READER’S DIGEST OUR COUNTRY, OUR STORIES

TW
MILL O
PRI ION
NT&D
READ IGITAL
ERS!

Call of
the Wild
A Love in Common

In Celebration of
National Aboriginal Day
Cruising the West Coast
Aboard a Heritage Tugboat

JUNE/JULY 2022
ourcanada.ca
 Wendy Oleksyn of
Wakaw, Sask., snapped
this stunning image of
a beautiful waterfall, while
on a hike to Grassi Lakes
near Canmore, Alta. Enjoy
more great summer pics
throughout the issue!
 24
JUNE / JULY 2022

IN THIS ISSUE
8 FOR THE LOVE OF CAMPING
Erica Henault of Victoria shares the many
reasons she’s willing to leave the comforts of
home for the great outdoors!
16 URBAN STALLIONS
Growing up, these “steel steeds” were always
ready for adventure! 32
20 OUR TRAVELS:
ALL ABOARD THE UNION JACK
A former landlubber discovers the beauty
of the West Coast aboard a heritage tugboat.
24 NATIONAL INDIGENOUS
PEOPLES DAY
Honouring the heritage, cultures and
contributions to society by our Indigenous
communities.
30 MY FATHER WAS MY HERO
A son pays tribute to his larger-than-life dad,
58
a welder, blacksmith and jack-of-all-trades.
ABOUT THE COVER
44 SHARE YOUR CANADA PHOTO CONTEST Brian Burnett of Burlington,
Check out the top three winners and Ont., shares this great pic of a
loon displaying a “penguin
a series of worthy runners-up!
stance.” To read Brian’s feature,
52 A LOON’S STORY “A Loon’s Story,” and see more
great pics, turn to page 52.
A few fun facts and features about one of
Canada’s favourite feathered friends.

DEPARTMENTS
4 Letters / Theme Pic 32 A Taste of Canada 62 Funny Stuff
Contributor Spotlight 38 Showcase 63 Collectors
6 Editor’s Letter 42 Coming to Canada 64 Spot the Loonie
7 Veteran Profile 50 Writer’s Block 65 Pet Corner
14 Bulletin Board 56 The Way It Was 66 Storytime
18 Cause for Applause 58 Wheels 67 We Need You
28 Birds and Blooms 60 Destinations
 LETTERS

Gail (left) and Avro Arrow

Travelling the World
This is a follow-up to my Desti-
nations story, “Hey, Go Virtually”
(February-March 2022). Recent-
ly, I met Lee Duval, a professional
Amsterdam tour guide visiting
family in Toronto, to engage
with her and participate on her
Nostalgic Tour of Old Toronto.
Outside Roy Thomson Hall, as
the camera rolled on our virtu-
al interactive tour, I presented
her with a copy of the Febru-
ary-March issue of Our Canada.
There is a paragraph about her
in the piece and a photo of de
poezenboot (An Amsterdam cat
Lee Duval in Toronto.
sanctuary on a canal house-
boat). She was thrilled. View-
ers watching from around
the world now know about
your illuminating magazine.
Lee is as warm, genuine and
professional in person as she
is on her tours. I’ve also mailed
copies to Stephan (Amster-
dam) and Florent (Paris) who
were featured in the piece as
well. Thank you for promoting
travel in your magazine.
Gail M. Murray, Toronto
Greatly Appreciated
Sincere thanks for publishing
my story ‘The Reluctant Skater’”
in the December-January 2022
issue of Our Canada magazine.
To my surprise, I have received a
substantial number of accolades
from people in my past about
that humorous hockey memoir—
including some of my old high-
school pals! It’s been joyful.
John G. Dickson, Sarnia, Ont.
I enjoyed reading the article
about the Avro Arrow (Octo-
ber-November 2021) and l’m
pleased its story is being shared. I
worked for Orenda Engines who
designed and manufactured the
Iroquois engine for the Arrow.
For my 90th birthday this past
August, my family took me to the
Edenvale Aerodrome, in Stayner,
Ont., which is now the home of a
full-scale replica RL-203. For me,
seeing that Arrow replica certain-
ly brought back a lot of memories.
It was a wonderful tour, which
I would recommend for anyone
who wants to learn a bit about the
Arrow and Canada’s history.
Ray Bullas, Markdale, Ont.
Full-scale replica of the RL-203.

CONTRIBUTOR SPOTLIGHT

ERICA HENAULT MAURICE MALO

Erica and her husband, Chuck, met in
the Yukon 45 years ago. Erica’s career
was in health care as a dental hygien-
ist. She and Chuck have been living in
Victoria for the past 30 years. Erica is
passionate about photography, and
observes nature with her eyes and her heart. She is grateful
to be surrounded by stunning scenery and inspired by
the people on Vancouver Island. Erica and Chuck love the
outdoors and are avid campers, as you’ll see by turning to
Erica’s photo essay For the Love of Camping on page 8.
The couple also enjoys exploring, fishing, hiking and ca-
noeing, and, as loving parents, are very grateful that their
two daughters live close by with their families.
Maurice and his wife, Ginette, are
retired and live in Rawdon, Que., a
small village 60 kilometers northeast
of Montreal in the foothills of the
Laurentians. After a 40-year career in
business management, and travelling
through all of Canada’s provinces, parts of the U.S.A. and
Europe, he and Ginette still enjoy travelling and plan to
see more of Canada and its people as soon as possible.
Maurice also enjoys the company of their seven grandchil-
dren, photography, woodworking, Formula 1 racing, and
driving his Mercedes SLK230 two-seater convertible. He re-
cently reconnected with writing—and his childhood friends,
a story he shares in Cause for Applause on page 18.

4 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022

Lois with her family’s pandemic quilt.

Thanks to All
Thank you for publishing my
Cause for Applause story, “Arriving
at the New Normal” (November
2021) about our family’s pandemic
quilt. A big thank you as well
to my dear friend, Lorene, who
encouraged me to submit our quilt
story to your magazine. And finally,
I would like to thank my daughter,
Barbara, for helping me with the
wording. I truly enjoy both of your
magazines, Our Canada and
More of Our Canada.
Lois Hutchings, Perth, Ont.
THEME PIC
FACEBOOK CHALLENGE / NOVA SCOTIA
Rhonda Beirnes of Listowel, Ont., sent along this beautiful,
colourful photo to our “Nova Scotia” Theme Pics Challenge,
writing: “Here is just another image of iconic Peggy’s Cove!”
To see more great Theme Pic photos and learn what the
next “theme” is, head to our Facebook page!
HAVE YOUR SAY. Is there a story or feature you’d like to
comment on? Anything you’d like to see more or less of
in each issue? Your opinion is important to us, so drop us
a line at ourcanada.ca or see page 64 for our address.

DEBORAH ASHTON-MCCOLMAN DANNY WONG

Deborah lives in Tsawwassen, B.C.,
with her husband, two children and
their pets. She has a self-bestowed
“PhD” in worry, of all things imaginary
and real, which serves her well in
avoiding potential trouble. And yet she
is courageous enough to trust and try. And sometimes,
with the help of some awesome people and the passion
they have to share, it all works out. As was the case in this
issue’s Our Travels story on page 20, in which Deborah
describes her experience aboard a boat that her husband,
Mark, refurbished. Deborah also enjoys walking the beach,
painting and stain-glass making—her new hobby. She is
looking forward to a return to travel in the near future.
In 1980, Danny moved from Jakarta,
Indonesia, to Winnipeg with his two
brothers and his parents, who viewed
Canada as a land rich in opportunities
for their children. As a young adult,
Danny opted to study at McGill and
fell in love with Montreal—a city he recently returned
to after living in Victoria for several years. In his profes-
sional life, Danny is a leader and mentor and someone
who values diversity, equality and inclusivity above all.
He treasures the support he continues to receive from
his steadfast partner, Tony, their respective families and
close friends. Read Danny’s compelling story in Coming
to Canada on page 42.

5
 EDITOR’S LETTER
SUMMER SNAPSHOTS
Welcome to our first summer issue of 2022—and
what a fun-filled, inspirational celebration it is!
By way of example, let’s start with our “winners’
spread” on page 44. It’s a visual treat for all of you
photography buffs out there and a fitting tribute to
our prize winners and “honourable mentions” in
the 2021-2022 “Share Your Canada” photo contest!
Kudos to those individuals whose entries rose to
the top, based on their fine eye and finesse with a
camera. Reviewing upwards of 1,300 entries, our
judges were impressed with the quality and range
of photography received. A heartfelt “Thank You!”
goes out to all who participated!
When it comes to summertime in Canada’s great
outdoors, is there anything more emblematic than
the plaintive call of the common loon? Such was
our reasoning when selecting the amazing photo
presented on this issue’s cover. It’s one of several
submitted by Brian Burnett of Burlington, Ont., whose
submission “A Loon’s Story” appears on page 52
and provides some fun facts and cool insights about
these magnificent creatures.
With the arrival of summer comes the urge
to go camping and exploring. With that in mind,
PHOTO: RYAN GEORGE
we headed to Canada’s west coast, first with
Erica Henault of Victoria and her “For the Love
of Camping” photo essay (page 8), followed by a
unique adventure that Deborah Ashton-McColman
of Delta, B.C., embarked upon last summer and
writes about in Our Travels (page 20).
Although not a fan of boating, Deb
simply adored her coastal cruise
aboard a heritage tugboat origi-
nally built by the Canadian Navy
in 1941, using old-growth timber.
And with June playing host
to National Aboriginal Day, we
celebrate Canada’s Indigenous
Peoples in words and
images on page 24.
Happy summertime,
everyone!
Gary George
gary_george@rd.com
6 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022
PUBLISHED BIMONTHLY BY THE READER’S DIGEST
MAGAZINES CANADA LIMITED, MONTREAL, QC.
Chairman of the Board Christopher Dornan
Publisher and National Sales Director James Anderson
Vice President and Legal Counsel Barbara Robins
Editor-in-Chief Gary George
Executive Editor Maryanne Gallagher
Executive Editor, Digital Brett Walther
Contributing Editor Stacey Berman
Art Director Robert Bigras
Graphic Designers Michel Pelletier, Pierre Loranger
Content Operations Manager Lisa Pigeon
Circulation Director Edward Birkett
THE READER’S DIGEST ASSOCIATION (CANADA) ULC
Financial Director Corinne Hazan
Product Manager, Magazine Marketing Mirella Liberatore
National Account Executives Chnida Walsh; John Gosnell
Director, Research and Insights Lab Kelly Hobson
Head of Marketing Solutions and New Product
Development Melissa Williams
Production Manager Lisa Snow
TORONTO OFFICE P.O. Box 75130 RPO Hudson Bay Ctr.,
Toronto, ON M4W 3T3
TRUSTED MEDIA BRANDS
President and Chief Executive Officer Bonnie Kintzer
Chief Content Officer, Reader’s Digest Bruce Kelley
Editor-in-Chief, Reader’s Digest International Bonnie Munday
VOL. 19, NO. 3 Copyright © 2022 by Reader’s Digest Magazines Canada
Limited. Reproduction in any manner in whole or in part in English or other
languages prohibited. All rights reserved throughout the world. Publications
Mail Agreement Number 40070677. Postage paid at Montreal. Return
undeliverable Canadian addresses to CP 38098 CSP Centennial Plaz,
Dollard-des-Ormeaux, QC H9B 3J2.
SUBSCRIPTIONS $24.97 a year, plus $7.99 postage and handling.
Please add applicable taxes. Outside Canada: $45.96 yearly, including
postage and handling. (Prices and postage subject to change
without notice.) ISSN 2291-014X.
SINGLE COPY PRICE $4.99. Our Canada publishes 6 issues per year
and may occasionally publish special issues (special issues count as two),
subject to change without notice.
HOW TO REACH US
EDITORIAL OFFICE: CP 38098 CSP Centennial Plaz,
Dollard-des-Ormeaux, QC H9B 3J2 ourcanada.ca
FOR SERVICE TO SUBSCRIBERS Our Canada Customer
Care Centre, P.O. Box 970 Station Main, Markham, ON L3P 0K2
service@ourcanada.ca
ONLINE To pay a bill, view your account, change your address,
or browse our FAQs, go to www.ourcanada.ca/contact us.
MAIL PREFERENCE Our Canada maintains a record of your purchase
and sweepstakes participation history for Customer Service and Marketing
departments, which enables us to offer the best service possible along
with quality products we believe will interest you. Occasionally, to allow our
customers to be aware of other products and services that may be of
interest to them, we provide this information to other companies. Should
you wish, for any reason, not to receive such offers from other companies,
please write to: Privacy Office, Reader’s Digest, P.O. Box 963, Station Main,
Markham, Ontario L3P 0J4. You may also write to this address if you no
longer wish to receive offers from Reader’s Digest or should you have any
questions regarding your record or wish to examine or correct it.
We acknowledge with gratitude the financial
support of the Government of Canada. /
Nous remercions le Gouvernement du Canada
pour son appui financier.
 VETERAN PROFILE

Andrew L. Bogle
ABLE SEAMAN
Andrew Lamont Bogle was
born in Kilbirnie, Scotland, on
November 3, 1924. He came to
Canada with his parents in 1927,
settling in Roblin, Man. Joining
the navy in February 1943, he
trained at HMCS Chippawa in
Winnipeg, and several other
Royal Canadian Navy Reserve
Divisions. He later served
aboard HMS/HMCS Nene, a
river-class frigate designed for
anti-submarine operations.

After the war,

Andrew married
Doreen Yeo, an RN
from Roslin, Man.,
and they raised
seven children.
After the war, Andrew returned
to Brandon, Man., where he
married Doreen Yeo, a regis-
tered nurse, in August 1946,
and they raised seven children.
Andrew worked as a milkman
and then in the oilfields, before
embarking on a 28-year career
with the Canadian Pacific police
force. In their later years, he
and Doreen moved to Calgary
to be closer to their family.

