I’m having a nice quiet morning – for once. It is early Saturday morning and still early enough that the sounds of the Market and Spadina Avenue have not yet leaked in. I’ve been awake for several hours and I haven’t put any music on, turned the phone on or even spoken to myself. The only sound I hear at the moment is the sound of the fridge, which I considered unplugging, and the sound of my fingers on the keys of my computer.
Regardless, today the sounds will prevail later today as I’m going to a picnic in the park and then the picnic, I’m sure, will extend into the evening. For now, I’m going relax and enjoy my morning in silence.
To me, nothing beats the quietness of the mountains. Below, a quiet morning on Seventh Heaven on Blackcomb Mountain in 2006.
I had my first taste of an empanada courtesy of Maria and the couchsurfers yesterday. There are several empanada shops in Kensington Market but I’ve not eaten at any of them because typically they contain meat and/or cheese. They were nice enough to create a batch of vegan empanadas for me.
Good for everyone – even Maria’s cats as one of them is investigating here.
The rest of the images from the evening. Click on the large image to advance to the next image.
My wait for my new lens is finally over. In the end, I got a 35mm f2 prime lens. There isn’t anything exciting about this lens; no zoom or special effects; just a plain lens like I had 25 years ago. However, it does many things very well; especially close up and in situations with low light.
I went out for a walk with it tonight and got some good results with it. This has already become my second favorite lens – my first is still my fisheye lens.
A close up and a night shot with my new lens.
However, the fisheye lens still rocks.
Here are some images with my new lens. Click on the larger image to advance to the next one.
I’m relatively awake today after getting up before dawn to watch the sunrise – I didn’t have any reason – just because. Or maybe it was because when I watched the sunset last night, it reminded me of the last time I watched the sun rise – after staying up all night. On that day, Stef told me that anyone can watch the sunset; but it takes a determined person to see the sunrise. I guess it was just a personal challenge. I was going to watch the sunset tonight but declined because I can do that anytime!
The sunrise this morning as well as the sunset from the night before.
Today we were free of the TTC – but inundated with cars. It wasn’t a big deal to me because I don’t really need transit where I live. I cycled to the beach via the dedicated lanes on Spadina and Queens Quay. I showed Melissa the way back via the dedicated lanes and she enjoyed it also! I think I’m not going to like it when the TTC goes back to work.
Old is new again. I’ve been thinking about getting a prime lens for my camera lately because the images from my zoom lens are not as sharp. I borrowed one from a friend for a week. Based on some images I’ve taken over the last few days, I’ve already made up my mind.
Here’s a sample on Flickr. Click on the larger image to advance to the next one.
While cycling with Stef today, she was going faster with much more ease than me. Well, when I got home tonight, I realised that I had the chain on the smallest gear on the crank – the granny gear!
The Kensington Market or the Market as it is known to the locals is full of history and colour – in more ways than one. In the mid 1800s it was settled by English, Irish and Scottish immigrants; in the early 1900s, Jewish immigrants from Europe. In the 1950s, many Portuguese immigrants settled in the Kensington Market followed by immigrants from the Caribbean in the late 1960s and more recently Latin Americans, Vietnamese, and Chinese immigrants. The next wave seem to be yuppies – not unlike Commercial Drive in Vancouver. Although, this seems to have revitalised the neighbourhood and is now one of the most livable neighbourhoods in North America.
The Kensington Market Lofts occupy what used to be George Brown College until the late 1980s. After that it sat empty until the late 1990s.
A small selection of photos from the Market. Click on the larger image to advance to the next image.
I seem to have more energy lately; I’m not certain if it is the weather or my diet. Fittingly, today was a salad day for me, a literal idiom – if that make any sense, because I had two salads. The first, at lunch in a restaurant, left me wanting soon after I finished it; however, luckily the second satisfied my appetite.
Technically, I cheated on my 30-day raw challenge today. I went for lunch with Paul at Fran’s restaurant. The salad dressing probably was not raw and probably contained some chemicals and/or preservatives. I could have asked for lemon, however, iceberg lettuce isn’t the most appetizing vegetable. I don’t even consider lettuce a vegetable since it contains about 98% water and little else – but sometime it is refreshing to eat – like a cool glass of water!
The iceberg lettuce salad at Fran’s:
The real salad, sprouts on top of kale and other satisfying vegetables!
For breakfast, I had a repeat of the strawberry smoothie from yesterday; as well as the usually quantities of bananas and other fruit throughout the day – which I couldn’t be bothered to photograph.
On April 1st, I will participate in a raw challenge; for the month of April will try to eat 100% raw food. To most, this sounds crazy, but isn’t eating pre-packaged and cooked food? Who told us that was good for us? Being vegetarian is great for one’s health, being kind to animals and the environment – for more than one hour. I don’t have to worry about cholesterol, what effort went into the creation of my food and packaging. I generally produce one small bag of non-organic waste per month.
I tried going vegetarian when I was in uni, but I didn’t have the time nor education to research it properly and I think I lasted one week. When I started going vegetarian again in 2000, the Internet was a great resource as was the Toronto Vegetarian Association and related groups. Since then, I haven’t looked back.
I’ve been eating raw food primarily for about two and a half years now and it’s the best thing that I’ve ever done – even better than going vegetarian! Going veg was great; but going raw was spectacular! I sleep better, feel alert throughout the day, do not get sick anymore, lost my allergies to pollen and have unlimited amounts of energy – because of this, I’m generally in a state of bliss. I wrote about my my experience of the first year. You can read about it by clicking here (it opens a pdf document).
I’ve been through many changes in the last two and a half years. I’ve been 100% raw for a period; but I don’t obsess about it if I eat something cooked or that is not that good for me. It can be as easy as a piece of fruit or a prepared dish that could take days of advanced planning.
For every day I am raw I am donating a dollar to charity. Dare you try it?
From a supermarket in Nice, France; May 2005,
My first raw pie, strawberry cream,
My fruits and vegetables set on Flickr. Click on the larger image to advance to the next one.
Batcave, Environment, Photography, religion, Skiing, Technology, The Market, Toronto day by day, Travel | Garry May 10, 2008 | 
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