Walking Through Markham

I decided to go for a walk through my new Markham neighbourhood tonight.

Now, I've been feeling a little bit down about my family's move to Markham for the last few days.
I never thought I would, but I think I miss Scarborough. And everything takes longer to get to in Markham.

Anyway, I went for a short walk tonight. Nobody walks in Markham.
Even though it was 9:35 when I left the streets were essentially deserted. But not scary, more like calm.
So it was quite surprising when I saw a woman walking down the street in the opposite direction from me. I looked at her and she looked at me. And then it happened.

It a nice, friendly voice she said "Hi. How are you?"

I was shocked. I grew up in Scarborough and I now spend most of my time in downtown Toronto. Such friendliness is strange to me. So strange in fact that all I could muster was a weak, almost inaudible "Hi" and a slight smile. I hope I didn't offend her.

Her nice gesture was all I thought about on the rest of the walk. And it really cheered me up.

They're building an elementary school near my house. It's not done yet but it looks like it will be done by September for the new school year. Walking by it I thought about all the children that will go to that school and all the memories they will have there. It's sweet.

This really is a great place to raise children and have a family.

This will never feel like Scarborough to me. This will never truly be my home. But this walk today made me like Markham a whole lot more.