On the Road Again 2016 #7

I saw more wildlife between Hornpayne and Winnipeg than I have in almost all of my other trips combined across Canada by train. There was a beautiful healthy looking white/grey wolf standing in a clearing just off of the tracks, a couple of bald eagles playing tag and/or flirting just after dawn, a golden coloured bear close to the tracks who I could almost swear made eye contact with me as the train passed and perhaps most surprisingly a large flock of white pelicans somewhere east of Sioux Lookout. I think, because of these rewarding occasional sightings, I probably spent more time looking out the window than I normally do.

The front section of the train (economy section) was once again surprisingly empty. I thought about asking one of the VIA people if they would sell me a cheap ticket all the way to Vancouver. I knew that was beyond their power, but a near empty train was going that way and that seemed a silly waste of space. An extra twenty or so more people would not make either the engine or the staff work harder. Even if those twenty people only paid $100 for the trip....that would still be $2000 more than VIA had started off with. Perhaps VIA should have some sort of standby system with tickets available at half cost 12 hours before the train leaves.

As it was, the car was delightfully quiet. Everyone had their own seat and for the most part, I think most folks kept to themselves, with the exception of course of the twenty-something crowd who spent their time in the dome car. The young lady in front of me was off to Edmonton for a new job - I only know that because I heard her talking on her cell phone to one of her roommates. The few times I spoke to her, she always seemed to be shocked that I would say anything and never responded.

The couple across from me were getting off in Sioux Lookout. At one point in the early evening they got off for a smoke. I didn't see them get back on. As the rain was leaving, I spoke to an attendant who said he was pretty sure that they had got back on but that they had warned people that it was going to be a short stop and not too stray too far. I fell asleep not being sure if they were on the train or not. The couple must have been in the dome car as they were back in their seats and all packed up in time for their stop. The attendants did not seem all that concerned as to whether or not they were on the train. On some trains the crews are very engaged with the passengers - giving lots of instructions such as wearing shoes when crossing in between cars to prevent the soles or toes from being pinched as the connecting compartment's floor moves, drinking lots of water or reminding people that if they get off the train for a break, that it is fine to miss getting back on - as long as they don't mind waiting three days for the next one. This crew did not seem to be around much. I wondered if it was because they all knew that a strike could have been called fairly soon.

The young lady behind me was Asian. I do not think she spoke a lot of English. At one point, early on the first day, an older couple came up to and offered to buy her lunch. They said that they wanted to show her some "Canadian hospitality". I thought it was a nice gesture. She said no. The couple looked disappointed. They were, I think, trying to be nice. The young lady, except to use the bathroom never left her seat. I noticed the next morning that she slept wearing a face mask which always looks a bit strange to me.

The musical entertainment was a couple - not as young as some others that I have seen. She played the guitar and he the electric bass. The audience initially was not that appreciative with one older lady requesting songs such "Little Boxes" and another passenger, who may have been drinking, trying to engage the singer in a conversation that neither I nor the singer could understand. When they sang their own material, she had a remarkable voice. But singing to a small audience (perhaps ten people) in a swaying car must be challenging. When she tried on a couple of occasions to sing songs that she thought people might like to hear (Cash's Ring of Fire and House of the Rising Sun) she did not know all of the verses. If she only knew one verse of House of the Rising Sun - she probably should not have tried it.

I did my usual thing on short trips - I slept a lot, listened to music and read. Not wanting to sound jaded but the train trip from Sudbury Junction to Winnipeg is just a ride. I was glad when the train arrived just before 7:30 - thirty minutes early.

Ode to Canada Post

A few years ago I realized that my pack was far too heavy to hitchhike with. Because I was going to be gone for two months, I needed to carry with me all of my clothes and all of my camping equipment. Most of the clothes and equipment were not needed on my travels but when I got to where ever I was going. The pack towered above my head and was heavy enough to make getting it into a large truck almost impossible. Every time I picked it up, my already prone-to damaged back groaned in anticipation of another strained muscle. Trying to run with the pack to chase down a stopped vehicle was difficult and I am sure - not a pretty sight. My shoulders, in spite of the well padded straps, were constantly sore.  There are some spots along my trip where I have to walk a couple of kilometres to get out of town, up a hill to a better spot or even to find a bus stop. The heavy pack meant that I had to stop too often to rest my shoulders, my back and my heart.

