Quebec #3

It’s common knowledge that the French language is far more prominent here in Quebec than anywhere else in Canada.
I’m glad for the few polite phrases of French that I knew before I got here, and people are very encouraging when I use them. Even so, they recognise my limitations and the people of the Eastern Townships are quite happy to switch to English in order to continue conversation.
I wonder if they recognise how much I love this place, even though it’s my first physical visit. I wonder if they sense my connection.
Whether they do or not, I am feeling it very strongly. Is it odd to feel that this place is my home in some way, or that I belong here because a piece of my heart lives here? In my mind, seeing these places and walking these streets is the most natural thing in the world.
I’m going to work on improving my French so that I can do better when I return.

Quebec #2

Canton de Bedford.
I’m walking down the Rue Principale.
It’s a pretty town, in some ways quite rustic. Charming.
The lady in Boutique Micheline is very friendly, and we chat about the scarf I have chosen to buy.
I wander back down the street, past Cafe Rouge to Metro where I buy things for dinner. I think we got the one slightly grumpy cashier in the place. Everyone else is delightful.
I like Bedford and would quite happily come back.

Cold morning.

Steady, soaking, cold rain. 
It takes its coldness from the ice.
That chill is unmistakeable. Inescapable. It burns.
It’s hard to breathe.
I suppose I was a fool to not expect that.
And so the rain continues: I wonder if it will ever stop.
What started as a surprise downpour has become an all-pervading bleakness that feels like it will never end. 
I long for the sunshine; I long for its kiss, the warmth of its touch on my skin, its heat radiating into my soul. 
But it has departed and all that remains is the misery of winter.

I am heading for warmer weather, but part of me will remain frozen in this moment.

I don’t believe that I can ever be the same again.

Roadtripping #2

Today is bathed in sunshine.
There are still drifts of snow by the road and in the fields, thickest under the pines and cedars where the sunlight has not yet penetrated. If this weather keeps up, that won’t last too much longer. Canada might actually get the spring weather she has eagerly awaited for so long.

We’re driving on Route 401, heading for Ottawa.

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Departure.

Leaving the home and company of a wonderful friend is a sad thing to do, but great memories have been made and our friendship cemented.
My buddy was always going to be a friend for life, but now the adoption is formalised. He’s my brother.

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Toronto Zoo.

It’s a misty three degrees Celsius.
It’s beautiful. Ethereal.
A still-frozen pond sets a tail-end-of-winter scene.

Lions laze together, her head over his back. He yawns. She goes to sleep.
Olive baboons huddle in a corner, but observe curiously. Although they don’t miss much, they are not their usually playful selves.
A tiger paces the boundary of her enclosure, her hugs paws padding heavily.
Raccoons doze lazily in their log while the cougar hides in the shelter of rocks.
The lynx is nowhere to be seen.

A pair of bald eagles are nesting: she lines the nest with leaf litter; he watches carefully, making sure no threat interrupts her work.

The she-moose is friendly and inquisitive, but wanders away to investigate the contents of the feed trough.

Grizzly bears, just out of hibernation, relax on large rocks.
An arctic wolf wanders from the pack, sniffing the air and eyeing the newcomers cautiously.

Mist turns to soft rain as the polar bear tries to get in the door that keeps her from her sleeping cub.

Dense mist falls like a late-afternoon blanket as the animal world drifts into its nightly slumber.