Mount Pleasant Cemetery

OK now, add to my weirdness is my fondness for cemeteries. I just think they are one of the most beautiful places to visit, to take a stroll, to meditate. One of these places will be my final resting place (hopefully years and years from now) - but for now a visit is good enough.

Photos taken on my recent stroll at the Mount Pleasant Cemetery (5 Heath Crescent, Toronto). Death maybe the great leveler but still some markers stand out more than others.

Visitation Centre, Forest of Remembrance.

For life and death are one, even as the sea and river are one. 

~ Khalil Gibran

My Driving Life - Road Trip 1

Scarborough to Collingwood, Ontario
3 hours each way
Feb 8 and 10, 2018
(All photos taken by hubby)


I miss taking road trips - be it short or long. I love my home but I also love being on the road. Scenic routes of wheat fields, barns and old towns are my high. So we ventured on a short road trip with me behind the wheel - all the way. Collingwood is a short 2.5 hours from Toronto, it is a place familiar to us and we have a free 1 night stay in the resort courtesy of our son. Perfect!!

We started along Kennedy Road up to Bloomington, then Hiway 6, 31, 400, 18, 42 and finally 26. We  avoided the highway and took some deserted side roads with hills and valleys. We passed by 2 round-abouts which scared me because you have to be careful to yield and watch incoming traffic. Going back from Collingwood we took a different road - highway 89, 27, 9, 31 and 6.

Thoughts and Lessons learned on this road trip.

• As a new driver, I did not get to enjoy the road sights. Nor did I enjoy music or good conversation.
• I have to own my space on the road. Hubby keeps reminding me I should stay on my lane.
• There are too many road signs I have to read/notice. Follow the lane, merging lanes, speed limits.
• To ingrain the habit of looking in all the mirrors, double check before making a lane change, making proper light signals.

My Favorite expression on this trip.

What?! 80 km/hr again? 

The trip made me re-think of the 5 major points a driver should know as emphasized by my driving instructor.

• Get the big picture.
• Keep your eyes moving
• Drive with 101% focus and concentration
• Keep distance
• Communicate

It was a good first try. More practice needed.

My Driving Life - Snow and Slush

December 23, 2017

Survived 45 minutes of driving in uptown Toronto with freezing/rain and snow! It was not as bad as I thought. In fact, I liked it more because there was no pressure on me to drive fast and keep up with the speed limits. Everyone was driving slowly and cautiously.

Roles have changed as hubby is now navigator and I am driving.

Sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.

~ Marilyn Monroe

My Driving Life - On My Own

And so I now have a driver's license and technically I can drive away. But in reality that is not true with me. I may have passed the test but I am still not confident to drive on my own. Right after I passed the test I went for a 2 week vacation and when I came back - the routine was the same. Hubby drives wherever I want to go. It never occurred to us that I should take the wheel once in a while. The hubby driving is always very convenient.

A year after I had my official license I am back to square 1. This time however is for reals. I have to drive now - if I need to get anywhere. The first time I had to pick up my son at the nearby corner I could not imagine what I was doing. We arrived that is all I knew about that day. After that day I swore I will be driving.

The month of November 2017 was all practice driving on weekends and some week nights. The hubby was beside me all the time and I am bombarded with instructions, reminders, a list of my errors. December 2017 the hubby left for a 3 week vacation. YAY! Finally, it is my time!

The first time I drove on my own was on early new year's day. It had to be new year's day and early for lesser traffic. Drove around the nearby strip mall, practiced parking on the deserted area, drove around several blocks in our area and did it twice. When I noticed more vehicles in the road, I headed home and parked.

Second time to drive on my own was to drop something at a friends' home. I mapped out my route, got out of the garage alright. Not even 500 meters from my place a portion of the road was closed. Darn! I only know of one way to get there. I had to do a quick detour and parked in the nearby strip mall. Then the windshield got foggy and blurry. I had no idea how to get rid of the fog! I thought I must park somewhere so that the sun will evaporate this condensation. I also thought there must be something in this car I have to push to get rid of the fog - or I will return home and abort my plan altogether. Search and push buttons. It worked. Now to re-map my route (hoping for lesser left turns). I made it with 3 left turns!!! Drop the item at my friends' place, did a 3 point turn and headed back home with again 3 left turns. Whew!!

Third time to drive on my own was to drop items at the nearby Salvation Army - an activity that needs to be completed before the hubby arrives. This seems to be an easy run - but it was a work day with normal number of vehicles along busy Kennedy road. It was a successful drive except that I had a little difficulty parking with snow, mud and water. Did not dare go to any other place afterwards.

Straight roads do not make skillful drivers ~ Paulo Coelho

My Driving Life 1

Much as I wanted to drive since the day we arrived in Canada, I never got to push myself to learn and be on the road. I had an ever available driver, I had friends who were always willing to drive me around, the Toronto Transit (bus, train, subway) is very convenient and then the son learned how to drive. There was just no reason for me to learn. I took and passed written driving tests and took driving lessons but when the motivation is absent - the dream to drive remained a dream.

