Springtime in the City!

Just a couple shots to capture what I've been up to this past week...

Spring is here (to stay?) Enjoying a cone on Bloor St. West.

Baseball is back! Had a blast at the Blue Jays home opener.

Ain't No Love preformed at The Garrison as part of 416 Day on April 16, 2015.

Riptide

I wanna talk about how the air was that oppressive, heavy kind; the kind that envelopes around you and condensates on your back and in your hair. The kind before a storm. I ran through the city like an ocean wave: constant, bursting with momentum, propelled forward by the moon in the sky. Streetlamps shattered the illusion of nighttime, but only a few aimless cars filled the streets. It was 3 am and the city and I were alone. Vance Joy played through my ear buds, a cheap dollar store pair that crackled off key.

Oh, and they come unstuck

I was four blocks from home and I could taste you already. The last text you sent me read "playing banjo on your porch". Six minutes had passed since then, and I flew through the streets with desire and resolve. My heart beat beat beat in my chest but my legs propelled me forward anyway."You're a runner, right?" you'd teased on the phone, when it became clear you'd beat me back to my apartment. Tonight I was more than a runner: I was a midnight dance full of late-night wanting. I was a force to be reckoned with.

Lady, running down to the riptide
Taken away to the dark side

I skipped up my porch steps, where you sat bathed in light with a smirk on your face. Riptide started playing so I went with it and danced. You took one of my ear buds and joined me. It was three in the morning and the city was asleep but the two of us danced to music only we could hear. We were silhouetted by the streetlights; we were happy and young. The stale April heat threatened to burst as lighting flashed overhead.

I love you when you're singing that song and
I got a lump in my throat 'cause
You're gonna sing the words wrong

And I kept singing the words wrong and you laughed and did the wolf cry Ahooooooooo and it didn't matter that we might be temporary, or that this could be the best of us. Come morning the spell would be broken and we'd cease to be invincible so we'd better live now. We stumbled up the stairs and clothes scattered everywhere. Curtains were drawn and candles were lite and we carved out our own forever as the sun slept and the thunder rumbled outside.

Looking Back and Moving Forward

Looking Back:



My first month in my new place has come and gone - the 700 square feet of hardwood floors, white washed walls and sun-filled windows are starting to feel like a real home. The sound of the train rattling by is a homey comfort, and I've stopped hearing the sound the bus makes when it stops outside my apartment. All in all, I'm loving it: my first solo apartment is everything I hoped it would be, and more. Here are some highlights from the past few weeks:

Some tulips in bloom to celebrate the start of Spring

"People alter their lives by altering their attitudes" - Sage advice spotted in the bathroom at Lee's Palace

I'm doing lots of baking and cooking to fill my apartment with delicious smells

The Franklin Electric absolute killing it at a sold out show at The Drake Hotel

Moving Forward:

April means the return of Spring (she says, as it rains and hovers around zero degrees outside) and with Spring comes trail running. In just over two weeks I'll compete in my first trail race of the season! Am I ready to face the torturous hills, muddy paths and grueling terrain? Only time will tell. In the meantime I've got to embrace the mild(er) temperatures, lace up my runners and clock some decent kilometers so I can go out and give it my all come race day.

I've also decided to enroll in a creative writing class, through the continuing studies program at a local university. One thing this blog has shown me is how much I value time to write: but I sometimes lack the motivation and dedication to make it an every day (or even every week) practice. I'm hoping this course will bring me back to basics and give me the chance to stretch my creative imagination. Having a reason to write, and time carved out in my schedule for writing each week, will hopefully help me find my writer's voice again.

An Ocean in Between the Waves

The War On Drugs, Lost in the Dream (2014)

This album has been a slow burn. I heard it for the first time six months ago and didn't think much of it. When it was announced that The War On Drugs would be playing Bonnaroo this summer I gave it another listen... but I still wasn't feeling it. 

Then I spent Sunday afternoon cooking and the track "An Ocean in Between the Waves" came on and everything just clicked. It was late in the afternoon and the way the sun was setting made the light in the room look soft and still and time seemed suspended for a few precious moments as The War on Drugs played...

Far away ma, there's a black sun risin' overhead
There's a moon through the midnight rain
How can I surround myself in time and time again?
How can I be free?

Just wanna lay in the moonlight
See the light shine in, see you in the outline
It never gets too dark to find
Anybody at anytime