My country bumpkin family often refers to Toronto as “the big smog.” I usually do it in a teasing, almost loving way, like I’m poking fun at an old friend. Besides, it’s only fair. We get “the sticks,” “the boonies” and “the backwater.”

But today — as I chewed some particularly sad and rubbery wakame salad at Midland’s one sushi restaurant — I found myself pining over some of Toronto’s finer points. So I wrote a list of things I miss about the city:

• JF
• People — friends, colleagues, my fellow Cantores choristers, and the Rebelo family
• Matt Galloway
• Good sushi
• Good Any Indian food
• The plethora of job postings with decent wages
• Diversity
• Solomon’s seal tea (Yishey, why did you get me hooked on that shit?)
• The Toronto Blue Jays
• The St. Lawrence Market
• Pride
• Regularly discovering new corners and nooks
• Driving through yellow lights
• The Grid
• Anonymity
• Properly stocked LCBOs
• Social media that actually keeps up with local news
• Concerts
• Starbucks

I think I took this at Nuit Blanche 2012.

Then, I promptly built a list of things I don’t miss a mite:

• Looking nice all the time
• Congestion
• The TTC
• Noise
• Warmer temperatures, with sticky air and half-assed breezes
• The smell of garbage day
• The pace of everything (but driving and social media)
• Crowds
• Feeling totally disconnected from the people around me
• Biking accidents
• Yorkdale mall
• House prices
• Eating at restaurants almost daily
• Rob Ford
• Parking downtown
• The Toronto Maple Leafs
• Crazy rent prices
• Getting lost in the PATH
• The cost of food at farmer’s markets

Don’t worry, I’m not second guessing my choice. Just re-acquainting myself with what I’ve consciously decided to leave behind. A bittersweet exercise.