(from the song)

This Is Canada
Maple Syrup ‘N Log Cabins, Eh
Kick Your Ass All Hockey Season, Eh
Mounties Be Ridin’ Horses, Eh
Yeah, This Is Canada
Furry Woodland Critters In Our Zone
We Got The Best Weed Ever Grown
We Got The Best Bacon Ever Known
This Is Canada

The adventure starts. Four days on the road from Denver with two senior cats who made traveling rough. But then, they weren’t consulted about the trial escape made necessary after Trump was elected. Total shock about that election led to a plan that was whittled down to leaving for just three months to the great white north. Here, we’ll avoid the 24-hour news cycle and do a bit of local travel. Read some books, take an online class.

We’re about six miles north of the border and about an hour east of Vancouver in a rural area that grows blueberries, hops, brussel sprouts, and where neighbors sell eggs to each other at prices Americans would go crazy over right now. Bird flu has not ravaged small Canadian poultry farms.     

Canada has always been a nation known for its friendliness, its niceness. They were (and should be) our closest ally. In a way, we’re like cousins—sharing a continent, history, and values.  I remember 9/11 when flights were grounded in Canada and how Canadians took people into their homes. I remember how recently Canadian firefighters helped with the LA fires. There are countless other times, Canadians have had our backs and we’ve done the same. But the times are changing.

“Elbows up!,” Canada cries in a hockey phrase that means defend yourself. Immigration to Canada is difficult and has become more difficult recently. Canadians are cracking down just like a lot of the rest of the world. Americans can still cross the border to travel in Canada, but residency is altogether a different thing. You can come as a student, with a Canadian job (a company here would have to sponsor you), or a relative in Canada could sponsor you. Even after my son attended a four-year university and obtained his degree, he found it virtually impossible to remain in Canada (and that was a decade ago BEFORE the new restrictions involving quotas). The only way for me to feasibly immigrate to Canada would have to involve a sponsorship where my son would immigrate first (by first obtaining a Canadian job), and that would open a grandparents’ option. I bring this up because there has been interest from people in how to leave the US and Canada does feel like the easy answer. I wish it were.

Canada feels a lot like the US but there are differences. We’re saved from the language issue we faced in Belgium when we lived there. But products contain French directions and ingredients. Packages are in grams and kg. The sizes and choice of items are different. 3% milk (it’s a choice here)? Spreadable butter seems exotic and difficult to find. We haven’t found a breakfast sausage that suits yet. There’s a mixture of pork and ground beef widely available. That’s not commonly found in the US, but we did see meat mixtures in Europe. Many American products are on the shelves but we’re trying to buy Canadian (since we are ashamed of the deranged orange one). Canadian products are increasingly being marked by a red maple symbol in the store and there is an active movement among Canadians to buy Canadian. Every time we go shopping; I experience sticker shock. The exchange rate means that I have to discount everything by about 30% just to accommodate for the currency difference. Still, things feel more expensive.

Yesterday, we filled up the gas in the car for the first time on this side of the border. My husband got out to pump it. An attendant came out to do full service and my husband was stunned. When was the last time you didn’t pump your own gas?

Driving around we notice many American chain stores and restaurants but there are uniquely Canadian ones, too. At this point, we’ve only explored a small mall and there aren’t any significant differences to report. London Drugs was the biggest “drug” store I’ve ever been in. It resembles a small department store. You can buy furniture and TVs there.

We have settled into the day-to-day necessities and will be turning more towards travel. I hope to post more about what we see and experience. But at the same time, this away from home time is a time of preparation for what’s to come. I’m trying to fill in some gaps in education that I think are necessary. I’m finishing up a course on the Constitution, a book on fascism, and a dive into class war is upcoming. All heavy topics-but that’s where we are.