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06/06/2005: "Yonge and Egligable"
After work I usually hustle my hungry self home, eager to shed my workplace casual garb, but today was such a nice day that me, my discman, and my pleated pants went for a little stroll down between Eglinton and St Clair.
I left my office and walked past Yonge and Eglinton, where earlier today, on my lunch break, some high school students who had been dispatched with clipboards and a sociology/geography-type assignment observed me and the other passers-by, checking off boxes and noting things on maps. I imagine I will be sorted into the biggest bar or pie slice on whatever pencil crayoned chart they have to hand in at the end of the week - twentysomething years old, female.
We of Yonge and Eglinton are a desireable demographic. Dose magazines, raisin flavoured yogurt samples, low carb snacks, travel guides, and coupons for yoga classes are all thrust on us. Oh and Nike Nike Nike 10k madness. For a week or so back in the winter there were people dressed up as cows (cows in boxer shorts to be exact) handing out something or other, though I didn't ever get close enough to find out. Today there was a Hummer and mountain bike performance of sorts in front of the mall, with big fake boulders. I went up and gave one of the synthetic boulders a tap with my foot to test it out. Yep, hollow plastic. That Hummer would shatter those boulders to pieces. None of the twentysomething females stopped for the demo though, only me, and only to kick at it. I don't know what they were thinking, trying to demo up here. Maybe the high altitude at Yonge and Eglinton is supposed to add to the rugged mountain feel of the presentation.
I walked down a tree covered street that runs parallel to Yonge, and eventually hit upon a strip of parkland. Then after that it got really nice, because there were all these classy looking aparments mixed in with the houses. I cut in between the Brentwood Towers, and happened upon some secret retro courtyards.
The first area I happened upon had what looked like a big pool and diving boards, but when I got closer I realized that what I was looking at was much less sporty, and more cool. It was a big bizarre drained fountain with all these saucers on stilts, and two elevated platforms with lots of benches. The courtyard was full of lilac trees and smelled great.
There was another similar courtyard with another drained fountain, but this time with a big arch, and a ramp in the middle of the fountain, which made me wonder if it was indeed designed just for looking at. It made me think of that famous penguin pool at the London Zoo that I have only seen in books.
There was one fountain that was running. It was newer, and way less astro-penguin looking. I think it was kept running because it was at the side of the apartment complex nearest to the subway line, and could muffle the rumble of the subway. I was hot so I dipped my hands in it, left the retro enclave, and rode the subway the rest of the way home.