To view video interviews

with Canadian war vets,
visit https://vetvoicecan.org.

Share your veteran profiles

at ourcanada.ca.
FOR THE LOVE
OF CAMPING Erica Henault of Victoria shares the many
reasons she’s willing to leave the comforts
of home for the great outdoors!

8 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022

 Clockwise: Erica taking
photos of Kennedy Lake;
Chuck on a forest trail in
Green Point Campground;
Erica enjoying a tranquil
moment at the campsite.

T
he past couple of years have
been challenging for every-
one. Getting out in nature and
enjoying safe outdoor activ-
ities help maintain a sense
of normalcy, so camping has become ex-
tremely popular. In these parts, camp-
ground reservations are snapped up faster
than tickets to a Justin Bieber concert or a
Vancouver Canucks home game.
On this day, my husband, Chuck, and I
are excited to leave for Green Point Camp-
ground in Pacific Rim National Park Re-
serve. It’s one of our favourite campgrounds,
located in the spectacular Long Beach area
of Vancouver Island’s west coast.
It takes us approximately six hours to
drive to the west coast from our home in
Victoria. There is no ferry travel on this

9
10 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022
trip, which is always a bonus. We stop
often to soak in and capture the spectacu-
lar scenery along the way.
We always stop in Coombs, B.C., a small
community along Highway 4A. Many
tourists visit the Old Country Market
there to get a look at their famous “goats
on the roof”—who bunk during the spring
in enclosures on the large, gently sloping
market roof and graze on the roof ’s grass,
keeping it green and tidy. Chuck and I usu-
ally refuel with a cone from their amazing
ice-cream parlour.
Our drive takes us through MacMillan
Provincial Park, world-renowned for its
lush, old-growth forest and the majestic
giant Douglas fir trees in Cathedral Grove.
We wind through mountain passes and
drive alongside beautiful crystal-clear
lakes. Favourite rest stops include Sproat Clockwise from
Lake and Kennedy Lake provincial parks. above: Stunning
Chuck and I have travelled this scenic views of the ocean
route many times, yet it never grows old. as far as the eye
We still discover new picturesque and can see; exploring
fascinating tidal
stunning views on every trip.
pools at Long
We arrive at our campsite and let out Beach.
a collective sigh of contentment. Long
Beach is now our home away from home.
We have slept in tents on many past
camping adventures, but now we usually
stay in our eight-foot camper. This reli-
able and cozy shelter holds many wonder-
ful memories of years gone by, camping
with our two energetic young daughters
and an often wet dog. Now, although the
two of us have more room to stretch out,
we miss the giggling and shenanigans of
our previous fun family adventures.
11
Clockwise from Chuck is one of the original Boy Scouts.
top left: Chuck He gets a campfire started in all weather
walking on Long conditions despite a lack of dry wood. He
Beach as the day knows how to tie complicated knots, pound
closes; a moody, pegs into dry, rocky ground and dig trenches
breathtaking sun-
to redirect puddles away from our campsite.
set after a storm;
cooking Austral-
He’s also the Clark Griswold (of Nation-
ian damper bread al Lampoon’s Vacation movies) of camp-
over a campfire; ing. He always brings along at least a dozen
Chuck preparing tarps of various sizes. We share our view-
damper dough. points to choose the one we’ll use: I want
to see the trees in the forest surrounding
our campsite and he wants to protect and
shield us from the elements. After 45 years
of camping together, we have learned to
compromise. The result is a dry, warm
shelter and a tranquil, beautiful view.
The saying “There’s no such thing as bad
weather, only bad clothing” is especially
12 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022
true on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
We are prepared for all types of weather. In
the summer months, the temperatures can
range from 7°C to 20° C. And in the cooler
seasons, especially, expect rain!
Everything tastes better outdoors. We
recently tried a new recipe called an Aus-
tralian campfire damper, a type of bread.
The ingredients include flour, butter, milk
and sugar. The dough is then wrapped
around a stick and cooked over a camp-
fire. After a few failed attempts and belly
laughs, we end up with a tasty, hot treat.
We also bring ingredients for blueberry
tea. This classic hot drink includes amar-
etto liqueur, orange liqueur and tea. It is
perfect for helping us stay warm on chilly
west coast evenings.
Most importantly, we bring a fun and
flexible attitude with us. This is essential,
as camping events and the forces of na-
ture are often unpredictable.
There are many reasons why I love to
camp. I spend uninterrupted time with
my husband, having conversations that
traverse the truly important layers of our
shared life. Our discussions often contain
periods of silence. As author Richard Wag-
amese wrote, “When you can sit in perfect
silence with someone, you truly know how
to communicate.” I go for long, meandering
hikes along peaceful forest trails, slowing
down to appreciate the extraordinary—and
the exquisite beauty in the ordinary. I lis-
ten to the rhythm of the ocean, the sounds
of nature and the sounds of silence. I lose
myself in photography, capturing images I
missed at first glance. The picture in front
of me changes depending on the angle, the
light and the time of day. It helps me gain
perspective. I am in awe of spectacular
sunsets! Tears stream down my face and
I’m grateful that I have been given another
day, another breath, another heartbeat on
our beautiful planet.
Although I greatly appreciate my day-
to-day life and the comforts of home, I
also welcome a change of scenery. Camp-
ing allows me to vary my routine and step
out of my comfort zone. I gain clarity with
a renewed sense of peace and purpose,
better able to manage life’s challenges. I
feel the harmony, balance and beauty in
the magnificence of nature.
I am reminded that I’m part of a bigger
picture—and I’m incredibly grateful for
the breathtaking view. ■
13
 BULLETIN BOARD
REMEMBERING DAD
I was born and raised in Sar-
nia, Ont., and left home in the
late ’70s. My father became ill
in 2010, eventually requiring
me to come home to take care
of him and the house I grew up
in. In his later years, my father
began to show signs of demen-
MORNING MIST Hetty Stuart of Wingham, Ont.,
shares this serene image of her son, Martin, kayaking at dawn in
beautiful Grundy Lake Provincial Park.
14 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022
tia. Knowing that soon he would
struggle to remember things
that were important to him,
we spent many days in the car
travelling around Sarnia and the
surrounding area so he could
relate various memories to me.
One of the places he took me
was where he proposed to my
mother back in the early ’50s.
This place was Guthrie Park on
the St. Clair River. Little did I
know at the time how important
this area would become to me.
My father passed away in 2020,
in the early days of the COVID
pandemic. With all the restric-
tions and distancing in place,
Guthrie Park became a place
where I could go and sit, have a
coffee and remember my dad.
My father loved bald eagles and
there were plenty flying around
Guthrie Park along with many
species of ducks, gulls, geese
and swans. I started bringing my
camera and have taken many
bird shots over the past couple
of years. I continue to spend lots
of time at this park to work on
my photography.
Wendy Wever, Sarnia, Ont.
SUBMIT Anything
for Bulletin Board? Submit
online at ourcanada.ca
or turn to page 64.
HAVE YOU HEARD
THE ONE ABOUT...
My father-in-law lives on a
farm near Wynyard, Sask. Years
back, a group of hunters from the
United States came up to shoot
some birds.
During their visit, they noticed
a flatbed of manure nearby. One
turned to my father and said,
“Do y’all put manure on your
strawberries?”
My dad smiled, then responded,
“I don’t know how you do things
where you come from, but up here
we put sugar and cream on our
berries.” CAPTION CORNER
“My precious...”
BYE, MOM! Thanks to Rena Nixon of New Minas, N.S., for sharing this
I’ve been privileged to be able hilarious pic! Can you come up with a better caption for it
to photograph this cub’s mother than we did? Join the fun on our Facebook page and share
since she was a brand new cub your witty one-liners there. And remember to send your
herself. Now this little one is Caption Corner pics to us at ourcanada.ca !
her first cub, who will be leaving
Mom soon to explore and make
it on her own. More than ready,
this cub spent a lot of time wan- CANADA’S CLAIMS TO FAME
dering away from the protection OUR GREAT COUNTRY IS HOME TO LOTS OF
of her mother and exploring the INTERESTING PEOPLE AND PLACES, SOME FAMOUS,
heavily wooded area.
OTHERS WELL-KEPT SECRETS.
Megan Lorenz, Etobicoke, Ont.

I’M SORRY!
Here’s a unique Ca-
nadian law you may
have never heard of!
As Canadians we
have a reputation of
being friendly and
polite, and are known for saying “I’m sorry” for pretty much
PHOO: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/ BUTUPA

everything. Even our government admitted on Twitter that

“it’s a well-known fact Canadians apologize all too often.”
We say sorry so much that Ontario lawmakers even had
to create a rule that blurting out “I’m sorry” after a car accident
can’t be considered proof of fault or liability—rather, that
an apology is simply “an expression of sympathy or regret.”
The “Apology Act” went into effect in 2009.

Source: Reader’s Digest website

15
Urban
Stallions
Sleek but sturdy, these steel
steeds were always ready for
adventure by Chris Himsl, Calgary
T
hey came in all different
shapes, sizes and colours.
They made short legs seem
long. They made summer days
feel endless and they made
the “big city” of Moose Jaw,
Sask., just a bit smaller.
My favourite urban stallion arrived in the
form of an orange, three-speed Fastback 100
mustang-style bike from the sporting-goods
department on the first floor of the Eaton’s
on Main Street. It had a black, padded ba-
nana seat, with handlebars so high it felt as if
they went up to my chin. Two bars ran up the
back of the seat and met at a half-circle at the
top. For some odd reason, we called it a sis-
sy bar. Short, stubby knobs covered the back
tire and played big brother to the smaller, 12-
inch one in the front. At three inches thick,
the back tire barely fit into the bike rack at
school. A stick shift protruded up from two
parallel bars that went from the seat to the
front fork. Pedalling backward provided
smooth shifting of the gears, but careless
riders soon found all their gears (except first)
stripped. A pull of the levers on the handle-
bars activated the brakes. A struggle ensued
with the brake cables every spring in an at-
tempt to make at least the front brakes work.
BOUND FOR ADVENTURE
The onset of Prairie spring offered the
two-wheeled wonders release from their
winter stables. A tug on the front handle-
16 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022
bars pulled the urban beasts to attention.
More accomplished riders could guide
the metal critters down the street on back
legs only. A burst from invisible spurs onto
black pedals set the brutes to spinning
“burnouts” on baked summer pavement.
These were our wild horses and they led us
on boundless summer adventures.
The sprint to the telephone on a sum-
mer afternoon was greeted by a voice on
the other end: “Going ridin’?” I’d race out
through the back door and down the stairs
to launch the Fastback from its stand and
push it down the sidewalk until it cleared
the back gate. No helmets, no pads, nothing
but mosquitoes, prairie dust and the wind
ruffling your hair.
RIDE LIKE THE WIND
Two blocks past Harrison’s general store, I
spotted a vision moving towards me down
Lillooet Street. Nothing got the blood flow-
ing faster than a pleasure ride turning into
a racing challenge. Without a word spoken,
the race was on: legs pumping, lips pursed,
cheeks puffed out, head down and eyes
squinting in pain until legs and lungs finally
gave out. My legs being longer allowed me a
glance back over my shoulder to laugh and
revel in my huge margin of victory. Turning
back with arms raised in triumph, a grand
beast—a parked car—suddenly appeared
before me, my front tire quickly becoming
firmly lodged beneath its rear bumper. Be-
fore I could catch myself, I tumbled to the
ground. Picking myself up, I looked at the
pavement burns on the palms of my hands,
branded by the unforgiving road. My friend
Paul got the last laugh that day.
LOYAL BEASTS
Our urban stallions allowed us to pack a
week’s worth of adventure into one day. If
the bikes weren’t leaning against the chain-
link fence at the ball field or the wall of the
local pinball parlour, you would find them
nosing up the trails in the river valley park. Chris has always
Most days, the late-setting sun would signal had a bike in
that it was time to turn the horses for home. his life, starting
Taping flashlights to our handlebars (clockwise from
would have to be an adventure saved for top left) with his
three-wheeler
another night. Heading down the alley to-
as a little tyke,
wards home as dusk fell, I raised a finger to to his favourite
my eye to rub out the remnants of an errant mustang, to his
mosquito and tried to soothe the stinging. most recent ride.
Sometimes my steed lay quietly on the
sidewalk, while other times he’d linger, stoic
and proud, gently leaning on his kickstand.
Either way, he always waited patiently,
ready for another day of adventure. Q
17
 CAUSE FOR APPLAUSE
Coming Full Circle
Moving from small towns to big cities and seeing the world
with the air force, one “lucky and privileged” wanderer finds
joy in reconnecting with his roots by Maurice Malo, Rawdon, Que.
I
was born in May 1952 at the
Rouyn-Noranda Youville
General Hospital in Abitibi,
northwestern Quebec, the eldest
of five children. My mother was
a schoolteacher, and my father
held numerous jobs as a miner,
lumberjack and log driver until
he bought a farm in Rémigny—
around the same time I started
going to school.
The first 12 years of my life
were lived in rural settings.
Because of distances from farm
to farm and village to village, one
could say we were fairly isolated.
We were lucky to have access to
television. On Sundays, we would
go to my grandparents’ and watch
French CBC from Rouyn-Noran-
da and English CBC from the
Timmins, Ont., feed. Although
we were poor, we had plenty of
open space to play and fresh air to
18 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022
breathe. Growing up in such set-
tings was easy and, looking back,
ideal and even a blessing.
Before being of school age,
the only occasions kids had to
meet others kids were at Sunday
church service and visits from
aunts, uncles and cousins. School
meant making friends and seeing
them on a much more regular
basis. And living in Rémigny—a
small community of about 600,
with kids from Grade 1 to Grade
11 all in one school—meant we got
to know everyone very quickly.
But tough times caught up with
us. Soon after I turned 12, my par-
ents sold the Rémigny farm to pay
their debts, and then relocated to
Joliette, Que., where my father
had been born in 1926. Having to
say goodbye to my friends was
heart-wrenching. I told them all,
“One day, I will return.”
Shortly after our arrival to our
new home, my father went to a
trade school to become a carpen-
ter. But jobs were scarce. My uncle,
Euclide, who lived in Sarnia, Ont.,
convinced my father to join him
as a construction worker at the
refineries. This caused a second
family move in as many years.
Now just imagine my family
having recently come from the
boonies, moving to a city and slowly
getting used to it, and then having
to move again to a new place—and,
as added difficulty, not knowing
Top from left: Young Maurice and
his parents; fun on the farm with sib-
lings and cousins; all smiles on sister
Diane’s wedding day; receiving
the air force Best Corporal Logistic
Company Award; Maurice (centre)
and the Daoust boys—from left, Louis,
Maurice (Daoust), François and René.
the language! Kids being kids,
we managed, made new friends,
adapted and got to really like
southern Ontario. And we quickly
learned to speak English.
Two years later, we moved back
to Joliette, where I worked sum-
mers as a farmhand. I decided to
join the Canadian Armed Forces
in December of ’69, when I was
17. By then, you might say I was
getting used to moving around.
I enrolled in the Canadian Air
Force. I had seen nothing of life
yet, so the military was instrumen-
tal in helping me grow up. It also
helped me further my education in
administration and logistics.
Ten years later, civilian life
came calling: I got out of the
armed forces to go to work on the
James Bay hydro project, one of
many military personnel recruit-
ed for this huge initiative. My job
was working on LG-4, one of the
dams being built along the La
Grande River for the project.
Soon after, in 1980, I was
contracted by a Joliette hydrau-
lic component manufacturing
company that needed someone
who spoke English, as they were
going through a coast-to-coast
expansion. I soon moved to Raw-
don, Que., met my wife, Ginette,
bought a lot and, with family, built
our house, where we’ve been ever
since. The fluid-power industry
turned out to be where I built my
career, which lasted for 40 years. I
retired in April 2019.
Past Becomes Present
Being busy with life, and because
I thought nobody in Abitibi would
remember the family after all
that time, I never went back
to Rémigny—that is, until 50
years later in 2014, when my old
school friend René Daoust came
knocking at my door. (He’d gotten
my coordinates from one of my
cousins who lived in the area.)
The last time René and I had seen
each other, we were 12 years old!
Needless to say I did not
recognize him, and I could tell he
was having fun making me guess
who he was. When he finally told
me his name, I was speechless.
He and his wife, Solange, joined
Ginette and me for dinner at
our home. We spent the evening
talking about our lives and the
girls and boys we grew up with.
I was so grateful he had the
courage and interest to look me
up, I made a point to go visit with
them as soon as I could.
In August 2016, I finally had the
honour and pleasure to meet up
with all four of the Daoust broth-
ers (of a family of ten kids) I’d
gone to school with. We’ve stayed
in touch ever since; whenever we
can, we call and visit each other.
Many times over the years,
when travelling overseas for
meetings, going to trade shows,
and visiting manufacturers and
suppliers, I’d pause and reflect on
where I’d come from and admit
how lucky and privileged I am to
have had opportunities I never
dreamt about. René calling me was
an inspiration: I decided to follow
his example and started looking up
old friends and former colleagues
from my air force days. I’m doing
rather well with my search so far,
but that’s another story to tell. ■
19
OUR TRAVELS

