed the ending already. A metallic-tasting turley.

Our grandson Ben, who is 7 and loves gadgets, got caught by technology recently. On the way to a baseball game with his parents one Saturday, he dropped into a STEM camp and built something electric. You’d have to ask him for a complete explanation, but it had wires and batteries and he was proud of his creation. But, at the entrance to the basebal game, it set off an alarm – not just a tiny beep but an alarm so loud that the security team came running to investigate. They were preparing to call the Bomb Squad when they came upon tiny Ben, who proudly took his little creation out of his backpack to show them. After playing with his gadget, they decided he did not have to go to jail.

Thursday night, on a long walk with Agnes, I had a sudden urge to find a washroom. Dear Agnes, who is pretty savvy about everything, said “Oh Nana, I know where to find one.” Just ahead was a silver shed. I put a quarter into the slot. The doors slid open, music began to serenade me, and a soothing voice whispered, “Welcome!” The door locked behind me and I was treated to a comfy seat which was automatically flushed and sprayed with cleaner after each use. The sink provided water, soap, and towels electronically. With a push of a button, the doors slid open and the voice said “Thank you for visiting.”

If you are not impressed so far, because you would NEVER put an ipad in the oven, you don’t have any tecchie grandkids, and you NEVER intend to visit a public washroom, then here is another option: next time you are waiting for a while in a doctor’s office, take out your phone and browse through the menu. You can do Anything on your phone. Try it: use the flashlight to look inside your purse or man-bag for your next pill, play games to keep your brain from atrophying, check your rising blood pressure, create a music video to entertain the other patients, and, if you wait long enough, write your autobiography.

And the grand finale? Let me introduce Elli*Q. She (or maybe they) is a robot companion for people who are sometimes lonely. She can help with verbal reminders about appointments, financial advice, kids’ birthdays and news updates. Ths amazing non-human can also share conversations, jokes and holiday celebrations. She is known to “provide peace of mind and empathy in a relationship that grows through time.” She could become your best friend! Although there is no mention of her cooking a turkey.

Sue

Isn’t she just so cute?

This year’s holiday brought regret along with the usual joy of sharing a meal with family and friends. There was our disappointment in the weather which had turned cold and rainy after several beautiful summer-like days. There was the price of turkey which forecd many families to switch to chicken or even plants. Then there was, and continues to be, ongoing tragedy in the world: including Ukraine, Afghanistan, and most recently Israel.

To distract myself, I picked up a copy of Food and Drink magazine at the LCBO. This is one of the few perks of paying such high prices for wine grown just down the highway, and having to bring your own bag to the store now too. The magazine photos are colourful and the recipes are sometimes quite delicious.

This latest issue has a theme. The magazine is celebrating 30 years of publication and the holiday theme is Then and Now. I could hardly believe how our tastes have changed from the 1990’s. For example, a good old-fashioned hamburger with tomato, relish and mustard is no longer worth eating. Snce then, we have moved through the era of the “slider,” a couple of tiny burgers with some gourmet garnish on a fancy plate. But now even a slider won’t do. Now we must have a “smashburger.” This concoction of 3 beef patties, 2 different exotic cheeses and a few strips of bacon, all drenched in fat, sounds like a killer burger to me.

Other classics have been updated too. “Macaroni and cheese” has become “Shells WIth Vodka-Squsash Sauce”. (Well it IS a liquor store magazine, after all). Anther favourite drink from the 90’s, the perfectly delicious margarita, has been modernized into an avocado margarita, still with lime juice and tequila, but substituting the other juices with pureed avocado, and rimming the glass with chili powder. I guess it could be healthy.

Who is responsible for making these decisions to update our food choices? Well, like just about every trend these days, we rely on food “influencers.” In my mother’s day it was Betty Crocker, with her frilly white apron over her house dress. Then Julia Child took over and French cuisine was all the rage. Recently Stanley Tucci has been promoting Italian dishes. But now? How do we deal with dishes such as “Roasted Goldenheart potatoes with Iberico pork, sheep’s milk cheddar, and sherry-butter sauce”? Who has the time or the money to even buy all these ingredients?

