For the first time since Matt and I made our pilgrimage to Nova Scotia in 2014 to pick out the then tiny and adorable four-week-old Kemba from his litter (“I’d like the one with the green collar, and the white flash on his nose”), I returned to Canada. Carol and I spent last weekend in Toronto for a country music concert, some Raptors hoops, and a whole bunch of
city walking and looking around.
Some of the things we saw:
• A ridiculous number of brand-new, identically designed, steel-and-glass skyscrapers from the Late Lego school of architecture, blotting out the sunlight and obscuring views of Lake Ontario;
• A gaggle of extremely tall Indiana Pacers filing furtively out of Sotto Sotto Restaurant (where we had an excellent Saturday night dinner) — all of them needing to duck their heads to make it through the door frame. I Recognized Domantis Sabonis, Malcolm Brogden, and UConn product Jeremy Lamb. Sorry, couldn’t I.D. the last of the group;
• Immaculate subway stations — cleanest I’ve seen in a big city anywhere;
• Elton John’s monogrammed silver-and-red, mile-high platform boots, c. 1975, at the Bata Shoe Museum on Bloor Street West.
• An extremely well-kept and pretty neighborhood — Rosedale — north of downtown Toronto. Good to know in case we have to head north for political asylum should He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named get re-elected;
• A fantastic Old Dominion concert at the Coca-Cola Coliseum;
• A good old-fashioned beat-down, with the hometown Raps (reigning NBA champs) whupping the Pacers by 46 points, largest margin of victory in franchise history. (Too much pasta and meatballs for the Pacers on Saturday night?)
What we didn’t see, and this really surprised me: Duck Tollers — the official dog of Nova Scotia, and supposedly one of the most beloved breeds in Canada! And
we visited three different dog parks in Toronto looking for them! Okay, we did see one, but he was busy, working security with the police force during a protest in front of the Parliament building against laying the Coastal GasLink pipeline across indigenous lands. But just one sighting in three days??
Come to think of it, Matt has long suggested that at some point we should bring Kemba back for a visit to his homeland. I’m sure he’d sniff out some Duck Tollers for us. Next time, K.
YOU CAN ALSO FOLLOW BEAGLE MAN AND KEMBA ON FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM.
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