Settling in

I've now been in Toronto for a little over a month. I feel like I'm settling in. Street names are getting familiar again, landmarks are finding their way into my head. What's old and used to be there is gone, replaced by what is new. It was hard to recognize Bay Street north of College, so many new condos reaching for the sky, with perpetually dirty glass balcony fronts from the new construction that will soon take their views away just like they took the views away of the generation of condos that came before them. Those glass balconies have been a bit of an issue here on Bay Street this month, as a number of them have decided to visit the ground. Falling glass isn't something you want to encounter on your walk to work.

I've been to the Service Canada and Service Ontario offices a number of times for my Social Insurance Card and to exchange my US driver's license for an Ontario one and lastly to apply for my Ontario Heath Insurance Program (OHIP) card. I'll have to go back for that one, as they need proof of residence in Ontario to process it, and all I have is my temporary license. They accepted that form of ID forever and it seems they just removed it from the list of acceptable documents recently - it had been redacted with felt pen in their brochure!

I'm learning again the ballet required to navigate sidewalks with crowds of people. I wonder if everyone feels like they are the only one yielding to someone in their path? My foot is better, so I'm getting out more and enjoying walks with my Love.

Some mornings the light tells you Fall is coming soon.