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Oh Canada, Some of Us Still Remember [1]

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Date: 2025-02-03

I’m old.

My memory still works, though there are an awful lot of files now and accessing them can take a little more time.

But I remember traveling to the Bay of Fundy, at the end of one working college summer, because I’d always wanted to see just how high the tides rose. And I remember how kind and amused the local residents were [and just a bit tickled, too, that an American college student would know that and find it so compelling]. Yes, it was pretty impressive. I’d never seen a tidal bore before — a tide so overwhelming that it makes the rivers run backwards? WOW.

[Some of us are easily amused. Remember, no internet then, this was the 1970s. Today you can watch it in time lapse on YouTube. Not then.]

I remember kindness, everywhere I went. I remember the Lighthouse Route, and how stunningly beautiful — and uncrowded — it was. I remember malt vinegar on a toasted sub sandwich, too. [Yum!] And I remember feeling safer than I’d ever felt in my life [a decade later, Switzerland managed to compete with that, but for a long time, Canada was my benchmark].

Speaking of kindness, I could have done with a bit more from the US side, coming back “home”. I’m not a souvenir type, nor a picture-taker. No camera, just my memory banks. US Customs officials were utterly incredulous at the idea that a twentysomething American female with long curly hair and copper wire rimmed glasses would have spent a week in Canada just to watch the tide rise. I had purchased and brought back with me two pair of socks and some Chloraseptic, IIRC, and I dutifully reported these. Apparently my interlocutor thought I was being a smartaleck. So I was grilled and grilled and finally made to open my suitcase and purse and watch while the car was tossed. It didn’t help matters much when I helpfully pointed out which socks were the Canadian ones and handed over the bottle of Canadian Chloraseptic… but I was sparkling clean, just as I’d said I was, and they had to let me through. Nyaaah.

Most of all, though, I remember Canada later. After 9/11. When I walked outside on 9/12 and in an otherwise desolately empty sky, high overhead I could see a pinpoint in the air drawing circular contrails. AWACS. NATO. Canada, looking out for us.

I heard about the mass diversion of incoming flights to Gander in Newfoundland. Heard stories from the Americans who’d stayed there awhile. Safety. Kindness. Yep.

I haven’t forgotten. I hope they all, those still with us, also remember. And for those who weren’t old enough yet, or maybe even extant, here is an interview with one of the American pilots, talking about what it was like that day, how the planes in transAtlantic flight got the news, and how the stranded travelers were received.

For those who have forgotten or weren’t here yet, there was a musical about the hospitality of our Canadian neighbors; it was called “Come from Away”, and at the time it was a smash hit. Sadly, these things seem to vanish from our collective memory without a trace…

So here. Watch the tidal bore with me. And see some touching coverage of how we once thanked those who gave us succor when we needed it most.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/2/3/2301025/-Oh-Canada-Some-of-Us-Still-Remember?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

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