I have been back for almost a week now, and haven't even written about Thanksgiving in Thunder Bay. Not about the beautiful drive, a drive of some 700 kilometres of which 600 went through the Canadian Shield, through rocks, lakes, bogs , creeks and wooded areas. Pines, larches, golden aspen, red shrubs, it was all there and I loved it. 700 kilometres don't seem all that long when the landscape one travels through is fascinating and so attractive, when there is so little traffic and the pace seems leisurely. There are few towns, just two which are worth mentioning: Dryden and Kenora, the latter with a dock for water planes.
The others are more hamlets than towns, although the terminology here is just town. There are a few places where one can stop and have coffee and something to eat. After all, that is what the Greyhound Bus does as well which is taking the same route to Thunder Bay. The road is winding, the land hilly, so not at all boring. If I did it every week, it probably would be. But having commuted by car on one of the busiest roads in Holland for thirty years, from Leyden to Amsterdam, I think this landscape would never ever bore me. Snow would be difficult, but wonderful. The soft green of new leaves on the trees in spring, the yellow and red hues in autumn, the bright sun on the water of the many lakes and creeks in summer, I think I would always enjoy seeing those things. We were lucky, as nature was at its best, with the trees in autumn colours. On the way back we were less lucky as we drove through fog for about an hour before we could see anything at all. And once in Winnipeg, we had a heavy shower.
Apart from enjoying the hospitality of family of friends, sharing in their Thanksgiving meals – for indeed we had two Thanksgiving meals at two different addresses – I was also driven around and shown the most beautiful spots around Thunder Bay. The Kakabeka Falls, and Mount McRae for instance, which I even climbed although not exactly in record time. But the reward was the most wonderful view of the lake, Thunder Bay and the surrounding hills, a patchwork of blues, reds, yellows and greens.
Kakabeka Falls
Then Lake Lenore and Pigeon Creek and Falls, along the border of the USA. Pigeon Creek is the actual border there. We also stood on the banks of Whitefish Lake, a rather big lake and very choppy. Canada is vast and varied, and I have only had a foretaste of it. I haven't seen the East nor any of the big cities, except for Winnipeg. But Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, they are still on my wish list and I suppose they represent a totally different aspect of Canada. Vancouver as well, but I only landed there and did not explore the city, which seems beautifully situated on the oceanfront. But this time I had no wish to see big cities, traffic or malls. I wanted to see the country, the mountains, lakes, hills and waterfalls, the prairies, the old churches and the grain elevators. All that I have seen and enjoyed very much indeed, thanks to friends who know a lot about the history of Canada and know some parts of this vast country very well indeed. That is one of the beauties of travelling with friends, among other things. The best part is of course the friendship.
I also haven't mentioned yet the Kubelek Exhibition in the WAG in Winnipeg. He was a very well-known artist, and for me it was interesting that he grew up on a homestead. He also made illustrations - in a rather naive style - about life as a child on the prairies. As I had travelled through the prairies, it meant far more to me then it would otherwise have done. This was his most cheerful work. In other works he tries to imitate Jeroen Bosch and Breughel. He suffered from mental illness and that shows in his disturbing works, especially the works he painted before his conversion to Roman Catholicism after a spell in a mental hospital in England.
I did not mention either the two Evensongs I went to in Winnipeg, one in St. John's College Chapel of the University of Manitoba by All the King's Men, one in a regular Anglican Church, St. George's. They were both wonderful services, but the one at St. George's was quite an ordeal for me as the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis were by Sumsion (in G), music which I love and know by heart so I would have loved to join in. I also knew the Responses by Ayleward. Both are very good choirs, and the church choir has some excellent voices which seem to be well disciplined. A pity they sang up in the organ loft, at the back of the church, so they were heard but not seen. The Service in St. John's Chapel was very special, but I left the liturgy in Winnipeg and so can't give details about the music.
Fall in Winnipeg
In a way it is good to be back in Holland, for jetlag or not, I immediately joined the choir for Evensong in The Hague the Sunday after my arrival in Holland, and I loved it. All those services form a stark contrast with the one we went to in Revelstoke, musically speaking. But their will to make their community a success and to keep going in spite of their small number, was very moving and perhaps more spiritually inspiring as well, in spite of a lack of aesthetics.
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