OTTAWA BEAUTIFUL MORNING

Well, Ottawa started off wonderfully well - the first day there I had dulce de leche ice cream; the second day, dulce de leche banana cream pie, the third day, a repeat piece of pie for breakfast, no less, and so it goes. Lots more dulce de leche everythings in the fridge, enough to last until I leave. Oh yeah, I did a reading here too.

Quite frankly, when the reading was booked, I had completely neglected to consider that it was the Sunday of the Canadian Thanksgiving long week-end. Once I realized that, I thought no one would show up at all. However, the Ottawa Citizen, the local newspaper, did a very good article about me and at least three folks showed up because of that, plus a male student came to fulfill some type of assignment, I wasn't quite clear exactly what, but he did ask if he could tape me for his project. My good friend Charlotte was there, and my sister Judi. So it wasn't a complete wipeout for my last reading. If you would like to see the Ottawa Citizen article go to: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health/1963+Ruth+Simkin+epilepsy/3650751/story.html

When I was in Toronto, Shelley and I had remembered a game we used play when driving to University of Manitoba every day. We had to take a geographical location and place it into a common song, for example: "Ottawa, beautiful morning", "Toronto my house, my house", In Your Lac du Bonnet, with all the ribbons on it," etc. We had dozens of them but could not remember very many. Can any one out there think of some more?

The biggest and one of the most thrilling surprises of the tour has been the bestseller lists. The Jagged Years of Ruthie J was three weeks on the Winnipeg best seller list, and then I heard I was #3 in Calgary. To my absolute delight, I subsequently learned I am still on the Calgary bestseller list and rising, at #2. How cool is that? What a wonderful bit of information to receive at the end of this tour.

Well, my book tour is over as I sit in Gatineau in La Belle Province watching the leaves turn colours and giving thanks for all my blessings. I am not quite home yet - will spend a few days with family before heading home, but this is likely the last blog for a bit. Or not. Thanks for reading, all of you out there in blog-land, and stay tuned....

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER READING

My second reading in Toronto took place at The Toronto Women's Bookstore. My friend Lillian Allen, who teaches creative writing at the Ontario College of Art and Design University brought out a whole slew of students, which I loved. After a wonderful and incredibly flattering introduction by Lillian, I did my reading to a relatively packed house. I loved reading there; I remember going to the Toronto Women's Bookstore in the 1980's and am thrilled that it looks so good now some thirty years later. The folks working there were terrific and helpful, and after the question period, we all mingled with complementary glasses of wine and talked and visited, and I spoke informally with many of the students. Overall, I think it was a very successful evening, and am grateful to everyone who helped make it possible and who came out to hear me read.

Toronto is definitely the big city: we had to run next door from the hotel to buy some more tylenol. Cold season is descending, and I was running a slight fever and ran out of my favourite cold medication. There was a 24 hours convenience store next door, so Judi and I looked about at the wares for sale there. My eyes just happened, totally by chance you understand, to land in the ice cream department where I spied Haagen Dazs Dulce de Leche ice cream. Of course I bought that along with the tylenol and of course I devoured the entire pint before going to sleep that night. It was soooooo good.

And that was the last Toronto night. Our last Toronto morning, Judi and I went, for the second time in three days, to the most wonderful Chinese restaurant, called the Crown Princess, for dim sum. This place was gorgeous: marble on the wall, crystal chandeliers, marble pillars, beautiful linen and china, exceptionally delicious food. They served there as they had done in Hong Kong, each server person having a job and not doing the job of others. So one woman would come from the kitchen with a tray of food and stand there until a server person came and could take the food off the tray to put it on the table. One person took our bill, but we couldn't be presented with the final tally until the gentleman whose job it was to deliver the cheques to the tables, showed up with ours. We enjoyed our second dim sum as much as our first and I would go there in a flash again. It's just a shame they didn't have dulce de leche anything for dessert.

And now - on to Ottawa.

DULCE DE LECHE

I love dulce le leche. Two months ago, I didn't even know of its existance, but then I went to Argentina and fell in love with the milk caramel sauce. I have always preferred caramel to chocolate anyway, but with dulce de leche, well, it is sublime.

Dulce de leche is a very Argentinian sweet and to my knowledge, I had never seen it nor heard of it in Canada or the US before I travelled south. In Argentina, I would order dulce de leche lattes at Starbucks, and have dulce de leche crepes for dessert.