ALL ABOARD
THE UNION JACK
Discovering the beauty of the West Coast aboard a
heritage tugboat by Deborah Ashton-McColman, Delta, B.C.

I
am not a fan of being on the water. I’m
convinced that sea monsters or some
other evil is lurking under the surface
to take down the boat that I am on. So
trust me—the irony of me writing about
my incredible adventures on B.C., waters
last summer does not escape me. The ad-
venture actually began seven years ago
when my husband, Mark, and his friend,
Neil, purchased a boat to help share their
love of the water with others. I suppose
that “others” also included me, an idea I
fought against for, well, about seven years,
until last summer.
“Trust me,” my husband said. “You’ll see.
You might actually like it.”

20 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022

 For those of you who love the water, you
will laugh at my hesitation when I tell you
that this boat is an 80-foot wooden tugboat.
Yes. 80 feet! And a tug. You cannot get any
sturdier than this baby. Built in 1941, this
vessel began by working the rivers, then
was sent off to assist in the war. It has now
been renovated for comfort and adven-
ture—for anyone who is looking for magic
on the seas. And apparently for those who
aren’t. I hopped on board the Union Jack
at the Vancouver Maritime Museum and
joined my family, some friends and the
crew, including a chef! The goal was to
explore the coast of British Columbia for
three weeks. To say that I was apprehen-
sive was an understatement—just ask the
chef who hugged me and told me that ev-
erything would be okay as we pushed off
the dock. Our captain, Captain Drew, took
us to the most fascinating places in our
three weeks! We discovered an island with Clockwise
its feral sheep (what a sight that was!), from top left:
swam in its warm waters and picnicked on The Union Jack
its white sandy beaches. and another fine
One morning, while enjoying my cup day in Deso-
lation Sound;
of coffee, Captain Drew called to me,
view from above
“Head to the bow!” Oh, the magic! Pacific the waterfall at
white dolphins were playing at our bow! Teakerne Arm;
Watching two, no three, no six dolphins whale-watching
playing at our bow was both magical and in the waters off
breathtaking. I was the only one at the Port McNeil.
bow to witness this beauty, this joy, this
playfulness. My face hurt from smiling.
My soul burst with joy. So much for sea
monsters. As we chug-a-lugged from one
destination to another, I was amazed at
the beauty of the B.C. coast. The greens,
the blues, the sunsets, the sunrises, those
stars—and most of all the silence, the
stillness, the peace. I have never slept so
well, ate so well, relaxed so much. Oh, the
21

MORE INFO
• Remote West Coast Adventures (RWCA) was
born from the passion its founders, Mark McColman
and Neil Wurst, have for adventure and for the B.C.
coast and its beauty.
•beautiful
Their plan was to obtain a ship to visit all the
destinations along Canada’s West Coast.
•forThat ship, the Union Jack, was originally built
the Canadian Navy and constructed using natural
old-growth timber.
•completely
Mark and Neil began the long labour of love to
refit the Union Jack and bring her into
the 21st century as a one-of-a-kind vessel.
•time
Now, RWCA offers adventure and a once-in-a-life-
experiences to all travellers aboard this historic
wooden vessel.
Source: The Remote West Coast Aventure website
22 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022
food! I haven’t mentioned the food. It was
so delicious! Salmon burgers for lunch—so
good that I asked for one for breakfast the
next day. The steaks were heavenly. And
whatever she did to make her salad dress-
ing—all I can say is she needs to talk to the
hosts of Dragon’s Den and get that dress-
ing on the grocery store shelves! Yummy!
One of my favourite days was the day that
Captain Drew looked to his left and looked
to his right and asked me, “Hey, Deb, left
to watch the orcas or right to watch the
humpbacks?” The previous version of me
would have replied, “Drew, whichever one
gets me to land the fastest.” That day, I
exclaimed, “RIGHT!” What magical crea-
tures all whales are, but watching those
humpbacks feed was awe inspiring. Drew
kept a respectful distance from the whales,
and with our binoculars, we witnessed
pure beauty. Drew invited Jackie Hildering
known as the “Marine Detective” on board
to educate us about the humpback whales
that she researches. Her enthusiasm and
her passion made me want to be a marine
biologist. May I remind you that I am not
supposed to like the water?
Then there was the day we went ashore
at Teakerne Arm Provincial Park, walked
past the top of a waterfall and swam in a
freshwater lake. The water was refresh-
ing and cool, and the snacks that were
packed went down really well.
We also visited Yorke Island, which was
established as a coastal fort to protect
Vancouver during the Second World War.
We met a passionate historian who, as he
toured us around the old buildings, shared
the stories of the men who protected our
coast. Once again, we encountered people
passionate about the work they do and the
area they protect.
While in Alert Bay, we stood on the Clockwise from
grounds of St. Michael’s, a former residen- top left: Top deck
tial school, and visited the U’mista Cultural outside Deborah’s
Centre, which was both educational and gut room; view from
wrenching. Learning about the history of the salon porthole;
waterfall near
Canadian Indigenous people through this
Teakerne Arm;
centre broke my heart, but also increased sunset in Desola-
my admiration for their resiliency; I was tion Sound.
humbled and filled with respect.
I’m in awe of the beauty and passion
of the people who work and live on B.C.’s
coast. I also admire the courage of Mark
and Neil, who embarked on a journey to
share all of it aboard the Union Jack with
Remote West Coast Adventures. Remem-
ber when Mark said, “Trust me. You might
actually like it.”? Well, he was wrong. I
loved it. ■
For more info head to
remotewestcoastadventures.com
23
24 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022
National Indigenous
Peoples Day
On June 21, Canada honours the heritage, cultures and
contributions to society by First Nations Peoples

PRIDE OF A NATION
“This photo (left) depicts a
young dancer at the 2019 Grand
River Pow Wow in Brantford,
Ont.,” shares Marlon Porter of
Mississauga. “I took the picture
while on a mission to learn more
about my own Indigenous roots
because, although I am an
African minority, I am also of
Mohawk decent.
This photo represents
Canada to me because of the
pride and strength that this
young man silently embodies
as he looks over his tribe. His
beautiful traditional dress,
along with the slight tilt of his
head, exudes confidence and
displays the power that a
community can share when
brought together to celebrate
in song and dance.
On any other day, this young
man would be dressed in
regular clothes and be indistin-
guishable from you or me. But CARVING OUT A LEGACY
on this very special occasion, “This is Leo Gagnon, a Haida carver living in Old Masset on Haida
he has suddenly transformed Gwaii,” says Bruce Raby of Perth, Ont. “It was shot in his workshop
into a vision of a Canadian hero. located behind his house. The markings on his face are for his role in
Through attending this event a full-length movie shot entirely in the Haida language. It was written,
and snapping this picture, I directed and performed mainly by Indigenous Peoples. The movie,
learned the importance of Edge of the Knife, made its public premiere at the 2018 Toronto
embracing my heritage; I have International Film Festival. The mask he’s holding was carved from a
developed an even deeper piece of wood taken from a Sitka spruce on Haida Gwaii, with golden
appreciation of the Indigenous coloured needles. This tree was considered sacred by the Haida
community and Canadian People; to learn more about its whole fascinating history, Google ‘Six
culture.” String Nation’—I’m sure you will enjoy this great Canadian story.”

25
 JOYFUL
CELEBRATION
“This dynamic
performer was
competing against
dancers from across
Canada in the Peguis
First Nation Annual
Competition Pow
Wow,” writes Gail
Marchessault of
Winnipeg. “Peguis
hosted well-attended
competitions for
men, women, teens
and tiny tots as part
of their Treaty Days
celebration in July
2019. Dancers put a
lot of care into their
elaborate regalia.
This dancer decorat-
ed his with beadwork
and colourful rib-
bons. Moccasins on
his feet and a feath-
ered headdress add
to the beauty and
meaning of his
dance. Pow wows are
an important cele-
bration of Indigenous
culture, history and
identity. Located
about 190 kilometres
north of Winnipeg,
Peguis is the largest
First Nation commu-
nity in Manitoba with
a population of
approximately
10,000 members of
Ojibway and Cree
descent.” ■

26 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022

27
 BIRDS & BLOOMS

Adventures in
PHOTOGRAPHY
Keeping your camera handy allows you to capture amazing
shots like this one by Michael Drukarsh, Newmarket, Ont.
Feeding time
for hungry
babies!

28 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022

P
hotography turns walks
into adventures. It allows
me to see and not just look,
to listen and not just hear.
I never plan a specific destination;
instead I leave my house and go for
a walk, camera in hand, and enjoy
being in the moment. I bought a
“real” camera to help fight the bore-
dom of pandemic isolation and was
still learning how to use all the bells
and whistles that come with a prop-
er camera and lens when I happened
upon this inspiring scene (at left).
While walking along the Tom
Taylor Trail here in Newmarket, I
heard baby birds chirping away in a
well-camouflaged nest right beside
the trail. Once I’d discovered them,
I started taking pictures from a safe FLIGHT OF FANCY
distance. The first few pics were “While watering my flowers,” shares Brenda
of just the nest. As I zoomed in, I Mannings of Port Carling, Ont., “I noticed this
noticed the tips of beaks sticking beautiful yellow butterfly, flitting about from
up in the air. Slowly, the baby birds garden to garden. I grabbed my camera and got
emerged and I took more shots, a shot of it fanning its wings.”
thankful to be part of such an amaz-
ing experience.
Suddenly, a blur of colour ap-
peared in my viewfinder. Bring-
ing the camera down, I was
amazed to see a mamma bird
coming in with food for the
hatchlings. Hoping to cap-
ture the moment, I raised my
lens, refocused and began
shooting away, in awe of
what was going on in front
of me: two birds, perhaps
mamma and poppa, each
taking turns flying in with
different insects in their
beaks, landing and feeding
their young.
I stayed for several min-
utes until it appeared that
feeding time was over and PERFECT POSE
the hatchlings sank slowly Susan Coulthart of Caledonia, Ont., writes:
back down into the nest, the “Ruby-throated hummingbirds migrate back to
adult birds flying off together. I Ontario every spring. I sat in my yard for an hour
believe this shot shows the true to get this shot—it was well worth my time, as this
beauty of nature. ■ little beauty put on quite a show!”

