Last night was the toughest bus haul of trip. Our bus (the only bus) left Kapuskasing at 12:30 am, only to go an hour and a half down the road where it dropped us for a three hour layover at a truck stop. Sidney was delighted to 'stay up all night'. He prides himself on such feats, much like his mama does. So after trying to nap in the early evening, we trudged down the highway to the bus stop, Sidney, roused from his nap, the walking dead. We sat at the bus stop, watched a fox run down the street and slapped at mosquitoes.
When we arrived in Hearst, we found a couch for truckers to sit on and settled in. Then the roars of drunken tree planters were heard. End of contract party, flush with money and liquor. One fellow who had far beyond his limit. Was I ever like this? Oh probably.
I spent my time chatting with a softspoken and beautiful Cree twenty-something fellow, bringing his year old baby girl home to Cochrane from a pow wow in Thunder Bay. He spoke Cree, Ojibwe, French and English. Hunted moose, drove heavy machinery and had lived and worked in any number of places across the province. He said he was scared to be taking care of the baby on his own, but he was able to change her diaper without waking her. Impressive. Said his parents would help him out as he would also be simultaneously working, taking a course on gas management.
This morning when I woke up I saw the rugged cliffs, lakes and really remote areas of Longlac and beyond. This is some friggin beautiful countryside. Now we're in Thunder Bay, which seems shockingly urbane. xoxo
lucky you's.G
ReplyDeleteGee whiz, intrepid triad! what stories you are gleaning and how envious I am as I get used to the on-line d ness of an online course at Vancouver CC on adult education. Excellent stuff, its just getting down to it, clumps of time. And its bleeding raining here again today. We did have two days of Summer though. Mossey problems here too cos of H2O. xo xo xo d
ReplyDeleteGrace and Abby say hi. Sid looks a lot bigger than when he left. He must be growing! We miss you guys! Les - saw your mom last weekend and she was off to a good start for art class. The scenery in Haliburton was inspiring!. Hope you can stop attacking all big corporations eventually as I work for one but you can't choose your relatives right, Mac (what you likely say about me). Loved the stories about Kap.
ReplyDeleteLove T, T, G and little A.
By the way, did you get our note that we are getting a dog?
it's interesting, my buddy gian mura talked about how some folks working within large corporations do so with the hope of creating change - and that this is what pop was doing, and what i think you have always tried to do my dear sister. I dislike the structure and think it has deep problems (the large corporate structure) but still love many of the people within it and respect the work they do.
ReplyDeletenice news about the dog, i think we are getting one when we get back though sometimes it is a cat. We are in your old digs, sid remembers going to the zoo here with gracie!
lol mac, sid and les