Dream Weaver

Given everyone's schedule, it was easier to have a Christmas lunch than dinner this year. It also meant that although there was lots to eat, there were no "all-day-slaving-away" dishes like turkey or a roast. I finally met my second niece. At 4 months old and 20 lbs, she was a big baby (100th percentile) with a strong grip and pleasant disposition. With my evening free, I was going to watch some TV but feel asleep.

I've had stranger dreams but since this one happened on Christmas day (night), I might as well jot it down. After debarking the bus at a small mall, I wandered around futilely looking for the subway entrance. I finally realized I had gotten off at the wrong stop and went back out. But there was a large crowd waiting for public transit, and every bus that passed by was full.

After 4 (!) hours, I finally decided to take a taxi to my original destination (with its connecting subway). Oddly enough, this would have been Jane and Finch. But I was unable to convince other people to share the cab fare, which would have reduced the cost to $5-7 per person. So I ran down the empty street looking for a taxi.

The streetscape suddenly changed to one which best appealed to me: old, historical buildings with vibrant, immigrant (non-gentrified) stores and restaurants. An owner and a female passerby gave me directions to the nearest metro stop. Interestingly, I found out I was in Montreal and not Paris as was my first impression. Deciding that I wanted to see more of the area first, I accompanied the girl for a stroll. After it got less interesting (i.e., new condos were going up), I bid her good-bye and headed for the subway.

Most of the dream elements are obvious. Lately, I've been taking Ottawa transit which is atrocious. Many stops are not cleared of snow, most buses are over capacity (not even any room to stand), and are very late. Sometimes, I'm too much of a miser. I've been thinking that instead of taking a 40-min transit trip home after a late show, a taxi ride would be less than 10 min. At a mere $10-15 (one perk of living downtown), this is affordable and convenient. Finally, though I do enjoy gourmet bistros and hip bars, not to mention the pixie-haired girls who go to them, it's the slightly run-down neighbourhoods with its larger cross-section of humanity that I love. Sadly, they are disappearing rapidly from Toronto.

The Montreal angle is interesting. Obviously, Paris is one of the great cities. In contrast, I never think about la belle provence. Possibly because what usually makes the news from there is the xenophobic, "pure laine" rhetoric which is a turn-off. But culturally, Montreal should have lots of grand old neighbourhoods (though no doubt also gentrifying).