Philosophers' Walk

This first week of spring, I had the pleasure of spending a couple of unstructured days in Toronto. My wife had work to do there and I went along for the ride. The ride happened to coincide with weather we usually associate with summer.

The city was awash in people strolling, lingering at outdoor bars and cafes and gladly shedding their winter carapaces in favour of much more comfortable clothing. The sunshine and warm air seemed to caused an outbreak of big city happiness.

Toronto is one of my favourite places in the world. Sure, it has crazy traffic, startling noises and lots of people: a lot more people than a small town dweller is accustomed to. But if your eyes are open and your antenna are up, it will reveal many jewels of impressive beauty.

My customary mode of transportation in Toronto is the Orthotically-Corrected New Balance Running Shoe. Not that the Shoe ever sees much running anymore. On this day, I start out near College and Yonge, where the old Maple Leaf Gardens has been taken over by Ryerson University. The building now houses the largest Loblaws I have ever seen. Is that Eddie Shack in the pop section?

North up Yonge I amble, past hundreds of small shops selling everything from bongs, to shoes, to manicures, to falafel, to trips to Cuba and beyond. Across Bloor and into Yorkville I swing. The whole tenor changes in a matter of a few feet. Everything morphs into the high end. Here, you can get your hair cut for $300 plus tax; $400 plus tax if you want styling gel. Beautiful suits and dresses send out their siren songs. Many cost more than my car. There are more walking sunglasses, Coach purses and cosmetic surgery per square meter here than anywhere else in Canada.

After about half an hour of promenading, I proceed north on Hazelton Lane. The homes, most of them Victorian semis, are right out of Architectural Digest. The facades are impeccable and the landscaping of the tiny front yards flawless. Compared to the clatter of Yonge , walking along Hazelton Lane is an oasis of pure calm.

Eventually, I end up at the University of Toronto, after making sure I pass by the Brunswick House, site of many an emptied tray of draft. Everything about the university exudes excellence, even those buildings whose days of glory have long past. I walk in and out of buildings at random. I am a touristic voyeur enchanted by intricate stonework, vaulted and coffered ceilings, old mahogany railings and the ghosts of those deceased Canadian scholars who gave this place its reputation as one of the best universities in the world. I look at pictures of the 1922 U of T Men's Rowing Team and try to imagine their lives. I check out their haircuts and notice they are not much different than my own. I read the plaques which so eloquently summarize the origins of Massey College and Hart House. I feel myself achingly envious of every first year student.

As I am about to leave the university grounds, I pause to sit quietly on a bench flanking Philosophers' Walk, before exiting this amazing cocoon for the freneticism of Bloor Street. Philosophers' Walk, a Zen Garden of improbable serenity, runs behind the Faculty of Music and the Royal Ontario Museum. Barely audible strains of Bach and Beethoven waft through the air. A few lone students sit, their backs against ancient elms, lost in Paradise Regained and William Butler Yeats. A professor passes by, absent-minded, rehearsing an afternoon lecture soon to be delivered. Everything seems to slow down here.

As the unaccustomed warmth of the March sun envelops me, I close my eyes. My thoughts turn to freedom and the human condition. I think about how lucky we are to live in a country which, although it has great faults and will always be a work in progress, puts so much value on the life of the mind. Because it is in the mind that the seeds of human potential first appear and take root. I take pride in the fact that where I live, places like the University of Toronto exist to allow people to explore, to create, to experiment, to fail, and to exchange ideas in an environment where the only true guiding principles are respect for others, kindness, curiosity and an unbridled desire to contribute in making this country and this world a better place for everyone.