My sweetheart came over the
other night, caked in dust and grime, shivering.
"I think I've inhaled
too much lead today," he said.
No pantywaste, this one. All
sinew and bone, tough as jerky, a rusty spike. I replied with a family chestnut.
"You're imaging
things."
Yet another restaurateur in
T.O wanted the distressed look. Reclaimed chic. Dan had been sawing, sanding
and finishing barnyard wood for a week. Barnyard wood is poison, full of feces and nails and
apparently lead. Dan works in a shop that makes melamine factories in China look appealing. I examined his bloodshot eyes.
"You're fine."
Two hours, Advil and an
epsom salts bath later, Dan passed out on my couch, blankets tucked under his
chin. The temperature outside was 37 degrees with a humidex of 42. I suppose I
should have taken his temperature.
I don't know from lead
intoxication. My biggest workplace hazard is a paper cut. What I do know is
that there probably are more farmhouse restaurants opening up in T.O then there
are farmhouses in Southern
Ontario.
I remember reading about
developers bulldozing vast areas of rural China, to build suburbs. At one suburban mall there's a
restaurant with a rural Chinese theme. Maybe some woodworker in China is inhaling lead from the reclaimed wood he's
finishing for the restaurant.
People want wood in their
homes, restaurants and offices because they crave nature. Electronic
communications technology has dulled our senses. Possibly made us dense. Have
you ever watched anyone under 25 try to make change at the local megamart
checkout line without the aid of electronics? It's truly frightening. I feel
quaint being able to count.
I suppose the elegantly
blighted maple, pine and spruce at some of Toronto's most trendy spots brings comfort and a sense of
continuity to the folks who frequent these establishments. I just deleted
"debit-ridden entitled automatons". "Folks" is less
judgmental. I am one of them, one of the urban zombies who's starved for
natural history. Just don't take our electronics away. Do that and who are we?
Who are we now?
Dan update: He is not longer
shivering. This week he is outdoors helping to build a Zen studio.
Sitting at this computer,
communicating via email, I'm the one who feels sick.
