What’s The WORD!

Yesterday (when all my troubles seemed so far away . . . ) Sorry, couldn’t resist. :-)

Yesterday was the annual Word on the Street, a free literary festival held in Queen's Park, so BFF and I made our yearly pilgrimage to Toronto. Along the way we stopped to pick up the daughter’s wedding pictures, had Starbucks for breakfast, and made a quick pass through Indio/Chapters.

The weather forecast called for rain, but although it was very overcast and threatening, the rain itself held off, which made it just cool enough to be comfortable. For a change we got there pretty early, which is always the best idea when it’s a free event. This year we played it smart and had back packs for our loot, although one of the first things we took advantage of were the free bags from the Green Living booth.

It was actually a little disappointing this year. There wasn’t much free stuff, there was no Harlequin booth, there were a couple of writer’s organizations missing, the bargains weren’t as bargainy . . . we couldn’t decide if it was the threatening weather or the faltering economy that was the cause. We still managed to bring home a decent haul, although by the time we made it back to the subway I felt like I had the weight of the world on my shoulders. Or maybe it was just the fifty pounds of books I was carrying. :-)

I must give Toronto kudos for their excellent subway system. This allows us to park at one of their fabulous malls (Yorkdale, in case anyone’s interested) and take the subway just about anywhere we want to go. One of the biggest benefits of parking here is . . . well, it’s a mall.

We dropped our loot off in the car and made a beeline for the Starbucks in the huge Indigo/Chapters just inside the door, where we were accosted by a half dozen very buff young men who were doing a Peek Freans/Harlequin promotion. We were hot, sweaty, and tired. They were standing between us and our Starbucks. We took the free cookies but turned down the offer to have our pictures taken with the two very hot cowboys.

After browsing a bit we drove away from the big city and back to our respective homes where we stashed our loot and then had naps. And if perchance we dreamed of buff young men, well, we’re only human. :-)