July 9^th, 2025: Day Thirty-Five

Days in Hotels VS Campgrounds VS Guest: 13/14/7

I rested today for the most part. My ankle was feeling slightly worse, and I accomplished quite a bit the previous day, so I figured I’d lay low.

My Aunt and Uncle needed to run an errand, so I took the opportunity to clean up the laundry room somewhat. They’re in their 70s. Aunt Jody can’t really go downstairs at all, and Uncle Glen can’t bend over much, so there’s some dust bunnies and such and my last load of laundry had some dryer lint. I wasn’t sure how he’d react when he saw it but all he said was he thought there was a minor flood, due to water I had left on the floor from a poor mopping job, and a poor mop.

I also picked up walking stick nubbins that go on the bottom. I got the biggest fitting I could find, which was 7/8^th of an inch and it fit, but due to the nature of the shape of Korbow’s bottom half, it was crooked. Uncle Glen suggested removing the end with an electric saw of some kind. We went to work on it and took a small piece off making it flat on the bottom. He tried putting the nubbin on and struggled a bit, so I asked if I could give it a go and managed to get it on with some effort, but not a lot. It’s small things like this that remind me my older relatives are getting….older. As cliché as it sounds, we really do see them as invincible but now all the cousins are older than their parents were when we were kids and in twenty years, they’ll all be gone and I’ll be the one struggling to do basic tasks.

Asking my Uncle Glen to help me with staining Korbow and work on it was intentional. I wanted a family connection to its evolution and will always cherish it. As I move west, it gains more meaning… more symbolism.

I booked a ticket at the drive-in nearby to see Superman on Friday, and right after Aunt Jody asked me how long I was staying because they wanted to go camping. I immediately overthought things and took that as a sign that they wanted me out of here, and I asked her if she was sure it was okay for me to stay until Sunday. She said it was, but I asked once again with both of them in the room knowing Glen would give me the straight dope. It was fine and I can only take them at their word.

Tomorrow, I need to start tackling my to-do list again. This will include Fort York, The Distillery District, and Graffiti Alley.

There is a definite “winding down” feeling as I reach the end of this pilgrimage. If I am home on the current schedule I will reach Calgary in eleven days, bringing my total to forty-six days. Six and a half weeks. I agree with Sarah when she says it feels like forever, and no time at all. Geordie, my cat has been sleeping under my desk.

I have a few more trials left on this pilgrimage. The first is seeing Nanni before I go and possibly for the last time. At ninety-four years old, I have been mentally prepared each time I have left. When the phone rings in my Aunt and Uncle’s home, I ask myself if this is the call. When I am at home, and my cousin Brent phones me, I’ll know for sure. Just like when he called about my Papa in 2008.

The second will be seeing my Aunt Jayne, and mostly because I don’t know what to expect.

The third will be arriving home and that is because I won’t know how I’ll feel when I get back. I think it’ll be a monumental emotional evacuation, followed by three days in bed.

July 10^th, 2025: Day Thirty-Six

Distance Travelled: Around GTA
Days in Hotels VS Campgrounds VS Guest: 13/14/8

My itinerary consisted of two stops today. The first was Fort York National Historic Site. Between my Uncle Glen’s testimony and some of the photos I’d seen I was concerned it was going to be boring and, well, it was. I got to see a musket demonstration and spoke with the wielder, Sam, and gave her a business card in case she wanted a copy of the photo. I think it turned out great.

The second and last on my list was The Distillery District. A historic part of Old Toronto and after a little work finding a parking spot, I started wandering around. It was a lot busier than the last time I was here with Sarah in 2010. I snapped on the wide angle for this, as I had already been here before I wanted to get a new perspective, though I later switched to my go to 24-120mm. Though I got one image of a beautiful redhead, the rest were lacking in originality or moment capturing. I’ve always had this issue with “busy” environments. I did ask a couple people if they want me to take their picture together with their phone, and one group asked me and then said “we didn’t even notice your camera when we asked!” So my best shots for the day are likely on other people’s smartphones.

POST TRIP NOTES: I think I was too hard on myself here.

I stopped to eat and had an egg salad sandwich on a brioche bun with a diet coke, and a butter tart for dessert. I also hit up the gift shop and bought a sticker for the car. Because a certain national historic site didn’t have a sticker, I was going to adorn my Kryptatron with one from The Distillery District. I also got a ray gun key chain. The same I had many years ago and lost along the way. Or it broke but as soon as I saw it, I grabbed one.

POST TRIP NOTES: It’s possible I bought the original one in the very same shop.

On my way out I got a compliment on my hat and when I checked my route back to my Aunt and Uncle’s I saw it was going to take fifty-nine minutes with traffic. Life in Toronto.

I was pretty calm on the roads today. I figure if someone honks at me, let them. Don’t escalate.

After grabbing a Starbucks, I got back, relaxed a bit and iced my ankle that was acting up again, and dinner with my aunt consisted of ribs, beans and salad. We had a chat about [redacted].

[redacted]

I got a book from Fort York, and started reading it. Life in the City of Dirty Water by Clayton Thomas-Muller. A memoir of growing up indigenous in Canada.

I bought a game last night too, Quantum Break, staring that guy who played Iceman in the X-Men movies. I think I’ll work on my “642 Tiny Thing to Write About” then throw the game on. After that I’ll settle in for the night with my Kobo e-reader.