Notes on the day from Caroline and Angela: Crisp sunny fall day, perfect driving weather. We had notes from friends on the drive and what to see, what to do, and what to note while driving to stay alert, i.e. note the licence plates of different provinces, do push ups at over sized objects, record when we see cows and other animals.  We did all but the push ups. The drive was comfortable in Angela’s new SUV and the hilly landscape of rocks and trees beautiful, especially the stunning sunset past Deep River. Destination tonight is Sault Sainte Marie, called the Soo, about an eight hour drive from Ottawa.

We wanted to have a theme of the day for our discussions during the drive. Today it’s about looking back on our lives before moving forward. I interviewed Angela, a captive interviewee. 🙂

Q. What are your best hopes for the trip, what are you looking forward to?

A. I’m looking forward to seeing the Ontario route, driving along Lake Superior.

Q. Have you been to Lake Superior?

A. Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Ontario but not Lake Superior.

Q. What is the farthest north you’ve been in Ontario?

A. Georgian Bay earlier this year and  I’ve been to Sudbury and North Bay before for work.

I take it as a good sign that as I was about to leave for my trip, a red maple leaf floated through my sun roof. It’s a crisp and sunny clear fall day and the leaves are starting to change colours. After 12 years of living in Ontario it feels nice to be doing the drive for the first time.

Q. What will you miss most about Ontario?

A.In the last 12 years, I’ve met a lot of beautiful people, engaged in meaningful struggles, activism and engagements. I will miss the people and the circumstances under which I encountered those people. I have bittersweet memories leaving a lovely community of colleagues and friends from all walks of life. I came to Ontario 12 years ago for one year and I was supposed to return to Saskatoon after one year but stayed. Ontario brought me many opportunities to grow, connect and try to make the world a better place. I have no regets but all signs are drawing me west now.

Q. What kind of signs?

A. Love, family, and new work challenges.

Q. What are you most looking forward to with the drive to Calgary?

A. I am looking forward to driving from the rocks and trees of Ontario to the prairies that I am familiar with and then the mountains.

Q. What is the most common misconception of Ontario from people who live out west?

A. My impression of Ontario was only Toronto.  I lived in Toronto for five years and didn’t want to leave. It’s the natural beauty of Ontario everywhere that is awesome even in Toronto, places like High Park and the water front. Also the people are friendly. I am humbled by how much I’ve learned by so many diverse people in Ontario. My 12 years in Ontario had a tremendous way of shaping me.

Q. What is the most common misconception of Saskatchewan?

A. That it is a drive-through province, it’s boring. They don’t realize how rich and diverse the province is and full of beautiful people.

Q. What did you miss most when you first came to Ontario?

A. My family, my brother Gabriel

Q. When you go back to Saskatoon what is the first thing you want to eat?

A. Tomatoes from my father’s lovely garden. It’s so touching to see how much his grandchildren adore being in the garden. When we were kids we used to love being in our grandmother’s garden eating raspberries. Now the children are eating cherries from my father’s garden. Also, my mom’s homemade soup.  In the fall the soups come from the abundant harvest from my father’s garden. Soup continues to be one of my favourite comfort food. (Note: we are stopping in Saskatoon and hope Angela’s mom is reading this and we will have soup)

Caroline:

What is your comfort food?

Speaking of comfort food, we had delivery from Aurora’s last night, a staple take out place in the Soo with home made Italian food. We ordered pizza (you can have it gluten and dairy free!) and a large house salad for two with balsamic dressing.  Yum! We had bought wine earlier in the day at the LCBO (Liquor Control Board of Ontario) to go with it and noticed by the way that every town, however small, seems to have a LCBO. It used to be the church or community hall that was  the most prominent but now it’s the LCBO?  Or perhaps it was because we were dreaming of the pizza with wine we would have at the end of our long drive.

It’s convenient that there is an LCBO in every town around here but I wonder about the government’s priorities. Is making profits from the people they serve top of the list? Or the health and welfare of its communities? The residents in Ontario have no choice by the way, in case you are reading this from another province and country, because the government controls the alcohol in Ontario. Some would disagree that alcohol is an essential service, and I don’t disagree, but I wonder about priorities. Perhaps this questioning is fueled by my car mate Angela who inspires me with the great strides she and her friends have made in social activism by asking the question why and why not? In any case, we were thankful that there was an LCBO so we could grab our wine and scotch for our night caps 🙂 Our comfort drinks after a long day on the road.