[1] a new start

[kilerkki]

It's not yet spring, but for a brief moment this afternoon it felt like it. Sunshine, 15 degrees C, tiny buds at the tip of every twig. For the first time in 8 months or so, I walked down to the library to pick up a couple of holds (Patricia Buckley Ebrey's The Inner Quarters: Marriage and the Lives of Chinese Women in the Sung Period and Jade Mirror: Women Poets of China, edited by Michael Farman).

The pandemic isn't over, not by a long shot. But strict lockdown is lifted here in Toronto; people were out on the streets, masked and wearing only light jackets instead of long puffer coats; and on the walk back I grew so warm that I took off my jacket and walked in shirtsleeves. It felt like hope.

Comments

[darkemeralds]

Saw your tweet about coming over to DW so I'm stopping by to say hi.

I got my first of two Pfizer vaccinations the other day and I'm beginning to feel hopeful again too. It's nice that the feeling coincides with daffodils and some sunshine.

[kilerkki]

Thanks for stopping by!

First vaccine is great news. My family in the US is starting to get access and it’s a jolt of hope every time, even though it’ll be a long time before we get access here.

Daffodils, too, are a spot of joy every time.

[kimboo_york]

I am jealous - here in florida the pandemic has been "over" before it began. *sigh* Anyway, I don't check dw that often, trying to get myself to do it more, but HELLO!!!!

[kilerkki]

Always amazing how Florida tried to apply “cancel culture” to a pandemic. Whew. I’m grateful that I know you and a couple of other Floridians to remind me that there are always sane and lovely people everywhere!

[brownbetty]

hello, it is I, butcql on twitter.

[kilerkki]

Hello hello! Twitter and DW names (like mine!) are different enough that I do appreciate the reintroduction. ;) Glad to know you here too!

[forestofglory]

That sounds lovely!

(Glad to see you here on DW!)

[kilerkki]

I’ve always enjoyed reading your DW posts but could never comment (and now I can!) Honestly seeing your posts over the weeks & months was a great reminder to me of the beauty, nuance & flexibility of long-form journaling that you don’t get on other social media — so really my presence here is at least 25 % your fault. :)

[forestofglory]

*Blush*

Let me know if you have questions!

[umadoshi]

Hooray, you're here!

Every year I miss how much earlier spring starts to feel real in Toronto than it does here. Nova Scotia is better at autumn, I think, but some years it has barely any idea what this "spring" thing might be.

It felt like hope.

*^^* This is so good to hear.

[kilerkki]

This is a false spring, I imagine, since we're forecast for snow again next week -- I only hope we don't end up with another warm March and April freeze that kills all the fruit blossoms again this year! But right now I will relish the warmth while we've got it.

My wife and I have been talking about making a trip out East this summer or fall if the border doesn't open to let us go south. Tell me about Nova Scotia in autumn!

[umadoshi]

In theory it's supposed to hit 14° here on Friday (!), but I'd likewise be shocked if we don't get more cold and snow. Ugh. That usually tapers off as April begins, but it's usually May before I start to feel like it might really be spring.

Summer and fall are both generally good here! The best part about our summer compared to Toronto summer (insofar as I can generalize, given climate change) is that it rarely gets as hot as Toronto routinely does.

As for autumn, it's usually more drawn out here than there, I think? We usually get really good foliage colors and it starts feeling like fall in September and keeps it up for several weeks. (My memory from my two years living in Toronto is that there it felt much more like summer heat just kept going and then WHAM, over just a couple of weeks it started feeling like impending winter.) Cape Breton in particular is world-famous for its fall display, although it takes a few days to get up there from down in Halifax, drive properly around the Cabot Trail to take it in, and come back.

(I learned the hard way not to promise beautiful Octobers the year my Ginny came to visit in October and it was chilly and gray for most of the month, followed by an uncharacteristically warm and bright November.)

What amused me when moving to Toronto and then back here is that folks here were so "But aren't Toronto winters HORRIBLE???" and people there had the exact same impression about winters here. My answer is that winter just plain sucks (IMO), but Halifax and Toronto's winters, while equally unpleasant, are very different. (Toronto is a drier cold and tends to stay cold most of the time once it starts, and the snow piles up and quickly turns gray and black with nastiness; Nova Scotia's damp cold rarely hits temperatures as low as Toronto's, but instead it fluctuates near freezing over and over and over, so we get cold rain that freezes to the ground and then gets snowed on, and then it warms enough to thaw, and the freeze-thaw cycle wrecks the roads and leaves surfaces covered with layers of ice under frigid slush.)

So really what I want, personally, is to spend spring and part of summer in Toronto, the rest of summer and autumn here, and winter in Hawai'i.

And having said all that, yes, do come out east! ^_^

[kilerkki]

The fleeting Toronto autumn was one of my bitterest disappointments -- it felt like we had two weeks at best, though really it must've been longer than that. A long, drawn-out autumn sounds blissful.

I find that a damp cold feels worse than a dry cold insofar as it penetrates to your bones and just lingers. You're right about the snow looking pretty for all of 30 minutes before it turns into nasty black slush though.

Someday when these Unprecedented Times are over, I'll host a Toronto Foodtour if you'll do the same for Halifax! ;)

[umadoshi]

I find that a damp cold feels worse than a dry cold insofar as it penetrates to your bones and just lingers.

I'm fairly used to it (for values of "used to" that mean I avoid going outside as much as possible and complain about being cold when I can't avoid it), but yeah. >.< Ginny used to visit over Christmas holidays, and when then she moved here I think it took her a couple of winters to adjust and not just feel frozen all the time.

Someday when these Unprecedented Times are over, I'll host a Toronto Foodtour if you'll do the same for Halifax! ;)

That sounds WONDERFUL. *^^*

[stultiloquentia]

I (Boston) used to give daffodil reports to my parents (Halifax) every spring, and they would say, "Ah, excellent, we'll look for ours in two weeks."

[umadoshi]

Daffodils...! *wistful*

(Today is the one-year anniversary of the last time I ate in a restaurant, which means it's a year since I met you. ^_^)

[whimsyful]

Glad to see you on DW! Oh man, this makes me really miss Toronto. I know everyone complains about the winters there, but I honestly find it not that bad, especially if you use the PATH to get around downtown. And the first breath of spring feels extra invigorating. Those two books sound really interesting!

[kilerkki]

This winter wasn't very snowy, and we spent most of it indoors anyway due to lockdown, but I could've wished for a few more sunny days for walks outside. At least they're starting to come back now!

I'm really excited about both books -- I'll try to update, here and/or on Twitter, as I read them.

[oursin]

Saw you mention this new venture on madameclorinda (whose DW is entirely for posting rather than reading purposes). *Waves*

[kilerkki]

Oh hello and thank you for the welcome! I've really enjoyed your books & Twitter (one can always use more wombatts in one's life). Great to know you here!

[oursin]

Wombatts are love.

[stultiloquentia]

Ooh, I'd love to know what you think of the Ebrey, when you're done with it.

I love these days of maybe-possibly-thinking-about-spring, when the sun feels kindly, if not warm, and the daffodils are warily poking their noses out, and I'm halfway down the block before realizing my subway pass is in my other coat.

[kilerkki]

That is such a lovely description of an early spring day, up to and including forgetting the subway pass.

I'm really enjoying the Ebrey so far -- stayed up to 11 pm reading it the other night, which is quite late for me. I'll try to post some assembled thoughts when I finish.