Imagine my surprise when several weeks ago I was at my cousin Roz' house in Winnipeg. Roz and husband Mickey had a wonderful dinner party and for dessert Roz had baked a pie. For topping on that pie she had bought some Breyer's ice cream. But it wasn't any old Breyer's ice cream - to my amazement it was dulce de leche ice cream - the best ice cream I have ever tasted. Two helpings later, I was still marvelling at my luck at finding dulce de leche ice cream in Manitoba.

Two weeks later I was in Toronto, shopping at Loblaws with my friend Shelley for dessert for Shabbat dinner. Shelley picked up a key lime pie from the freezer when she heard me yelp. There, next to the key lime pie was dulce de leche banana cream pie; of course we bought it. Not only that, we all devoured it. Now banana cream pie is one of my favourite pies ever but dulce de leche banana cream pie boggles the mind. It tends to cause in one (at least this one) gustatory orgasms.

Several days ago I met my friend Gwen for lunch in downtown Toronto. We ate our soup and sandwich and decided to share a dessert. We looked over the menu and there, for all to see, and to order, was dulce de leche cheesecake. It was incredibly, decadently delicious. So delicious in fact that two nights later, my sister Judi and I went to that restaurant for a late night dessert of......you guessed it. Dulce de leche cheesecake did not disappoint.

I don't know if it is because I am eating everything again after years of watching my food intake or because dulce de leche is so unbelievably delicious - I suspect a combination of both. But I truly love love love dulce de leche pretty much anything, and am very lucky to be finding it everywhere. For those of you following the HCG saga, yes, I am eating it, no, I am not regaining my weight, and yes, HCG still does seem like the real thing.

TRAVAILS OF AN UNKNOWN AUTHOR

Lillian picked me up along with my sister Judi, who has now joined us in Toronto, and off we headed to do a reading at the Toronto Public Library. I had been contacted many months ago by Pam, who asked if I would read there. She seemed very excited to have me come to Toronto and when I first got to the city, I had called her to let her know I was here and to ask if she needed anything. I was looking forward to meeting her in person, as she seemed so pleased I was reading at her library.

"Hello, is Pam here?" I asked the woman behind the counter.

"Pam is at a Branch Heads Meeting. She is not here."

"When will she be back?"

"I don't know. Ann will know."

Ann looked over at me. "She's not coming back. She's ill. Come back tomorrow. She may be here by then."

"No, you don't understand. I am supposed to be doing a reading here tonight."

"Oh, you are?" Shades of Edmonton.

"Yes, see this poster. That's me." I pointed to one of the posters displayed on the counter announcing my reading.

"Oh," answered Library Lady, "then you are reading downstairs. Do you need any help setting up?"

"Well, can you please show me where downstairs is?"

And so it goes. We set up the chairs and organized the room, and away we went.

We had about five times as many people as we had at Edmonton for a rousing crowd of just under ten. But it was a good group, one that was interested and afterwards asked many great questions. So overall, it was a good reading, even though the attendance was somewhat sparse. Library Lady gave me a wonderful, heartfelt introduction, telling everyone how sex-i-ful I was (she had a European accent and she really meant successful, but I like sexiful).

Sometimes there are big crowds, sometimes very small crowds - well, crowd would hardly be the correct word, really - but they are always very good crowds. Even if just one person comes, it is worth doing something. Last night there were several young women whom I did not know, and I believe they were pleased that they came; I spoke with each of them individually. It is a privilege to be able to do this, really. That interaction with people is one of the reasons I love being a physician, and that's why I love being an author, albeit an unknown author, who has the opportunity to connect with readers.

Last night I got a chance to embrace both roles. After the reading, Lillian, Judi, Anita, a friend from Winnipeg in the 60's, and I went out for dinner. We were just finishing up a delicious repast when we heard a noise.

"He's seizing," Anita said and pointed to a man from the next table who had narrowly missed her chair while falling to the ground. I immediately went into doctor mode. The man was completely unconscious, but after a few minutes, he came to, however slightly. I did what was appropriate first aid as we waited for the paramedics. Once they came, I gave them my report and we left the restaurant. I came in an author, left a doctor, and now am both again. By the time I left, the gentleman was fully conscious and was going off in the ambulance to be checked out. I do appreciate one's multiple roles in life and was glad I was in a position to help. The tour continues.