The solution to this problem was simple...... I re-packed my pack - only taking what I needed for the travelling and put the rest in a box which I mailed to where I was going. Within an hour I had cut the weight of what I was carrying in half. Problem solved. I can walk further, run more (slightly) gracefully and lift my pack into a high truck.

It cost about $25.00 to mail the box and it is worth every penny. I have now mailed a box back and forth across the country eight perhaps ten times. Every time, a nice person at the post office tells me that it will take eight to ten business days for me to get the parcel. Every time I get it within a week (including weekends). I mailed my box last Tuesday in Sudbury. Yesterday (Monday) it was delivered to my door in Duncan.

In this day when it is ever so easy to complain about the poor service from various places - all I can say is well done Canada Post!

Discourse on Parenting and the Law - Addendum

Yesterday I posted a piece about how it takes a village to raise a child and how the village that we all live in had failed a teenager named Alex. In that piece I somewhat excused the social service system. In  light of the most recent news as reported by the CBC, I was wrong to do so.

The CBC reported late in the day that the B.C. Ministry of Child and Family Development knew where the young man's family had moved to in Alberta.  The worker from that Ministry testified in court that they did not notify social services in Alberta as to their concerns or the address because "It's not part of our procedure"( CBC).

While it appears as if policies have changed and now BC Ministry staff are required to exchange critical information with their counterparts in other jurisdictions, "It's not part of our procedure" is quite simply not a good enough excuse. In the midst of complex procedures and policies, the filing out of countless forms, the relentless scrutiny from a sometimes angry public - those in social services need to be reminded that their primary concern is to protect those who are vulnerable. "Not my job" is never a valid excuse to avoid doing the morally right thing.

Discourse on Parenting and the Law part 2

On April 28th of this year I wrote a bit about parenting and the law. In that blog I wondered what the line was between the state becoming too involved in how parents raise their children and not involved enough. I ended that blog by saying that  "It may be a fine line between being an interfering neighbour and a legitimately concerned citizen. But children do need protecting. While it may appear to be a waste of money and scarce resources to investigate kids playing in a backyard - I would rather live in a society where the occasional interfering neighbour raises concerns than in a society where a 19 month old baby dies because no one thought it was their job to express concern. "

For the last few weeks the Canadian media (Global, CBC etc.) have been reporting on the trial of parents living in Alberta who are alleged to have let their son Alex die. Specifically the parents, because of their faith, ignored the doctors' diagnoses that their son had diabetes and consequently refused any treatment for that condition. While the original diagnosis was made in B.C., the family after Alex had been hospitalized three times and after social services became involved because his parents refused to accept his diagnosis and treat him, moved to Alberta. At that point they appear to have disappeared off of any child protection radar. When he died, Alex by then fifteen, weighed only 37 pounds. His death is a tragedy not only because someone needlessly died but because we, the community, did not do our job.

Alex was not alone in the world. There were people involved with his family. Where were they? While it is perhaps understandable that his siblings, indoctrinated and dominated by their parents who are members of a Romanian Pentecostal Church, would have been too afraid or distrusting of authorities to tell anyone, it is completely unfathomable to me that adults within that faith community would ignore all of the signs that Alex was ill. No one in their right mind would look at a 15 year old boy who weighed less than 50 pounds and assume that he was well. Were there no neighbours who could have/should have guessed that there was a teenage boy living in that house that no one saw? Why were the doctors and the social service workers in BC who knew that the family were not prepared to provide to Alex the level of care he required not more assertive in demanding that their counter parts in Alberta find the family?

Clearly, if the facts of the case as presented are accurate, the parents are guilty of homicide and should both lose access to all of their other children as well as being incarcerated for a significant length of time. But the faith community is culpable as well not only for their teachings that suggest that faith can heal all illnesses - in spite of clearly visible evidence to the contrary - but because they did nothing to save the life of a child. To suggest that your faith is more important than the life of one individual makes that person no different than one who kills because of their faith.

