Something pretty that is not yarn

Last night some friends and I went for a walk over to City Hall to see the fireworks set off every evening for the duration of the Pan Am Games.  Well, every evening that isn't too windy for setting off fireworks directly over a massive crowd.  Translation: no fireworks last night.  But there was this:

I am sure that a giant size light-up sign so nobody forgets the name of your city for a few busy days costs a lot of money that would be better spent on affordable housing and expanded social services, but my first reaction when I saw it was MAN that is pretty!

Somebody was actually sitting inside the first O for a while... I saw his legs hanging over the side.

The water in front of it is a pool you can wade in over the summer, or skate on over the winter.  The curving towers of City Hall were lit up purple, and there were several huge screens hung around the square so everybody could see the faces of the live band, which was playing fantastic music, by the way.

Before we went over, we were all up on the top of our building at the pool, and I took this picture through a screen window of Toronto's skyline as seen from the east, with the building on the far left blocking the CN Tower:

I am looking at this view (from a lower floor) every night now, and I still can't get over it. It's like building blocks layered and grouped so that everything gets taller in the middle.  And it's right outside my window!

At home - at my house I mean - I look out at a fence with a raccoon train trundling over the top of it, so giant buildings are quite a change.  And being downtown now, seeing all the people who've traveled here for a holiday or to watch these games, makes me realize there is a lot of good stuff that goes on in this city that I normally don't even hear about.  I'm glad I'm seeing it now, and hugely appreciate that I can do so in such comfort.

Still working on the ball winding in my non-sightseeing moments - more on that tomorrow.  See you then!