Lovely day for an unexpected delay!

My, what an exciting day I had Wednesday. The bus drivers were conspiring against me, for some reason, with the result that it took me three hours to get to Rideau Centre for a piddly errand and back to campus, rather than the usual hour or so. Miserable. Anyhow, on the ride, I jotted down some things that made me smile or think well of the world:

- The Hellenic Community Centre, the Temple Israel, and a bible chapel all in the same block.

- The realization that a month in the city does not a city-dweller make, and the accompanying realization that even if it did, I still might not understand the public transport system.

- A quick trip through the Corza Italia, with its many delicious and/or kitschy restaurants (and one lonely Moroccan restaurant).

- An Indian woman in a full sari, three elderly Koreans, and two piratical-looking men, all on the same bus at the same time.

- The enchantingly semi-run-down brick townhouses near Preston and Elm Streets.

- Driving past some farmers' fields, causing Alberta flashbacks and feelings of superiority (our fields are bigger! And wheatier!).

- The discovery that the houses in Nepean are quite nice.

- The possible exception from the previous rule of a large, gated, villa-style house with what appeared to be a large triangular Rubens painting over the garage. Very tasteful, folks.

- Two sightings of very cute babies, one with proud grandfather in tow.

So, you see, despite the low point of the voyage (waiting, with clipboard, in front of the Cuban embassy for half an hour for the errant #5 bus) an unplanned delay can prove quite pleasant. Well, until the Cubans come in the night for my clipboard and my life.

It also led, indirectly, to what I spent this morning doing. See, if I hadn't had those dreadful things happen, I wouldn't have had to go to a make-up history class Thursday night, and I wouldn't have run into Jacob, a runner from my Public Affairs tutorial, and he wouldn't have tipped me off to the race I ran this morning. I really miss racing, and maybe next race I will actually be, you know, competitive. Today's was a short 10km (closer to 8, I heard) over some mountain bike trails and ski runs (!) in the lovely and autumnal Gatineau Park. The terrain was what they call "technical". This means, in essence, lots of things trying to scratch you and to twist your ankle, which is what happened to Jacob. Finished anyway, though. Crazy man! It was quite the fun (as they say), and the fall colours are coming in really well, making a pleasant setting for extremities of pain.