take a walk
There's been many a time when I've come home to my parents' house too late to be considered night, but far too dark to be dubbed morning. There's nothing really like walking home alone at that time. It's refreshingly cool; the breeze comes flying clear through and up over the houses. It's so clean and sharp, sometimes it carries a soft hint of manure from the crops out of sight from our main roads. The sky hangs open vivid and velvet; dotted with stars. The only sounds are the clacking of your soles slapping the concrete.
It's a strange juxtaposition in suburbia. The hydro towers stand as tall, epic steel giants defiantly between the rows of cream-coloured, cloned homes. I remember being a child and imagining them as tall iron giants standing akimbo with their feet planted firmly in the ground. Silent and proud as birds hang about their shoulders and bound by their outstretched hands.
It is the perfect time to catch sight of the dun brown rabbits. Neither notices one another 'til we are within a couple of feet from each other. We both freeze. The ears stop probing the air, those big black shiny button eyes bulge and their little nostrils flare violently with the force of their breath. I stop in my tracks and just watch cautiously with a smile. Eventually one of us breaks the staring contest and we each go off toward our respective homes breathing sighs of relief. I wonder if this generation of rabbits and the future ones ones to come go through their short lives feeling as though they've been cheated, or that something is askew as they hop through our manicured lawns. Do they sense the phantoms of the tall, sweet grass that once grew abundant in the same plot of land where my house stands?
Downtown Toronto is understandably much different than the Hamilton suburbs to which I am familiar with. But it still surprised me to find that same peace here. Like I said, it's different - a new breed altogether. But, even here, there are still creatures to cross paths with. Bold, city-hardened, chubby raccoons come lumbering past you with a weighty waddle. They don't bother to duck behind trash cans, they come bustling down the sidewalks with eager claws that scratch the pavement just like yours. They still always catch me by surprise, but there are no staring contests - for they've got places to be, just like me.
It's a strange juxtaposition in suburbia. The hydro towers stand as tall, epic steel giants defiantly between the rows of cream-coloured, cloned homes. I remember being a child and imagining them as tall iron giants standing akimbo with their feet planted firmly in the ground. Silent and proud as birds hang about their shoulders and bound by their outstretched hands.
It is the perfect time to catch sight of the dun brown rabbits. Neither notices one another 'til we are within a couple of feet from each other. We both freeze. The ears stop probing the air, those big black shiny button eyes bulge and their little nostrils flare violently with the force of their breath. I stop in my tracks and just watch cautiously with a smile. Eventually one of us breaks the staring contest and we each go off toward our respective homes breathing sighs of relief. I wonder if this generation of rabbits and the future ones ones to come go through their short lives feeling as though they've been cheated, or that something is askew as they hop through our manicured lawns. Do they sense the phantoms of the tall, sweet grass that once grew abundant in the same plot of land where my house stands?
Downtown Toronto is understandably much different than the Hamilton suburbs to which I am familiar with. But it still surprised me to find that same peace here. Like I said, it's different - a new breed altogether. But, even here, there are still creatures to cross paths with. Bold, city-hardened, chubby raccoons come lumbering past you with a weighty waddle. They don't bother to duck behind trash cans, they come bustling down the sidewalks with eager claws that scratch the pavement just like yours. They still always catch me by surprise, but there are no staring contests - for they've got places to be, just like me.