Anniversary of the move

[kathleen_dailey]

This month marks the tenth anniversary of our move to Yorkville. Still haven't gotten over lamenting that during all the years in which I longed for Yorkville I wasn't able to persuade the spouse to sell the house, but now that everything fun is gone from the neighbourhood I'm living here at last. Not only are all my friends from those days dead or elsewhere, but there are no more artsy-craftsy shops, no more European-style cafes, no more exotic restaurants, no more strains of acoustic music drifting out of pubs and clubs on summer evenings, and (of course) no more music stores or bookstores. There's just Chanel, Tiffany, Hermes, and so many more of their ilk, and an endless landscape of multi-multimillion dollar condos. I think that Over the Rainbow's recent move to its (undoubtedly hideously expensive) Manulife site was the final proof of--well, of something bad. The 'hood is so extremely boring now, and yet here I am. When The Artful Dodger and The Pilot fall to the developers (as they must and will), there will be no place to go--even for a beer--that doesn't require a bank loan.

The upside is that my own condo will, if I'm lucky, be my retirement fund. I feel that I should be happier about that than I am.

At least the Scarf Lady of Yorkville (Suzy Sprott) is still around. I see her on her flower-bedecked bicycle from time to time, but she's my age if not older, so she too will be disappearing soon.