29
MY DAD
WAS MY HERO
Honouring the legendary Wilf Hiebert: Blacksmith
and welder by Richard W. Hiebert, North Battleford, Sask.
M
y dad was my hero. At six
foot three and 285 pounds,
he was a giant of a man. He
was also immensely strong:
he could lift a 45-gal-
lon, 500-pound barrel of diesel fuel onto a
truck. On one occasion, he lifted a reticent
600-pound steer onto a stone boat. When I
was in grade school, none of my buddies ever
said, “My dad is tougher than your dad.”
When God made my dad, he threw away
the mould. There was no one like him.
And my dad was smart—brilliant, actu-
ally. Despite the fact that he had only a ru-
dimentary elementary school education, he
was a first-class blacksmith, pressure weld-
er and journeyman. He was highly educated
in his line of work. If it was made of iron, he
could fix it or make a new one.
Typically, Dad began his day at 4 a.m.
with breakfast. While my mother and we
kids were sleeping, Dad was loading up on
extremely high-calorie, cholesterol-laden
food—slabs of bacon with six eggs swim-
ming in the fat, and bread with thick but-
ter, all washed down with steaming mugs
of black coffee. Then, by 5 a.m., it was off
to the shop.
Blacksmith work came first. Rows of
farmers’ cultivator sweeps awaited. First,
Dad would build a coal fire in the forge.
When the embers were glowing-hot, he’d
place four cultivator sweeps on the coals.
Then, when they were red-hot, he’d move
them aside and put four more in the fire.
He’d flatten out the edges of the first four,
30 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022
one at a time, with hammer on anvil. Then
he’d temper them in a water trough.
Ploughshares were a different story. Typ-
ically, six inches of the worn-down front
point had to be removed with a cutting
torch and a new factory-made point weld-
ed on. The ploughshare was then heated in
the forge and shaped with a trip hammer (a
mechanical device operated with a foot ped-
al) and blacksmith hammer, then tempered
in a water trough. Heavy coulter plough-
shares were the most difficult to repair: A
strip of grader blade had to be welded onto
the instrument’s cutting edge, heated in the
forge, then pounded, flattened and shaped
with the trip hammer and, finally, tempered.
It was extremely hot work. Dad drank a gal-
lon of water at a time. In summer, you could
see streaks of salt on his coveralls.
ALL WORK AND SOME PLAY
Around 9 a.m., Dad’s blacksmith work was
done for the day, so it was time to turn his
attention to constructing stock tanks and
repairing various items of machinery. He
also worked on cars: One vehicle after anoth-
er was put up on the hoist, then he installed
shocks and mufflers, welded frames and gas
tanks, soldered radiators and did oil changes.
How competent a welder was Dad? He
had no peer—no equal. A good example was
how he’d remove a broken manifold stud.
First, he would place a small piece of pipe
over the stud and weld from inside the pipe
until he reached the top. Next, he would
weld a nut to the top, heat up the surround-
ing metal with a cutting torch and turn the
broken stud out. No one else could do that.
Another of Dad’s specialties was repair-
ing vehicle gas tanks. There wasn’t a lot of
pavement north of Meadow Lake, Sask.,
where we lived, so gas tanks got pretty beat
up. Dad would remove the tank and, so it
wouldn’t blow up, run an exhaust hose from a
gas-driven welder or half-ton truck into it for
a half-hour. Then he would shape a piece of
20-gauge sheet metal over the hole, hammer
it to fit the contour of the tank and weld the
perimeter with an oxyacetylene torch. On
one occasion, when the truck ran out of gas,
the tank blew just enough to smooth out all
of its wrinkles and dents. It looked like a new
gas tank. The customer was amazed.
Dad was a kind and generous man. He
would lend money to down-and-out peo-
ple, with no hope of ever being paid back.
His other great love was gardening. His
half-acre garden behind the shop yielded
more than the family could hope to use.
So folks, including people Dad didn’t even
know, were free to help themselves to his Above (left):
produce—as much as they wanted. Young Richard
Dad was not a religious man, except for a with his dad,
short while on Sunday mornings. He would Wilf, in 1959;
be stirring dark, ground whole wheat pan- (inset) Wilf
busily welding.
cake mix with his huge baseball mitt-sized
hands while singing religious songs in his
deep bass voice, accompanying Pat Boone
and others singing “How Great Thou Art.”
When the morning’s LP was over, religion
was over for the week, until the next Sunday.
Incidentally about his pancakes: Every-
body, including the grandchildren, was ex-
pected to have one and then say something
along the lines of, “Grandpa, are these pan-
cakes ever good!”—even though they weren’t.
Dad usually finished off his week by stop-
ping by the Empire for a drink before com-
ing home. Invariably, he was accosted by
someone who wanted to “twist wrists with
Wilf”—the test of a strongman, and Dad was
the person to beat. The bet was always for
$20—and Dad always came home with an
extra twenty in his pocket. Q
31
A TASTE OF CANADA

Light and refreshing

summer salads

32 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022

“Quinoa is CURRIED QUINOA SALAD 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
such a fantastic
1 tsp ground turmeric
salad base—it’s Total Time: 35 minutes + chilling ¼ tsp ground cumin
full of protein, Yield: 6 servings. 1 can (14½ oz.) vegetable
it adds a nutty or chicken broth
flavour and 1½ cups grape tomatoes,
1. In a small saucepan, combine the first 4 ingredients.
it’s the perfect halved
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, cov-
vehicle to soak 1 small cucumber, diced
ered, until liquid is absorbed, 12-15 minutes. Remove
up any kind ⅓ cup diced red onion
from heat and let stand, covered, 15 minutes. Transfer
of dressing. If
to a large bowl and cool slightly. DRESSING
you like a little 2 tbsp lemon juice
more heat, add 2. Add tomatoes, cucumber and onion to quinoa.
2 tbsp olive oil
more cayenne In a small bowl, whisk together dressing ingredients,
1 tbsp honey
or curry to the then toss with salad. Refrigerate, covered, until cold,
1 tsp yellow mustard
dressing.” about 2 hours. Stir before serving.
½ tsp curry powder
Shannon Dobos,
¼ tsp salt
Calgary
⅛ tsp cayenne pepper

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Amount Per Serving (¾ cup):
176 calories, 6 g fat, 0 cholesterol,
320 mg sodium, 25 g carbohydrate,
5 g sugars, 3 g fibre, 5 g protein.

33
“Even if you HONEY-MUSTARD 1 lb fresh Brussels sprouts,
dislike Brussels
sprouts salad, BRUSSELS SPROUTS SALAD trimmed and shredded
2 medium tart apples,
you will love chopped
this dish. The Total Time: 25 minutes
1 medium red onion, chopped
dressing is truly Yield: 10 servings.
1 small sweet, orange pepper,
tasty, and it chopped
pairs so nicely 1. In a large bowl, combine the first 8 ingredients. ½ cup chopped walnuts
with the apples, In a small bowl, whisk remaining ingredients and ½ cup green grapes, sliced
grapes and pour over salad. Toss to coat. ½ cup shredded cheddar
walnuts. You cheese
can also add 3 bacon strips, cooked
whatever and crumbled
cheese, nuts ¼ cup olive oil
or fruit you 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
prefer.” 2 tbsp honey mustard
Sheila Sturrock, 1 garlic clove, minced
Coldwater, Ont. ¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Amount Per Serving (1 cup): 170
calories, 12 g fat, 8 mg cholesterol,
177 mg sodium, 13 g carbohydrate,
7 g sugars, 3 g fibre, 5 g protein.

34 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022

“This pretty MANGO AND JICAMA ½ cup white wine vinegar
salad has
become part
SALAD ¼ cup canola oil
¼ cup honey
of my regular
Total Time: 25 minutes 1 tsp minced fresh ginger root
summertime
Yield: 8 servings. ¼ tsp salt
rotation
⅛ tsp pepper
because of its
1. For dressing, whisk together first 6 ingredients. 1 medium jicama
freshness and (about 1½ lbs), peeled
versatility— 2. Cut jicama, mango and red pepper into match-
1 medium mango, peeled
it’s great with sticks and place in a large bowl. Toss with lime
1 medium sweet red pepper
everything juice. Add herbs and dressing, then toss to com-
2 tbsp lime juice
from grilled bine. Refrigerate, covered, until serving.
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
chicken to 3. For dressing, whisk together ½ cup white wine ⅓ cup minced fresh chives
seafood! Try it vinegar, ¼ cup canola oil, ¼ cup honey, 1 tsp
with coconut- minced fresh ginger root, ¼ tsp salt and ⅛ tsp
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
flavoured pepper. Cut 1 medium, peeled jicama, 1 medium,
Amount Per Serving (1 cup):
vinegar for peeled mango and 1 medium sweet red pepper
143 calories, 7 g fat, 0 cholesterol,
a fun tropical into matchsticks, then place in large bowl. Toss
78 mg sodium, 20 g carbohydrate,
twist.” with 2 tbsp lime juice, add ½ cup chopped cilan-
16 g sugars, 3 g fibre, 1 g protein.
Carla Mendres, tro and ⅓ cup minced chives. Toss to combine.
Winnipeg Refrigerate, covered, until serving.
“A tasty combi- SPINACH SALAD WITH 1 tbsp butter
nation of pears,
blue cheese and PEARS & CANDIED PECANS 3 tbsp brown sugar
1 cup pecan halves
spinach makes
Total Time: 30 minutes ⅔ cup canola oil
this salad a
Yield: 12 servings. ½ cup sugar
standout. The
⅓ cup lemon juice
sugared pecans
1. In a small heavy skillet, melt butter. Add brown 3 tbsp finely chopped
add a nice red onion
crunch and a sugar and cook and stir over medium heat until
1 tsp salt
bit of sweetness. dissolved. Add pecans, then cook for 3-5 minutes
2 pkg (6 oz. each) fresh
If you like poppy or until toasted, stirring frequently. Spread onto
baby spinach
seeds, feel free foil to cool. In a small bowl, whisk the oil, sugar,
2 medium pears, peeled
to add some to lemon juice, onion and salt and set aside. Just and cubed
the vinaigrette.” before serving, in a large salad bowl, combine ¾ cup crumbled blue cheese
Tamara Stimpson, the spinach, pears, cheese and candied pecans.
Zephyr, Ont. Drizzle with dressing and toss to coat.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Amount Per Serving (1 cup):
281 calories, 22 g fat, 9 mg cholesterol,
345 mg sodium, 19 g carbohydrate, 15
g sugars, 2 g fibre, 4 g protein.

WEIGHTS IMPERIAL 1 oz 6 oz 1 tsp 1 tbsp ¼ cup ½ cup ¾ cup 1 cup 2 lbs

CONVERSION CHART METRIC 30 g 185 g 5 ml 15 ml 60 ml 125 ml 180 ml 250 ml 1 kg

36 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022

 Save $1600
Exclusive free Shower Package!

Our walk-in tub will totally change your bathing experience!

N
save $1600 Exclusive
Shower Package free!

Canadian

North America’s leading supplier of walk-in bathtubs.

SHOWCASE

THE ART OF
TOM FORRESTALL
Meet a storied Canadian painter who channels
his remarkable talents through the medium of egg
tempera by Frank H. Scheme, Eastern Passage, N.S.

38 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022

T
empera is a permanent, quick-dry-
ing painting medium that com-
bines colour pigments with a bind-
ing agent. Because this agent is
often a glutinous material such as egg yolks,
tempera is also known as egg tempera. It’s
one of the oldest painting mediums, dating
back to murals in the ancient dynasties of
Egypt, Babylonia and China, among others.
Because tempera dries so quickly, colour-
blending is not possible once applied to a
surface. That’s why shading is done by short
strokes of colour. By contrast, oil takes long-
er to dry, allowing for more realistic shading.
Another difference is that oil is reflective,
while tempera is matte.
Nova Scotia-based painter Tom Forrestall
has been using this ancient method for al-
most 70 years and is today recognized as one
of the country’s leading realist egg tempera
painters. Renowned Canadian artist Alex
Colville introduced Tom to the technique in
1956, when Tom was his student.
Tom was born in the Annapolis Valley in
1936. He grew up there—in Middleton—as
well as in Dartmouth, and started attending
art classes at an early age. In 1954, he began
studies in the Faculty of Fine Arts at Mount
Allison University in Sackville, N.B., having
been awarded an entrance scholarship.
Along with other soon-to-be-noted artists Left: Tom in
such as Christopher and Mary (née West) his studio,
Pratt, Hugh MacKenzie and D.P. Brown, presenting two
Tom studied under department head Law- paintings in
ren P. Harris (son of Lawren S. Harris of his years-long
the Group of Seven) and Alex Colville, who “Chuck and
Fetch” series,
taught at Mount Allison from 1946 to 1963.
and, above,
Following his graduation in 1958, Tom preparing egg
married Natalie LeBlanc, whom he had met tempera.
at the university. He soon received a Canada
Council Grant for independent study, which
allowed the couple to travel around Europe,
visiting museums and viewing art.
In 1959, Tom became the assistant curator
of the newly launched Beaverbrook Art Gal-
lery in Fredericton. By the following year, he
was commissioned by the Province of New
Brunswick to create a painting for Princess
Margaret in celebration of her wedding.
Encouraged by this early success, he began
to devote himself full-time to painting.
However, he was and remains a highly
creative painter whose unique style hasn’t
always been understood. For one, his quest
to escape the constraints of traditional
square and rectangular canvasses led him
to use round-edged panels and a variety
of other shapes, including those derived
from the triangle, circle and rhombus. He
has often quoted another original thinker,
Oscar Wilde, who said, “An idea that is not
dangerous is unworthy of being called an
idea at all.”
39
 A CAR FOR ALL SEASONS
In 2013, Mercedes-Benz Canada bought
Tom’s 1980 300D and commissioned him
to depict the four seasons on its surface; the
resulting piece is titled “A Car for All Sea-
sons.” Tom credits the motivation and title,
as well as the link to the luxury-car company,
to his long-time friend Mary O’Regan, whose
family owns O’Regan’s Mercedes-Benz in
Halifax. To honour her, Tom painted Mary’s
name on his mobile canvas. His son Frank
got involved, too, capturing the months-
long creative process on video (see below).
“If you broke it down, there would be
probably about 15 paintings,” says Tom. Of
the work’s portrayal of seasonal transforma-
tion, he explains, “Winter, from spring down
at the bottom, goes into summer.” ■

