WEST BOYLSTON, Massachusetts
Portaging Through TimePortaging Through Time
1975 was an incredible year for me. I never felt that I fit into the time zone of the 50’s or 60’s. No place for me in society or my family of origin; to this day, I seldom see family members.
What about 1975? Something stirred within me in 1973-74 and would not let me rest. The horizon beyond my upstairs bedroom seemed to have a language all its own. Yes, it beckoned for me to "take off", but I pushed and beat this down inside of me. After all, I was a girl...and girls just didn’t take off without looking back and trust the world outside of their parents’ home to take care of them. But I made it to Montreal and managed to walk at least 20 miles one day, thereby losing a lot of weight. I soaked up the environment, and loved the whole scene up there. As it happened, an adventurer was waiting to meet me, and even he felt it as I walked down Rue Berry in Old Montreal to enter Cafe de la Paix (or some such place). Make a long story short...
Together we traveled across Canada in my Toyota Corona and entered the Land of the Midnight Sun. Met many fine people along the way; ranchers, farmers, laborers, young girls in restaurants/cafes...watched a baby being born in a hospital in Winnipeg, Manitoba. A whole year spent in the incredible outdoor wilderness of the Canadian North; saw Aurora Borealis and shimmering ice castles, both natural and "People made." Met people who did not know English, their language being descriptive of their environment, mainly "snow". Biggest adventure of my life: canoeing the Yukon River with "Pal" from Montreal. Too big for words. Sometimes it got monotous, as it is a huge river and very wide...eagles, fox, otters, moose...no sunsets, only sun to horizon, and back again! While other young women from my "home" town were marrying and having babies, I was a free spirit of the Far North...living life on the edge of all that is beautiful and natural. No regrets, in spite of some physical jarring and bruising; would never NOT have done it. Portaging through Time
Thank you
The best viewing for the Aurora Borealis is Fairbanks, Alaska, mid-winter
When I was 22, I had just finished reading, ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac. Because I was young enough not to pay attention to the dangers, I went and hitched around America for two years. (Not one incident of anyone trying to harm me although that had to be sheer luck, I suppose!). Those two years remain my best, favorite memories even though I spent more than one night shivering in the cold underneath a tree or being eaten alive by mosquitoes the size of 'copters.
One day, I still hope to see the Aurora Borealis, though!
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