This year I went with some traditional dishes. The turkey was not air-fried or perched on the BBQ with a beer can stuck up its butt; it was right-side up in the oven and the dressing was an old family favourite. But I got a little edgy with the vegetables and tried a version of an indigenous recipe called “Three Sisters” to which I added a couple of cousins and a neighbour. At least the adults liked it. And one of our daughters brought sweet potatoes roasted in a maple sauce that was deilcious.

But old or new, does it really matter? Basically I am saying that, whatever you ate for Thanksgiving dinner, a family traditonal recipe or something nouvelle cuisine, you had food on your plate and a safe place to eat it. Many people in the world would gladly give thanks to be in our place.

Sue

“What?” you ask. “Writing about swimming in October?” Yes I am. With the unexpected gift of a few sunny warm days, I have swimming on my mind.

Peter and I only went swimming in a lake a few times this past summer. We swam at our son’s cottage in Muskoka. Actually I didn’t swim much. Instead I tried to join Ben and Gavin, the grandkids, on their lily pad while they used me as target practice with their water pistols. Peter swam across the lake one day and was pleased with his accomplishment. Another day he went swimming accidentally when his kayak almost submerged with him in it.

Peter chasing the kayak; vacated lily pad in front

Swimming in the city is usually convenient. There are several public pools – indoor and outdoor. A few times we walked up the street to our local outdoor pool, heated and not too crowded in the deep end. One day in August we took grandchildren Sophie and Gavin there for an afternoon of diving for octopus. Gavin was not armed and we all had fun. We threw the plastic toys and they dove for them. After they were tired out, we walked home for ice cream. The pool is a delight but it is now closed until next summer.

One of our daughters lives in a condo with an indoor pool, and we sometimes get invited for a Sunday swim. The water is warm and there are noodles for floating; both requirements for an aging Nana. Mostly we watch our grand daughter, Agnes, practise her swimming skills for the competitive swim team she has joined. A couple of weeks ago she taunted Peter with an offer of a race. He couldn’t resist the challenge. On the first try, she beat him 4 laps to 1. But on the next race, Peter got out his best swim stroke and turned up the heat – she still beat him, but only 2 to 1. Pretty good when you consider that she is 12 and he is 77!

Last Friday, when Lucy arrived and we hadn’t discussed where to go for a walk, we decided to investigate an indoor pool only a few kilometers away. This pool, Gus Ryder Community Pool, has a reputation with seniors for having warm water And warm dressing rooms. This is our kind of pool! We weren’t too sure how things worked, so we took bathing suits, towels, a few small bills and not much else.

The small bills covered the entrance fee – $5.00 for both of us. The pool was divided into 4 sections for lane swimming: fast, medium, slow and FAT aka Float And Talk! Peter chose Medium and I chose FAT. There were a number of older women in that section and they were definitely talking a lot, as they wandered from one end of the pool to the other, sometimes splashing their arms around from side to side.

I found a spot on one side of the FAT lane, where I could do some lengths at my own pace. There was classical music playing and it was heavenly. After about an hour, Peter and I got out of the pool and went to our separate change rooms. I had a lovely shower and was able to dry my hair under a hand dryer that had been installed at head height. Everything worked well for me.

Peter, on the other hand, had forgotten shampoo and soap. He tried to “borrow” mine, but one of the lifeguards came to my rescue and told him there was soap in his change room. Well there was, but it was with the sinks, not the showers. So Peter spent a lot of time running from the shower to the sinks and filling his cupped hands with soap, running back to the shower as the soap dripped onto the floor, washing one body part, running back to the sinks while trying to avoid the slippery floor spots, getting more soap, running to the shower, washing another body part, and so on. It took a while.

Meanwhile I sat in the lobby waiting for him and planning his Christmas gift – soap on a rope.

Sue

Our local pool, closed for the season