It’s autumn in Ontario and what an autumn it’s been! The weather has been absolutely fantastic, with highs in the 20s and cool nights and absolutely no humidity. Ontario has been putting on a show and here in Toronto the fall colours are starting to show. What privilege we have here to experience the changing of the seasons and the colors of the trees in all their glory!
I am even more grateful for the changing seasons because it seems like this past summer was uniquely humid and hot. We have a window unit and a big portable AC unit out front and even with them both working, our big front living space was almost always close to 80 degrees Fahrenheit in peak August heat. This year the city opened over 500 cooling spaces sue to the heat warnings as temperatures were said to reach their highest in two years.
It even got up to 35 without the humidex (if I remember correctly. It was absolutely brutal. My partner and I hated to cook at night, why heat up the apartment even more? Even something as simple as a pizza seemed burdensome. There’s no way I wanted to heat up my oven to 500 degrees when outside also felt like 500 degrees.
So we went out to eat a number of times and found this pub over on Geary Ave. It was such a relief to walk in for the hot pavement into a dark and cool establishment. We sat at their beautiful bar, complete with leather chairs and a hard stone countertop and had some dinner. Funny enough, my partner was sitting next to someone who he had started chatting up with due to their shared job experience.
My partner is a scientist, and he found himself sitting next to Amir another scientist who has a biological distribution website. They chatted about all things science while I sipped on my old fashioned.
But onto other things. Amir told us about a trip he had taken up to Muskoka last year, going on a fall colour cruise. So let me tell you, you absolutely have to go on a Fall colour cruise! Apparently there are steamships that puts around a lake two hours north of Toronto and you can buy high tea or lunch aboard. Check them out here. It takes place in Gravenhurst, and the website says that it’s best to arrive dockside about 45 minutes before the cruise departs to check in and get your boarding pass.\
They’re even doing a RMS Segwun Restoration project, this ship has been around for 100 years in the region. Which is crazy to think about. It used to be a paddle wheeler and has been putzing around the lakes up north longer than I have been alive. There’s even a discovery center there that’s open year-round for the kiddos. They have showings about the Misko-Aki which also includes Indigenous knowledge and teaching about water stewardship and their spiritual connection to their land.
