The charm of Woodbine and Danforth isn't the corner itself which is rather bleak with its dusty shoe repair shops and all-day breakfasts. No, the charm is in the bus going south, past the picturesque cemetery, down to the boardwalk and the lake, and the gulls who accompany me above with impatient squawks. Like me they have a terrible thirst, in my case for a pint of Alexander Keith's India Pale Ale.

A trail of cats behind me (Merlin, Robin, Fanny -- each gone from this world --) and another one very much here...sniffing the air, eyes darting, tail up by the open window on this lovely and unexpected Indian Summer day.

She told me when she took off her earrings at night she'd put them on her dresser or a bedside table. She noticed after a while that one of the pair would often go missing. She suspected her cat but it was never proven. One year she decorated the Christmas tree with her collection of single earrings.