In terms of the medical profession, the school systems and the child protection agencies, I can only hope that those professionals - as over worked as they are, as underfunded in some areas as they are and as confusing as the law can be as to jurisdiction and mandate - will study this case so that they can insured that it can never happen again. Our society is diminished every time a child dies because we have chosen to ignore that possibility. Our communities become weaker when, because we don't want to offend anyone, refuse to challenge beliefs that put some children at risk. It is everyone's right to believe in whatever God, in whatever doctrine they chose. It is however, my right and my obligation to say no when that doctrine affects those who cannot speak out for themselves.

The saying "it takes a village to raise a child" is often quoted. For Alex, that village was missing.

On the Road Again #2016 #6

On the train again. Feeling sad, surprisingly so. Usually when I leave Duncan, heading east, at the end of my summer, I have had this profound sense of loss. I knew I would be back, but the sense of leaving my son has, on some occasions, been so strong that all I wanted to do was to jump off of the ferry and swim back to land. This trip, everything seems to be in reverse. Yesterday, I was anxious about the trip, and this morning I have this almost overwhelming feeling of loss. As we sit at the Capreol Station, fifteen or so minutes from Sudbury waiting for a freight train to pass us by, I wonder if I should just get off here. I won't of course. But a part of me wishes that I could.

I think I should consider myself specially fortunate to have such feelings for my adult children. To have kids who support me, occasionally feed me, look out for me and in general just put up with me is truly  blessing.

Other than those feelings which I know will gradually drift into the back parts of my brain, only to flare into my consciousness at unexpected moments, I am ready to travel. The only glitch so far in my plans ( I don't count the train running late a glitch..... it is just part of the plan), is the fact that I seem to have left my steel blue water bottle behind. Pity. I think I have used that bottle for most of my trips. While I like the bottle in part for the fact that it holds a lot of water and the top never leaks, it also has a certain charm because of its battered shape and missing paint. I guess I will have to use plastic bottles this trip.

It is quite fascinating to see which of the trees have fully burst into their mature colouring and the others are almost glistening with the light green colour of leaves not yet fully mature. On the way east, a month ago, it was quite noticeable that spring was occurring much later in the east than the west. Part of me wishes that I was going all the way to the Pacific Ocean by train so that I could see that transition again, this time in reverse.

We arrived in Hornepayne about 20 minutes early. As I said to the lady at the small store, it is at least four years since the train has arrived in Hornepayne on time, or at least early enough to have enough time to get to the store. While it remains quite windy, the sky is cloudless and the air getting warmer.

One of the attendants made an announcement just after we got going again that we might get into Winnipeg early but that if we did so - we could not get off of the train until 7:30 - 8:00. I am excited about the possibility of getting to Winnipeg on time. Nothing is more frustrating that to be on the train, close to Winnipeg but to be held up by a freight train.

On The Road Again 22016 #5

In two days I will be back on the road. It feels as if I have been in Sudbury for months and months but in fact it is just a few days short of a month since I arrived. The trip has been successful in that I got to spend a lot of time with the grandkids, did more writing than I thought I would, saw most of my relatives, got to know Sudbury and helped my daughter build a really large flower box for the front of the house. The weather has been adequate and the bugs have not been a problem. All in all, a pretty good month.

Unlike other years where I spent the month before I left getting ready, packing and unpacking, trying to make the pack as light as possible, deciding what I needed to mail,  it feels as if I have spent no time at getting ready for my annual hitchhiking journey out west. I did do some of that stuff, but it was a month ago.This year, of course I headed east, by train, a month ago. It is only on Wednesday that I am heading west. I can only hope that the stuff that I brought with me will suffice for the trip back.

Perhaps because I have spent less time in preparation for this trip, the anxiety that I normally feel before I start a trip as been less prevalent than normal. In other years, I have experienced a minor attack of anxiety as I contemplate the endless possibilities of what might happen. There have been times when I have felt temporarily so overwhelmed  that I have considered not going., or at least not hitchhiking. It was not until yesterday that I started to experience some  tremors of concerns.

However, the train ticket to Winnipeg has been bought and I will be off early Wednesday morning.