September 2019: Off to see Martin and Allison in Boston!
I treated us all to see "SIX", a musical about the
six wives of King Henry VIII of England, playing at the Loeb Drama center at
Harvard, just might head to Broadway next. Part of the AMerican Repertory
Theater season, it is high energy and fun!
Looks so very New
England, doesn’t it? Add a stroll around Faneuil Hall, lunch at the Boston
Market building that features local produce and small restaurants, and then
enjoy one of the greenway parks built where the old raised subways ran before
the Big Dig — must be Boston!
Many thanks to my friend
Maureen and her dog Dakota for a great afternoon of exploration!
VISIT TO TORONTO AND TAYLOR-FAMILY RELATIVES!
My mother, Mary
Elizabeth Taylor, who my friends remember as “grandma Mary”, grew up in
Brantford, a suburb you can see on this map to the south and west and not far
from Toronto. Not sure I will get there on this trip to see my cousin Trish
Taylor who still lives there, but I am going Friday to see other remaining
Taylor family relatives who live a bit to the north of Toronto. Time to
reconnect!
How nice is this? The UP
express train from the Toronto Pearson airport (goes to Union Station right in
the center of Toronto, takes less than 25 minutes, and the fare for seniors is
only 6.20 and that’s in Canadian dollars, so 4.68 USD. Taxi is 60, Uber around
45. The train is air conditioned, windows are wide and clean and the train is
immaculate. No stairs to climb, either!
The glorious fresh
produce and fish and meats and cheeses and spices to be found in the famous St
Lawrence market in downtown Toronto are all brought together on the rooftop
patio of her condo building nearby where my friend Lisa prepared dinner as the
sun set over Lake Ontario. Ah yes, the government-run liquor store 50 feet away
had some great Ontario wines!
A visit to the small but
impressive Indigenous art section at AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario showcases this
huge oil painting done in 1975 by Norval Morrisseau, “The Great Flood”. Part of
this sweeping depiction of a First Nations’ origin story is explained in a
nearby video; thunderbirds play a big role in the creation.
Walking around Toronto’s
Yorkville area during this lovely autumn day was a real treat. A beautiful part
of the city, with a lot of creativity expressed in so many different ways,
including the beautiful flowers everywhere.
A human effigy ceramic
smoking pipe found in York County, Ontario, dates From 1350-1550 CE.
“Toronto has been home to people for more than 10,000 years – – and traces are
found here underfoot. Long before highways, an extensive river system and
abundant resources made Toronto a vital gateway between the upper and lower
Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. The earliest documented settlement, 17th
century Teiaiagon, was located at the Humber River portage near Toronto.
Artifacts found across Toronto indicate that people have lived here since the
glaciers melted, using local resources, and leaving traces of their lives in
the wilderness that later became Toronto.”Courtesy, Royal Ontario Museum.
So many interesting
things to see as I walk around Toronto! The city pays attention to art and
design!
Pippi Longstocking and I
take a bus from Toronto to Honey Harbour, located on beautiful Georgian Bay.
There’s a touch of autumn color, but the real attraction is to visit some of my
Canadian cousins and re-establish my mom’s Taylor family ties.
Thanks to Mary, Elizabeth and Ethel for a wonderful weekend of swapping family stories!
