A Peripatetic Pair

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I love to walk. As an example of how much I love to walk, I decided to forego the bus on Monday night and walk the 6.3 km home from work just because. Today, being a holiday and a sunny day, finally, as the perfect day for a long stroll. I wanted to go somewhere that we normally don't walk (we frequent the sidewalks of our neighbourhood regularly, so that wasn't the most original choice), so we decided to go to High Park.

A quick subway ride to Keele, and we were there. High Park is gorgeous at any time of the year, but it was especially refreshing to the eyes today. After a long winter of grey days and tons of snow, the sight of birds (lots of duck and chickadees), water, and people walking about contentedly was most welcome. The hubby and I entered the park near Keele station, and wound our way around and down past the baseball fields, the restaurant, the park, and the gardens, to Grenadier Pond. The pond is still lightly frozen over, but the edges are thawed and marshy, and there were at least three couple of Mallard ducks, the bright drake and the dull duck, dredging about in the muck for food. No babies yet, though. The chickadees were especially cute. They're so tubby and inquisitive looking.

After making the circuit of the pond, I didn't feel like we had walked far enough yet, so we walked out onto the Queensway and continued over to Colborne Lodge Dr., where we walked down to the lake. It was a great day for a walk by Lake Ontario. Everyone in the city seems to be in a good mood today, both because of the weather and the holiday, and there were lots of happy joggers, cyclists, families, and general moseyers-along like the hubby and myself. The water was only a little choppy, and it wasn't too cold. We walked from Sunnyside Park all the way to Ontario Place along the boardwalk and the Martin Goodman Trail. I can't wait until it gets really warm and I can take my book and sit by the lake and read. In all of the cities that I've lived in (Mississauga, Fukushima, Kingston, Halifax, Toronto), I've lived in close proximity to some body of water (Lake Aquitaine, the Credit River, the River Abukuma, the Pacific Ocean, Lake Ontario, the Atlantic Ocean, the Halifax harbour), and it's something that I've really come to value. Being near water relaxes me, and it's a necessary contrast, the big picture that you get by looking out at a large body of water, to the detail focus of everyday life.

Once we got to Ontario Place, were were both getting pretty tuckered out, so we turned north to cut through the Exhibition grounds to the streetcar. The Ex was busy with people coming from the One of a Kind Show (great show, but the tickets are overpriced), and again, everyone looked like they were thankful for a free day to enjoy the sunshine and do something other than go to work. A quick streetcar ride to Union Station, and we were on the subway on our way home. In total we walked 8.4 km. Pretty good for an afternoon's work!

Tonight is a quiet one (I had a fun night out at the Court Jester on the Danforth with 14 co-workers, so I'm happy to stay in), so we're just going to rent a few videos and eat popcorn. Sounds good to me!