Quiet Streets

            On Wednesday morning I memorized the first eight lines of “Transit à Marilou” by Serge Gainsbourg, which is a third of the song.

            I worked on my journal.

            We had gotten a notice from the landlord on Tuesday telling us that work was going to be done on the plumbing on Wednesday between 10:00 and 12:00. Because of that I made sure I filled up the two kitchen sink basins and a buck with hot water, so I’d be able to clean during that time. But since the water never got cut off I assumed the landlord didn’t come around to do the work after all and so I just used the water. Later when I talked with Benji he told me that he was here and the work didn’t involve him turning the water off. We were just not supposed to run the water or flush the toilets. I didn't hear Raja banging on the door and complaining so maybe the work got done anyway.

            I filled a bucket with hot water and soap and was preparing to wash the stone front of my kitchen mantel. It was a warm day and so I thought I’d prop my door open and open the back door. But I found Benji and Shankar chatting in the hall and so I joined them for about half an hour. Shankar asked me if I’d been able to access his wifi network and I said it had come back after a couple of hours. I’d thought that he’d reset him modem but he told me hadn’t done anything.

            Benji said when Cesar talks with him about me he calls me, “That Indian guy.” I think Cesar must have been talking about someone else and Benji misunderstood.

            It was already almost lunchtime by the time we finished talking. I scrubbed the front of my mantel but although I’ve never washed it, the water in the bucket wasn’t very dirty afterwards.

            I went to the liquor store to buy a six-pack of Creemore and was surprised that there was no line-up.

            For lunch I had half of the frozen spinach and ricotta pizza that I’d gotten from the food bank.

            In the early afternoon I did my exercises while listening to Amos and Andy. This story begins with Sapphire threatening to leave Kingfish if he doesn’t get a job. Then the landlord tells Kingfish that he is five months behind on the rent. He warns him that if he doesn’t receive at least one month’s rent in two days then they and their things will be out on the street. He tells Kingfish that he is going away for the weekend but he gives him his address and tells him to send the money there before the weekend is over. Kingfish and Andy find a job in construction and are started out with the demolition of a porch. But Kingfish mixes up the address that his boss gives him with his landlord’s address and so he and Andy proceed to demolish the porch of Kingfish’s landlord. When Kingfish gets a call from his boss demanding to know why they didn’t show up to demolish the porch, Kingfish realizes his mistake. But he doesn’t tell Andy because he wants him to take the rap. So when Andy shows up at the landlord’s house the next day to finish the demolition, he is arrested and spends the night in jail. Amos bails him out and he has a court appearance the following day. But in order to keep Andy from saying anything about him to the judge Kingfish convinces Andy that since he spent the night in jail surrounded by criminals, he is now a criminal and therefore he must follow the gangster’s code of not spilling the beans. The result is that Andy gets a $200 fine. Kingfish takes Andy home for dinner but finds Sapphire packed and ready to leave him because he did not get a job. Kingfish assures Sapphire that he did get a job and asks Andy to confirm it. Andy says he’s not going to break the code of the underworld.

            I went for a bike ride. I was a bit warm with my hoody on but not warm enough to take it off. Brock Avenue has traffic cones at each intersection all the way up to Bloor restricting cars to only local traffic. Along with each set of cones are signs reading, “Covid 19 Quiet Space”. On the  city website there’s a list of about fifty quiet streets that have been created. I’ve noticed that even on regular streets there is a trend for joggers to run off the sidewalk and on the street where the bicycles go.

            Some of the homeless people on Yonge and on Queen have been given tents to sleep in. The guy at Queen and Bay has been there for a long time but now he has a tent big enough to sleep in. It doesn’t take up much more space than he did without the tent. He tends to toss his garbage off the curb into the area where cyclists ride.

            The homeless village at Dufferin and Queen has tables and chairs behind some of the tents and so it’s like they have their own little patios.

            I melted some process cheese on the second half of the spinach and ricotta pizza,  fried an egg and had them with a beer while watching two episodes of The Adventures of Robin Hood.

