Day 4 - The world goes flat

Dryden, Ontario to Brandon, Manitoba
1860km -2460km
Ride - Going Blank Again
Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther
This American Life podcasts
Radiohead - In Rainbows
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day audiobook


Day 4 of traveling. It's starting to get a bit old, I have to admit. Really, I'm just missing the comforts of home -- my cats, my bed, my couch (RIP) and my free time. I know this last bit sounds ridiculous, but it's true! I mean, I'm not working or following a rigid schedule, and Colin's a fabulous traveling partner, humouring my need to see Huskie the Muskie in Dryden, or stop to take a photo of the semi-lame Big Foot in Vermillion Bay. But however you put it, it's traveling. You aren't home and you can't really choose to just laze around or go for a walk or whatever you want. I could get really philosophical right now about the idea and concept of freedom, but I'll save us all the pain of that. I hope this makes some sense and doesn't just come across as me whining.

Right now we're driving to Brandon, MB. We stopped for the day in Winnipeg to have a late lunch at this cafe/bookstore downtown that is run by anarchists. Seriously! It's pretty overwhelming to walk into with all the art hippies and slogans and books about politics and feminism etc, but when it came down to it, it was just a nice cafe with great vegan food and a totally chill atmosphere. I think their website is www.mondragon.ca . After lunch, and after Colin had gotten a hold of his cousin and aunt that are in town, we wandered around downtown and along the river for an hour and a bit. There are some pretty cool old buildings with the old signs still intact on the sides. Nothing exciting though, just a city. After driving nearly 2000km through northern ontario, I wonder how anyone from those parts can go live in cities. They are just so ugly and characterless. I'm sure the same could be argued from the other perspective -- you get numb to the trees and rock walls and varying terrain, and everything gets boring. I know the big cities and small towns serve different purposes and mean different things to different people, but it's hard to understand how the two things can co-exist.

Being in a city made me a bit sad. Driving for the past 3 days through unfamiliar territory felt like a vacation proper, but being here reminds me of real life again. It's rather unpleasant!! I'm really scared of starting over in a new city, no matter who I have with me. When it comes down to it, your life is lived by you alone, with some support from others to help guide you. You come to depend on the comforts you have, and the familiarities, and the idea of those being taken away from you is something you'd rather not think about. But now I am forced to, and it worries me. So many questions running through my head...I guess they will be answered when the time comes, and I can't force them to be realized before the time is right.

The time has changed now. One hour back. I can't bring myself to change my watch just yet though. I think one of my first purchases when I get to BC will be a dual time watch. On our new wall, I will have two identical clocks, one set to BC time and one set to home.

Animal Corner!!

Today was a little better for creature comforts. Pretty much the moment we crossed into Manitoba, we saw a deer right off the highway, munching on grass. A few km west, what appeared to be a momma deer and two babies were snacking on some luscious greenery. Around 6pm we headed to Colin's cousin's place (the one whose wedding we attended this summer in Manitoba) and were greeted by a toy English Spaniel and a Boston Terrier. Super cute for little dogs! The Boston, Enzo, was relentless in his mission to get anyone to throw his toy, and stood there snorting while staring hard into your soul. Kaiser, the Spaniel, was the more cuddly one, and hung out with me a bit on the couch.
We headed out for dinner with Chris and Lauren, as well as their aunt Geri, and had a few lengthy conversations about horses and riding and Spruce Meadows, and I felt more at ease than I had all day.
I STILL NEED TO CUDDLE A CAT THOUGH.

Here's something relating to animals that I hope you'll all enjoy. Marie and I came across it years ago and watched it over and over again. Yesterday, curse her, she sent me the link and the song once again was rooted in my head until I fell asleep in the hotel bed. ENJOY!!

http://webpages.charter.net/redemption/banana

ps. something went totally crazy with this post and I ended up having to drag and drop photos from some black hole on the page into the body of this post.  Sorry if you're offended.  Yeah, I'm looking at you Jennifer Lee.  Cause I know you're a total blog layout snob.  :D