McKee Avenue Public School

As kids I remember laying on the grass at McKee Avenue School with Johnny Ryan and others and looking for faces or objects in the clouds.

Smog has been a wonderful feature of Toronto life for a very long time. When I was working for the Township (1958-59) we were way over where North York connected to Scarough - sort of up on a hill there - and you could look into Toronto to the west-southwest and see the smog over the city. Actually, I think you live over near there -- The Smog was bad and that was in the fall of 1958.

As kids we also talked about getting away from the "Rat Race" which was life in Toronto as we saw it. I don't think people in the GTA really think about the Rat Race any more. I suppose if you are in it long enough then you think that is all there is.

In Moose Jaw we have three rush-hours; in the morning - at lunch time because everyone goes home for lunch and then in the evening. In the thick of rush-hour, like this morning, there can be upwards of twelve cars in front of you.

The question now is, "Is there a rat race in Toronto anymore?" Out here a day has 24 hours. In Toronto, the young people spend 3 to 4 hours going to and from work - and 8 hours at work -- so days must be longer in Toronto - like a Toronto day has to be 27.5 hours long to be the same as a Moose Jaw day where it takes only 15 minutes to get to work -- or all the way across town for that matter.

But 2 hours one way to work ---whew -- that is a big part of the day. You can buy neat - fancy stuff with all the money but can only mess with your stuff on the weekend - as long as you don't drive to Muskoka - because then you are screwed because of driving time.

So Charles? Is there a Rat Race any longer or was that just old 50s talk. And is cloud watching no longer a passion for young kids?

And why am I not nostaligic for Toronto? Now Newmarket is different - I love that place! And Gravenhurst! And Dunchurch! And Parry Sound! - is there a theme here ---

-  Richard Dowson