Birds Of A Feather....

 I have no fears of any living creatures in Toronto.

What about bears, Ian?

Let me start again. I fear only one thing in Toronto....bears. Beyond that I am fearless in terms of my fellow humans. I do, however, fear that I will become a Torontonian, always looking down on others.

Umm, like you live on the 17th floor of a condo. Of course you'll look down on others. This is natural behaviour when you're 'above the crowd'. Besides, you see some interesting people on the street when you have a bird's eye view. So what have you got for us to look at today?

Yesterday was a glorious day in Toronto. Plus 12, sunny, very little wind. It seemed like everyone in Toronto crawled out from under a their respective rocks and went for a walk. It was a colourful parade. I even saw a heterosexual couple in our neighbourhood!

Who is this...joker?

I'm not sure how to characterize the style of the man pictured to our left, other than to politely say 'different'. I'll tell you what I think when I see his get up/costume. I think Keebler Elves. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think he looks like one of the cherubic Keebler brothers himself. Oh, no. Imagine if the Keebler Elves had to deal with a villainous character who was always lurking behind toadstools, trying to break into to the factory to steal cookies. There can be no question that this dude fits the bill. Rarely have I ever seen someone who looks more like a leprechaun, although he could also be a pimp's stunt double. Confusing....

Do you remember when Dad was in the hospital having his gall bladder removed and we would take Mom to visit him. Riddled with the confusion of Alzheimer's, Mom would lean over Dad's hospital bed and ask genuinely "are you a man or a woman?"

It seemed pretty strange at the time that Mom couldn't tell whether Dad was a man or a woman. It wasn't Mom's eyesight that was the issue. It wasn't Dad's looks. It was simply Alzheimer's playing tricks on the brain. It's an odd disease that can bend reality into shapes that the rest of us struggle to see.

What is reality, anyway? Is reality what we see, or what we think we see?

In retrospect, the 'are you a man or a woman?' incidents were quite 'entertaining'. I'm not sure Dad, being the co-victim of the inquisition, chuckles as much as I do. It's not a question one often gets asked, or gets to ask, although from time to time....

So, are you a goose or a gander?

These two feathered friends touched down in the Jarvis Collegiate playing field about three days ago. A sure sign of spring? Yes!

I'm assuming it was a goose (female) and a gander (male) as it's that time of year. At street level I'm now seeing male sparrows singing their hearts out to their betrothed. They're flying into little cracks in brick buildings and around eavestroughing, no doubt building nests. I saw a red-tailed hawk carrying a nest-worthy stick in its talons the other day. Male pigeons are puffing up their chests and strutting their stuff for the hens.

Everyone in this town is 'showing their finest plummage' and I, the ultimate flâneur/minimalist, use only one quill to document their activities.

A dandy job you've done, Ian!