Fun in Toronto

Photo: Lillian Allen in top square with student Reena in art installation

The book tour takes me to Toronto where I will be doing two readings this week. Of course I had to come a few days earlier to reconnect with friends and family here. For the first part of my time here I stayed with my friends Shelley and Peter. Shelley and I went to school together and we spent several days going through our old high school yearbooks. More memories and finding out what has happened to old friends, which seems to be the theme of this trip.

Lillian Allen is another long time friend in Toronto whose daughter Anta had just turned twenty-nine and invited me to her birthday lunch. I have known Anta since she has been a very little girl and it is with so much pleasure that I observe her becoming such a capable, lovely, intelligent woman.

I was lucky to be in Toronto for the 5th Annual Nuit Blanche, which starts at 6:57 pm (I didn't make this up) and goes until sunrise. The people take over the streets; Yonge Street and others were blocked off to cars, chock full of pedestrians ready to party. Nuit Blanche is described thusly: "For one sleepless night experience Toronto transformed by artists". There are art installations throughout the city and the streets are full of people walking about, laughing, enjoying themselves, eating food from the many stands in the street, crowding around different installations. It is really a big street party. Lillian and I wandered for hours. Almost every person was either talking on a cell phone or holding one, as in fact, the Nuit Blanche information booklet encouraged people to go online on their phones to stay connected. It's a different world out there.

We walked over to the Ontario College of Art and Design University, where Lily teaches. There was a large art installation on a wall of a building - one of Lillian's students, Reena, was filmed live from somewhere inside the building and her face was projected on the wall. "Volunteers" would then come into an outside booth and be projected in a little square on her main feed. Reena called it the empathic booth - she would read four protest chants and the volunteer would identify which one she or he most identified with and then would "perform" it. Reena was delighted when Lillian showed up in the booth and made sure the audience all knew that they were dealing with one of Canada's premier dub poets. Lillian did not disappoint - she was masterful with her protest chant.

We walked for hours until the crowd became more drunken young men than people out for a party and then we left. The feeling in the streets had changed and the beer bottles were much more visible now. It was time to go home.

Spent the next morning at a family brunch hosted by my cousin David where I saw relatives and friends I hadn't seen for twenty or thirty years. Then the rest of the day and evening was spent with Trish - a friend from Calgary whom I had "lost" in the very early '90's and hadn't seen since. I just found her again a few months ago and was delighted to talk with her, share oysters and a few drinks and a delicious French meal and catch up on the last few decades. I also bonded with her dog, Finn; I miss my Reenie so much I think I would bond with a stone if it reminded me of my dog. Finn really was a lovely little critter.

The next day I found out that not only had I been on the Winnipeg bestseller list for three weeks but I was now #3 on the Calgary non-fiction bestseller list. How cool is that! The tour continues.....

ON FRIENDSHIP

Photo: Renate and Joan

Love might mean never having to say you're sorry, but friendship means never having to say anything at all if you don't want to but being able to say anything at all at any time if you are so inclined. With true friendship, a person can come and go, be herself, just as she would be at home alone, but better, with more options. This is how I felt staying with Joan and Renate in their home - like being in my own home, but better. I felt able to come and go at will, hang out with them if time permitted, and not have to worry about 'being polite' or other social niceties. It was a very freeing experience. The two of them made their home completely available to me, replete with a room, that little blue car, and office supplies when I needed them. We were always happy to see each other.

At times, friendships are taken for granted. Especially when we know people well, we might not always acknowledge how lucky we are to have good friends in our lives. I know there have been times when I have not paid as much attention to my relationships with people as was needed in order to preserve the friendship. I try not to do that anymore. Friends and family (and my dog of course, but then she is my family) are the single most important thing in my life. Without them, my life would not be what it is. I feel loved and understood and am able to do things that otherwise might not be possible. For all of that, I am extremely blessed and never want to forget the important role that friendship plays in my life and the lives of others.