From top: Tom’s work has been widely recognized: Artist Tom Forrestall has authored
“A Car for All He has been inducted into the Order of Can- and appears in several books about and
Seasons,” Tom’s ada and the Order of Nova Scotia, received inspired by his craft, including Shaped
1980 Mercedes a Queen’s Jubilee Medal, and earned sever- by This Land (1974); This Good Looking
300D that he al honorary doctorates as well as appoint- Land: 117 Sketches of Nova Scotia (1976);
transformed into
ments to various academic and art boards. Returning the Favour: Vision for Vision
art in 2013, is
now on display
Among his special commissions is a painting (1992); and Tom Forrestall: Paintings,
at O’Regan’s for Pierre Trudeau of his sons, a gift from the Drawings, Writings (2008), by Tom
Mercedes-Benz nation upon the prime minister’s retirement. Smart. Tom’s paintings are sold by the
in Halifax; “Cat,” Tom’s had numerous solo and group exhib- Mira Godard Gallery in Toronto (www.
fittingly painted itions and, today, his art can be found in gal- godardgallery.com). Watch a short video
on the back of a leries and private collections in Canada, the about how “A Car for All Seasons” was
Lazy Susan. U.S., Europe and the Middle East. created at rd.ca/forrestall

40 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022

 Reader’s Digest Wants You To Be Aware of
Fraudulent Sweepstakes
Beware of scammers who contact you to tell you that you’ve won a prize or lottery. This
communication usually occurs through: EMAIL, MAIL, TELEPHONE and SOCIAL MEDIA.
There are many variations on the prize scam. Here is one that was reported to the Canadian
Anti-Fraud Centre:
PRIZE WINNER CALL OR LETTER :  The scammer states that you have won
a car and/or cash prize;
 This variation often targets seniors;
To get the winnings, they tell you that you will
 Someone calls you claiming to represent need to pay a small fee to cover taxes, legal
“Reader’s Digest”; fees or delivery costs.
There are no fees or taxes for prizes won in Canada.
If you won it, it’s FREE!
If you have been the target of a scam and if you have provided personal or financial information
Contact: The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre by telephone at 1-888-495-8501 or
Go to: www.antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca

At the Reader’s Digest we have never asked our winners, in our entire
history of Sweepstakes, to pay money to get their prize

Our Sweepstakes draws are

usually held every two years
at the end of September.
We have had the draw of
71st Sweeps 72nd Sweeps 73rd Sweeps 74th Sweeps
our 78th Sweepstakes on B. Mulholland S. Kulchyski R. Ackley Januus Kimsto
September 21, 2021, and
our 79th Sweepstakes draw
will be held in September of
2023. Here are some of our
past Sweepstakes winners.
75th Sweeps 76th Sweeps 77th Sweeps 78th Sweeps
B. & A. Lessard K. & L. Penney J. & D. Alai Carole Perron
Again, please keep in mind that none of these winners were ever asked for money in order to
get the Prize they have won with the Reader’s Digest. Awareness is your best tool, and your
safety is important to us.
If you have any doubts, contact us at 1-800-465-0780 and mention that you are calling
concerning a suspicious sweepstakes scam

Remember, if it seems too good to be true, it is.

 COMING TO CANADA
A Land
of Opportunity
Moving from the tropics of Jakarta
to Winnipeg gave three brothers
the world by Danny Wong, Montreal
I
t was late summer 1980 when
my parents, two brothers and
I settled into an apartment
in Winnipeg. We had complet-
ed a long journey that took us
from Indonesia to Hong Kong
to Vancouver, and then finally
to our new home. Greeted at the
airport by my father’s sister, who
was studying at the University
of Manitoba, and by our local
sponsors, the Bakers, we arrived
with a few suitcases and the pro-
verbial clothes on our backs.
When we boys were older, our
father would explain to us that,
although the bureaucratic process
to get us to Canada was lengthy
and complicated, he was grateful
to have been given the chance to
raise his family in a safe country
that allowed us opportunities.
There’s a photo he took just a few
days after we’d arrived, with my
mother in a summer dress and
my brothers and I in shorts and
T-shirts, standing by a tree on
the city’s legislative grounds. I’ve
always thought my mother looked
very pretty in that picture, but that
there was a tinge of sadness in her
eyes, no doubt from having left
family halfway around the world
for a strange new land where we
had only very rudimentary English
abilities.
Although university educated,
my parents would find work in a
factory. We kids started school
42 Our Canada JUNE /JULY 2022
that first autumn: I was in the
third grade; my older brother,
David, in Grade 6; and Donald
was in kindergarten. Ours was an
inner-city school in a lower-in-
come neighbourhood; despite
that, I have very fond memories of
my teacher, Mrs. Frances Smith,
who showed such care and took
so much of her own time after
class to tutor me in the intricacies
of the English language. I also
remember the school’s snack
program, providing students with
free cheese and crackers or celery
sticks and peanut butter—exotic
new flavours to me and many of
my classmates.
My first new friends offered an
international mix from countries
including Vietnam and Bolivia.
And though they now have fam-
ilies of their own and live as far
away as Australia and Europe, I’ve
remained in touch with some.
Steadily Adapting
The true test and quintessen-
tial meaning of being Canadian
may come down to its winters.
Our sponsors had prepared us
for the bitter prairie weather
with snow pants and parkas.
We loved discovering the new
season, building snow forts and
snowmen, and doing our best to
play hockey. I even went on to
discover the joys of curling as a
high-schooler!
Above from left: The family in
Jakarta, Indonesia; Danny celebrating
Mom’s 80th, in 2021; a Zoom family
party for Dad’s 81st, in 2020.
We eventually moved from the
inner city to a house in the sub-
urbs. Dad made sure we learned
to be responsible neighbours,
such as by pitching in to help
everyone clear their snow.
Eventually, my father’s mother
joined us in Canada and, like us,
didn’t hide from winters. In her
fur-lined parka, she’d walk to the
bus stop to go downtown to the
Chinese cultural centre, spending
days with others of her generation.
Over the course of several
FAMILY PHOTO IN JAKARTA: JESSE WONG
years, our neighbourhood’s paper
route was passed down from one
brother to the next, each of us
experiencing the value of hard
work, especially after having
seen our parents toil in factories
to pay for our necessities. It’s a
cliché, but we studied hard to help
ensure our future successes.
 Our parents made a choice they
hoped would further bolster our
futures, but which differentiated
us from other Chinese families:
they decided not to send us to Chi-
nese school. For them, it was more
important that we had the same
opportunities as Canadian-born
children, including to play sports
and go camping. I recall one sum-
mer at Camp B’nai Brith in Lake of
the Woods, Ont., learning to canoe
and handle a bow and arrow. I
attribute my current fondness for
stoking a wood fireplace to these
early experiences.
Eventually, we each left
home to pursue post-secondary
educations—my brothers chose
Toronto, where they live today
with their own families, and I
chose Montreal and McGill Uni-
versity. Our parents soon retired
and moved to the Scarborough
district of Toronto.
I loved living in the McGill
“ghetto” and fell in love with Que-
bec culture. I made it my mission
to learn French, not only by the
book, but to be able to converse
in joual. One day, as I sat at a bus
stop next to an elderly woman, she
turned to me and, with a gentle
smile, said I reminded her of “les
p’tits chinois” that came over on
boats. Recounting this story now-
adays, my Québécois friends recoil
and apologize for her words. But I
know she meant no offence; that
was simply the harmless slang of
her generation.
Finding Home
I eventually moved to Vancouver,
where I met my partner, Tony,
at the Gay and Lesbian Centre,
where we both volunteered. This
was at a time when gay rights was
still a hot topic, before same-sex
marriage was recognized and
when the community was still
struggling with the effects of HIV/
AIDS. We soon bought a house
in Victoria, where we remained
active in the community as volun-
teers for the capital city’s Pride
Festival and Aids Walk.
A few years ago, I accepted a
promotion that would take me
back to La Belle Province, and for
which I’d become my company’s
first openly gay vice-president.
Tony and I now make Mont-
real our home and have enjoyed
its joie de vivre and cinq-à-sept
culture—and the joual has again
come in handy! And at work, I
head up a wonderfully multicul-
tural department. I even had the
pleasure of introducing the team
to Chinese New Year, with tradi-
tional food and activities, as well
as some personal anecdotes.
In retrospect, had my par-
ents not made the sacrifice to
uproot the family to Canada, I
don’t know if I’d be as open as I
am today, both personally and
professionally. It’s in part thanks
to them that Tony and I recently
celebrated 25 years together.
The family itself reached 40
years in Canada in the summer of
2020, but due to pandemic lock-
downs and to help ensure every-
one’s health and safety—including
concerns about Asian hate linked
to COVID-19—our planned cele-
brations have yet to materialize.
Although not seeing their grand-
ma and grandpa has been difficult
for my three young nieces, they
understand they can’t risk trans-
mitting the virus to them.
Still, after all these years, and
even living through this pandem-
ic, we have cause to be thankful
and remain hopeful. From the
sacrifices made by Mom and
Dad, we’ve learned that freedom
doesn’t mean being able to do
everything you want. It means
being responsible citizens, creat-
ing opportunities and remaining
resilient through adversity. Most-
ly, for us, being Canadian means
looking after family, friends and
neighbours. ■
43
 PHOTO CONTEST

SHARE
YOUR
CANADA
Congratulations to the
winners of our annual
photo contest—choosing
among such amazing
entries wasn’t easy! Here
are the three winners,
along with some others
we felt worthy of special
mention. Thanks to all
who participated!

1 st
place: $500

Regal Pose
Paula Brown, Ottawa

“I love cormorants and when we kayak

at Petrie Island here in Ottawa, I am always
on the lookout for that distinctive beak.
I was so excited to spot this statuesque
cormorant standing perfectly still against
the backdrop of fall foliage—almost as
though it was posing for me.”

44 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022

45
 2 nd
place: $300

Eerie Solitude
Gabor Dosa, Surrey, B.C.

“With forest fires burning out of control

nearby, the area surrounding Lake Revelstoke
became an austere and mystical place, thanks
to the smoke-filled sky. And for the fisherman
waiting to land his catch of the day, it made
for a surreal landscape.”

46 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022

3 rd
place: $200

The Wonder Above

Nicola Windsor, Port Coquitlam, B.C.

“This photo of my two grandsons, Simon

(left) and William, was snapped by their
dad, Thep Hueangvilavong, as the boys sat
by the fence at Langley Airport watching
the planes land and take off.”

47
RUNNERS-UP

KEEPING LOVE ALIVE

I captured this shot of my dogs, Twigs (left)
and Huck, as they took in the view across
Pyramid Lake in Jasper National Park,” shares
Kelsy Gibos of Hinton, Alta. “The water was like
glass and the fall colours were spectacular. My
husband, Travis, and I come to this spot every
year on our wedding anniversary and recite all
the things we love about each other—it sounds
cheesy, but it keeps the marriage alive!”

48 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022

HITCHING
A RIDE
Steven Rose of
Scarborough writes:
“I was photographing
this tiny gray treefrog
when a fly, clutching
its prey, landed on
the frog’s back. What
a perfect place for
the fly to eat its lunch
without being eaten
by the frog!”

