Dear Readers, when I left you yesterday we were watching the sun go down in Tommy Thompson Park, and it really didn’t disappoint. How often in our lives do we actually watch sunrise or sunset? There was a man standing on the shore and as the sun disappeared, he raised his arms as if to honour it.

A skein of geese headed off to one of the islands to rest for the night.

We had a long walk back to the car, but apart from the risk of being run down by a bicycle (hi-vis jackets next time, methinks) it felt very safe. Occasionally a rabbit would tear out of the undergrowth and thunder across the path, but other than that it was just us. The paths are broad and tarmacked so it’s easy walking, though as the light fades it seems strangely difficult to walk in a straight line, for me at least.

And then Toronto lights up, with the CN tower taking centre stage. Earlier on this week it was purple for National Dental Hygienist Week, but the orange and blue for 13th April was for World Functional Neurological Disorder Awareness Month (FND) – I had never heard of this until a dear friend’s daughter was diagnosed with it. If you don’t know about it either, the details are here.

The lights look spectacular, but they make me uneasy because of bird strike – however, Toronto does have a campaign to turn off unnecessary lights during migration season, which runs from 1st April to the end of May. Judging by the amount of lights that I can see, there seem to be a lot of ‘necessary’ ones, but let’s see if it makes a difference. They’re certainly pretty.

And so we return to the car, a bit foot-sore but invigorated by catching up with old friends and being surrounded by nature. If you’re in Toronto it’s well worth a trip to Tommy Thompson Park, but note that it’s closed during the day on weekdays (until 4 p.m.) due to trucks delivering landfill. No dogs either (which is appropriate for a nature reserve). You can get there by bus (No 83 to the Commissioner’s Street stop), all details here. What a truly amazing place.