53   Wednesday, October 22   Napanee, ON

Almost to Kingston -- should pass through there sometime tomorrow 
afternoon. The temperatures (daytime) have finally dropped below 
freezing. Had a bit of snow today, but not much. Not enough to stick, 
anyway. I still think I should be able to make it to Montréal before 
any heavy snow hits. Even assuming I go fairly slow, it should be no 
more than a week at most. I'm somewhat ahead of schedule. I didn't 
spend as much time in TO as I expected and TO -> Montréal isn't as far 
as I thought it would be. Finally made some good progress today, about 
70 miles. Going through the Greater Toronto Area was pretty slow. Sign 
in Belleville (dinner) said -7 degrees (20F). I think it's somewhat 
suspect, though. Felt a lot warmer. Heck, if that was -7, I'm not 
worried. I'll take it over a -1 in Vancouver any day!


By Way of Memory
----------------

I saw you sitting there.
You didn't even look, you tied
  Your hair in careful knots.
How was I to know?
You're just a stranger on the bus.
So I laughed and laughed and laughed.
To me it was a lie.

And maybe then I made you
Something just a little more.
I'll bet I probably hurt you;
Don't blame you if I made you just
    a little sore.
But how was I to know?
How was I to know that this
  Talking face had been hurt before?

Now I'm sitting here.
Finding rhymes that appear as
  If they've come by chance.
Your face is a pale ghost;
A memory no longer there.
And I laughed and laughed and laughed.
I don't remember why.

And maybe then I made you
Something just a little more.
I'll bet I probably hurt you;
Don't blame you if I made you just
    a little sore.
But how was I to know?
How was I to know that this
  Talking face had been hurt before?

The snow is falling down.
A thick white shroud obscuring,
  Blinding my backwards eye.
And this is all I have, this ink
To take the place of care.
And laughing, laughing, laughing,
Still we can't see eye to eye.

And maybe then I made you
Something just a little more.
I'll bet I probably hurt you;
Don't blame you if I made you just
    a little sore.
But how was I to know?
How was I to know that this
  Talking face had been hurt before?

I'm sorry, I regret.
I wish it had gone different yet.
I could have cared, should not have laughed.
How easy to forget to forget.
But how was I to know that this laughing face had been hurt before?