Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a persistent one. - Albert Einstein

WeDnEsDaY, dEcEmBeR 5, 2007 // post #64

queenbirds.jpg

My wheels are in the shop getting winterized.
It’s col-l-l-ld, and I was headed across town.
The streetcar beckoned

queenbike.jpg

O you intrepids; you wild and wooly,
cycling your way through winter cities; I love you.
May the wind be always at your back,
may the mini-van people make way for you
and may you reach your destinations.

queenstreetcar.jpg

I see you through the window rolling by,
you through the window rolling by,
window rolling by …
I see you, through the window.

queenpsyche_1.jpg

Hello, hello … how are you?

queenwait.jpg

Queen Street West is such a beautiful trip in every weather.
It’s a cold one; button up.
I met a woman at Queen & Yonge
she wasn’t sure if the Queen streetcar went as far as St. Joseph’s hospital.
We all, also waiting, assured her it did, and she was relieved to hear it.
She and I leaned together, against the middle by the back door,
keeping each other company; ma’salaam.

queengraffiti.jpg

“Where are you getting out –? ”
“Just past the bridge –” …

queenbridge.jpg

“At home, in my country, it is 32ºc today –”

queengrocery.jpg

Thank you. It is so good to smile.
It is so good to be smiled upon.
Keep warm, keep smiling.

queenrad_1.jpg

“What next, Les?” … he might say; “I don’t know, Robin.”

queenladder.jpg

Nobody knows, for sure.

That’s the beauty of it.

8 Comments so far

  1. Yu Gyeong
    November 23rd, 2008

    | 6:48 pm

    Hi, robbin~~
    Nice pictures, showing us the real life in the winter.
    We are in the middle of winter. Right?
    But, I don’t understand the pictures meaning.
    I think it needs concentration and deep thinking…

    I’m not sure, however, I guess that’s a meaning and feeling. I rocognized contrast between color and light
    from the pictures. I sensed that something was in two sides…….

  2. jane
    November 23rd, 2008

    | 10:29 pm

    i agree with upstair. i don’t really understand these pictures, but i think they are good pictures. i like them. especially “I see you through the window rolling by”, it looks like a poem. i like this feeling. i like winter more than summer, even through it’s really cold. you know there is so warm in my home town, there is never snow.

  3. November 25th, 2008

    | 7:59 pm

    You are both right! :)

    It’s simple, really; it’s a bit like poetry, as Jane points out. Winter… the way the cold shapes our movements, Toronto… Canada… new Canadians from warm countries, …a conversation about weather, the ways we bump into each other in the city … the way the cold separates us and brings us together.

    I was doing some carpentry work last winter with a good friend of mine. We were gutting and rebuilding the inside of what is considered a pretty old house in Toronto’s west end (about 100 years) … I remember thinking that day about the contrast between this “old” house being re-used and rebuilt and Canada being rebuilt and re-energized by new citizens and cultures from all over the world. I liked that idea. I think this is the best/only way to look at how Canada is beginning to evolve. I think it is a positive direction. Although, as Yu Gyeong noticed, there are two sides to every … ladder? ;) – it is not easy.

    Many of the people who are coming/have come to Canada in the last 30 years have had/are having a difficult time feeling at home. Many of those Canadians whose families immigrated to Canada generations ago are having a difficult time keeping up with the pace of change. First Nations people are having a difficult time being heard or listened to by anyone because of all the noise the rest of us are making. Things are warmer when we open up and smile at each other… we just have to work together.
    I like this old English expression; “The more – the merrier!”  :)

  4. Maria Alejandra Ramones
    November 25th, 2008

    | 9:07 pm

    after looked this picture,the only thing I want to say now is that I MISS my COUNTRY!!,jejeje

  5. MoMoKo
    November 26th, 2008

    | 12:34 am

    I could feel Canada's winter already. i can't stand anymore!!!!
    Anyway, I like this phrase"It is so good to smile"
    I think we need laugh to win this winter.
    And You are a poemer.

    I hope that old woman could get the hospital.

  6. Oxana
    November 26th, 2008

    | 1:52 am

    Hi, everybody! I wish we had warm winter! On the other hand, cold weather forces you to move. It`s better to move, than to stay quiet! Movement is life! So lets move forward for better life, no regrets, no warm winters…:)

  7. Min Hye
    November 26th, 2008

    | 7:19 am

    Hi! Robin.zzzzzzzzzzz!
    I don’t understand these pictures. Canada’s winter, It was awfully cold. In spite of it was quite cold, I like winter more than summer.

  8. Yu Gyeong
    November 26th, 2008

    | 7:33 am

    Hello again, Robin

    ….through the pictures,,,,Although winter is cold, there is warmth in the air.—> this is my two sides meaning.

Leave a reply