Monday 15 April 2024--I've been sleeping in rather late every morning, then having breakfast and a few leisurely cups of coffee in my room. It's usually midday when I get out. A half day of activity is about enough for me most days; it's not comfortable being on my feet for very long, and not wanting to be on my feet too much has led to me getting well out of shape. I pay twenty dollars a month for a gym membership that I don't use. I'll get back in again soon, I swear.

Anyway, I get up and out a little earlier today. I have a lunch date with my old chum Doug, who lives in Gatineau, over across the Ottawa, and I want to get a little exercise before then. I figure a pint at lunch will likely sap my energy for the rest of the day. So I wander through the Golden Triangle, the neighborhood behind my hotel. I pass by the Embassy of Armenia, one of four in the Triangle, and then walk south along the canal to the Pretoria Bridge. Cross over, and walk back north along the other side. At the sharp angle where the canal left the beaver meadow and entered the gully, I can look straight down to the Château Laurier. Meadows and gullies are hard to picture now--the canal has long ago been lined with concrete embankments, and all marshy land filled in.

I cross the Corktown Footbridge and arrive at Deacon Brodies, our lunch rendezvous, just as Doug arrives. We spend an hour catching up. I tell him about my encounter with the charming local Saturday, and we have a good laugh.

Doug heads back home after lunch, and I walk the two blocks to my hotel. As expected, nothing of interest happens the rest of the day.