Culture

[caption id=“attachment_2132” align=“aligncenter” width=“584”] Gerrard’s India Bazaar - Toronto[/caption] Culture is transportable. There’s a huge Indian diaspora in Toronto and the Gerrard India Bazaar area is where many people shop for ethnic Indian clothing. I read that it’s the oldest and biggest bazaar in North America. Thousands of people were there recently for its Annual South Asian Festival. “The ethnic diversity of South Asian Canadians reflects the enormous cultural variability of South Asia’s people. About half of South Asian Canadians were born in India, where 14 major languages are spoken and hundreds of discrete ethnic groups exist.” (Canadian Encyclopedia) All the images for the collages in this post were taken in that area. ...

“Love doesn’t just sit there like a stone; it has to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new.” (Ursula K. LeGuin) After attending a beautiful wedding recently at which there was bread instead of a cake, the above quote came to mind. This wedding adhered to Ukrainian tradition. As you can see from the above collage, the “Korovai” is prominently displayed. According to the wedding program, “the Korovai is an intricately woven traditional Ukrainian wedding bread that represents the divine gift of life and prosperity from nature and the gift of love and support for the newly-married couple.” ...

Age does not make us childish, as some say; it finds us true children. - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe [caption id=“attachment_2081” align=“aligncenter” width=“584”] “The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it.” – Richard Bach[/caption] Celebrating life whenever we have the opportunity and savoring all the special moments is an opportunity we should never pass up. Sixty-fifth and seventieth birthdays have their own blessings - because we didn’t ever expect to live this long. To wait for a child to be present for the celebration who also had a birthday we were not present for is a gift beyond words. “Love is, above all, the gift of oneself.” (Jean Anouilh) Our enjoyable celebration took place at Sassafraz in the Yorkville area of downtown Toronto. We savored the food, each other, and the passage of time. ...

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 “Aging is not lost youth but a new stage of opportunity and strength.” (Betty Friedan) Life happens. The day has come that I am officially a Senior Citizen. While I’m looking forward to receiving my monthly pension cheques and all the other discounts and perks that come with my senior status, this post contains some of my observations over sixty-five years. Sixty-five years is a long life. From the moment we’re born, the process of learning how to live in this world starts. We learn from our caregivers what are the social and cultural mores we are expected to live up to. Each and everyone of them does the best job they can to impact our positive growth and development. By the time one arrives at age 65, it’s alright to admit to oneself, if not to everybody else, that all these well-meaning and trusted souls were imperfect themselves. This means that I can’t be anywhere near perfect or any kind of saint. In our human nature, there are flaws. “Thinking well is the greatest excellence and wisdom: to act and speak what is true, perceiving things according to their nature.” (Herakleitos) ...

“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way… things I had no words for.” (Georgia O’Keeffe) The Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition took place last weekend in Toronto. It’s a free art exhibition featuring over four hundred artists using all artistic forms. Hundreds of people visited and enjoyed the great variety of talent available in one place - Nathan Phillips Square. It was a lovely venue for this amazing show and a wonderful opportunity to talk to the artists themselves. As with all shows, we do have some art that appeals to us more than others. I will share some of my favorites below and hope you enjoy them. I’m sorry that after seeing so many exhibits and meeting so many artists, I don’t have the matching information about them for all their work. You can check the TOAE website for a listing of all the artists and their work. ...

[caption id=“attachment_2002” align=“aligncenter” width=“584”] “I’ve never thought of my jewellery as trophies. I’m here to take care of it and to love it, for we are only temporary custodians of beauty.” (Elizabeth Taylor)[/caption] Women all over the world from time immemorial have loved to make themselves beautiful through adorning themselves with jewelry. This is even truer of East Indian women. They wear jewelry everywhere - in their hair, in their noses - and I’ve even seen older women wear bangles on their feet when I was a little girl. ...

[caption id=“attachment_1974” align=“aligncenter” width=“584”] “Today Canada is the most multicultural country in the world, and the home of immigrants of every ethnic and religious group from every country in the world. But less than 500 years ago, the only people living in Canada were the Aboriginal people of Canada. “Aboriginal” means the original inhabitants, the people who were here first. The words “Native” or “Indigenous” are also used, and mean the same thing. Today they all collectively refer to themselves as the First Nations or First Peoples of Canada. However, there are many different cultural groups.” (First Nations Website)[/caption] ...

[caption id=“attachment_1951” align=“aligncenter” width=“584”] “And there are many ways to love clay.” (Kevin Browne, Executive Director & CEO)[/caption] The Gardiner Museum is 30 years old this year. My very first visit was for Doors Open which took place in Toronto on May 24th and 25th. It was fascinating to visit as I had heard so much about the collection from friends. I wondered who the Gardiner’s were and this is what I found: “George Gardiner began collecting ceramics in 1976, initially to decorate his home. His interests were eclectic – Ancient Americas, 18th-century European, and Chinese – and his collections assumed significant dimensions. He was joined in this passion by his wife, Helen, a native of Kirkland Lake, Ont., who had studied at York University. In 1984 they co-founded the Gardiner Museum. The Gardiners’ hope, Helen later wrote, was that the Museum “would contribute in a meaningful way to the understanding and appreciation of ceramic art worldwide.” ...

A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it. The above quote by George Moore came to mind as I admired how pretty and well-maintained the homes in the neighborhood look. This is a particularly lovely time of year with the Spirea in bloom. Many people have their hanging baskets and planters on their porches and their garden chairs out for when they are relaxing at home. As I get older, home is really the best place to be now for me. My own porch is just like going to a cottage for me. ...