            The first story begins with Robin and his men stopping an old Jewish physician named Joseph of Cordoba. He had been reading one of his large and old books as his horse travelled slowly along and doesn’t even notice when he is stopped until Robin says “good day to you”. Joseph happily gives Robin his small purse but declines his offer of dinner because he has to get to Nottingham for an old friend. Robin sees that his wagon is full of books and he gives Joseph back his purse. He regrets that Joseph cannot come for dinner because he would enjoy talking with him. Joseph comes to the home of the bedridden Sir Walter, who sent for him. He is already being treated by healers who claim his affliction is the result of demonic possession. Joseph finds that Sir Walter has a sore arm. He says that he needs fresh air and sunshine. The healers warn, “Think of the poisonous vapours that will get in!” Joseph says, “Maybe the devil was only looking for a way out. Let’s give him a chance to leave quietly.” Sir Walter asks, “If it’s not the Devil, what the devil is it?” Joseph says, “Dirt.” Joseph tells him that he should have washed it when it was first injured. Joseph says he would clean the wound, make an incision to draw out the poison and then apply a mustard bandage. The healers complain about Joseph to the sheriff. The sheriff reminds them that Sir Walter has not only recovered but has won three tournament victories since being treated. The sheriff doesn’t take notice until the healers tell him that Joseph has been treating the families of outlaws. For example, Hugh the Miller is one of Robin’s men and yet Joseph treated his daughter for a fever. The sheriff issues a decree that anyone who offers medical attention to the family of an outlaw will be banished. Later Robin learns that Derwent’s son has fallen and is unconscious. Robin tries to sneak into Nottingham to enlist the help of Joseph but is seen at the gates. The guards are searching for him when he comes to tell Joseph of the problem. Joseph doesn’t hesitate, even when Robin warns him of the danger. He goes to treat the boy and tells Robin to hide at his place. Joseph brings the boy to consciousness it seems with a chest massage. The cops arrive and take him to the sheriff. Joseph is silent about who told him the boy was sick. The sheriff goes to Joseph’s lodging but Robin is gone. The sheriff tells Joseph to be out of Nottingham before sunrise. Robin is still trying to get out of the city. The sheriff corners him and they swordfight but Robin flips him and knocks him out. He flings his cape to catch it on a spike at the top of the wall and uses it to scale up and over. Joseph leaves Nottingham with his crate of books and with Robin underneath the pile. At Sherwood Robin tells Joseph he thinks he could make a pretty good outlaw of him. Joseph says, “We have been outlaws for over a thousand years. You are not doing too bad for beginners but if you ever want some lessons in survival, send for me.”

            In the second story Robin stops some merchants on the road. They say they are carrying books to the local abbey. Robin has a look at one of them and sees it’s “The History of the Kings of Britain” by Geoffrey of Monmouth. But Friar Tuck is suspicious because he knows the abbey already has a copy of that book. He grabs the book and feels that it is heavier than it should be. Inside a false section are hidden golden plates circles with jewels. Robin takes the plates and as they are contemplating what they will do now that they are rich, Lady Marian arrives to announce that Prince John has stolen Queen Eleanor’s plates of Byzantine gold. The queen wants the plates taken to Sir Richard’s castle. Robin is disappointed to give the plates up but he feels bound by loyalty to the queen mother. This is the third appearance of Sir Richard. He is still deeply in debt but trying to maintain his past knightly glory, much to the dismay of his wife. His squire is a man in his late middle age who served nine years as a page and then twenty seven years as an esquire. Squires tend to be young men. Richard has promised to make him a knight as soon as he can clear a patch of land to make an estate for him. Richard puts the plates in his strong room but when the merchants that he is indebted to call on him he decides to serve them dinner on the golden plates in order to impress them enough to continue giving him credit. His plan works and they are falling all over themselves to offer him their wares. One of the merchants at the table is a goldsmith and he copies the design of the plates to make an imitation from base metal. He makes a copy and takes it to the sheriff’s lieutenant, who recognizes the design of the plates that were stolen from his men by Robin Hood. He goes with soldiers and a warrant to Sir Richard’s castle to seize the plates. They force their way in. Robin must get into the strong room to save the plates before the soldiers get to them but Sir Richard has the key. The only other entrance is a small window at the top of the tower. Robin scales the tower with great difficulty, A soldier spots him and is going to fire to collect the thousand pound reward on Robin Hood. Robin cannot use his bow with both hands and so he holds the bow with his foot and pulls the arrow back with one hand to shoot and kill the soldier. Meanwhile the lieutenant’s men are using a battering ram on the strong room. Robin gets into the room and removes the plates from the books. They break down the door and take the books. As they leave the castle Marian arrives with the archbishop, who is there to take the books from Sir Richard and return them to the queen. While the lieutenant claims that he was delivering the plates to him and presents him with the books, Robin slips the gold plates into the lieutenant’s saddle bags so that Richard can inform the archbishop of this and put the lieutenant into disfavour. The archbishop dines with Sir Richard, thus impressing the creditors even more.