I shouldn’t have been surprised when I got a couple of emails earlier today asking if I was okay, based on yesterday’s post. I kind of knew that I would get a reaction, but I imagined it would have come from my Dad (he’s good at worrying about me), and yet he didn’t say anything, leading me to believe he’s not even reading my blog (thanks Dad).

Actually, I really enjoyed writing yesterday’s post. I was feeling rather melancholy and introspective late last night. As I strolled down Yonge Street, I found myself people watching. I was in a head space that I am not often in, and even less often whilst in front of my computer. It is an infrequent occasion where my blinders are activated and my environment contracts: sounds dissipate before reaching my ears, objects slow to a crawl, and my brain narrows in on singular thoughts and emotions. To me, it’s an involuntary meditation.

I love the rain, but it matters where, when and how it is raining. I like coastal rain because it cleans, refreshens, and insulates. When it rains in Victoria, Vancouver or Halifax, it is otherwise usually quite calm and lasts a while, lending an excuse to spend a day inside drinking tea and reading a book. Continental rain is less pleasant. It never rains hard enough nor for long enough to mean anything in places like Calgary or Toronto, and invariably this rain is accompanied by inclement wind, cold and thunder. It does not rain in Calgary for very long, therefore it is seen as an obstacle in an otherwise normal day. Golfers wait it out instead of playing within it; drivers ignore it and get into accidents, and pedestrians do not dress for it, so as it rains, everyone becomes bitter and complains.

Well it has since stopped raining in Toronto, and today is much better, thank you. The sun is shining, what birds there are downtown are chirping, and despite a modest chill in the wind, Torontonians are out, as usual, en masse.

My final meetings this week were today. I’m having dinner with a good colleague and friend tonight, then I’ve only a couple more evenings of sponsor obligations before returning to Calgary on Sunday. Just in time, as it works out, for Mother’s Day.

Cheers, everyone, and thank you for your thoughts.