FROM DOCK TO CLOCK TO ROCK TO BOARDWALK

The heat wave finally broke and the week started with a top-down back-road drive up to Tobermory for ice cream (Moose Tracks) and greeting the ferry (ChiCheemaun). Then over to Southampton where brother-in-law Walter received the town's Heritage Award for reviving the town clock and keeping it running for the last 40 years! Then the commute to Toronto, continuing the rehab of the apartment by stripping old stair runner and being grossed out by apparently liquified underpad below.

But the week is ending with the excitement on Queen Street of the 25th annual Beaches Jazz Festival. 62 bands along a mile of closed-off main drag! Great weather, happy crowds, funky food trucks, and the best music ever. Not much true "jazz" but take your pick from big band, reggae, salsa, Latin fusion, swing, funk, and just plain road house rock. Our faves?? --- Lightning flamenco guitars of the Spanish "Puente del Diablo" (note littlest guitarist!), the dynamite energy of "God Made Me Funky", and the raunchy rockers "Zed Head". Now we remember why we missed the city! Oh, and how about the crazy entrance of the Shuffle Demons, complete with King Tut headdress?

All's quiet this morning but along the boardwalk a 5/10/20k training run is taking place beside the Latin Square music stage. Will the runners finish before the rumba rumbles??

MOTHER NATURE, ON DECK

Another week of weather, work, and wow. A sweltering heat wave with mega-humidity lasted the five days of the latest project at Wineva  in Toronto. I had built the second-floor back deck 25 years ago and the winters and summers have taken their toll (oh, and a previous tenant had also set it on fire with a neglected candle---note brown section). So the partial demolition, rebuild, and sealing all took place in 90-plus heat and tropical-plus mugginess. Talk about sweating the small stuff!

But Mother Nature allowed enough time for the sealer to dry before unleashing a brutal storm of gale winds, snap-crackle-pop lightning, and more heavy rains, like an encore of the previous week. Ominous cloud formations, then rainbow, then pink all-clear. A hike along the boardwalk revealed cast-up driftwood, flooded parks, and downed heritage trees.

Like traveling to a parallel universe, we returned to Kemble and immediately the air became clean/fresh and the temperature sleepable. Mother Nature stacking the deck in favour of the country?? The veggies and cherries have never been healthier. The pond's water hyacinth blossomed for the first time ever. But to balance it all out, the ash trees are showing the inevitable and oft-predicted death throes from the invading emerald ash borer.

WATER EVERYWHERE, WHERE'S THE BOMBER?

The chips are down, up at The View!

But in  the city, we're still cleaning up the apartment, using a lot of water and soap on items like this porch light fixture. The big story this week was the massive rain dump on Toronto, a month's worth in 2 hours. Basements flooded all over town (but not here :). Did you see the viral picture of a lawyer's Ferrari under water? Our street and downspout looked like monsoon season in Asia!

Also still getting used to city routines, like garbage day. The whole neighbourhood is lush from the rains this spring. with front yards all converted from grass to perennials. At the end of the street the beach beckons locals and tourists alike on these hot days. The life guards post beach flags ---- are conditions yellow today, or red??

Whimsy abounds in the Beach . Look ---- an Australian knitter has bombed a sweater on a bike rack!

SNAKE. FISH, PIGS, AND BULLS

A very eventful week with highs and lows, rain and heat. A snake we hadn't seen before (anybody ID it out there?) in the garden now seems like an omen of the good/bad to come. The local pond expert came out to diagnose why the pond wouldn't clear up ---- says it's mostly fish waste --- and scooped up a lot of muck without much change. And even before arriving in Toronto, I was told a dishwasher had "malfunctioned" and the laundry room ceiling below had collapsed. Welcome back!!

The van and truck both had full loads from the barn. The apartment, which we hadn't seen for 5 years, was a mess. Filthy floors, carpet and appliances. Handrail torn off completely. Cabinets sagging, hinges unhinged. A roomful of garbage and recyclables. How had responsible, professional people lived like this?? Makes a pigsty seem like the Taj Mahal. But we cleaned for days and are now setting up in the new/old home. The Canada Day fireworks on  the Beach kicked in some excitement and a promise of bright things to come. For instance, a new mattress was delivered by a guy who looked like Michael Jordan!

One reason to return to Toronto was to enjoy all the festivals and attractions of the city. First up, the South Asia Fest in Little India. Immediate multiculturalism swirling around us. like a cold mango drink for a thirsty nomad. But I haven't forgotten my beloved and distant Pamplona where today the bulls and the runners rumble in the streets. I hope the bulls even the score!