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Notes from a Garage

With John Gardiner

My trip north; on being too connected; and the G20…..

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Well, I have delivered my precious package to Ontario’s northland and I am back in civilization. It was an enormous odyssey that meant driving over 40 hours in five days and really knocked the tar out of my wife and me. Still, my daughter and her family are now in their new home in Thunder Bay and I am already missing them, but wishing them the very best. Both my daughter and her husband will be attending Lakehead University this fall and I am proud and excited for them. I am also a little apprehensive because it’s a really long way away for folks who have never lived away from Wallaceburg. So, I can’t say I really enjoyed the trip – too much pressure and meeting tight deadlines driving – not really the way I like to travel. The trip did give me a chance to see some of the country I’d not seen for 39 years. Away back in 1971, I hitchhiked up in that direction and can’t believe I covered so much ground riding my thumb. Back on that trip, we slept in ditches and stood alongside the road and never really thought much about bears and other wildlife. It all seemed like a big adventure and we thought we were immortal and would live forever. I did think, though, that it was somehow extremely Canadian moving someone along the TransCanada Highway on the Canada Day weekend. We were in the northern community of Hearst on Canada Day and as I sat outside drinking a cup of tea before bed, I could hear the people of Hearst celebrating Canada Day with a good dose of French Canadian music and lots of cheering and hollering. It sounded like a fine time. Perhaps the highlight of the trip for me was a visit to the Terry Fox Monument just east of Thunder Bay. I was really broken up as I walked around the giant monument – the tears flowed freely. To me, Terry Fox is a true Canadian hero. His Marathon of Hope is perhaps the most selfless action I’ve seen a human being take in my 57-years on the planet. It is something to which we should all aspire. Anyway, I am glad I was able to help out my daughter and her family. I felt a lot like my Dad who has helped us kids so much over the years. And it’s odd to think of yourself as your father….strange, indeed. So, back from the north and ready for some new adventures….

It sounds strange, but one thing I really enjoyed about being away was that I was sort of out of touch. I don’t own a laptop or a cell phone so I was really out of the loop for six days. And I liked it. And if I ever get the chance to retire, I’m almost sure I’ll be glad to see the end of the computer. I sort of think that people are too connected these days. You can’t go to the bathroom without receiving or sending text messages or e-mails or some other type of communication. People tend to panic if they’re not connected. And I think all this connectivity has really sped up the pace of life. We are hurtling along at light speed – even me. I can remember a time from my distance past where I actually felt like I had nothing to do – where I had time to kill. And if I have one wish for the rest of my life, it’s that I can get up one morning and feel like I have no responsibilities – like when I was a kid. Doubtful that will ever happen, but I can always hope. Life is just way too hectic and frenzied for me – and for most other people as well – although they likely wouldn’t admit it No, I admit that the computer is a miraculous invention that should make our lives easier and less complicated. But it doesn’t. Instead, it speeds up our lives in an unbelievable fashion and only time will tell if that is a good thing or not.

Like quite a few other Canadians, I’d like to see an inquiry into policing at the G20 meeting in Toronto. The images I saw on the TV news made me cringe. Police certainly looked more like a paramilitary force and not friendly old Officer O’Malley. I’m not willing to accept that demonstrators were solely responsible for all the shenanigans. I think the media and the police built up the level of confrontation until it was pretty well inevitable. We’ve got to learn to get along on this old planet. We’ve all got to start pulling in the same direction….and you likely didn’t read that here first.

So, out of time for another week and back from the north. Hope you’re all enjoying the incredibly hot weather. Too hot for this time of year. Take care and remember……”Hew to the line; let the chips fall where they may.”



John Gardiner is a 25-year-veteran of the community newspaper business, but he is also a prolific writer of moralistic short fiction he refers to as "emotional thoughtscapes" or "adult fables". Samples of his fiction can be found at:

He has also produced a noteworthy piece of humanist philosophy which can be found at: http://www.xs4all.nl/~aboiten/ad502.htm He welcomes comments on his work.