End of Summer

Yesterday definitely felt like the last official day of summer, though I suppose technically we have almost 3 more weeks to go, but school has just restarted.  When kids are back in school, it does feel that fall is here.  I'm not sure I watched it end to end, but there was a double episode of Phineas and Ferb called Summer Belongs to You! where the gang raced around the world trying to make the last day of summer last extra long.  I actually had been somewhat refreshed and recharged at the end of the day, but then I ran out to see Mike Murley at the Rex and now I'm dog-tired again.  Sigh.

Anyway, I did get to the gym by 10:15 yesterday, and I put in a full workout, then biked over to Queen West (or Queen West West as I sometimes name it).  Almost all the restaurants and cafes and ice cream shops were open, and it was so hard to show even a bit of restraint.  In the end, I did get a croissant with apricot filling.  Summer Wars (at the Fox) was pretty interesting.  It was much more about this odd family and only somewhat incidentally about trying to prevent an AI agent from taking over the internet.  It was definitely longer than I was expecting.

I decided since I was already there, I would hit the beach.  I had to avoid some busker fair (no idea what that was about but they wanted $10 to get in!).  I finally got there and parked my bike just off the bike path near the beach volleyball courts.  The courts were full of people playing volleyball, trying to squeeze in that last bit of summer.

Then I headed over to beach proper.  In this photo, I managed to snap an actual bird checking out two bird kites.  (They are quite small, but there are actually a couple of sailboats in the background.)

There were not a lot of people in the water, but a few, including some people playing water polo or something similar.  I don't think I've ever swam in the lake, though I probably have gotten my feet wet.  (I snapped another bird in flight...)

This woman has the right idea, reading on the beach.

I didn't have a beach chair and there weren't many public ones in that spot.  (There are more further east.)  After a bit more trudging around, I retreated to the boardwalk and read a bit more of Denis Johnson's Angels.  (It is a compelling read but very, very bleak.)  There were some kids playing Frizbee-tag, and I watched them for a while, then headed for home.

I had been hoping to find a Thai or Chinese restaurant on that part of Queen, but I settled for Freshii.  I rested a little bit, but before too much time had passed, I headed out to the Rex.  I had been planning on taking the TTC, but decided it really was just too unreliable on its holiday schedule and biked over instead.  I was a bit surprised to see Neil Swainson and Alison Au in the audience.  I had half expected Mike to call them up to sit in, but that didn't happen. Too bad.  Anyway, it was a pretty good day, though ultimately not as relaxing as it probably should have been.