Dear Reader
Even without the soccer fever this city is red hot. Tempers have
been flaring ever since the G8/G20 summit was about to come to
town. The huge bill upset us greatly. When it actually came upon
us we were reeling despite our best efforts to be cool about it.
As typical Canadians we arranged ourselves, changed our plans,
stayed away and were content to watch from afar. Besides, we had
soccer to divert our attention.
But when we heard about that many arrests, about 1000 people,
after anarchist were spotted causing havoc, it hit us hard.
Memories of the past play a big role in response to police
aggression. It is a sensitive subject with most people that come
from countries were authorities had too much power over
individuals.
We still ask ourselves where the benefits to the citizens are
coming in having the summits here, at our expense, an expense of
an exorbitant amount. Business came to a standstill. Not only
that, there was damage done to some businesses. Downtown did not
benefit from foreign shoppers; those were spotted in Yorkdale
Plaza, far away from the troublesome, unattractive and dead
downtown core.
Equally disturbing of course are the actions committed by the
troublemakers themselves. What they hoped to accomplish is the
opposite of what is desirable. The by and large peaceful
protesters had the bad image rub off on them simply by trying to
get their message across alongside those anarchistic pea brains
that believe that causing chaos solves anything; it never has
and it never will. Any good will anyone has is destroyed, and
when there is no good will there is nothing.
I personally marveled at the rich pallet of foreign traditional
dress I saw at Yorkdale. The ladies that I spotted shopping
there with ample security in tow, (man in black with sunglasses
- all over the world they look the same) wore the most divine
and colourful outfits, often with headdress that was equally
interesting. I did take the opportunity to welcome them to
Canada, which apparently pleased them. Their solemn faces lit up
in big smiles.
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| Meeting old friends at the
World Soccer Cup: the Treue Husaren Toronto |
What did make all this bearable are of course the soccer games,
especially for us the games with the German team. Whereas we at
first were a bit concerned about the cohesiveness of the team,
we soon were convinced that this is one of Germany’s finest
efforts in recent times. Especially the game against Argentina
showed that even individual superstars can pull together in a
common effort, become a team and win the day.
As I write this the game against Spain is only 2 days away and
then we shall know how it will continue, with or without our
boys. Undoubtedly the German team is favored to win that game
and perhaps even the coveted cup! We hope Fortuna remains our
friend.
As an aside: A few of you have commented that you wonder what
will bloom in your garden since the hot weather forced
everything nearly a month earlier than usual to bloom. I asked a
horticulturalist who advises that some flowers that tend to
branch, such as the big Daisy, Asters or Summer Phlox can be cut
down by one third and then will bloom again if enough time
remains to form new stems and buds. This can be done until early
July.
I will give it a try on some of my garden, just to see how it
works out.
Until after the games and well into the hot summer I wish you a
wonderful time outdoors.
Sybille Forster-Rentmeister
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