Manitoba-Maritimes Underground Network Looking for You

There are two things I know this morning: I love fog and I miss my parents already. They were here for a week, and if Air Canada does it's thing (doubtful), they took off from the Winnipeg tarmac twenty-eight minutes ago. I can count on less than one hand (can you do that?) the times I've seen fog enfolding itself around Winnipeg and the times I get to see my Mom and Dad here. So I got to have both last night, fog and my Mom and Dad... at the first Main Stage show no less. Ok, I can't help it; I'm a little melancholy this morning. They're headed back east (the actual east, not Ontario) and I'm installed in my cubicle; my lungs miss fog and my lonely heart misses family. But we had a good time last night at the Re-Writing History show, and I'm glad they got to take in at least one Thin Air event. And meet a good friend of mine who shall remain nameless for the moment because s/he brought a lovely bottle of peach liqueur and shared it with my Dad who said it was delicious. We were sitting near the back. (Sorry, Michael Lista if we were rowdy-ish towards the end of the show; you were right in front of us.)

My Dad the electrical engineer was here for a conference about lightning and grounding. Before an Aqua Books event the other night (On the Same Page panel), I overheard him telling Chandra that if you're caught in a lightning storm it's best to stand on one leg, not under a tree and not holding metal. You can't tell me engineers aren't poets. (I think my Dad liked Michael Van Rooy, too, but we're shy sorts sometimes so didn't talk to him, even though he seems very friendly and approachable.)

Anyhow, last night my Dad quite liked Carolyn Smart's poem "Ardent" from her book Hooked, which contains seven poems from the perspective of seven different women. "Ardent" captures Elizabeth Smart's voice, of course the lady who wrote "By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept," which has to be one of the best titles out there. Dad jotted this quote down from Carolyn's reading of "Ardent":

"Life is murder. Art is worse."

Indeed. What else can you say?

I dragged them around to some of the places I haunt in Winnipeg. They are definitely more patient than I am. And I'm quite sure I'd drive them crazy if they had to be around me all the time or if they couldn't go back to their house in the countryside... Though all three of us agreed we quite liked Eva Wiseman and Carolyn Smart's readings best.

And last night brings me back to fog. I really think the prairies (what I have seen of them anyway... I haven't been west of Brandon yet, yikes, so Manitoba anyway) and the Maritimes (which doesn't include Newfoundland by the way, not that I have anything against Newfoundland, but if you want to include The Rock then you have to say the Atlantic Provinces, and I think for these purposes, geographically and otherwise, it's best to put limits and say the Maritimes), especially Nova Scotia have a lot in common and we should band together and make things happen. Make art happen. Life and Art. Damnit. We can just bypass Ontario, stop for croissants in Quebec, and get right to it. Maybe my Dad the engineer and my engineer brothers can rig up some sort of easy, eco-friendly transport device so all the artists between Manitoba and the Maritimes can flow freely between... salt ocean air and clear blue prairie sky, rolling green hills and jovial flatness all in the same day; this could change us, could change the world. I hear there's an artist in town already who regularly rides the rails between Winnipeg and Halifax. If you know anything about this idea, tell me, share, put it out there. I think there's lots of fodder here, lots of grounded, colourful, self-driven and determined folk, lots of beauty and connection to nature; and goshdarnit we know how to get things done, yep. G'wan now (Go on now), as my Mom says. Let's get 'er done. The relationship would be mutually beneficial and supportive. It's not about taking over the country, because you know, we would have already if we really wanted to, but we have better things to do; we're better doing our own thing, on our own terms.

Do you have Manitoba-Maritimes Underground Network (or a better name) ideas? We can save the grain silos and lighthouses, or use them to make solar villages, treehouses, art and music...

I don't know what exactly this has to do with Re-Writing History, but I have a few ideas, ahem. Email me yours or post a comment. I think it's more about where we're going though, the movement forward... what we can do now...


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Stacy drove to Winnipeg in two days and five hours from Clydesdale, Nova Scotia. She only planned to stay for a year, but it has been four already, because this city keeps you, holds you. Though she works at a corporate publishing company, she has learned about writing, art, urban living, praying mantis kung fu, cycling, goddesses, and the middle while here. She hopes to figure something out about preserving, wool, gentleness, Mandarin, and movement. And, always, poetry. For the duration. Email Stacy at anastasie.doiron@gmail.com.