Labour Day 2020
This Labour Day weekend coincided with our 45th wedding anniversary. It was a Saturday in 1975, but this year September 6 fell on Sunday. A celebration was in order and so yesterday, we ventured beyond our community cocoon to head into the big city, Toronto, specifically The Distillery District. For years, this oasis of arts, culture, and history has been a frequent day trip for us. Great food, great energy, and all kinds of nooks and crannies to explore and imagine another time, or better times.
Past years would see us in the Distillery District every six weeks or so, enjoying live theatre, great food before or after theatre, and general mooching around. But 2020 is different. The theatre venue, The Young Centre for the Performing Arts is shuttered.
Yesterday was the first time in all of 2020 that we've savoured the district's offerings. We began with lunch at Pure Spirits Oyster House & Grill. A Shucker's Dozen of fresh oysters, chilled shrimp cocktail, sauteed rainbow trout and a feast of beer battered fish and chips.
Then, we donned masks for a walk along the cobblestones of Tank House Lane, Grist Mill Lane and Trinity Street. Street signs cheered us along the way, part of an art installation intended to raise spirits and remind all to chill out.
Any other time, we would have ambled away the better part of such a glorious sunny Sunday afternoon, poking our heads into this shop and that, browsing galleries, and getting a chocolate fix but this isn't any other time and though it was good to see people out and about, (and most masked even in the outdoor spaces), it was the most people we'd been around since this pandemic challenge began. This time, twenty minutes was enough. Time to hop in the jalopy and head for the hills.
This Labour Day I salute all those frontline folks who have worked so hard to keep up safe and healthy, fed and hydrated, entertained and, for the most part, sane in this pandemic world.
THANK YOU!
©2020 April Hoeller
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