This is a picture of the Stefan Batory - the ship which transported us across the Atlantic from England. We landed as immigrants on November 19, 1973.
For the August 2018 word challenge piece, which I read out to the Uxbridge Writers' Circle, I wrote a short memoir, copied below, giving insight into our naivete about Canada.
The words which we were to use in our writing are shown in italics.
Naivete
As the ship rumbled and vibrated, cutting
through the chilly waters of the St. Lawrence, I leant on the rail,
disappointment cooling my excitement. The topography
was flatter than I’d imagined. The only photographs of Canada that I’d seen
were of the Rocky Mountains and I’d assumed that these pictures represented the
country from coast to coast. My only geography lessons at school had focused
on the Great Lakes, but I had only a scant
understanding of their size and significance. Such was my ignorance as we
made slow steady progress towards our new home.
When
we docked at Montreal the bright colours and welcoming atmosphere astounded me.
This place was in vivid contrast to the dull dreary Tilbury Docks we’d left
behind. Everywhere was alive with
bustle. Such was the efficiency and helpfulness of the Canadians who guided us,
that we were ushered onto a train to Toronto before we had intended to leave Montreal.
We
were young, having just graduated from university in England. We didn’t know
where we wanted to live but all recommendations pointed to an apartment in the
High Park area. Within six weeks we bought a house in Streetsville, and within
ten months after that move, we bought a small brick bungalow on eleven acres in
Uxbridge Township.
We’d
neither of us lived in the country before and still knew little about Canadian
life.
We
adopted a town-raised Irish Setter the day after our move, and she was equally
as naïve. The first thing Tessa did was visit the next-door neighbour’s bull,
circling him and barking, her silky tail swinging from side to side.
Fortunately, the bull wasn’t a particularly aggressive animal and probably had
not seen an Irish Setter before. He appeared to have a quizzical look on his
face as our neighbour helped me to rescue our townie dog.
Despite
the certainty that this incident raised their eyebrows, this neighbour and his
wife have been our friends for the forty-three years since the interesting
encounter.
Tessa
also introduced us to our neighbours on the other side of our property. She had
an uncontrollable urge to chase their
ducks. At first, these neighbours were, naturally, upset. I think a couple of
their ducks died as a result of our dog’s pursuit of them and her picking them
up in her mouth. She was a gentle dog with a soft, retriever’s mouth, but the
ducks hadn’t been told that. Despite these sad and distressing outcomes, we
later discovered that these neighbours fed Tessa biscuits every day, so she
must have used her special charm on them with some success.
One
particularly challenging Canadian phenomenon we knew nothing about until Tessa
introduced us to it, is the skunk. I
couldn’t believe that its rank stink couldn’t be washed off with shampoo. I
didn’t know about tomato juice or the concoctions which I’ve since learned can
be helpful. So, we just had to put up with it until the sticky smelly stuff
wore off.
Tessa
learned her lesson though. If ever there was a sign of a skunk, by sight or
odour, she would half-close her eyes as if to wince and beetle back to the house.
We’ve
lived in Canada for almost forty-five years, and we’re still learning about
this amazing country and what it has to offer. We’ve had many adventures and
hope to enjoy many more memorable experiences. We believe that we were
fortunate to be approved for immigration in 1973 and are eternally grateful for
the warm welcome we received.
Vicky Earle Copyright 2018
For more writing/stories, go to: Short Stories
