Chapter Seven of Un Périple au Canada

25 juillet 2015 Plus de pluie! Il ne reste que nuages et taches de bleu. Cependant, on nous annonce une canicule pour la semaine prochaine. Donc quand je serai à Québec et Montréal… What to say of the last week’s experience? Tongue-tied, because so much has happened in a short time. Without much preparation, the feeling is that of having been thrown into the pool and left to fend for myself. I realise how poorly prepared I am: is it an age thing? Or is it that going off on an adventure on a whim is not really possible - it becomes evident that there is no real connection to help me assimilate all these new patterns to which I expose myself. Nonetheless, I discover a world beyond the periphery of “my” little world in which people live, work and die, whose existence can’t be rolled over into senseless banality. But there you have it: I tend to get so wrapped up in my own little world I astonish myself with how difficult it is to encounter realities that have nothing to do with my imaginings. In other words, I explain “outside” of my little world in a much too simplistic way, almost as though waving aside the actual complexities of its realities. Strangely, I’m ashamed of this realization, finding out how toxic was my extended exile into an interior place of fear, hatred, isolation and apathy. Beyond shame comes the hard reality that the Soul, for so long abandoned, that when I do give it a place, its systems of participation are paralysed. That said, I do feel grateful for the opportunity to experience this journey. Most of all I express gratitude for the heroic efforts of S. & G. to guide me through the interesting parts of Nova Scotia. Their knowledge of the history and archeology of this Province gave me intelligence to an elementary understanding of the complexities of occupation, from First Nations through French, English and present-day populations. We traveled roads that witnessed historical events over hills and dales in a complex topographic arrangement of farmlands, battlefields, native and colonists’ settlements. Roads which today can be traveled without fear or prejudice link historical sites and places of touristic interest. One is always reminded that this aspect of peace and tranquility is the result of some fierce debates and fights among the many parties of centuries past. And so it is for all the spaces between Chester NS and R-d-L PC: abundance of lakes, rivers, slow rising hills, sudden precipices, descents that would cheer the hearts of fearless cyclists as they progress through what seem to be endless landscapes of farmlands, villages and towns. At first I was taken aback by the endless roads bordered with pine trees. Now, as I travel out of Nova Scotia - on the same road as I took to get to Chester, I seem to get used to the monotony of wide open spaces. Yesterday’s walk through Rivière du Loup brought memories of small towns in France with their touristic points of interest pointed out in clear signage. The first real attraction is the St. Lawrence River with its commerce of whale sighting cruises. The town itself is intimately linked with the fortunes of the Fraser Family. Their Mansion, now a Museum, was the focal point of town life. The house saw several modifications over the decades to be able to accommodate a large family and be a venue for social events. Their public image radiated out to the town as they involved themselves in town planning, initiating projects meant to give their town an allure of sophistication beyond just the bare minimum of venues characteristic of towns from their homeland. They aided in the building of a Church, Convent, School. Their intention was to modernize what was probably still a very rural community lacking the amenities of modernism even going so far as sewer systems, indoor plumbing etc. Walking the principal street, I discovered a Bookstore, where a very nice sales lady found what I was looking for and found answers to my question about modern Canadian authors. I came away with three books: “Le Rève de Champlain”, biographie ecrite par David Hackett Fischer, traduit par Daniel Poliquin; 2012, Editions du Boreal. Ce titre m’avait été recommandeé par S. qui l’avait, bien sur lu en anglais. “Le Coup de Poing” de Louis Caron, est un roman qui se situe dans les années 1970. Les personnages sont fictifs quoique les évènements de le sont pas. “Bonheur d’Occasion” de Gabrielle Roy, un roman québécois situé aux premiers moments de la seconde guerre mondiale. J’ai aussi fait un tour à la Bibliothèque. J’y ai découvers une écriture canadienne qui témoigne d’une litérature active qui attest à un trésor de témoignages de l’experience canadienne. Un passage très rapide à travers les étagères me firent decouvrir les suivants: Louise Tremblay d’Essiambre, née à Québéc en 1953. D’après le texte de sa biographie, elle a beaucoup ecrit. Une vie active. Mariée, mère de huit enfants. Anne-marie Sicotte, née 1962, à Montréal. Elle se plonge dans l’histoire du XIXème à Montréal et au Québéc. Thomas O. St. Pierre, né à Québéc en 1986, il est “la voix de sa génération” selon Simon Labrecque de l’Université d’Ottawa, dans un article paru le 16 septembre 2014 au compte de Trahir un blog. Je vous cite quelques phases de cet article: “J’ai deux raisons de ne pas écrire que Thomas O. Saint-Pierre, avec ce premier roman, se fait “la voix d’une génération” Premièrement, la dominante temporelle de la notion plutôt imprécise de génération voile d’une universalite hative les determinations spatiales qui participent à la differenciation des nebuleuses humaines dans lesquelles une œuvre peut resonner et retentir….Deuxièment, je n’écrirai pas que retentit “la voix d’une generation’ car l’auteur aurait je crois fort peu de clemence pour ce trope convenu donc inélégant, réitéré à chaque rentree par la critique.” Je ne connais pas ce blog. Le fait que l’article soit écrit par un enseignant d’université, donne déja une certaine saveur à l’encontre de jeune Thomas O. La Bibliothèque est au rez-de-chaussée de la Maison de Culture elle-même une réécriture d’un ancien Couvent. L’amenagement d’une tour pour encaisser la cage d’ascenseur est intéressant. On the side streets a lovely composite of various styles of large and small houses, mostly clapboards of two or three windows, with covered porches. Some stone or cement houses. As I finish writing today’s entry, I noticed the Garmin has taken a charge and appears to be functioning normally. It just needs the correct cord to connect to the charger in the car. And now off to Québéc!