White Bus Black Dog

Our posting has been slowing down as our trip has been slowly ending.
The weeks we spent in Ontario didn’t really count as White Bus Black Dog material, as it was all family visit, and the trip east from there wasn’t completely novel, either.
We have now driven the highway between Kingston, Montreal, Quebec City, Fredericton and Halifax at least 4 times, each.
Still, it was bus living, and bus living includes surprises like breakdowns (in Quebec!) and grease hunting, substandard meals out of their grocery store packaging. The breakdown was our grueling horror story of the week.
Crossing the border under the Nova Scotia flags set off a desperation inside me to turn around and go back West … North … anything but “home.” (I still can’t help myself from using quotation marks around that word).
Rolling across the MacKay bridge, our first view of the Atlantic ocean since we have spent so much time at the Pacific, was a letdown.
I don’t think either of us were prepared for how much we were going to despise familiarity. Although we had made a list in conversation of things we were excited to get back to in Halifax, this was head knowledge and the heart was saying: flee.
Although there are so many good things about being in Halifax, like barbecues with friends and bikeability of life, I’m in mourning for travel and adventure.
Then I remember the dirty floor, dirty boxes, dirty sheets in that bus. And I can think of this as a well needed break from it. A time for everything under the sun.

It’s just Muddy and me, these days, visiting my parents. They are very caring granddogowners, but Muddy knows he is missing some characters in his life, he just isn’t sure who. The uncertainty and stealthiness of the sadness makes him feel more attached to me, his only rock in these hard times.

Letters between Cambridge and Stoney Lake (edited)

Hey Paul,

Did you hear that NSPIRG is hiring? 20 hours a week @$15 to write grant apps, manage their library and publications. I can’t think of anyone who might be interested. Can you?

I washed all the grease rags today and my mom and I cleared the garbage out of the bus. I’m going to take all the milk crates out and maybe get rid of some/rearrange things so we can fit the bikes inside, since  your mom is going to want her rack back. We’ll need more space also for the sewing machine, the wind turbine, etc.

Do you know any one with bolt cutters, so we can get the bike lock off?

I watched the first episode of Rome, and didn’t really think it was very good, but I guess the history is interesting. Political candy.

How is Gordon doing? Muddy has settled back into his old self: lies around all day, chews things, playful. Stuff he could never allow himself to do if he had to guard us against Gordie’s affections all the time. Makes me wonder if they wouldn’t do better if they were apart, you know? But then it would be up to us to tire him out (not that it takes much, with the magootch).

Let me know if you think you can get a ride to Cambridge with your sister, ok?

-Bethany

——

Hey,

I did get that NSPIRG e-mail, yes. Sounds like it would be an all right job.

Thanks for doing all that cleanup work on the bus. We have bolt cutters here, but they’re small ones that I don’t think would be nearly strong enough to get the lock off. Did you try the combinations, too?

Had a busy day here so far. We’re fixing up the ceiling in the kitchen, so it has involved lots of time spent up on a latter, taping and mudding drywall, etc. I stepped on a nail at one point. I’ve never stepped on a nail before. It went about an inch into my foot and bled a fair bit. Been reading lots of that Orwell book, too. Man, that wartime diary stuff is interesting.

Gordon is doing well. He’s been having a nice little Gordon day: running around, lying around, looking for lights and finding some on occasion.

Unfortunately my sister isn’t coming up anymore.

Paul

—–

That’s too bad about your sister. I was crossing my fingers that you could come so I wouldn’t have to do the whole bus clean up myself, but I guess I have a good many days to spread it out over. I took lengthy breaks today, watched “Frida” and listened to a few This American Life episodes from the archives. Ira Glass is so friendly.

-Bethany

—–

Please don’t do the entire bus cleanup! I’ll gladly do some at my Mom’s place, and I’ll feel terrible if you do it all.

Paulthany

—–
Any progress on your fiction/submissions dramas?

-Bethany

—–

Some progress on a couple of stories. Lots of ideas written down and several interviews conducted. Got to like the voice recorder.

How about you? What’s up in writing land? Getting ready for Whetfest ‘09?

How’s the time with your parents going? We’re having a nice time up here. Finishing the ceiling in the kitchen has been moderately enjoyable. Bring me back to when I did drywalling as a job after high school. Sweaty and fun.

Gordon is being awfully fun and playful these days. He’s always wanting everyone to chase him. Cute pup.