QUIET
REFLECTION
“While walking in
the woods one day,
I was able to capture
this image of tall
standing oak trees
perfectly reflected in
the water, as well as
the leaves floating
beneath the surface,”
says Sandy Shaften of
Kingsville, Ont. ■

49
WRITER’S BLOCK
DEAR MOM
Old letters reveal to a daughter
that she is more like her mother
than she realized
by Lily Doyle-DeYoung, New Glasgow, N.S.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Lily grew up along the
Northumberland Strait of Nova Scotia in the small
fishing community of Lismore. She’s a retired
educator (although she hates the word “retired”),
a wife, mother, grandmother and sister, and a
friend to many. She continues to work part-
time, volunteer in the field of mental health
and support community outreach. By her
own admission, she has failed at retirement.
Lily has been dabbling in writing since her
first day in a one-room school.
T
oday is a perfect day to get things
done. Like my mother, for me, every
day is a day to get things done. Mom
was thin, quick-moving and some-
times quick-tempered. A cigarette and a cup
of tea rewarded each and every daily task, of
which there were many. I see my mother
more and more in my rope-veined hands
and deepening jowls. As each day brings
me closer to her in appearance, it also
brings me closer in knowing her. I have ten-
tatively begun to think of myself as a senior.
I have stopped counting the lines and dark
spots and started counting the diminishing
years ahead.
Resigned to the inevitability that no one
will want to do it for me, I unearth boxes and
bins from the attic. The clear plastic con-
tainers are neatly labelled with the names
of each family member. Hidden among re-
port cards, hockey trophies and medals is a
small bundle of letters. Bound with yellow
ribbon, the papers smell like my mother’s
musty basement and have turned a brown-
ish yellow. They are crisp to the touch. Each
bears an eight-cent postage stamp from
50 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022
1973 and an address from Acadia Univer-
sity. They are letters written to me during
my first year at the Wolfville, N.S., univer-
sity. When I left home, my mother was 36
and I was 16. The term “empty nester” had
not yet been coined, but she was an obvious
victim. Although Mom had only an elemen-
tary-school education and English was not
her first language, she loved to write: gro-
cery lists, household budgets, to-do lists—
and lengthy letters to me.
This day, I reread each letter and listen
to her voice as clearly as if she were sitting
beside me at the oval, maple kitchen table in
Lismore. Her letters bear no trace of senti-
ment. There is no seeking of sympathy.
There is no need to share anything of her
own health or hardships. Like her, the let-
ters are simple and direct, her unexpressed
pride in my achievements disguised in facts:
Your name was in the Herald yesterday
for the dean’s list. I haven’t seen it yet, but
Peggy is going to keep it for me.
She does not admit she misses me.
Instead, she writes:
I hope you are coming home this weekend.
If you need anything, call or write. Be sure
to eat enough. We’ll be waiting for a letter.
The house is so quiet. Daddy said we are
going to miss your boyfriend coming on
Friday night. This house is like a mourgue.
I’ll send you some goodies next week. Well
by for now, here’s some stamps for you.
Her’s a couple of dollars for soap detergent.
Tucked inside each letter, there would be
a $10 bill or a small wad of one- and two-dol-
lar bills with an accompanying closing line:
I am sending you this to tide you over.
Love, Mom.
Living in a small fishing community, you
relied on yourself and you managed your
money and chores tightly. Mom’s days were
measured like the flour and baking powder
in her tidy kitchen.
I baked this morning, Brownies, Biscuits,
Cinnimon rolls. Also I made two pies yes-
terday and they’re all gone. I made eight
jars of mustard pickles this morning. I also
got my chow all cut up. I washed the kitchen
 walls and I made date squares and biscuits
yesterday and they’re all gone. So this
morning I made a blueberrie cake. I have a
little stew on for supper and also did a wash.
I guess I will get my carrots ready to freeze.
We are going to go picking cranberries
tomorrow and I will freeze some. I guess I
will clean the oven tonight. I am going to get
up early tomorrow and wash the ceiling and
get my drapes. I think I’ll paint the living
room before I put the drapes up.
My mother thrived on being productive
and making each day count for something.
Spring cleaning was always around the cor-
ner with the hope of sunnier days ahead. I
am reminded that our family survived on
her industry and thrift.
We’ve been so busy. I worked every day
at the fish factory last week. We won’t have
much of a pay cheque as we only got 20
hours and so I will only get 18 stamps. I am
still smoking Makin’s and you wouldn’t
believe all the money I save. I can smoke all
week for three dollars. Milk went up 5 cents
a quart. Isn’t that awful? Dad bought a cow
and we had to pack all 244 lbs in the freez-
er. Now I am going to go dig some potatoes
or they will be there all winter. Daddy
works tomorrow so I’ll have to get up early
and make his lunch. I have to do my supper
dishes. I got the wash in off the clothesline
and now I have to do a bit of ironing. I
am going to start my Xmas shoping next
week so I’ll get a couple of gifts every pay.
If you need any money next week, call or
write as I’ll have a good check, for now
I’m having a hot cup of tea.
Sometimes I would show my mother’s
poor grammar and misspellings to my uni-
versity roommate, and we would enjoy a few
giggles at Mom’s expense—the silly stuff of
adolescence. I wanted to feign sophistica-
tion and be more than the daughter of sim-
ILLUSTRATION: ISTOCKPHOTO
ple country people. The letters sounded
backward and poor. Foolishly, I feared my
life might be reduced to all those things she
listed in her letter, the things that mattered
most to her—the things that now matter
most to me, like making a meal that is so
good that someone asks for seconds, dust-
ing the family photos on my grandmother’s
beat-up Willis piano that we carted from
Pugwash, N.S., so the kids could take les-
sons 30 years ago and never practise, or just
enjoying the satisfaction that comes from
hanging your sheets on the clothesline and
watching them dance in the breeze. I know
more what matters with each passing day.
On a still and chilly February day in 2011,
I arrive at the hospital. Mom is waiting for
me in the geriatric unit; there is a ventilator
and a tube inserted in her throat. Mom sits
upright, alert and in command. There is a
stack of small papers and a pen on her table
tray. She is unable to speak, but on cue, she
begins to write down all the things she has
been waiting to tell me since my last visit.
She thrusts one of her rectangular sheets of
paper at me. She has written:
I was talking to the nurse today and
she said I might be able to eat again but
I’ll never be able to talk again.
She shares that news with no plea for
pity. She then smiles and scribbles:
I’d give anything for a good
cup of tea.
Today I tie up the letters with
the frayed yellow ribbon and re-
turn them to the plastic bin. In
my head, I write my own letter:
Dear Mom, I would give anything
for another day with you.
Love, Lily. ■
FEELING INSPIRED?
If you are a writing enthusiast looking for an appreciative
audience, why not share your fiction, creative non-
fiction and poetry with the Our Canada community?
Or, if you are a member of a writing group, we’d love
to hear from you! Submit your material at ourcanada.ca
for a chance to be published in a future issue.
51
A LOON’S
STORY
A few fun facts and features
about Canada’s favourite bird
by Brian Burnett, Burlington, Ont.
T
o begin with, there is nothing
common about this bird. From
its eerily haunting calls, irides-
cent plumage, brilliant scar-
let-red eyes, legs set awkwardly
far back and large webbed feet, to its pure
natural beauty, it would have been more fit-
tingly named the uncommon loon.
The common loon’s taxonomic name,
Gavia immer, comes from gavia—Latin for
“ancient seabird”—and immer—derived
from the Latin immergo (to plunge) or di-
rectly from the Norwegian for “great north-
52 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022
ern diver.” Able to plunge to depths of 200
feet, remain submerged for several min-
utes and fly nonstop across hundreds of
miles in a single flight, the common loon is
truly a Superman in the aquatic-bird world.
Its English name, loon, comes from its
awkwardness on land. With legs and large
webbed feet back near the end of its body,
underwater it’s a streamlined, extremely
fast and agile bird torpedo. On land, how-
ever, due to the rearward position of its legs
and feet, it looks like a bit of a drunken sailor.
Except when in flight, loons leave the
water only to mate or incubate eggs in their
nests. A loon found on land for any other rea-
son is like a fish out of water and is probably
sick or injured, or has somehow missed its
watery runway and either needs help to re-
turn to the water or an immediate rescue.
THE EYES HAVE IT
The loon’s brilliant red eyes aren’t that co-
lour by accident or to enhance its dashing
good looks; there’s a real science behind
them. If you’ve ever gone snorkelling or
scuba diving and own a GoPro camera,
you’ll know that a red filter is a must-have
underwater. Well, needless to say, the loon
had the science eons before GoPro.
Water absorbs light, and colour is sim-
ply different wavelengths or particles of
light. Red light has the longest wavelength
of visible colours, therefore it has the least
amount of energy. This energy is absorbed
underwater at a depth of 12-15 feet, so the
colour disappears; a bit deeper, orange and
then yellow follow. By the time the loon
reaches a depth of 50-60 feet, all low-en-
ergy light and colour are gone. Everything
would appear a muted bluish-green—as
only these shorter wavelengths remain—if
not for the loon’s red eyes, filtering these
colours out. The red not only returns some
natural colour to the underwater world at
depth, but, more importantly, adds a greater
distinguishable contrast between prey and
its environment, allowing the loon to easily
spot the fish, crustaceans and insect larvae
that would have been otherwise perfectly
colour-muted and camouflaged.
TOGETHER FOREVER
Living for up to 30 years, it was once thought
that loon couples mated for life. New re-
search suggests that territory eclipses mo-
nogamy, however, and a mother bird having
the ideal place to raise her chicks takes pri-
ority. Transient bachelor loons may launch
challenges for territory; if successful, the
resident male is driven off, with the intruder
acquiring not only his territory but also his
mate. However, a mated pair that can de-
fend and retain their territory will
remain together for many years,
returning to Canada from their
ocean vacations on the Gulf Coast
or in Mexico each spring to nest
and raise a family. Loons typically
refurbish the previous year’s nest,
and the female then lays one or two
eggs. These take about four weeks
to hatch, with chicks arriving
sometime in late June or early July.
Once hatched, these tiny brown
fluffball chicks are able to swim
immediately and never return to
the nest, preferring instead to ride
high or to tuck under the wing of either mom
or dad, which offers both warmth and pro-
tection. The chicks, however, grow quickly
and their hitchhiking ends after about two
weeks, as they now begin to dive, explore and
develop independence. At four weeks, the
chicks can dive and procure some of their
own food, often being left alone while mom
and dad go off socializing at neighbouring
lakes. By eight weeks, the chicks are mostly
able to provide for themselves and are left
alone overnight and for extended periods. At
12 weeks, they have now fledged and, with
the ability to fly, are completely independent
of their parents, with the time drawing near
for their winter migration.
LOONS AT RISK
The haunting tremolo call of the loon is an
iconic wilderness or cottage experience
during our Canadian summers, and I just
cannot imagine sitting dockside or dipping
my paddle and not hearing it. Sadly, the
common loon is on the decline in Canada,
with culprits such as water acidification,
mercury pollution, habitat loss and habitat
disruption by humans cited as key elements
in this reduction.
At my own cottage in Haliburton, Ont.,
the number of cottages on our lake has more
than doubled in the past 20 years and, thus, Top left: A
so has the number of people, boats, person- chick catches
al watercraft and fishing enthusiasts. I first a parental ride;
became aware of the effects this was having below: a baby
on our loons seven years ago when, for three loon follows its
consecutive years, no chicks were hatched, mom and dad.
53

