Wreckage and Religion

           

            On the Sunday afternoon of July 3rd, a guy was sleeping in the heat across from the O’Hara side of my place, on the softer surface of one of the tree planters that line the street. At his feet was his gym bag. A woman tried to wake him but couldn’t, so she picked up his bag, brought it closer to him and hooked the handles over his arm.

            Riding along Bloor that evening, I noticed that summer hasn’t been very kind to the grass at Christie Park this year. It’s all turning yellow, I guess because of so little rain.

            Bloor Street was blocked off starting at Bay Street, so I walked to Yonge Street where there was a big crowd. It looked like there was a parade going on, but when a float turned from Bloor East onto Yonge, I couldn’t tell if it was the Gay Pride parade or Caribana because of the music and the people on board. There were some rainbow banners though, so I guessed it was Pride.

            I rode to Midland and Bayview, followed it south and east to Southvale and then took my usual route back to Yonge Street.

            I stopped to use the washroom at Jesters and after unlocking my bike, I noticed in front of the Scotiabank at the corner of Yonge and St Clair, in the shelter of a couple of concrete tree planters, a homeless woman cooking her dinner with a little portable stove. She looked Vietnamese or Chinese and was perhaps in her sixties or seventies. Whatever she was cooking smelled delicious.

            Yonge Street was still blocked off south of Bloor. There were cops everywhere. I’m assuming this much police presence at Toronto Pride this year had something to do with the Orlando shooting. I’ve never taken in the event because I’m not a fan of parades, so I don’t know how many cops are usually involved. I walked my bike to Charles Street and then rode to Bay and then south. There were cops at every major corner.

            At the corner of Bay and St Joseph, a building had been demolished, and a ton of twisted sheet metal was shining in the sun in front of St Basil’s church. It made an interesting image, so I stopped to take some photos.

            On the way home I went to Freshco because I needed toilet paper and paper towels. I wanted to also buy some meat and there was a good deal on whole chickens, but I was a dollar short. I bought instead a bag of frozen chicken legs.

            That night I cooked the chicken legs without thawing them and so they weren’t done on the inside in time for dinner. I had to throw together something else very quickly.