Rural Routes, Blog Version

K and I took a road trip in order to attend a conference in Banff – the organization’s first in-person conference since the Covid daze.

We drove through Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, then returned through Montana and North Dakota. The weather co-operated and the smoke from wildfires in northern Alberta stayed away. Other than a screw that one tire picked up in Montana, there were no vehicle issues.

CANMORE

We spent an hour or two in Canmore, a bustling touristy town and also, we have been told, one of the most expensive places to live in the country.

K approached strangers to ask, “Do you know where Mike lives?’

Most people had no clue what he was talking about and scurried past. A very few took a few seconds to think about it and then laughed. They all had gray hair. You needed gray hair to understand my husband’s reference.

“Mike from Canmore was a character made famous by Royal Canadian Air Farce team member John Morgan. Mike was what you might call an idiot savant, a genius in a plaid shirt, zippered work vest and baseball cap.

I wonder what Mike from Canmore would think about his town in 2023.

TRAITORS

Remember when we played games to make the miles pass more quickly on long drives?

K and I (and the kids when they grew older) used to play a geography game using the first and last letters of place names.

Europe. Ends with E. England. Ends with D. Denmark. Ends with K. Kansas. Ends with S. Ad infinitum.

Count The Trucks. I Spy. So many games

On our return trip, K decided we should play Traitor. I had never heard of it.

“Every time you see a Canada goose, you yell Traitor!” he said. “What are you doing in the United States?”

It didn’t seem quite right to me. Canada has plenty of Canada geese; there’s no harm in sharing with our southern neighbours and besides I am not sure that geese recognize borders. But sure, let’s count geese.

In the end, we forgot the yelling part and just counted geese as we saw them. It kept us busy. Canada geese are everywhere.

MEANWHILE, BACK AT THE CONDO:

Remember: dogs have masters; cats have servants.

HOME AGAIN

On the last day of our drive home, K complained about a sore throat. By the next day, he was coughing and running a fever. Two days later I was doing the same thing.

We have tested negative for Covid. But a week later, we are still struggling to rid ourselves of whatever it is that has hold of us.

HANDS OF TIME

All my adult life, I have followed the same routine when it came to shifts between Standard and Daylight Saving Time.

In the spring, I change my clocks when I go to bed even though the time does not officially change until 2 a.m. the next day. That way there are no nasty surprises.

In the fall, I wait till the next morning before I move the time back an hour. That way it feels as if I am gifting myself an extra hour in the day.

On March 11, the night before the 2023 change to Daylight Savings Time, I realized that there is only one clock in my house whose hands needed to be moved manually. Every other time device would change itself and didn’t need me. I found that rather disconcerting.

This past week, when I replaced the battery in my kitchen clock, I thought again about the hands of time.

We are hurtling towards summer solstice and I do not know where the spring went.

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