and although eggs had been laid in each
nest, both the eggs and nests had been aban-
doned. What most people don’t know is that
loons are highly sensitive to stressors such
as people and boat traffic; and with loon
nesting coinciding with the May 24 long
weekend, as well as the opening of bass sea-
son on the third Saturday in June, the hu-
man pressures were just too great for them
and they had flown the coop, so to speak.
After observing nest disruption by fishers,
who oftentimes would cast their lines right
at the nests, and with the loons being further
bombarded by the onslaught of noisy jet skis
zooming in and around the shallow back
bays, it was time for me to launch into a plan
of affirmative action.
Each spring, once our docks
are back in place and our pon-
toon boat is launched, I load up
the boat with floats, anchors and
signs. I design these signs and
have them printed on weather-
proof chloroplast, which I se-
cure to floats and then anchor at
the mouths of the shallow quiet
bays where the loons prefer to
nest. My signs are pretty mat-
ter of fact, citing the Migratory
Birds Convention Act of 1994
and asking that everyone help
54 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022
protect our wildlife. At first, I
wasn’t quite sure how cottagers
and other people would react
to my signs and the temporar-
ily restricted access to areas
of the lake; but, surprisingly, 99
percent would stop, read the sig-
nage and just respectfully turn
around. Overall, the signage has
had great success in that not only
do we now have loon chicks every
year, but many of our cottagers
have since become stewards and
protectors of our loons. I think
the greatest thing I have learned
from this experience is that it’s
not that people don’t care, it’s
that they just don’t know. Once
they’re enlightened and provided
with information, they do want to
help and will do the right thing.
THINGS YOU CAN DO
As Canadians, we all love our summers—
and there’s nothing quite like summer on
the water or at the cottage. But our loons
and other wildlife account for an integral
part of the Canadian experience, so please
be mindful and respectful. Loons enjoy
shallow regions, back bays, and areas along
shorelines, so if you have the need for speed,
please take it away from these nesting and
nursery areas, as loon chicks are almost im-
possible to spot on the water and may not be
able to dive down to escape your boat.
All animals have what is called a buffer
zone, which is simply the dis-
tance between you and them
that they are comfortable with.
When you breach this zone, you
incite either a fight or flight reac-
tion. Loons, being very sensitive
and easily stressed, will abandon
their nests and even their chicks
if continually intruded upon. As
a rule of thumb, a buffer zone of
400 feet while nesting and 100
feet two weeks after chicks have
been hatched should be observed.
When a loon stands tall upon the
water and wildly flaps its wings—
known as a penguin dance—and
repeats an excited, wavering call
referred to as a tremolo, it is not
showing off, nor is it happy to see
you. On the contrary, your close
proximity is causing it great distress and you
should leave immediately. This distressed
display may be followed by more aggressive
wing rowing, a defensive attack directed
at you that puts both yourself and the loon
in harm’s way. Remember, the loon’s long
pointed bill is also a defensive tool, and loons
have even been known to kill eagles while
defending their territory or chicks. I once
saw a pair of canoeists paddle too close to a
mother and her two chicks—the melee that
ensued caused the canoe to capsize, leaving
the pair, still under attack, to abandon their
vessel and swim for shore.
RESCUE ME
Of course, there are situations like en-
tanglement—a fishing line, or a loon out of
water that warrants help or rescue—but as
a general rule, nature has its own design,
and loon chicks and other wildlife young
should be left alone. Here’s how it works:
though sometimes laying only one egg,
loons most often will lay two, the second
egg being staggered, laid one to three days
after the first. Hatching also occurs as a
staggered event, giving the first hatched
chick a head start on the second one. Na-
ture, by design intends for only one chick
to fledge and reach adulthood; the second
chick is just nature’s insurance marker
should the first chick be gobbled up by a Clockwise from
predator or lost to a storm. Oftentimes as top left: An
chicks develop and grow, the first-hatched adult loon waits
(and therefore larger) chick will com- to welcome the
mand all the food from its loon parents. It next generation;
displaying the
may also antagonize its smaller siblings
penguin stance;
with continual attacking and pecking. As more loon-and-
with many avian species, siblicide is not chick joyrides.
uncommon, with the larger, first-hatched
chick starving or even killing its smaller
sibling so as to command all the parental
attention and food supply.
On our lake several years ago, some cot-
tagers took notice of this behaviour and,
pitying the smaller loon chick, effected a
rescue. They then delivered the tiny, ema-
ciated chick to a wildlife-rescue centre
nearby, where it inevitably died. The cot-
tagers, with kind intent, thought they were
doing the right thing; however, as fate
would have it, only two days later, the first
chick was gobbled up by a mink. Here’s the
dilemma: If the cottagers had not rescued
the smaller chick in the first place, with its
older sibling now gone, it would have com-
manded undivided attention and feeding
from its parents and potentially would
have grown to adulthood.
The moral of the story is that nature is
not always kind, but it always has a plan, so
please just leave it to its intended design. ■
55
 THE WAY IT WAS
That Rings a Bell!
Remembering rotary dialing,
party lines and telephone tables
by Heather Killeen-Baird, Almonte, Ont.
G
rowing up in the early
’70s, my mother was a
stay-at-home mom. We
lived about 10 kilometres from
Almonte, Ont., and since Dad
used our only car to travel to
work in the city, Mom was left
with no means of transportation.
That would have been isolating
on its own, but she spent those
first few years without even a
telephone. I say “telephone” be-
cause I feel the complete, proper,
descriptive word is required here.
Calling it a phone doesn’t give it
the respect it deserved in 1971.
Even though every house
typically had a telephone, it
was revered. When it rang, you
answered it. There was always
a good reason for a telephone to
ring. Yes, gossip is a good reason.
You answered the phone confi-
dently, without fear of telemar-
keting scams. If someone from
the bank called to say there was a
problem with your balance, there
was a problem with your balance.
Telephones were hard-wired
into homes, typically situated
in a hallway between the kitch-
en and some other part of the
house. There were two styles of
telephones: wall-hangers and
table-sitters. Both styles had a
heavy plastic—almost rubber—
coiled cord that connected the
telephone base to the hand-held
receiver. The base had a rotary
dial, while the receiver had a
microphone at one end and a
56 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022
speaker at the other. The cord
could stretch and then return to
its coiled shape, depending on
how far you needed to be from
the base while chatting. You
could really tell a lot about how
a family used their telephone
by the condition of that cord. If Above: Avon’s aftershave and talc kit,
it didn’t contract back into its in the shape of an antique telephone.
original coil, it ended up being Right: An old-fashioned
a tangled mess. This probably rotary phone.
meant a lot of conversations
happened while someone had specific combinations of long
pulled and held the cord from the and short chimes. When a call
telephone base a little too far, for came in, we’d stop what we were
a little too long. doing to listen for our ring pat-
We had a telephone table years tern; sometimes it took a couple
before we actually had a tele- of sequences of rings before we
phone. The waist-high wooden recognized the call was for us.
table sat in a perfect little nook in If you needed to phone some-
the hallway between the kitchen one, you had to make sure the line
and the bedrooms. Mom bought wasn’t in use. You’d pick up the
a novelty set of aftershave and receiver and listen. If there were
talc powder from Avon in the voices instead of a dial tone, you
shape of an antique telephone. made every effort to hang up gent-
By putting a container of men’s ly, so as not to disturb the conver-
grooming products disguised as sation. Of course, you would hope
an antique telephone on the table the people talking would real-
meant for a telephone, she was ize that someone else want-
manifesting a real phone onto ed to use the line and
that table. And it worked! would wrap it up. But
if your call was
Whose Line
Is It, Anyway?
When telephone service came
to our road, we bought a table-
top-style phone, since we already
had the table! We were on a party
line, which meant we shared the
line with a few neighbours. Each
neighbour had a different ring,
really urgent or you felt their gos-
sip, er, conversation had gone on a
bit too long, it wasn’t unheard of
to politely ask if they could free up
the line for you.
I don’t remember any big
issues between neighbours
regarding abuse or overuse of
the shared line. But, being a kid, I
was probably sheltered from the
politics of party lines. Still, there
were definitely people who mas-
tered the art of picking up the
handset in a way that didn’t alert
the people talking that a third
person had joined their conver-
sation. When I say “joined the
conversation,” I mean more of an
active-listener situation. If you
did sense someone else on the
call, you would say in a very firm
and angry tone: “I’m using the
line right now!” If this statement
was followed by a click, you and
they both knew that they were
caught! Unfortunately, depend-
ing on the number of homes that
shared the line, there was no way
of truly knowing which house-
hold was listening in.
My grandparents lived on the
neighbouring concession. Their
party line was a little different
because Grandma knew exactly
who she shared it with: most of
the others were relatives. She
might pick up the telephone
to make a call, recognize the
voices, then just join the conver-
sation already in progress.
We eventually got our own tele-
phone line. No more sharing, no
fear of being overheard, no more
having to listen for our sequence
of long and short rings. Nowadays,
everyone has their own phone—
and they’re “smart” phones. But
are they really that smart if they
don’t have their own tables? ■
SUBMIT Anything
for The Way It Was? Submit
online at ourcanada.ca
or turn to page 64 for our
mailing address.
ROTARY TELEPHONE: ISTOCKPHOTO
57
 WHEELS
Deere Old Days
Dating back 75 years, these vintage
workhorses just keep chugging along
by Doug Scherlie, Wembley, Alta.
M
y first total tear-down
was the 1947 John Deere
D. It came from a college
friend’s farm, about 400 miles
away, and had been used on their
farm forever!
Back then, it had a hay sweep
on the front for stacking loose
hay. No GPS or power steering
in those days; it was slow and
awkward but hard-working and
John Deere D
58 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022
reliable. In later years, it pulled
a manure spreader, and then sat
idle in a shed for many years.
A veteran John Deere mechanic
had it started within an hour, after
removing a big pailful of seeds,
pine cones and other tidbits from
the radiator and other nooks and
crannies that had been stashed
away over the years by rodents.
1952 Case D
The Rebirth of JD D
Although the engine turned over
with minimal effort, the JD D
was in need of a complete over-
haul to make it fully functional.
So, the whole machine was torn
down—engine, transmission,
body and everything in between.
The parts were refurbished or re-
built where necessary, and it was
reassembled. I kept the original
old tires on it, in keeping with
the overall feel of a hard-working
farm tractor.
It puts out 45 horsepower
through its two horizontal
pistons; it has a right-side hand
clutch and a huge old flywheel,
which together give it the ability
to pull down to low rpms yet keep
 Gibson Custom
lugging a load. “Our Johnny
Popper,” as I like to call it, is still
my favourite toy to bring to “show
and go” events. It’s even pulled a
three-bottom plow at our local
Tractor Club Plow Days.
A Unique Gibson
My wife’s 1947 “custom-built”
Gibson was made by a neighbour
who lived in the village nearby.
He was a mastermind at rebuild-
ing rare machinery—anything
with a motor—from scratch.
This creation started out from
the basic scraps of an original
Gibson, but the motor is from a
swather, the gearbox from a big
loader and other missing parts
were found, made or adapted as
his ingenuity dictated.
This model of Gibson tractor
came from the factory with tiller
steering (no wheel) and a three-
point hitch lever. It would’ve
been used in an orchard or for
garden work. The blade on my
wife’s custom Gibson is from a
modern garden tractor, added
mainly as a conversation piece,
although it works and can serve
its intended purpose. The green
paint job is not factory original
because the man who built it
chose to paint each of his cre-
ations a different colour.
I bought it for my wife’s 65th
birthday, as the builder was
downsizing at that time. I am
glad that he had an opportunity
to see the unmistakable joy on
her face while she was driving it
John Deere A
in town parades and at events
at the nearby museum.
An original Gibson tractor, of
which there were three models,
would’ve sold for between $760
and $845. It was produced by
Western American Industries
in Longmont, Colorado. The ad-
vertising slogan was “Big tractor
performance on small farms.”
A “Win-Win” Trade
The 1947 John Deere A, 35 HP,
came to me in a horse trade,
which involved a couple of old
JD carcasses I had in my posses-
sion that a local master rebuilder
wanted. The JD A was an extra
for him, so it was a win-win trade.
I remember our neighbours by
our old farm had this model while
I was growing up, and we would
use it for haying. What a thrill
for a kid to drive! Sitting up high,
I felt like the king of the road.
With its tricycle wheels, it turned
very short, which could prove to
be very dangerous if one hit the
wheel brake on one side only!
Tiny & Tough Case D
The orange 1952 Case D, 35 HP,
was tucked away in a farm shed
about 300 miles away, intact and
complete. It was trailered home
and an old farm friend adept
with Case machines quickly had
it running. The body repair and
painting followed. The J.I. Case
Company was named after its
founder, Jerome Increase Case—
oddly enough, his actual name.
JD 2510
On our old farm, this model
was our only tractor for years.
I remember plowing, harrow-
ing and baling with it. It wasn’t
easy to work with, especially in
tandem with an Allis-Chalmers
Roto-Baler. Because it didn’t have
live PTO (a two-stage clutch),
for every bale you had to stop the
tractor, take it out of gear, roll the
bale through to the kick-out, then
put it back into gear and go again,
slow but sure. That model had a
curved cast-iron grill that was real
solid. We had a mean old Angus
bull that decided to charge the
tractor head-on one day. Wham-
mo! He was stunned, but he
backed up and charged it a second
time, but never again—lesson
learned! It was tiny, but tough.
Meet Deere John 2510
The 1967 John Deere 2510, 55 HP,
with an eight-speed synchro
transmission and a three-point
hitch was our only yard tractor
for years, and still serves as a
backup. It had been a row-crop
tractor, with V-shaped front tires
and row-crop adjustable axles.
After a lot of cleanup and repair
work, it was painted. A Soo loader
was painted to match, and then
added in May 1987.
And that’s where our collec-
tion of functional tractor history
stands today. As you can probably
tell by now, I’m always happy
when I get a chance to recall and
share the simplicity of those
“Deere old days.” ■
59
DESTINATIONS
SALTY MEMORIES
Some enchanted evenings (and days), sailing
the South Pacific by Violet St. Clair, Edmonton
S
ouvenirs are funny things; some-
times expensive, perhaps give-
aways, occasionally grand, or even
found on the beach, but always
evocative and transporting—a bit of left-
over lustre once the nine-to-five is strapped
back on. This year, my souvenirs had an
added poignancy and magic, reminding me
of the world beyond.
Bereft of terra incognita during this time
of COVID, I often wind down in my living
room with a glass of wine, letting my eyes
roam and recalling places and people.
Favourites are impossible: Slippers from
India, singing bowls from Kathmandu, tra-
ditional Maasai jewellery, the blue evil-eye
talisman from Turkey. At one end of my fire-
place, a small bottle of Bulgarian rose per-
60 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022
fume from the land of a father I never met;
at the other, a bundle of long quills from a
South African porcupine wandering in the
Drakensberg; and in the middle, Canopic
jars from Cairo. Each item conjures up a
landscape, a person, a scent, a story, a ca-
cophony of aural memories: perhaps the
bells of Notre Dame or the startling pitches
of Peking opera.
Tonight I see a hint of parchment peeking
out from behind a serpentine dragon. I take
it down as waves of salty memories are un-
leashed: the Soren Larsen, a square-rigged
tall ship, and a trip of 1,203 nautical miles
on the South Pacific high seas. I had prickled
with anticipation when boarding her that
July and wobbled for days after the voyage
had ended; in between, I was mesmerized
by the heaving cobalt waters, and the islands
opulent with palms. I was part of the voyage
crew, the only Canadian among ten dispa-
rate characters from three continents. My
credentials? Absolutely none. But I wasn’t
afraid of hard work; and the seasickness,
mercifully, lasted only the first night.
Climbing the ropes to loosen the sails per-
manently lodged my heart in my throat, and
taking the wheel filled me with exhilaration
and trepidation. My head swam listening to
Captain Barry explain navigation by dead
reckoning, but the slosh of the Pacific in my
bunk down below blessed me with a sleep I
haven’t enjoyed since. The sights and sounds
were a Gauguinesque dream: the winds and
breezes; the racing white crests; the scent of
frangipani; the lure and fascination of ran-
dom islands, remote, sandy, craggy, lush. Sil-
ver flying fish, leaping dolphins and, once, a
sperm whale sliding alongside and then dis- down, as though halfway into a cartwheel. Clockwise from
appearing into the deep, my breath joining Strange thoughts arise on middle watch. I far left: A quiet,
my heart in my throat, muting my voice. The thought of astronaut Michael Collins alone musical moment
ever-present horizon and the blue glimmer- in the command module, waiting to reunite on the seas; the
ing waters of Aitutaki. Stirring sights. with Armstrong and Aldrin. And then, reliv- Soren Larsen,
day—and night;
Near the end of the voyage, I was on bow ing my memory, the aroma of fresh-baked
Violet climbing
watch for the dreaded middle watch (mid- bread wafts by—this daily bake also occurs to the sails.
night to 0400 hours), the witching hour for on the middle watch, as does the taste test-
me. Balmy breeze, solitude, the bell marking ing! Tea arrives irrespective of the weather
every half-hour, my knees easily bending and hour, as does my own little loaf of bread.
with every dip and swell, phosphorescence Less than a week later, back in Canada,
undulating in the black satiny waters like this briny memory became almost ethereal.
a trapped aurora borealis. Above, a sea of But, like a bought ticket and packed suitcase,
stars and a supine crescent moon. I located it has the power to forever hurry the heart-
the Southern Cross and Orion, oddly upside beat towards the next horizon. ■

