Oh? Canada?

Yes. Canada.  Have you been?  You must.  You absolutely must go and see this country for yourself.  I think I have always been disparaging about Canada because I grew up 20 minutes away from it.  Crossing into Canada was no big deal the entire time I lived in NY state.  As a kid it meant we HAD to wear our seatbelts and not be rude to the border guard and as a young adult crossing in because the drinking age there was 19(!) it meant have a designated driver and don't be rude to the border guard.  Keep all your funny drunk quips to yourself until they wave you through.  Then you can mock Canada and Canadians with your ehs, and hockey and wonder why their dollar bill is really a dollar coin.

Funny thing is that I married a Canadian.  A Canadian I met in Dallas whose family lives two hours away from my NY family.  It was fate for many reasons but this was convenient for visiting purposes as well.  Bill has been in the states as long as I have been in Texas so sometimes it is easy to forget he is Canadian.  He will say "about" like "abooooout" and make me giggle sometimes or grow a little misty when Canada takes gold in something, but I never thought too much about him being Canadian.

My previous Canadian trips had only taken me as far as Guelph and really, that area between the border and Guelph, is not so much different than Western New York.  I also think I have been to Toronto once or twice, but on field trips and in a contained no exploring kind of way.  On our epic road trip this year, we traveled further north in Canada then I have ever been and I will say that I am disparaging of Canada no more.  I am in awe.  Oh Canada indeed.

Rolling, green, bucolic.

Canada is lush.  It is verdant. It is bucolic.  It is green and vast and rolling.  You drive by farm after farm after farm and wonder how anyone in the world can be starving.  Bill pointed out the huge farms are probably growing soybeans for industrial meat raising, but they were still gorgeous.  Our road to his sister's house by Golden Lake took us through Algonquin Park.  Yes, the only way to her house was through a national park.  60km of trees and lakes and hills and scenery that made you humble.  It made your heart and eyes ache to look at how beautiful nature can really be.  It was birch trees peeling along the side of the road and pine trees growing higher than any tree in Texas knows about.  We kept an eye out for moose for SG and while we didn't see a moose, we did see a mama bear and three cubs.  I was not scared, I was only amazed.  And the air?  It smells clean.  Clean like a rain shower when it hasn't even rained or like pine needles on a soft dirt ground.  We got so used to clean that let's just say crossing into Detroit was a wake up for sure! SG asked what that smell was and Bill commented "That is America."

Our accommodations: family of five, no waiting.

We stayed with Bill's sister for three days and three nights and in those three days and nights I have seen my husband more at peace and happy than I think I have ever seen him.  He was home.  He was canoeing and kayaking and teaching his kids how to do the same.  SG took to the kayak like a natural.  My anxious girl was whipping through the waters of Bonnechere like a pro.  We hiked up a mountain that was actually a mountain and where we had to boost ourselves over rocks and stop to see if we were on the path or not.  Bill decided the path wasn't actually enough for him and led us bushwhacking up to the tip, tip, top of Blueberry Mountain.  We had spooked a deer so my heart was in my throat knowing that a bear and a wolf had to be next. (yes, I am sure they travel in threes like that) We tried out new things and all were a success!  I had my first poutine (fries with gravy and cheese curds) and wonder how I got to be 40 without trying it before.  My son, the boy with 20/60 vision in one eye and no depth perception to speak of, is a champion knife thrower. That child stood and threw knives at a wooden target for hours until he got it.  The teen insisted on showering and wearing full make-up everyday but even she got into a canoe and led us in song around the campfire.  The stars at night were beyond plentiful and I saw my first shooting star, and then my second and my third.  We listened to the bullfrogs croak, a little incessantly I have to say, and animals splash into the dark water and the eerie call of the loons.  I think we may have even heard a wolf howl.

Look, so clear the trees reflect in it!

 Our time in Canada may have been short, but I learned so many things while we were there.  I learned what it is like to see my husband in a place where he is not the square peg trying to fit in a round hole. I learned that when there is nature in abundance, kids are so happy they forget about connecting to the Wifi.  I learned that my husband's family is made up of amazing, loud, funny, outspoken and multi-dimensional people I want to see more than every six years.  I learned that Canada is not just Northern America; it is it's own amazing country and I feel bad for not giving it any credit over the years.  Yes, the metric system is confusing and Celsius is weird, but as far as preserving what they have and living in harmony with their surroundings, they have us beat and beat badly.  

It was hard to leave and especially hard on Bill.  I feel like he left a piece of his soul there in the canoe on the Bonnechere.  Sure,we can canoe Town Lake with the 7000 other people some weekend but it won't be the same.  There is a peace and a quiet and a soul refreshing contentment that you can only find in Canada.  It will be too long until our next visit and we want to try it in the winter.  I am afraid if we went in the fall and the Bonnechere was lit with red, orange and gold trees I would never leave.  I would give it all up to live in a little cabin on Muriel and Butch's land and watch the trees in their glory and listen to the bullfrogs at night.  I'd watch Bill do a million things I never even knew he could do and watch him smile as he did them.  I'd watch my girl skim along the river in her kayak with her hair flowing and her face taken up with her smile and listen to the thunk of knives hitting their target as the boy throws them over and over and think oh,Canada indeed.