Broadview.
I like the name.
It makes me think about new perspectives, wider angles and new ways of looking at things. It makes me thinks about some good advice I once heard: to look ahead 25 years and see if whatever's bugging me today seems so important. Come to think of it, I guess it also says, "Hey, look at the broad!"...which is perfectly appropriate under the circumstances.
The subway station is located at Broadview and Danforth in Toronto’s Riverdale neighborhood. Broadview Avenue offers Toronto's best view of the skyline and I can't imagine a more beautiful cityscape anywhere in the world. As the subway trains travel west from Broadview Station under the stately Prince Edward Viaduct, they allow a brief glimpse of the outstretched Don Valley before returning underground.
I had checked out a few other busking locations this afternoon, but they were already taken. Buskers know that the pre-Christmas rush is an excellent time for donations. My first choice was Osgoode, but an accordion player was there, playing rousing holiday tunes to the delight of passers-by.
Then I realized that I really needed to be at Broadview. ("I’ll Be Home for Christmas".)
I knew that no other musician was likely to be there. Despite its optimistic name, Broadview is a somewhat homely spot for busking. The station itself has been under construction for months. Tracks are being refurbished, some mysterious digging has been going on outside, and a new elevator is being installed directly across from the performance area. Also, a large metal barrier was blocking the space between the yellow dots. I gently moved it off to one side and started setting up my gear.
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As I began to play Tall Trees (with its reference to "broad horizons"), I noticed a youngish woman scratching a lottery ticket at the counter beside me. (The busking spot at Broadview is less than ten feet away from both a lottery kiosk and a Gateway Newstand. It’s also directly across from a bank of pay phones and very close to two escalators. Although it’s not really the most acoustically-wonderful location, it’s a great spot for people-watching.)
She stayed at the lottery kiosk for more than twenty minutes. Eventually, having used up all her money (I assume) without winning anything, she gave up and headed off past me toward the trains. I wondered how much money she’d spent on the lottery tickets. She must have been convinced she’d win something. I played When You Wish Upon My Heart ("you can buy your ticket at the corner store, say a prayer at midnight for something more...") and thought, smugly, I don’t buy lottery tickets. Then I glanced at the CDs in my case and wondered if other people might see them as another kind of gamble.
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Many people came through with children today, because the kids are away from school for the holidays. When children passed by, I played a Christmas song like "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" or "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus". I felt awkward, though, when a little boy from my daughter’s Grade 3 class came through the station. He stared at me, probably wondering why his friend’s mom would be in a subway station singing for handouts. His mother looked shocked and embarrassed and quickly pulled him away as they passed.
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A woman gave me a bag of groceries: a jug of cranberry juice and a litre of milk. Because we’re two days away from Christmas and I’m out here busking instead of grocery shopping, her gift (the first of its kind) is deeply appreciated. Tonight my son wanted some of the juice, but I said we should save it for Christmas dinner.
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I have decided that I like Broadview more than any other station so far. I like the fact that it’s close to home and that I run into people I know there. I like the fact that it’s under construction. I like the humble little corner with the barrier that has to be moved out of the way. I like the floor littered with discarded lottery receipts: the evidence of misplaced hopes and the possibility of miracles. I like the fact that no other musician is ever there. I like the fact that it’s perched above a valley and that when you ride the train from Broadview you can see the city and the river and the sky. I like the name. The bigger picture. The view of the broad.
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(Later, when I go home, I pass through Pape Station—my old familiar territory. A woman about my age is there, singing "Silver Bells". She has an amplified microphone, which I’m not sure is officially allowed, and she doesn’t have a TTC Musician’s License on display. Her son, about the same age as mine, stands beside her. I don’t have the heart to ask if she has a license. I throw her two dollars.)
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