Month: August 2014

Taste of the Danforth 2014

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It’s late Sunday afternoon and I’m taking in the tail end of the Taste of the Danforth, an annual weekend street festival in Toronto, with an emphasis on Greek food. There’s other stuff too, exhibits from Toronto pro sports teams, feats to try, even rock climbing in the middle of the street (centre of above photo). I just take it in. We do this enough now it doesn’t seem particularly novel to be wandering down an otherwise busy main city artery. But it does occur to me that there are many streets closed down for much less happy reasons–in Aleppo, in Gaza, or Baghdad. So I don’t really have to do anything. It’s just nice to be able to do it.

Civic Holiday

This first Monday in August is a holiday across Canada. It has different names in different provinces and territories, reflecting something of that region’s history and character, but it tends to be known, generically, as Civic Holiday, at least here in Ontario.
This time also marks the 100th anniversary of the First World War. Before there was another world war it was known simply as The Great War, and also “the war to end all wars.”

It didn’t end all wars, but instead of “great” or “world” war (although any war is “great” in its magnitude for those affected) there seem to be multiple conflicts that are sectarian in nature. Meanwhile, here in my area, there are multiple cultures representing those regions of the world where such strife and its accompanying devastation is going on, and on, and on.

A regional holiday, therefore, takes on international significance, coming as it does marking the start of “The Great War,” and drawing together people of different backgrounds for concerts and street festivals. May we show the way to something better.