on the bus again

Almost 250 people have now viewed the hot pink gazelle. We should all run around Cabbagetown more often.

Off to Stratford on this beautiful hot sharp day - Maurice, the husband of my dear friend Lani, is having a very serious operation tomorrow, and I'm going to dog sit for them while my son and tenant house sit for me. Last year Lani, who was then a heavy smoker, got the train from Stratford to Toronto where we met and then went on together to Ottawa - many hours without a smoke - to help me during a long difficult weekend, dividing all the stuff in my mother's apartment with my brother. I would not have survived without her. It's my great pleasure to attempt to repay that enormous kindness.

And - it's Stratford, after all, I may just have to see a play or two. I'm happy to report that Lani is not only a non-smoker now, at last, but the smell of smoke, she reports, makes her sick.

I'm packing Karl Ove Knausgaard. It really is amazing to feel this writer confiding in you, as if you're best friends having a beer. He seems to tell everything, no holds barred, details about his past and his present, as he sits writing. Fascinating.

It's good I don't have to do much today - I will attempt to stagger around Carole's class at the Y and then downtown to the Stratford bus. After yesterday's emotional exertion, that's as much as I can cope with. I hope Lani gets PBS, so I can continue to watch "The Roosevelts," the stunning new documentary series by Ken Burns. It's so clear what he's doing - and he made it even more clear in his chat with Jon Stewart on Monday: reminding Americans of a time when politicians, though deeply flawed, were huge of mind, soul and spirit, with the good of the entire country and all its citizens, rich and poor, at heart. It scarcely seems believable that there was such a time, but there they are, these men and women, on the screen, thanks to Burns and PBS. Eleanor - what a heartbreaking, moving story, what a magnificently brave and beautiful woman.

Now that both books are launched, it's time for me to start the next one. But first - time to eat some Stratford chocolate and watch some Roosevelts.