But life took me to a different turn and I came face-to-face with the reality that I must drive. After 16 years in Canada I took things seriously. I failed my first road test because I could not parallel park. Hah! Who can when you are very nervous and tense?

On my 2nd attempt I woke up very early and drove with the husband to the testing centre. I had to acquaint myself with the possible routes and drove back home in the middle of rush hour. Passed my 2nd road test . This time there was no parallel parking, no issue with the all way stop. I don't know how I passed when I was still very nervous and tense. I give all the glory to God who made it all possible.

Ontario,here I come!!

Officially became a licensed Ontario driver in Oct 2017.

Latest Puzzle

My first completed puzzle for this year!

Started on Feb 11, 2018 

"Should I really do this?"

February 22, 2018

Struggling after 10 days. Was only working on the puzzle an average of 1.5 hours a day

 10 days later. February 28, 2018

A snowy, cold weekend made everything faster. Looks exciting now.

March 4, 2018   - 10:30 AM

March 4, 2018 - 2:30 PM

I considered this a challenging puzzle because there were so many colors with very slight 

variations in tones.

Puzzle details : Hasbro brand. 1500 pcs. Artist : Laurel Burch. Ocean Songs.

To Move Around

“I need to move around a bit. To shuffle my surroundings. To wake up in cities I don't know my way around and have conversations in languages I cannot entirely comprehend. There is always this tremendous longing in my heart to be lost, to be someplace else, to be far far away from all of this".

Questions and Answers

Randomness takes a break to celebrate!!

Have you passed up any chance lately that you now regret? 
Yes. I could have nailed my last interview but I did not prepare for it. Everything was provided to me but I opted to do other things and did not prepare for the interview as I should have.

If you had no physical, financial, or other obstacles, what skill would you like to have?
To be able to train myself for fitness.

What have you tried lately that is new and exciting?
Driving. Nothing pushed me to learn until...

What makes you happiest and when you think about it you cannot help but smile?
Ahhh...I am thinking about it now and smiling - but cannot write it here.

What was the greatest adventure in your life so far?
Going on a cruise.

When you are old and look back on your life, what do you think will matter most to you?
The time I spent with family, friends and my unending love for my passion.

If you had enough money that you never needed to work again, what would you do with your time? Write, paint, learn a new language, travel.

If you could eat as much of one food as you wanted without ever getting full or fat, which food would you choose? Cheesecake!

If you could be granted one wish of any kind, what would it be?
Happiness for my son.

Allan Garden - Poinsettias Galore

I had the chance to visit Toronto's Allan Garden in December 2017 and saw their poinsettia show. It was an awesome display of the flowers' different varieties (said to be more than 30).

Allan Garden has this display every December and they are open 7 days a week, 10 AM to 5 PM. Some weekend nights they also have a light show - which I intend to see this 2018.

 I had a wonderful time at the garden, an experience I will surely repeat this year.

Allan Gardens
December 21, 2017

Welcome 2018!!

And in every new year I always think of these lines from Neil Gaiman.

I wish to do all these things and more!

WELCOME 2018!!

Toronto By Myself

Another opportunity to go around Toronto by myself. YAY!

First stop - Canoe Landing Park. Here we can find this large red canoe and have an overlooking view of the Gardiner Expressway. Too bad when I went to check it out people were there.

A few meters away are these huge fishing bobbers. Colorful!!

Across the street is this other public art/installation which I still have to know the title.

It is up to the viewer to make an interpretation.

I wandered towards Union Station and found this dog themed fountain. So cute!

 This is Berczy Park right across St. Lawrence Market.

And finally, the real reason for my Toronto trip this Saturday! To watch Beautiful, The Carole King Musical, No regrets at all. It was a beautiful show with the Carole King hits like So Far Away, It Might as Well Rain Until September, You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin and, Will You Love Me Tomorrow.

Trivia : The TTC had scheduled maintenance activities on this day with no subway operations on some lines. Did I care? No, I was determined to enjoy Toronto on my own and more determined to watch the musical even if it means taking shuttle buses. I had a good seat at a good price. And I walked 14, 158 steps this day! Nothing can beat that.

Toronto
Aug 26, 2017

Art Installations : Four Seasons

I have long wanted to take photos of these art installations near the Fairview Mall and Don Mills subway station. So one humid, super warm yet rainy afternoon I scheduled this short adventure on my own.

Art Installations by Douglas Coupland. Title : Four Seasons

Then 2 condominium signs that were equally colorful. 

Inspired by Crayola.

Trivia : Not only did I get lost (I was looking for murals under the bridge too), I ended up having dinner in IKEA on this rainy afternoon.  FitBit steps on this day was 13,581. Not bad at all.

July 12, 2017