Photographs and Subway Trains

My grandmother's apartment is like a museum of my family history. It abounds with pictures and my cousins, my sister and myself, my aunt and uncle, and other members of my immediate family. We may be scattered across the globe, in Vancouver, Sydney, London and Cape Town, but in my granny's apartment we are always together.
My favourite photo is of myself at age four, a look of sheer glee on my face as I prepare to dive into a pile of coloured balls. There is also a great family shot, of us standing on a subway platform. In the background my father, aunt and grandma, newly arrived in Toronto, and in the foreground my cousins Linz and Jannie flank me, the tree of us looking distractedly in different directions.
When I was little, I used to love to ride the subway. I was fascinated by the subterranean tunnels, and the speed that the train moved through them. I imagined myself some kind of mole, a supermole, or a fraggle from Fraggle Rock.
On the subway home from my grandma, I sit in the front car. A little boy with dark curly hair is leaning against the front window, his back supported by his mother. His face is glued to the window, and he seems totally enraptured by the train's journey. Totally focused, he barely glances back.

Snowstorm!

Tonight, on the snowiest day I have ever experienced in Toronto, I went to see Odessa Havana at the Spadina JCC. Some highlights: Amanda Martinez singing the sexiest Chanuka song I have ever heard, Ocho Kandelikas. David Buchbinder singing his haftora from his bar mitzvah to the accompaniment of conga drums, which is the way it was meant to be heard. And finally, the band closing the show with "Freilichs Tumbao", which sounds just like you'd expect.

Chanuka candles

Zimmerman: Have you bought your candles yet?
Me: No, not yet. Do you have any?
Zimmerman: Sure do! Aisle four, on the right.
Me: Thanks. How much?
Zimmerman: $3.58 for the orange juice.
Me: What about the candles?
Zimmerman: Don't worry about it! At least you're lighting candles. I wish my sons would light candles.
Me: Where are your sons?
Zimmerman: They're at Western. One's studying engineering, the other history, maybe later law.
Me: Who'll take over the store?
ZImmerman: Nobody, I hope! I never bring them down here! It's not a life!