Love,

Paul

—–

I took Muddy over to visit my friend Angela today. She’s
moving to North Bay to work as a nurse, she just got her papers.

Whetfest: well, I don’t have anything ready for him, but maybe if I
had some deadlines I could whip something up. I have a couple of
developed story ideas now.

What do you want to do with the interviews you’ve conducted? Who did
you interview?

-Bethany

—–

Helloo,

How’s it going? I think the poochers stress each other out a bit, but not to such an extent that they should be separated. What do you think? I like them both. What could we possibly do?

Today we’re going to try and catch lots of fish. I think Angela and Dad both have licenses, but I don’t and I ain’t gettin’ one.

I worked on a couple of stories this morning, which was nice. I need to get a decent short story or two together before September in case I have to submit first. I’ve also been trying to edit some of my Creative Non-fiction so that it’s ready to send away for potential publication. Ahhh!

What are you up to today?

Love,

Paul

—–
Hey,

Bob Dylan is releasing a Christmas album!

-Bethany

—–

I just puked in my mouth.

Paul

—–

Wanna see that movie The Cove?

—–

Cool. Yes.

Did you submit your Gazette bio? Gordon had a great day yesterday. He played with a neighbour’s beagle for about 3 straight hours. Lots of back and forth play humping.

How are you and what’ve you been up to?

—–

Bus cleaning, bucket cleaning, bus cleaning.

Today we are going to London. I’m just going to hang out with Muddy around town, but my parents are going to a party. Yesterday we spent the evening in the garden, weeding and planting, and Muddy learnt a new trick: How to jump off something that is 2 metres off the ground. He’s a pro!

Did you guys catch as many fish as you wanted to? Did you eat it?

Hopefully the beagle was male.

Muddy is a sweetie, these days, too. I leave him off the leash and he just follows me around outside (for short stints). We are re-learning the game of “fetch”.

Yeah, I sent my Gazette bio in.

Ok, back out to cleaning the bus.

-Bethany

—–

Nooo! Please stop cleaning. Please leave me some. This is driving me nutso!

We caught about 70 fish or so, but only 3 were big enough to keep. I didn’t want to keep any, but Angela was adamant. So now there are three frozen fish in the freezer.

Yes the beagle was male.

It’s great to hear that Muddy is being good. Gordon is being good, too. He’s discovered a liking for chasing frisbees.

Hope you have a nice time in London. I’ll be heading to my Mom’s place tomorrow, though she won’t be arriving in town until the night of the 10th. I guess I can do some writing and whatnot.

Love,

Paul and Gordon

The quantity of writing that I hope to do about this trip is paralyzing. The bulk of the travelling is done, so I have switched over to processing and cataloging mode: and that always in my mind is as a lead up to a writing project. I have several idea of stories from the trip that I want to write (ok, three so far), but they are big ones. One of them, in fact, quite a monstrosity.Where to begin?

Why, with a blog entry, of course.

One of the stories in my brain is about the lessons that Walmart has taught me this trip. Traveling served to weave a thread of love into the tapestry of our deep loathing for this mega-chain. Walmart bathrooms were always open, available, and stocked with paper towels. The parking lots were often the only welcoming overnight parking space for miles around. The leaps our hearts did when the thick midnight air ceded to the deep blue glow of that monstruos, mass produced sign felt like betrayals, and our enrtrenched use of North America’s Walmarts as overnight pitstops hammered the contradictions of our lives further and further into our minds.  Our hatred was strengthened. We took our revenge out on the store in many varied and increasingly daring ways. Once, I found myself in the store for my morning tooth-brushing, but I had forgotten my toothpaste. I thought nothing of strolling into the pharmacy section (front of the store, to the right), cracking a box open and helping my toothbrush to a pea-sized dolop from a pristine tube. I then replaced the dented tube, shut the box and stacked it neatly with its brothers. Let this anecdote be but a teaser of the shocking and emotion-laden tales that will make it into the forthcoming masterpiece.

Writing about the trip is more of a looming necessity than continuing the trip. The only leg left, really, is a re-tracing of our first Halifax to Ontario route. Tomorrow, we are going to the Aarntzen family cottage again. Its so strange to think of the days full of questions, maps, detours and scavenging as a thing of the past. People ask for stories, but I’m not quite comfortable with that yet. I still want to be seeing new things everyday. I still want to be in an Arizona valley, a Carolina beach. The summer was too short, as summers usually are.