Someone recognized me among all these thousands of people walking up and down Yonge Street during the annual Aurora Chamber Street Festival last weekend. I got myself an ice-cream cone. Vanilla to be exact. I asked for not too tall ice cream, I still had my photo gear to look after. I wanted to sit on the United Church bench under the tree, the one I photographed millions of times but never sat on. Two young ladies beat me to it. I leaned against a post on Tyler Street instead to rest and contemplated how nice would it be to have picnic tables on the open lot where the United Church used to stand. It’s been over a year since we lost our local relic in Town. This corner will never be the same, but we are getting used to it. It was a long walk from Edward Street.
“I love the outdoor festival feeling.” ~ Joshua Bell
As I was resting and my thoughts were flowing, absorbing all those passing people, a man emerged, with a brown furry adorable beautiful creature on a leash, a dog of course, and pointed a finger at me, “you are that woman,” he said. He seemed puzzled for a few seconds, as if he couldn’t really place that something to that woman. So I came to the rescue, “yes it is me, I am that woman.” He was referring to my living in Aurora photo journal blog. We had a short but great conversation. He wasn’t from here. He was in Aurora helping a friend. He knew my blog. I recognized the dog.
I met many people walking that day. I saw many people I recognized but I lost them in the crowds. I heard my name many times from the crowds, some were for other Annas.
So many millions of footsteps, and not a single footprint left behind. So many conversations, unrecognizable. I heard some say 30,000 to 40,000 people visit the Aurora Chamber Street Festival. How do they know? Perhaps a magic equation they know about. I attempted to calculate all the heads in the photograph, but that is like counting fluffy sheep before bedtime.
And to conclude, the Longest Street Sale on the Longest Street, Ron Wallace’s idea; perhaps a good excuse to publish the longest photo journal blog post today. Enjoy!
Anna Lozyk Romeo
Aurora, ON
