"working very well"

Looking at photos of the flooding in Texas, of the far worse disaster in Bangadesh, feeling so very safe and dry - at least today - in Cabbagetown. How lucky are we, with our relatively stable government, our health care... wait, there are brutal forest fires out west, there's flooding in this country too, there's racism everywhere. But the key word is relatively - we're relatively safe. On Saturday I was riding my bike through Regent Park; suddenly I thought I was in Mecca. There were many hundreds of Muslims gathered in a field south of here, the men in long white robes and little round hats, the women in hijab or niqab. It was Eid, the end of the great celebration, and they were gathered to pray and feast. Extraordinary. My city, open to all.

Today, brunch with the best neighbours on the planet, Jean-Marc and Richard, in their beautiful garden, with other neighbours, such interesting people. I've lived across the street from Susan and David for 20 years, only found out today what fascinating lives they lead, she a cancer researcher and triathlete.  The other couple, two handsome young men, one from Lima and the other from New Delhi, met on Church Street. I love this place. We had a discussion, not just about politics and travel, but about Cabbagetown wildlife - opossum, raccoons, ferocious squirrels - not far away, deer, beaver, coyotes, and one very large cat who terrorizes the whole street. The wilderness of Toronto.

But I'm not much fun these days, still sitting sitting sitting, poking at the manuscript, wanting to finish it and get it out. I emailed the rewrite of the first 40 pages today to Rosemary, uber editor, who has seen previous drafts. After reading a few pages, she emailed, So far I think the revisions are working very well. Much smoother and good momentum.

May I scream? Cheer? WOOHOOOOO!!! Of course, that's after only a few pages. But still, encouraging words. Smoother! Momentum! I'll take it.

Ryerson doesn't start for two more weeks. What a gift. It's almost full already, so it's going to be one of the big big classes. I'll be up for it.