Richard's Blogosphere
A half of a year in a pandemic, with uncertainty on the horizon.
Early this year, I was planning a long trip through the United States. Kansas City to see the Negro League Baseball Hall of Fame and eat some good barbecue, Las Vegas to see Penn & Teller and watch a 51s Aviators game, visit co-workers and friends in Portland, Oregon, with a side-trip to Vancouver, B.C. A respiratory illness pandemic, protests and civil unrest (with uncertainty as to which law enforcement agency was in charge), and now wildfires, have, like Amy wondered, made it seem like the year 2020 had it out for Portland specifically.
In hindsight, it seems that 2020 has it out for Portland specifically.https://t.co/C651oI3eY7
— amye (@amye) September 11, 2020
I am now located in Toronto, Ontario. All events have been cancelled or postponed, so I've taken the opportunity to fix the content here on PDXphiles. Originally intended as a group blog, I used it to document my trips there, the trips since 2011 having gone undocumented on this site. I have stayed in touch with my university friend from Oregon, with regular video calls starting when I moved to Toronto in 2015. My current employer, Acquia, has an office in Portland, so throughout this year's upheaval, I've listened to them talk about their city. They have to work from home during the pandemic, but I do still hear Portland-specific places being mentioned on our always-on video calls we have so we can keep in touch with them. In fact, we've gotten to know them better through these times, as they would typically stay at their desks.
I don't know what the future holds for the Portland office, but I'm even more grateful for them than I was before. I still consider myself a PDXphile, and I still hold out hope I can visit the Rose City and my friends there once again.
Another month of staying at home for the most part, but I've gone outside a lot more in July/August 2020.
I took a short trip to Toronto Islands, a ten-minute ferry ride from downtown Toronto.
A third of a year in a pandemic, and restrictions are loosening up a bit in Toronto.
I took a self-guided walking tour through my own neighbourhood.
On weekends, the City of Toronto opened up Lakeshore Boulevard to cyclists, runners, walkers and others. I'm taking full advantage of it.
When I lived in Vancouver, I wanted a way to explore the city in a structured way, and as someone who loved riding transit, the perfect way to do that was by doing the tours in SkyTrain Explorer: Heritage Walks From Every Station by John Atkin. Having moved to Toronto almost 5 years ago, I was able to see the city through Jane's Walks and other walking tours, and I was on the lookout for something similar to Atkin's book.
Notes on 90 days of sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The module I've maintained since 2005 gets an update.