January 20: On edge

Skating is such a Canadian unifier. While many other activities may remain divisive--culture and religion in play with tastes and restrictions, skating is such a quintessential Canadian activity. I have watched many a skater, often newly minted Canadian residents, inching his or her way around the ice surface, then picking up speed and confidence, delight on the face.

I break my new skates in today on the Harbourfront Centre rink, at the edge of Lake Ontario. I chat with Dave, who patrols the ice 2 shifts a day. Only recently did he learn to skate properly. He doles out these four basic do’s to all the newbies that come his way: lace up tight, bend the knees, skate on the heels, find the edge.

He tells me of the webcam. I can be lazy and check out skate conditions without walking across the street. (Could they put a sign with the temperature and windchill factor too?) Maybe sometime you’ll see me twirling around in my spanking new blue skates!

http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/webcam/webcam4.cfm

I head to the St Lawrence Hall in Old Town York. This is the oldest part of Toronto, dating back to 1793. The Great Hall has seen many luminaries within such as Sir John A. MacDonald and Darcy McGee. I attend a lecture by historian, Afua Cooper on the Underground Railroad stop in Toronto. Fascinating topic it is--Canada being the end stop for many. I am reminded of Lawrence Hill’s historical novel, The Book of Negroes (published in the U.S. as Someone Knows my Name), one of the best books I’ve read in recent years. I have his second novel sitting unopened on my night table. I acquired it to read in Haiti but never did crack it open.