Ontario; Again

September 10, 2018

Ontario; Again

When asked, I tell others that I believe the best in people. I remember saying exactly that to Justin’s Uncle when he asked me a short few weeks ago, “aren’t you afraid of people and the potential dangers?”. This however, is completely false; I am a cynic and a realist through and through. So often I find myself looking upon the world as if from an outsider’s view, casting judgements as if I weren’t part of the state of the world and all its problems and complications. This critical viewpoint stemming likely from a fear and loathing of humanity and the state in which it has succumbed to. Maybe I tell people the opposite is true simply because it is easier and I am not an open book in the faces of those I don’t know well. Having that being said, this week I have made the most genuine and unexpected human connections. In Québec City I got chatting with a local at the beach and her friend. They were so welcoming and talked with me as if an old friend. They warmed up to Charlie instantaneously and the three of us dove into the water together as if we’d done this together a million times. The one girl stopped me for a moment in conversation and told me “I just have to say that you are absolutely beautiful”. There is something so genuine and pure about simply telling that to someone you don’t know. I feel as if our souls had connected in a way that only happens so rarely.

Passing through the same sights, I am making my best efforts to see new things. I’ve been driving every day in order to get through Ontario in a timely fashion. After Québec City was Ottawa, where I didn’t do much as it was cold and raining. Then we stayed in Sturgeon Falls. The campground we stayed at was simple, but lovely. There was a dock on the water with a water slide, next to a small beach. Charlie and I went swimming and we had the whole area to ourselves. Then we stayed in Sault Ste. Marie. At this point is when I started to realize that the weather is beginning to get colder. The days are okay, but the nights are cold. I wear a couple sweaters to bed and wrap myself in a warm blanket. Charlie snuggles up really close for warmth and I wrap the blanket around him too. Next we stayed in Marathon. Our campsite was right on the water and I was able to let Charlie swim and roam off leash. Today we drove to Thunder Bay. I set up camp and then took Charlie to a nearby park on the lake. I let him swim and chase after a stick for a while. A little girl came running up to us, grabbed my hand, and together we walked over to Charlie, her father following behind in tow. I was surprised by this instant blind trust of a child. She obviously knew that I was Charlie’s owner and wanted to go pet him. It just took me aback how instant this trust was and how friendly this child had been. We picked flowers together and threw sticks for Charlie until it was time for her to go play in the playground.

As I have been driving every day, I have had plenty of time to think. Little by little each day, I’m learning to be present in every moment and not sweat the small things. Something wonderfully relevant to everyday life that I’ve learned through yoga practices is to release that which does not serve me. Negative thought, energy, any unhappiness, negativity, or anxiety, to just let it go. Accept that it is how I am feeling and that it is valid, but to allow myself to release that negative energy. Life is much too short to be unhappy, always anticipating ‘some day’.

I’m not sure yet where we’ll be tomorrow. Somewhere between here, Thunder Bay, and Winnipeg. I don’t enjoy driving much more than four or five hours at a time so somewhere halfway in between would be favourable. After I make it through Ontario, I know that I’ll feel like I’m on the last leg of the journey home. Which is true, but also not. Home is still three thousand kilometres away, give or take a little. Realistically though, it’ll be the former as I’m not taking a direct route home. I am reminded of Robert Frost’s poem ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’ of which the last line reads “And miles to go before I sleep”. Of course I am taking the line completely out of context of the poem, but it reminded me of my own life. That sometimes we get lost or wander off, sometimes literally, other times figuratively, and we have miles to go before we’re home, until we can rest.