Visiting the North

I spent most of last week amongst the stunning cold and marshmallowy beauty of Northern Ontario. I took a trip to visit my Dziadiu (pronounced "JA-joo"; Polish for grandfather) in Kirkland Lake. It had been many years since I'd had to chance to see him, so I jumped at the chance to travel by the Ontario Northlander train with my Uncle Richard to spend time with him. It's a long trip up, but very comfortable with amazing scenery, so it doesn't feel that long.
The train station serving Kirkland Lake is actually in the little nearby village of Swastika. Odd choice for a name, I grant you, but it's lasted for a century as of this year. It was named after the Swastika Gold Mine in 1908, nearly thirty years before it became such a symbol of National Socialism. During WWII the province tried to change the name to "Winston" after Churchill himself, but the town resisted and continues to deflect any criticisms of the name. Essentially, from their point of view, they were here first, which is quite accurate.
My time in Kirkland Lake was filled with chatting and food. Dziadiu is an immense talker, and we spent hours discussing every subject that came to his mind, from fishing to hockey. Very Canadian. His favourite topic, though, is discussing what a bunch of crooks politicians and businessmen are. Also, very Canadian. To add fuel to this fire, he's a big news watcher, and so we had CBC piping in on the Coalition and CNN following the Detroit bailout by the minute. It was pretty intense there for a while! The food was mix of simple Polish fare; soup, cold-cuts, bread and beer on the first night; fish the next; cabbage rolls to round it out. Uncle Richard actually made burgers of ground moose meat, too!

Kirkland Lake is very much the way I remember it from days as a kid. The centre of town is "The Mile of Gold" main street. Like any main street, it has the essential services of the town like banks and a pharmacy, and is strewn with storefronts, some standing the test of time, some empty and vacant. I always stop in to the Esquire Cigar corner store -- I used to but comic books as a boy when the summer got boring -- to poke around. Like a lot of corner stores I find in rural communities, they expand beyond their more urban counterparts stock of just snacks, drinks, and reading materials. It's merchandise is more ecclectic, comprising rabbit snares and antique sewing machines in the mix. The back of the place looks a bit like a mini flea market with it's range of stuff. I chuckled when I noticed they still had the EXACT same poster selection as when I was a kid -- a collection of Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls wall hangings that never sold in 15 years! They also sold these really cool hats:
Kirkland was covered in snow, and added to it several times in the four days I was there. I grinned to see the bulldozers and dump trucks removing the accumulation from the street and dumping it on the outskirts of town -- the outskirts, of course, being clearly in one's line of sight from wherever one is within town. The grin was also because I knew that Toronto would have lost it's collective mind in this kind of weather, but Kirkland doesn't bat an eyelash. I took a few shots that helped remind me of the winter's of my past.
Kirkland also has a Giant Tiger store, and for years as a kid I thought this was unique to Kirkland. I've learned since then, but I still think Kirkland's Tiger is the best anywhere. I had to laugh when I went in this time, because this Giant Tiger actually has a naughty lingerie section. Yikes. I certainly didn't go searching for this, but it is directly adjacent to the grocery aisle, so it's sort of hard to miss -- especially when they feature white-fur trimmed red nighty-and-thong ensembles for the holidays, all XXL! I'm not sure if this is because everyone in town had already taken the smaller sizes, or that the manager felt that these were a better match for their average shopper. Either way . . . yikes.

I made a point of calling Brianne's grandmother Angela while I was in Kirkland Lake, because she had spent some years living there. This I learned from the Tucker family documentary of David's, which I may very well have watched even more than several Tucker's out there!

I had to leave by Thursday of last week so as to be back in Toronto to head off to Leamington for my weekend of shows . . . phew! What the jet-setter I am. I bade a fond farewell to Dziadiu and Richard, as Richard was staying on to visit longer. I would love to come back to Kirkland in the summer -- those fish aren't going to catch themselves.

The show in Leamington continues to be a hit with the crowds that come see it. It's always a little treat living in a hotel room for the weekend to do the show. The rooms are clean and comfortable, and look into the interior of the building where the pool, waterslides, and courtyard is. The water attractions use salene rather than chlorine, much healthier and no burning sensations. I do laps every day, then lounge in the hot-tub and run lines with the cast. The courtyard has arcade games, pool tables, ping-pong, badminton, and air hockey. Every morning there's a complimentary continental breakfast. Before every show we're given a nice chicken caesar salad (no where near as good as Wendy's) and after each show we get a large take-out box of what was on the audience's buffet. What a delicious way to make a living.

I had one rather random occurence after the show weekend finished. I came back to Toronto because my sister Kat was looking at apartments, so I would meet up with her to head home to Niagara. While killing time before our rendezvous, I stopped for a coffee at a Second Cup at Spadina and Bloor. Who should I run into but a girl named Tobi from Dunrobin who Brianne and I had met on our bus trip through Ireland! The world is getting smaller by the minute.