To that end, when I left Calgary, I flew back to Winnipeg for just a few days to celebrate fifty years of friendship with Charlotte and Helen. The three of us had all met at the University of Manitoba in 1960, and have remained friends over the years. Helen is a retired anaesthesiologist now living in Santa Monica and Charlotte is a retired microbiologist currently living in Ottawa. Although I see each friend individually throughout the year, the three of us have not been in the same place at the same time for well over six years, and even then it was in a crowd of people. My wonderful cousin Simon offered us his cabin at Falcon Lake where we could have some quiet time together and catch up on our lives and just be friends. And of course, we absolutely had to do a jigsaw puzzle - what would going to the lake be without a jigsaw puzzle on the table?

I used to spend my summers at Falcon Lake when I was a teenager and when Simon took us for a boat ride covering the six miles or so of lake, once again the memories came flooding back.

"Oh, this is where I used to water ski all the time."

"I remember we broke a shear pin in front of this island and I had to hop in the water and fix the motor."

"I used to dive off the big platform that was over there."

"I broke my ribs on that dock while slalom skiing ."

The leaves are just beginning to turn, and on the almost October Monday there was no one around. The sun was bright, the wind was down, the water fairly calm. Loons were diving, and a large beaver (or muskrat) home was being erected. It was a very renewing and beautiful day. And that jigsaw puzzle was the best way to spend an evening with my friends after a delicious BBQ meal with plenty of liquid lubrication.

Helen: "I need a mottled with one poker and two holes."

Charlotte: "Here's two pokers that might go over there."

Ruth: "I am looking for one poker, one hole and a straight edge."

Medicine? Microbiology? Nope - just three friends putting together a jigsaw puzzle. It was a great evening, even though we never did finish George, Paul, Ringo and John walking on Abbey Road.

It's one thing to talk about friendship and another thing entirely to nurture the relationships with the people in ones life that we love. I have decided to take my friends for granted no longer - if people are going to be in my life, I am going to act as though it means something.

LITTLE BLUE CAR

The day after the Calgary reading, the marathon of visiting went into high gear. Joan and Renate had loaned me the little blue car, which together with my trusty GPS, took me everywhere. This day started out with a drive to Cochrane to visit the studio of Maureen Enns. Maureen has always been one of my favourite artists ever and I am proud to have hanging in my home at least four of her paintings. Aside from loving the way the paintings look, I very much appreciate that her work is so politically conscious in terms of conservation. To check out her work and learn about her current project dealing with the wild horses of Ghost Forest, go to: www.maureenenns.com. We had a great visit, but it wasn't long enough - I left with still many questions and things I wanted to talk about. But it was a start.

The little blue car then carried me to Springbank where I met my friend Sandi, who was back visiting Calgary from her Kenyan home. I had planned my reading in Calgary to coincide with Sandi's visit from Africa and was very happy to have some extra time with her to catch up.

The car and I drove out to meet my medical partner of years ago, Dr. Jann, whom I absolutely adore. I could not possibly imagine having a better medical partner. We sat with a bottle of wine between us and could have talked for many days. Once more, as with all my visits in Calgary, I felt it was not long enough, that I could have gone on talking for much longer.

The last time I was in Calgary was eight years ago, for the funeral of Betty, a very dear friend and colleague. It was a tragic time for all of us. After my visit with Jann, I joined Betty's family for dinner, and we talked about past and present. They are forever part of my Calgary family.

That little blue car drove me everywhere for a week, out to Rocky View to visit Suzanne and the airedale puppies, nine days old and ten weeks old, and older. That was wonderful. Puppies always smell so....puppy-ish. I love cuddling with them. To check out Suzanne's site, go to: www.airedale-zsuzse.com. The car and I went to coffee with a medical resident, who in just months will be a physician. I delivered her years ago and the thrill of having coffee with her, a woman whom I know will be a superb physician, was really quite marvelous. That blue car took me everywhere, at night to Joan's and Renate's where Eric and James, formerly of Hong Kong, currently of Thailand, had stopped by to visit me, to Rodney's, one of my longest Calgary friends and her very sweet dog Luca, back to Joan's and Renate's again for a dinner party with wonderful guests and conversation. That car drove me past my old house, my hospital, my old office, the medical school, and all the while, the memories were pouring in through the windows and into my heart.

I will always have a fondness for that little blue car, for allowing me to visit with so many good friends and reminiscences. I really do feel that friends are one of the greatest blessings a person can have, and we need to nurture our relationships, not get lazy about our friendships. I have been somewhat remiss in the past, and I am trying to remedy that. Thank you, little blue car, for helping me renew some wonderful friendships.