Toronto time

 

It's been a lot of work to get everything organized for this trip but fortunately for us it's paying off in a lot of ways.  The location of our house here on the Danforth is absolutely ideal, and we haven't really needed a car at all so far.  We will be borrowing a friend's car this coming Friday, and that should come in very handy.

Duncan is about halfway through his summer camp with his cousins.  Last week he really enjoyed the proximity to the Pape library, the fact that it is air conditioned, and that it has a large selection of graphic novels aka bandes dessinées aka comic books that he can check out himself.

 

Malcolm has had a number of golf lessons with the pro at Dentonia, which is a ten minute subway ride from the house.  He's liking it a lot, and enjoys working with his teacher, Juno.  Next week maybe we'll golf a few rounds on the par 3.  Today he's on his way up the CN Tower for the first time, to have lunch there as his birthday present.  It is a gorgeous day and perfect visibility for such a visit.

Yesterday he spent a few hours with his oldest friend, Nicholas, who came up for a visit on his bike.  They goofed around on the Nintendo for a bit, then went out for a walk around the neighborhood, paying a visit to the Baskin-Robbins and Suckerz, the candy store just around the corner.  They both had fun and we hope they will be able to arrange something again, perhaps when we go to the Blue Jays game later on in August.  We have other visiting plans scheduled for this weekend, when we're hosting a barbeque drop in, and hope to have a visit with Endean neighbors, musical friends and colleagues, french club people and other friends and relatives.  Then next week we're pizza-ing with another family, hoping to get in a little flying with my uncle, see an english-language play, go see a blowin'-up-stuff movie, hit the Royal Ontario Museum and do other touristy Toronto area things.

We've also been enjoying catching up with David Cunningham who is visiting from Vancouver; the last time we've spent any time together was during our first year in Belgium, about four years ago, and so as you can imagine we've had lots of catching up to do.

Now that the Auction is over, I've been taking the time and opportunity to have a regular singing lesson with Bruce, and have been learning some new arias with him.  It's a fantastic opportunity, and it's always important to keep tuning the voice up, keep bad habits from creeping in, and to help readjust things as my vocal instrument continues to change.  Apart from new material, I am also coaching Le Nozze di Figaro with Don Tarnawski, which I need to keep up with during this vacation, since we have a very short time in August, after I return to Brussels, to finish getting it into shape for performance.

 

The rock band camp across the street is super loud, and this past week played Misty Mountain Hop for about six hours straight every day, beginning at 9:30 am, and that's without the bridge, just the groove.  This week it's Rush's Bastille Day.  GAAAHHH!!!  I'm being punished for my sins as a member of Barking with the Big Dogs, our blues-rock band of my teenage years.  I had to close all the windows yesterday to have some quiet and study up on my Mozart...

Now it's a little bit of rest in the heat of the day before going to pick up some stuff for dinner; David heads off to London on Friday to visit his friends there prior to his return to Vancouver, so we want a little time with him before he leaves.