Easy Does It?

My plans for the last few days all changed when I woke up Thursday morning with a slightly tender back. After a seemingly ordinary morning cardio workout, I came home to a frozen one. It had seized up so much that all movement including sitting, standing, and walking generated sharp jabs of pain. Everything took 10 times slower to do, including the excruciating task of dressing and putting on shoes. Things improved on Friday after an uncomfortable night. But for the next several days, I had to take every task gingerly and with care, lest I provoke flare-ups. This glimpse into an inevitable future of age and infirmity was not promising.

By Saturday evening, I felt sufficiently well to shuffle over to the College Street Festival. This street fest has stuck to the magic formula of food and booze. Sure, there were still street performers and rides for the kiddies, but it was mostly kiosk vendors and local restos hawking their munchies. The latter also took advantage of the closed-off street to vastly expand their patio, taking up not only their sidewalk space but the curbside lane as well. With Italy playing England in the World Cup tonight, every patio was packed with patrons drinking and cheering at the TV screens. Though all nationalities were present, Italian-Canadians were the most prominent. Some of whom, usually the younger ones, apparently took Jersey Shore not as a warning but as a model. Most were happy with the 2-1 final score, except for a few lonely U.K. folks.