Sunday, July 24, 2005

That Was The Week Off That Was

Today marks the last day of my week off. I spent the day recuperating from last night's activities at the Beaches Jazz Festival. Imbibed a tad too much, I'm afraid, but it was a pretty fun night. Met some nice folks visiting from Alabama.

And what did I do on my week off? Not much, really, and that's just fine with me. It was more of a week-away-from-work than an actual vacation. Just needed some chill time, really. I consciously tried not to let my time be ruled by any major schedules or itineraries. Harder than it seems. But I did spend some nice time sipping refreshing beverages on patios, watching the work-a-day schmucks returning from the daily grind. Very enjoyable. And I did finally get my ass over to High Park. Been in this city over 10 years, and had never been there before. Did some exploring on foot. I loved the little waterfall part in the middle of the park. Very shady and cool, with a small frog pond, lilly pads, etc. Felt quite magical. Like an elf would pop up from behind a tree trunk and grant me three wishes.

No such luck.

I also did some exploring closer to my end of town. Left the house one afternoon, and just decided to go where my feet took me. They took me down to the Beaches Pub for a refreshing beverage and some garlic cheese bread on the lovely, shady patio. Watched a rollerblading newbie in full protective regalia and a huge backpack struggle along the pathway, arms flailing constantly. Very amusing. Then I walked up around Ashbridges Point, where I had never been before. Sat on some rocks at the lakeside and got some sun. Very nice parkland around there. Must go back again before the summer's over.

Didn't get to go to the Hillside Festival in Guelph, unfortunately, but hopefully the music karmic wheel will spin my way on Tuesday. That's when I'm going to see Hubert Sumlin at The Silver Dollar. Not only will it be fantastic to see one of the great Chicago blues guitar heroes in the flesh, speculation is that his buddy Keith Richards will drop in as well, seeing as the Stones are in town rehearsing for their upcoming tour. Sticky fingers crossed.

Oh yeah, we played a gig last Tuesday night. A return engagement at Grossman's. Wasn't as well-attended as the previous gig, and our first set a little shakey, due to the fact that we barely had one full-band rehearsal before the gig, but the second set was more fun. Overall, not a bad time.

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