Dear Reader,
As summer draws to a close, I’d like to reflect on a particularly good day I had back in June, on the first official day of summer.
I began the day by running errands with my mom. On a whim, we ended up in a restaurant that holds a special place in my heart: Bon’s Off Broadway.
For the uninitiated, Bon’s is an anarchic restaurant in the Lower Mainland where you can enjoy delicious/affordable food and jukebox music while you marvel at the various (ahem) contributions of previous patrons that adorn every surface.
Usually, when I go to Bon’s, I like to arm myself with a stationery kit of multicoloured markers and stickers, but since we’d come here on a whim, I only had access to the contents of my backpack- fortunately, I’m an arty-party-nerd-punk, so I did still have markers and stickers, just not as many as I’d’ve liked.
As we waited for our food, I went to work on adding to our booth’s wall.
First, I found a plea for queer liberation that had some free real estate, so I grabbed some stickers and added a plea for peace:
Next, I added a flapping dragon toy as a gift for the next party to sit in our booth:
And lastly, an act of shameless self-promotion (if you found my site through this card, please let me know!):
Then, our food arrived (savoury breakfast food for only three dollars!!). It was delicious. 😋
Then, I went home and took a nap because that night I was hosting a summer solstice all-nighter! I’ve done this for a couple of years, now- on the shortest night of the year, we gather at sunset, and party in the park until sunrise. It’s always a mixed bag, and this year was no different. It was set to rain, but I hadn’t taken enough measures to ensure that everyone stayed dry. All of us brought umbrellas, and before the rain began I tried in vain to assemble a makeshift tarp with garbage bags, packing tape, and rope (note to self: invest in a portable canopy for next year). Thankfully, my loved ones are all as strange as I am, so we managed to have a good time despite the persistent plink-plonks from above.
And that was how I rang in the summer season this year. It was one of those days that’s very long, but in the best way, where you see so many people and make so many memories that you end the day exhausted and dazzled. I’m very grateful I got to experience it.
Here’s to many more,
Robin
🎀🕸️