6/26/22
The city of Montreal has a really cool “Ruelle Verte” program. The term means “green alleyway,” and neighbors can get together and choose to turn their alleyways into works of art, with murals and other cool decorations, and this is officially supported by the city. There are signs encouraging motorists to slow down for the sake of the “enfants” living near the alleys, and sometimes plantings out on the main streets next to the alleyways, with signage indicating that those neighbors are responsible for these beautification plants (some of which are edible vegetables!)
It was another very hot day today (high of 93F/34C) until the rain started this evening and cooled things down considerably. Aurelie took me out on foot in the early hot sun for a walking tour of some of these alleyway murals in her neighborhood.
Aurelie is a devoted minimalist, who sews many of her own household items to avoid using disposables. I have been so impressed to see all of these items, including the pillowcases on my bed, many tablecloths and cloth napkins, wall decorations (and even a chalkboard she made herself!) and, perhaps most impressively, a “paper towel roll” made up of cloth towels—smooth on one side and terrycloth on the other—that all snap together. (See photo.) Truly impressive!
Along our walk, we stopped at one of at least six zero-waste stores in the city of Montreal. This city is amazing.
After the walk, we came back and rested for a while, and then went out to meet a friend of Aurelie’s who is also passionate about Nonviolent Communication (NVC) as Aurelie and I both are. This woman is also planning to try her first short bike tour in a few weeks, so we encouraged her on that.
On the way to meet her, we passed another beautiful church, so I snapped another pic.
Tomorrow I plan to meet up with a friend I know from Portland’s dance community, who moved to Europe a few years ago. She and her husband are staying in Montreal for a while, near the botanical garden. We will visit the garden together tomorrow!
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