61
 FUNNY STUFF
The Gander
& The Stallion
When I was growing up on the
farm, there were many things
to keep us entertained and
amused. There were also
many chores to be done on a daily
basis. One of these was to ensure
that the water trough was always
filled and I would get up early
each morning to do this chore.
One morning, however, I slept in
and Dad had already gone to the
barnyard to begin filling the water
trough.
The rest of the farm was not
fully awake yet and it was quiet
and peaceful outside. There
wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the
sun peeping over the horizon cast
a rainbow of colour on the
dew-covered grass. As I ap-
proached the well, I could see our
old stallion making his way to the
water trough, lured by the
creaking sound of the pump. As
Dad worked the handle up and
down, water flowed into the
Famous last words...
DAVID C. FLETCHER
“Too crowded, let’s wait for the next one...”
62 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022
trough in a steady
stream. When
the trough was
full, Dad leaned
against the pump
savouring the
fresh morning
air, a cigarette
dangling
from his lips.
He watched
as the stallion lowered its head to
the water, its taut muscles
rippling beneath its shiny coat.
The horse was getting on in years
but he was still a fine specimen
and Dad gazed upon him proudly.
Suddenly, a loud honk shattered
the stillness and from behind the
shed came our big gander. Its feet
alternately touched the ground
and its wings beat the air furious-
ly as it half-ran, half-flew across
the yard. Before we realized what
was happening, the gander was at
the trough, and stretching out its
neck, sank its beak into the
stallion’s flank. The stallion
reared back, spewing water in all
directions. I was still a few yards
away from the trough and I froze
in my tracks. Dad took a step
backward, slipped on the
dew-covered grass and landed flat
on his back, the cigarette still
clenched tightly between his
teeth. As he pulled himself up
from the ground, we stared at the
sight unfolding before us.
The stallion was spiralling
around in circles, trying to
loosen the gander’s
grip. The gander hung
on, its wings beating
violently against
the horse’s side.
The horse then
took off across the
barnyard, galloping and
kicking its heels in an
attempt to shake the
gander loose. Around and around
the yard they went, until at last
the gander let go. The stallion
galloped to the far corner of the
yard, its sides heaving. The
gander walked slowly back to the
trough, giving an occasional
satisfied honk. He drank his fill
then sauntered calmly away.
I’d initially been frozen in my
tracks—until the immediate
danger was over. Seeing Dad land
on his back with his cigarette still
clenched firmly between his teeth
struck me as hilariously funny. In
my wildest imagination I would
never have thought that a
20-pound goose would get the
better of a 1,000-pound horse!
Louise McGorman,
Abbotsford, B.C.
ILLUSTRATIONS: ISTOCKPHOTO
SHARE Do you have
a funny story to tell? Submit
online at ourcanada.ca
or turn to page 64 for our
mailing address.

COLLECTORS
Trinkets
into Treasures
Beachcombing along the shores
of Vancouver Island inspires and fuels
a passion for creative artwork
by Cathy Sands Unruh, Parksville, B.C.
M
y husband, John, is a
retired carpenter/cabi-
netmaker who developed
a passion for gardening. But not
just for the planting, pruning,
weeding and growing aspects
of the hobby. He enjoys building
raised perennial beds, pergolas,
arbours and trellises as well. He
treats our garden as an extension
of our home—an area with sepa-
rate rooms that he decorates with
more than just plants. We have
desks, tables and chairs sitting
among the perennials and trees.
He truly enjoys setting up each
area and changes them season to
season. It keeps his green thumb,
well, green. But what inspires him
the most is being able to build a
piece of garden art and then find-
ing the perfect spot to place it.
He is always on the lookout at
thrift stores for interesting coast-
ers, tiles, glass plates—anything he
can inset into a piece of driftwood
or frame that he builds to accom-
modate the piece. He’s always on
the search for old and/or used
wood for that vintage look. Our
walks along the rocky shores of
Vancouver Island beaches often
give us so much more than just
exercise. It’s always so interesting
to see what nature has tossed up
onto the shores, especially after a
major storm.
Tantalizing Tidbits
I’m kept busy looking for bits of
sea glass, coins, jewellery and any
other interesting items that will
look attractive in a clear glass
vase, but John always has his eyes
focused on wood. And there’s
almost always plenty of strand-
ed piles of logs, branches and
lumber that end up above the tide
line. He’s found log-boom signs,
painted partial sheets of plywood,
dimensional lumber that looks
like it came from a dock that a
storm destroyed, pieces of tin—
and every piece finds its way into
a creative piece of art.
Some days we just spend the
time picking up the plastic waste
that ends up littering the shores.
Other days result in multiple new
additions to John’s collection
of creative source material for
upcoming projects that he has in
mind—or that suddenly pop up!
For example, he created a beau-
tiful wall hanging from what we
collected over a weekend camp-
ing stay at Pacific Rim National
Park Reserve.
With the constant supply of
washed up treasures we collect,
I guess we can call ourselves
beachcombers. ■
Thanks to Cathy and everyone
who responded to OC editor
Gary’s springtime Facebook
request for Collectors stories.
Please keep them coming! Up-
load your story at ourcanada.
ca or turn to page 64 for our
mailing address.
63
 SPOT THE LOONIE
We’ve hidden a loonie somewhere in this
issue. Can you find it? It could be anywhere,
but it’s not the one below! If you spot the loonie,
tell us in which issue and on what page on a post-
card, or in a letter, and mail your entry to “Spot
the Loonie” Contest, P.O. Box 975, STN Main,
Markham, Ont., L3P 0K7. Or join the fun online
by visiting ourcanada.ca and clicking on “Spot
the Loonie.” We’ll collect all the entries and have
COIN IMAGE: ALL CANADA PHOTOS
a drawing every other month. The first five correct
entries we draw will win $50. Entries will be
accepted until July 31, 2022.
For complete rules, write to “Spot the Loonie”
Contest, Reader’s Digest Contest Administrators
Office, PO Box 963, Stn Main, Markham, ON L3P
0J4. This contest is open to all Canadian resi-
dents who, at the time of participation, have
reached the age of majority according to
the law of the province or territory
in which they reside. One entry per
person, per day is allowed.
In the April-May 2022
issue, we hid the loonie
on page 39 within the
Showcase department.
We’ll publish our latest
winning loonie-spotters
in an upcoming issue.
CONNECT WITH US
MAGZTER www.magzter.com
ZINIO www.zinio.com
PRESS READER www.pressreader.com
APPLE NEWS (Our Canada only)
www.apple.com/ca/apple-news/
Facebook Instagram
Twitter Flickr
Submit at ourcanada.ca
64 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022
Our Canada and More of Our Canada
are unique publications in that they are
written by and for Canadians just like
you! Send us your stories and photos
and you may see them published in
a future issue.
CONTRIBUTE TO OUR CANADA AND
GET A FREE 1-YEAR GIFT SUBSCRIPTION
UPON PUBLICATION!
If your story or photo is published in
Our Canada or More of Our Canada, you will
receive a free, one-year gift subscription
to the magazine. Already a subscriber?
Have your gift subscription added to the end
of your current subscription or pass it along
to someone else.
TEXT LENGTH Between 500 and 1,000 words
is ideal. Your story may be edited for length
and style.
PHOTOS For digital images, set your camera
for the best picture quality and send us
JPG files. For hard copy photos, send high-
quality prints—copies are preferable;
we are not responsible for lost photos.
Submit at ourcanada.ca
or mail submission to:
Our Canada, P.O. Box 988,
STN Main Markham, Ont.,
L3P 0M1.
By submitting stories or photos to Our Canada
or More of Our Canada, you are confirming
that you are a citizen, permanent resident or
landed immigrant of Canada.
RETURNS We can’t acknowledge submissions
or return unused photos.
Submissions may be edited for length and
clarity, and may be reproduced in all print and
electronic media. Upon publication, original
submissions (text and photos) become
the property of The Reader’s Digest Magazines
Canada Limited and its affiliates.
 PET CORNER

SWEET GEORGIE BOY

Janet Jephcott of Newmarket, Ont., writes:
“Georgie came to me when he was a tiny kitten,
as big as his entire head is now! The neighbouring
farm folk had left him on my doorstep early one
morning, loudly mewing for love and care. He was
a sickly little one but I nurtured him as best I could.
Since then he has become my dearest companion.
Now nine years old, he helps me find peace and
calm with his gentle ways and his silly playfulness!
He loves to romp around the house with his cat
buddies, which is really quite funny! Needless to
say, he brings sunshine into my life every day!”
Have a great shot of your family’s pet? Send it
along and it may appear on this page!

65
 STORYTIME
Stitching
a Story
This grandma
has a real talent
for bringing
fairy tales to life!
by Violet Hughes, West Vancouver, B.C.
Once upon a time, a little girl said: “Please tell
me a story.”
“Off to bed,” said Grandmother. “I’ll just do some
stitching first.” She picked up a piece of brightly co-
loured cloth and gathered a rainbow of colourful
threads: the reddest of red, the sunniest of yellow, the
froggiest of green and the blackest of black. She got a
needle and a pair of scissors from her sewing basket.
Then she picked up the red thread, sat in her rocking
chair and began. Stitch. Stitch. Stitch. Her fingers
flew. She turned to her granddaughter and said, “Are
you awake? I have a story for you now.”
The little girl nodded sleepily.
“Once upon a time,” Grandmother began. She held
up the brightly coloured cloth with the reddest of red
thread. Up popped a young girl in a bright red cape
holding a basket of apples. She sat on the bed beside
the little girl.
“What big eyes you have. What big ears you have.
What big teeth you have,” she said.
“Not me,” laughed the little girl.
Then Grandmother gathered the green and yellow
thread and began stitching. Up hopped a little frog
ILLUSTRATION: ISTOCKPHOTO
holding a golden ball. He jumped onto the little girl’s
shoulder and puckered up his frog lips.
“Kiss me,” he croaked.
“I don’t think so,” laughed the little girl.
Grandmother picked up the thick black thread. But
before she could even thread her needle, a huge fuzzy
66 Our Canada JUNE / JULY 2022
black wolf appeared. He stood in front of the little girl
and flashed his teeth.
“I’ll huff and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house down,”
he growled.
“Wrong house,” said the little girl as the wolf huffed
a big puff and blew. The windows rattled and the little
house bounced up and down. The frog and the little
girl in the red cape flew into the air. The golden ball
landed on the floor with a thud.
“Oh no,” said the little girl “Better stop now, Grand-
mother. This story has gone all wonky.”
But Grandmother couldn’t stop. Stitch. Stitch.
Stitch. “Kiss me. Kiss me,” croaked the frog.
“What big eyes you have. What big ears you have.
What big teeth you have,” said Red Riding Hood. “I’ll
huff and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house down,”
growled the wolf. He puffed up with air and blew. This
time the window rattled open, the bed bounced up to
the ceiling and the rocking chair galloped across the
room. Red Riding Hood and the frog landed on Grand-
mother’s lap.
“Grandmother!” screamed the little girl as she
clung to the bedposts. Grandmother grabbed her
scissors. Snip. Snip. Snip. POOF! On the very last huff
and puff and the very last snip, the wolf, the frog, the
golden ball and Red Riding Hood all disappeared.
The house righted itself and sat firmly on the
ground. The little girl sat up in bed. “What a story,”
she said. “Let’s have another one tomorrow!” ■
 “My daughter,
Sarah, in her
Ukrainian dance
costume,” shares
Tammy Latimer of
Yorkton, Sask.

Courage & Resolve

Many Ukrainian people and those with Ukrainian heritage
call Canada home. In light of what is happening in the world
right now, we invite our fellow Canadians with Ukrainian roots
to head to ourcanada.ca to share their experiences, both
past and present, as proud Ukrainian Canadians.

IF YOU’D LIKE TO HELP UKRAINE, DONATIONS CAN BE MADE TO RED CROSS: www.croixrouge.ca
CANADA HELPS: www.canadahelps.org/en/donate-to-ukraine/ CANADA-UKRAINE FOUNDATION: www.cufoundation.ca/

Submit your stories and photos at ourcanada.ca

ríƣƫƎíŒ íŒś
¸ķėėƣƣėƎpíİŝėƖļƫś
¸ķėėƣƣėƎĈƖŨƎĈļŝİ#ėƣƣėƎ¸íƖƣļŝİ#ėƖƣfŨǂėĐpíİŝėƖļƫś

You know by now how

important magnesium is
for your family’s overall
health and why it might
be hard to get your
dietary requirements in
your diet alone.

Backed by thousands
of 5 star reviews on
Amazon, hundreds of
shining testimonials
and being the number
one supplement in the
U.S. for years running,
Natural Calm is North
America’s favourite
way to ensure healthy
magnesium levels.

rŨǃļŝŨƫƎŝėǃ
ȉŨǓėíƖļėƎɞƣŨɞƖĉŨŨƋ
fpĈŨƣƣŒėƖ"

ǂíļŒíĈŒėǃķėƎėǂėƎŝíƣƫƎíŒķėíŒƣķƋƎŨĐƫĉƣƖíƎėƖŨŒĐ

ȂȁȁʥŨįƋƎŨǝƣƖíƎėĐŨŝíƣėĐƣŨķėŒƋ
ėŝĐİŒŨĈíŒƋŨǂėƎƣlj
FļŝĐŨƫƣśŨƎėʨƣķƎļǂėįŨƎİŨŨĐŨƎİ
naturalcalm.ca
Linda Bolton
CEO
Natural Calm Canada