rain at last

Thank the good lord, it's raining. Thundering, actually. If there's one thing the people and gardens of Toronto need right now, it's a good soaking, after many days of torrid, possibly record-breaking heat. My only concern is that the epsom salts I sprayed on the raspberry leaves last night might be washed off, and I'll have to do it again. Otherwise - rain on, McDuff, thanks.

As I write, my neighbour and her boyfriend are outside under their deck umbrella. His voice is so loud, I can hear him clearly, every word, even through thunder and downpour and my closed doors. Amazing. What lungs, that he never stops talking at the top of! I wonder if anyone has ever asked him to keep his voice down - can he possibly have gone through life bellowing like that? Perhaps a lack of awareness that there are other people on the planet, with functional ears? Let us ponder. If it goes on, I'll have to block him out with headphones, as I do now on a regular basis. And then there's the cigarette smoke. I know. First world problems.

Yesterday was a busy day, Covid-style. At 3 I had a phone call with an editing client who is starting a new book. At 6 an appointment at the Y to pick up the stuff in my locker; they let me in through the staff entrance, masked, and I traipsed through the empty building, so silent, the floors shining. It made me sad. I emptied my locker because we have no idea when the Y will open - when it will be safe to go there.

At 7 I took in the friend of a friend's book launch on Zoom, and at 8 I attended Ringo Starr's 80th birthday party on YouTube with a group of his talented friends, including Sheryl Crowe and, of course, at the end, Macca - at least, Ringo drumming "Helter Skelter" not long ago with Macca. Ringo is a sweetheart, everyone seems to love him, including his grandchildren and - yes - his great-grandchildren. He's 80 and rocking; puts my own upcoming 70th in perspective.

And then the last two hours of the doc on women's suffrage. Canada granted women the right to vote two full years before the U.S. did - and how close the vote was there, even at the end. But when I looked it up, I saw that France and Italy didn't grant full suffrage till 1945! Unbelievable! And of course many Muslim nations only a few years ago. Strongly religious countries, it seems, are not fond of liberated women. What's sad about the tale in the U.S. is that the organizers of the movement were forced to choose between suffrage and racial justice - because white women who wanted the vote did not necessarily want to share that privilege with African-American women.

It's still pouring. He's still shouting. Time to practice the piano - make some loud messy noises of my own.

Here's your treat for the day - the new profile picture of my handsome boychik. Aka the giraffe.