The Fog of Building

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This shot was taken back in October, during a trip to Toronto. The weather then was similar to what we had today. After Tuesday’s deep freeze, temperatures have jumped to well above freezing, with rain. Our mounds of snow are melting, and with this much moisture around, the result is a thick fog.

And, you know what? Somehow this feels colder. Or, perhaps, colder in a different way. I guess there truly is a difference between a wet cold and a dry cold. The fog nudges its way inside you, and gives you a chill that doesn’t go away with layers, or even heat. I’d appreciate these temperatures if the weather was clear and sunny, but if I have to choose between mild and grey/foggy and bitter but brilliant, give me bitter cold with bright blue skies any time.

On Wednesday, I helped a friend of mine chaperone a group of high school kids on a field trip to Toronto, and I was reminded again why I prefer taking public transit. We went in by the 401, and encountered stop-and-go traffic along the way due to about three accidents. This was on the outer end of the morning rush hour. The total trip took us over two hours. Coming back was worse, as one of the accidents we passed became an OPP investigation on a possible attempted murder, which closed the 401 outright into the afternoon rush hour. Fortunately we had cellphones to get the news early, and GPS to plot an alternate route, but it was no use: a lot of people took the same alternates, and the result was further backups. It was three and a half hours until we got back.

I couldn’t help but note that the Kitchener GO Train would have avoided this mess, even if its run time is two hours. That was definitely a day for transit, even if it’s been faring badly through the winter weather. It’s frustrating, but there’s not much we can do about that. When it comes to days like these, we just have to carry on as best we can. Traffic problems seem to exist wherever we go.

The writing has been going well. I’ve done some more work for my real estate broker, and I’ve done a lot of work on the Transit Toronto website. There’s even been a little bit of work on some fiction. I can’t say too much more, but I started exploring some new ideas over Christmas and I now have close to 3,000 words together. Though I haven’t quite kept up the pace over this week, it’s exciting to find myself in a new world, discovering new characters and new situations. I’ll keep you posted as progress continues.

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