Globe Corner Blogs

North of the border, Down Blue Jay’s Way

Photo by Kate

Some people might think it’s crazy to travel to a foreign country to see your favorite team play a game. Judging by the number of Red Sox jerseys at the Rogers Centre last week in Toronto, I would say that is not the case for the  members of Red Sox Nation. On Monday and Wednesday, I was treated to the sights and sounds of Red Sox fans drowning out the cheers of the home team fans. People were ordering “bee-ah” from the concessions stands and “wickeds” were flying through the air.

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Yesterday I played “Customer.” It’s similar to playing “House,” only instead of  serving a dinner made of plastic to my stuffed animals I went on an imaginary vacation. I pored over every guide book available for the place, unfolded every map ever drawn, and then stood staring at the shelf perplexed and overwhelmed.

After the initial wave of panic subsided and I’d taken a deep breath–in through the nose, out through the mouth, flapping hand motions–I steadied myself and reached confidently toward the Québec shelf.

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Lake Erie Beach--photo by Llalan

I’ve said it once, but I’ll say it again: I don’t want you to go here. Last year I told you all the horrible reasons to avoid this tiny Ontario, Canada town; this year, I’ll tell you why I was lying.

The Food: The night we arrived our favorite fruit and vegetable farm stand (where the corn is so sweet and the peaches melt in your mouth) was closed. We were forced to go to the local pub, The Sand Bar. Everyone in the party ordered fish and chips (the two-piecer), a bottle of Blue (Labatt) and gorged themselves like the true Americans we were. I think we gave ourselves away, despite my father’s addition of “eh?” after every statement.

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Globe Corner Bookstore’s Shortlist of Canadian Literature

We have plenty of jokes about Canadians down here in The States, but there is nothing to joke about with their literature. Browse through fiction and nonfiction about our friendly neighbor to the north. Choices run from a romp through the Canadian Rockies in the early 20th Century to short stories written over a lifetime spent on Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

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Choosing Wilderness: My Life Among the Ospreys
by Claude Arbour
Arbour documents his personal journey from high school dropout to noted ornithologist and conservationist, explaining how he goes beyond reintroducing birds into the wild to preserve a network of nesting sites in the lake region.

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Island of Seven Cities: Where the Chinese Settled When They Discovered America
by Paul Chiasson
The Island of Seven Cities proposes the existence of a large Chinese colony that thrived on Canadian shores well before the European Age of Discovery and unveils the first tangible proof that the Chinese were in the New World before Columbus.

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Sable Island
by Sheila Hirtle and Marq de Villiers
Sable Island is constantly moving, its beaches disappearing and reappearing in storms, its very body in slow motion to the east. Because of this, it is a metaphor for the way the planet governs itself and to understand the forces of entropy.

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The Iambics of Newfoundland: Notes from an Unknown Shore
by Robert Finch
Finch evokes a landscape of raw beauty in detailed essays that ebb and flow as we make the journey with him, straining to hear the waves. He also talks with Newfoundlanders and allows them to bring to life an island tucked between provinces, languages, and cultures, a land of ancient hardship and stirring beauty.

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Captains Courageous
by Rudyard Kipling
One of Kipling’s most enduringly popular works, this classic tale of the sea and fable of a boy’s initiation into the world of men is accompanied by a brand-new Introduction.

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Island: The Complete Stories
by Alistair MacLeod
The author’s short fiction–just 16 stories published over 33 years–deals intimately with life on his native Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia.

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In the Heart of the Canadian Rockies
by James Outram
First published in 1923, In the Heart of the Canadian Rockies is Outram’s record of his adventures and exploits in the early years of the 20th century among the massive mountains straddling the Alberta/British Columbia boundary.

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The Shipping News
by Annie Proulx
Proulx’s story is about Quoyle, betrayed then widowed, looking to remake a life with his two daughters on the Newfoundland coast. He finds resurrection, and the hope for love “without pain or misery.”

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A Stormy Lake Erie--photo by Llalan

I just got back from a place I like so much, I won’t name it. I will say that it is a small town in Ontario, Canada, and that I want it all to myself every summer from now on, just as it has been since my family and I stumbled upon it over two decades ago. I like it so much, I’m not even sharing a sunset picture with you — here is a storm. It’s just that…I’m sure I’m the only one who would ever want to live here forever and ever. See those fearsome waves and menacing clouds roiling up Lake Erie? Not somewhere you would ever want to be, am I right? I mean sure, this storm happened the evening we got there and was over the middle of the lake…and every other day was 75-degrees and sunny (in that bright open way that only skies over virtually empty beaches can be), but you can never be sure. It’s better to be safe and go to Florida. There is really nothing to do in my little town on the lake, anyway — just read on the beach, sleep on the beach, eat fresh fruit in the cabin, read on the beach… And the sun is so northern and indirect that it can really only sun-kiss those as vampire-pale as me. Forget the water, too. It’s absolutely frigid! Only the foolhardy venture out on little green air mattresses and let the gentle waves lull them to sleep. Only the plain stupid fight their way out on the windy days to where it gets shallow again and body-surf wave after wave to shore. So, really… Continue Reading »

Montreal Bike Path--photo by Kate McQuillen

In many of the northern cities I’ve lived in, such as Toronto, Chicago, and Boston, the arrival of warm weather brings a sort of delirium. More than just nicer temperatures, there is a feeling in the air of promise and excitement, mixed with relief and thankfulness. We squint, and recognize that bright yellow orb in the sky, from so many months ago. We are ready to sunbathe, anywhere and everywhere, for the next 90 days.

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Trailblazer Trans-Canada Rail Guide by Melissa Graham

Since arriving in Toronto about nine months ago, I’ve been hearing about poutine. As a vegetarian, it took me some time to find a version I could try, but I’m happy to say I’ve finally had the experience. The Québécois will tell you not to eat “poot-zeen” outside of their province, but if you’re vegetarian, keep your eyes peeled in Toronto for veggie versions; if you’re not picky, just sample some at your local Canadian Burger King.

Poutine seems to be something of a national dish, the food to snack on while watching the Leafs lose, or while enjoying some curling. The key ingredient is cheese curds, and for those of you who know Wisconsin, yes, these are the same delicious nuggets that prompt rural A&W franchise managers to make their employees wear t-shirts that say “Got Curds?” Continue Reading »

National Geographic map of Canada

I like to think that through our sale this month we are promoting tourism to Canada. More Americans should go there. A lot more. I, myself, am quite a fan. Almost every August of my life has been spent in part in Canada. Every time I tell someone where I am going I am met with: “Canada?!” Then they assume I must be going to Toronto, which many US citizens seem to consider an American city that simply wandered too far north in a moment of confusion. When I correct them and tell them the true location of my favorite place on earth, I am met with more bafflement, now mixed with mild disgust: “Lake Erie?!?” Yes. I stay on the Canadian coast of the Great Lake in a tiny fishing town — it’s almost directly across the water from Cleveland, but I usually leave this fact out to avoid further astonishment. Nonetheless, the whole matter befuddles many, so allow me to illustrate the reasons why I love our neighbor:
1. Loonies.
2. Ordering a “Blue” (Labatt’s) at the bar. Continue Reading »