Truth be told, this isn't the first time my suitcase has seen the Atlantic. Actually, it's seen the Atlantic more than the Pacific, and I'm closer to the west. But this little suitcase has been to Nova Scotia a bazillion times, Ireland and Iceland. (I wish I'd been to Iceland a bazillion times - it's amazing). My family comes from Newfoundland. My grandparents (DJ and Mary) lived in St. John’s before they moved to Cape Breton. But I’ve never been there. So, cousin Joey is getting married to Newfie Julie and while I debated even going to the wedding (how on earth would I find time to do what I needed to do if I’m in Placentia?), my mom said, quite rightly, that when it comes to family you’ll never regret doing something like this. And she’s right. So here I sit in the Toronto airport with some time to kill, I’m tired because I had to get up early and I stayed up late watching Departures (Scott and Justin are crrrraaazy….). My flight to St. John’s will board in an hour. I have absolutely nothing planned in Newfoundland, except for the wedding. We’ll see what happens. Cousin Jaime and I are planning a good long heart to heart in a canoe tied to the dock. We’ll put on life jackets, drink some beers and maybe she’ll play the mandolin. Maybe I’ll see a puffin. Maybe I’ll kiss the cod (oh God I hope not!) or maybe I’ll run into one of my students who is also in “The Rock”. (Do Newfoundlanders say “in the Rock” or “on the Rock” or “by the Rock” or “geez bye, gotta love the rock!” Either way….
Yesterday was my final foray into the Calgary Stampede. You know, as a kid, I really like the movie City Slickers. As an adult, I actually get to experience itfor 10 days EVERY JULY!!! (Note the sarcasm) I went with Ang down to the grounds where we met Aimey after her shift for some greasy, over priced food. As we walked near the Agriculture building (we couldn’t go in because of the smell) I realized that I’m more City than I am Slicker. Give me deep friend Oreos or a corndog any day over watching cows eat hay. It’s just not me. Ang and I went down to watch Serena Ryder who was playing at 3pm. Well, at 12:30 she phoned me (Ang, not Serena – although that would have been cool too) to tell me that there was a 100% chance of rain. 100% chance! That’s not chance, really, is it? It’s more of a certainty and if I was a weatherman I would avoid making grandiose claims of 100% chance - just incase. Plus, you never have to be certain of anything if you’re a weatherman. Stick to 90% chance. Even go as high as 98%. But one-hundred? Really, Mr. Weatherman, you have the only job in the world where you never have to be certain of anything or at least being uncertain will always work in your favour. You could say there is a 2% chance of a rain, and if it rains, you were right! “There is a slim chance that we will have a snow storm this Canada Day. That’s right, folks. There IS a slim chance.” Then, no snow! What is the response of said weatherman? “Thank goddness for the sun. We avoided that snowstorm yesterday. Now for today’s forecast…..there is a 5% chance that it will literally rain cats and dogs today. Ditch the umbrellas, just stay indoors and put out a dish of water. Just incase.” Why, if you could say things like that, would you ever say there was a 100% chance of anything?
But it did rain. And it rained. And it rained.
We grabbed corn dogs and ribbon fries and huddled under an awing until the rain lightened it. It didn’t lighten up. We were soaked. So, we huddled by a door to listen to Serena Ryder, got tired and went for deep friend Oreos. Yum!
To avoid the rain we decided to choose a free event where we could sit. It happened only to be Super Dogs. What could possibly be that super about dogs? As it turns out, not much. A guy in a white suit saying things like “Wow, Earmuffs, good job running through this tunnel!” Super.
We met Aimey and then made our way to the CBC booth to get some cool uber Canadian swag for me to take to Rwanda. An American may don a Maple Leaf abroad but I’d be hard press to say I’d ever met a Texan with the CBC logo on their bag and a t-shirt of Peter Mansbridge. I got a pin. Aimey took a chance at anchoring the news. Funnily enough, it was the weather report.
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