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His:

NPY’s new entertainment set-up. He’s safe-keeping my television until I get back and it’s the “perfect size” for his bedroom.

I spent my last two nights in Vancouver over at NPY’s because my apartment was so empty it was depressing and it seemed like a nice way to cap things off. Just the week before, I also stayed overnight once because I had a 9-a.m. exam near his place and with parents and three grown “children” living in the house, there is a constant buzz of activity. With it, I was transported back to high school and university days (completed with fuzzy yellow halo effect) when I lived at home and it was somewhat comforting. These three days were a bit of a taste of what it might be like for those couples who want to save money and live in the parents’ basement. It was an intriguing experiment and we decided it was feasible for only a very short-term set-up.

Hers:

I said, “That is something you don’t see often.”

PNE is one of NPY’s favourite activities in the summer. He lives near there and worked there throughout university as did his high school friends. When the summer nights are long, it is a nice post-dinner activity to stroll to the grounds, take in a show, and be dazzled by the midway games. In our six summers together, I have been to The Fair at PNE more than 12 times so I was quite adamant to go to CNE this year to compare and contrast and relive (if possible) my CNE visit that was probably 20 years ago now when we’d visit Toronto in the summer.

It was a test of our patience throughout the day with the 10 minute drive to Finch, 30-minute subway ride to Union, and queuing with a gaggle of other people to get onto the screeching and slow-moving streetcar to The Exhibition–and that was just one way! Going on the last day is mostly ill-conceived but more “yeet nao” (hot & exciting). Lil Sis’ was definitely a trooper humouring me through the line-ups, the pushy crowd in the Food Building, waiting a half hour before Beyond Broadway (the ice skating and aerial acrobatics show), and trying out lots of food! We enjoyed the figure skating set to contemporary Broadway hits and oohed and ahhed at the acrobatics. In particular, I don’t think I have before seen this graceful duo act on a triangle trapeze bar. We tried to follow the jet sounds to the air show (which was actually off the grounds) since the fighter jets are most impressive but quit watching when the Snowbirds had a problem delaying their launch. She got to see in person David Smith, Jr., the Human Cannonball, whom she also saw perform on the Late Show with David Letterman and she was most interested in the flowers and vegetables that took prizes in the largest flower and vegetable show or something or other. Lil Sis’ also impressed me with her appetite in tucking away macaroni & cheese (alas not the deep-fried kind) and chicken shawarma plate and then also consenting to three desserts (for us to split): deep-fried Twinkie, chocolate-dipped Swiss waffle with ice cream and strawberries, and a Black Forest cheesecake!

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* NPY’s Picture of the Day. While I’m in Toronto and he is in Vancouver, 3400km away, we will try to share with each other (and consequently this blog) pictures that capture our day.

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