Rainy days and back alleys

Montreal Walkabout

 Today I had lunch with my wonderful friend, Kathy Down The Road. We have known each other for over 25 years, and have so much fun together, it's kind of ridiculous. Stream-of-consciousness conversations, laughing from the moment we sit down together until we part ways to go home, it's the kind of friendship that makes people wonder if we're sisters. And we kind of feel like sisters. Odd, odd sisters from odd, odd parents. We can even share dessert without either of us wanting to chomp off the other's finger. Now that's a friend.

An ornamental cabbage. Hope they're not edible, because Buddy christened the rest of them whilst I took this photo.

We wandered up Greene Avenue after lunch, past the uniformed schoolgirls who walked and texted without regard to passersby or traffic, swollen-lipped women with flat-ironed blonde hair in fur coats, men in paisley foulards and polished loafers, and one tall woman behind us having a loud, animated discussion with what I thought must be her grandmother, as it was the kind of one-way conversation you'd have with a hard-of-hearing, cantankerous relative who refuses to turn up her hearing aid. Turns out it was her brown Labrador retriever who loped past us, off-leash, not giving a rat's patootie that this woman was talking at it full stop. This wasn't a "Heel, Espresso, HEEL!" kind of talk. This was a "Hey, do you think it's going to snow, and do you think our current prime minister is doing a good job" kind of conversation.

She then threw open the door to a ritzy hair salon and let the dog bolt ahead of her. We were left to ponder how the unsuspecting patrons felt about this slobbering dog and the Human Megaphone it belonged to taking their zen by the throat and shaking it to death.

Anyway, KDTR asked me why I hadn't posted any photos of my walks as of late, and I said it was part laziness, and part wondering if it was just all too much navel gazing. But she asked me to, so I will oblige and post a few I have taken recently around my 'hood.

If you enjoy them, let me know via the comments. If you don't, feel free to explain why to your dog.

They are replacing the pavement down the street. It will soon cover up all evidence of the old cobblestones and track for the streetcars.

Self-portrait

Front Lawn Art. I want to rescue this poor, rusty Underwood, but it seems happy with the pink flamingos and louche ceramic frogs.

The Catholic nuns and priests got all the good properties.

Typical door in Shaughnessy Village

Typical door in my daughter's neighbourhood

A friendly neighbour checking me out.

A Random P. There's a lot of that in the doorways of my neighbourhood.

On today's walk

On my walk today with Buddy, I spotted a woman perched on a large, twisted root of an old tree. 

It was unusual to see someone sitting there, as this was not a park but the front lawn of someone's house in an upscale neighborhood. She was dressed in fine clothes, all in black, resting her hand on a folded umbrella, though a gentle rain had begun. She looked to be in her 60s, but very well preserved, red hair pulled back in a chignon and pale blue eyes. 

I pulled Buddy to the other side of me, so I could pass her on the narrow sidewalk without him bothering her, but she took no notice. Something in her expression made me stop to ask if she was okay. I wondered if she had maybe felt faint, and that's why she stopped to rest on this tree. 

She looked up and said something in an accent - Ukrainian? Russian?- that I couldn't quite hear. 

"I'm grieving," she said, barely above a whisper, as though the effort of speaking was too much. "I'm grieving," she said again. 

And with those simple words, my heart broke for her, because her pain showed so clearly in her eyes. A parent? A child? A friend? I don't know. I could only reach down, and stroke her arm a few times, and tell her I was sorry, so sorry, so sorry, so sorry... Then I moved on in the rain with Buddy, and left her alone with her grief.

Scenes from a Fall Day

These were taken yesterday whilst Buddy and I were out and about, mostly in the city's back alleys which I love. Except in the winter. These are a mess in the winter when we get piles of snow and ruts of ice and the cars you see peeking out can't actually get out. And there's nowhere to put the snow you're shoveling. Other than that, the alleys are pretty swell.

Also, Not My Problem. I have indoor parking for the first time ever and I plan on never going back to scraping layers of ice off my car every time I want to go get a carton of milk. But I digress.

Alleys are pretty this time of year.

 

The Private Lane 15 sign intrigued me, and only made me a) want to trespass (which I did to take the photo) and, b) want to go on a quest to find Private Lane 1 through 14. And beyond.