days off

Summer continues apace. More over-30 degree days than ever before. More humidity and smog. More "heat alerts" (what's that supposed to mean? It's July, dude, it's just HOT)

I had three days off this week and decided to do something I really want to do every summer but for some stupid reason never get around to doing: go out and swim in a lake. I remember how I loved swinmming in lakes and ponds and creeks when I was a kid growing up in Czechoslovakia and I also totally loved going to the beach in Tel Aviv when I lived there in the seventies. I don't particularly like to bake in the midday sun but the smell of suntan lotion, combined with the smell of fresh water and sand is something I really dig. The problem is that many of Toronto beaches are closed. The ones that are open are either not easily accessible (the island beaches) or I just plain don't trust them to be clean. So I decided to test three different spots on my days off.

Monday I drove to the Heart Lake Conservation Area in Brampton. Great place! I guess it gets crowded on weekends but this Monday morning there was only the lifeguard and me. A bit later on, two or three young moms came ambling in with their toddlers. The roped-off area of Heart Lake is really more of a wading pool than a lake and the lifeguards get nervous if you swim beyond the rope but still, it was really refreshing! The changing area/washrooms leave a lot to be desired, though.

On Tuesday I drove all the way out to Port Hope - about an hour's drive from Toronto. Man, I LOVE Port Hope!! What a charming little town. If I had any way to make a living in a pretty town such as P.H., I'd buy a house there in a heartbeat. I got there around 11AM and went into their very slick looking tourist office downtown to ask directions to the beach. The beach I went to is small but absolutely superb! Once again, at 11AM, there were very few people there. In fact, I was the only one who actually went into the water at first. Lake Ontario is cold even this late in the season but swimming there is wonderful. The sand stretches out many meters into the shallow water. I must have gone in at least fifty, sixty yards and the water still only reached my waist. Their changing room is small but relatively clean. Then, on my way home, I stopped at the Indulgence Cafe for lunch. They had a rooftop patio, I ordered a glass of Chardonnay (as if I know what I'm talking about) and I felt like a tourist in Cannes or Nice. Came home, showered and felt like a new man - until the jackhammering and drilling on the construction site just beneath my window resumed. Oh boy! Give me Port Hope!

My third outing on Wednesday was a bust. I didn't feel like driving too far this time and remembered a conservation area in Stoufville that I used to take my daughters to. Unfortunately, I got there only to find out that the place - though still open - looks dillapidated and their little pond was no longer there. I drove around Stoufville and Markham for a while but only gave a half-hearted effort to finding another place to swim. I probably could have bought a map and looked something up but instead I just gave up, came home, made myself a prosciutto sandwich and listened to the jackhammers outside. A bust of a day.

Nevertheless, one thing is clear: there is wonderful life beyond this computer and beyond hustling for gigs. I am determined to go swimming at least five or six more times this summer and I wouldn't be at all surprised if I find myself on that fine little beach in Port Hope.