I'll Follow the Sun

33 degrees and sunshine – surely one of the warmest days of the year, and yet it is September 19 and winter looms on the horizon.

Like a sunflower, I rotate towards the heat of the sun. (Is it any wonder after living in Africa for the first six years of my life?) So I headed downtown through Kiwanis Park to the Spadina Freehouse to enjoy a cold beer on the outdoor patio. Wedding parties and conference goers passed by on the sidewalk, and I had an up-close view of the carvings on the Hotel Bessborough across the street.

Just in passing, I should mention that the Spadina Freehouse has the most vegetarian options of any restaurant in town as well as a wide variety of beers on tap. Now, if they just had olives, I wouldn’t need to go to Spain (well, maybe!).

On my way out, I pick up an ice cream cone at the double decker bus parked across the street and then meander home along the river. The sky is turning pink, and the cormorants are settling in for the night on the power lines that cross the river near the Mendel Art Gallery.

And, in closing, a few verses from Mary Oliver’s poem The Sunflowers: “Come with me / to visit the sunflowers, / they are shy / but want to be friends; / they have wonderful stories / of when they were young - / the important weather, / the wandering crows. / Don’t be afraid to ask them questions! / Their bright faces, / which follow the sun, / will listen, and all / those rows of seeds - / each one a new life! - / hope for a deeper acquaintance; / each of them, though it stands / in a crowd of many / like a separate universe, / is lonely, the long work / of turning their lives / into a celebration / is not easy.”