Sunday 8 July 2012

More Reflections On America

Wherever you live in the world,it's difficult to ignore America.We are all very influenced by the presence of the most powerful nation on earth,especially those of us who live right next door.Of course we are influenced by American media-who isn't?I know from watching CNN everything I need to know about what goes on in the world.The world is an American colony and all media must be presented with that world view in mind.Well,I watch CNN faithfully once every couple of years,just in case anything has changed,but ,truly,that's not the only source of American ideas,or,believe it or not,even the best source.We watch American movies and television,read American books and,for those of us who have spent any time near the border,we even meet American people,always the most informative source of enlightenment on all things American.I've even come to find out that many of those Americans are nearly as cynical about CNN as I am.Who would have guessed.

A big brother sometimes casts a long shadow.Here in Canada we are,I think more like our brothers to the south than we are the British,from whom we came.Some people are still resistant to that idea,but it's largely true.

When I was a child I spent some time at my grandparents house,near the border of Maine and New Brunswick.While the maps clearly show where the one begins and the other ends,it's not nearly so evident when you are standing within a few miles of the border.In my part of the world,when I was young you could easily have walked across the Maine border without really realizing it,just by hunting animals in the woods.You see,New Brunswick,like Maine has a couple of interesting pine trees,as well as a few bears and moose,none of which differentiate themselves along national lines.They will not let you know when you've stepped over the line and even the most diligent border officials can't be everywhere.They seem to have gotten a lot better,or at least a lot more zealous at their job since 9/11,though.All in all,that's a good thing,but it sure is different from the old days.

In dead Creek,not far from my mother's old home there is a p[lace where you can look across a few miles of countryside and,on the rare day that is clear enough,see Mt.Katahadin in Maine.It is a picturesque peak,which sometimes has snow on it's peak even in late spring.The first time I saw it,I wondered what it would be like to walk to it,but,of course.it's much too far.It looks reachable from where you can see it though.

We used to go over to the town of Houlton,Maine sometimes.Houlton is located at the head of Interstate 95,which actually begins near Woodstock,New Brunswick as N.B.95.Houlton and Woodstock are not far apart and so we used to cross border shop in Houlton.We thought it was a really big thing to have crossed a border into the greatest country on earth,or so we were told.What I never really knew was that Woodstock was nearly three times the size of Houlton.But,of course,America was so much bigger and better than us,or at least,that's what we thought.

When we went to Maine,we were always aware that certain things could be gotten in America that could not be found in Canada.Usually it was just simple things like a bag of barbeque chips that actually tasted like barbeque chips.I guess that's how I became aware of Americans who would cross into Canada for a few hours just because they liked or beer.One of the things that I was told,over and over again that I would have to try when I went south,was Dr.Pepper.We could not get that here in Canada then and at least one of my friends would drive himself nuts with anticipation at being able to get a can of it when he went on vacation.You would have though that Dr.Pepper was the Holy Grail,the way he carried on about it.So one summer I bought myself a can and I thought,this tastes nasty.I could not believe I'd wasted even one minute thinking I had to try it.Not everything,it turned out was bigger and better in America.But around the border,there is always this though about the grass being greener on the other side.

   In the west,things are about the same.There is a big,wonderful mountain that you can look across at from anywhere in  southern British Columbia,called Mt.Baker,located nearly on the border.Farther away you can sometimes see an even more wonderful mountain called Mt.Rainier.That mountain truly is worthy of the thought that sometimes things are bigger on the other side.And,of course,Niagara Falls also shares the border between New York and Ontario.I've never crossed that border,but it is a very busy one,with sometimes hours wait to pass through the check point.
   







On the west coast,two large cities are located close to each other,Vancouver on the Canadian side,and Seattle in Washington state.They really are very similar cities though in different countries.They would seem to be of similar size and both are set in the scenic Pacific Northwest.Well,the term Pacific Northwest is a bit inaccurate as Vancouver is actually in Canada's southwestern most corner.But in our minds we tend to view it as more of a part of a region than as separate countries.Likely the Americans,or at least some of them view themselves as owning that part of our country anyway.There was once quite a fight about that and sometimes things like that are hard to forget.

























It might be that Americans and Canadians are most similar here in the Province of Alberta and in Montana to our south.Again,the land doesn't change all that much,being farm and ranch land with the front range of the Rockies to our west.The border crossings here are busier too.People in Alberta like to visit Montana,and really,who wouldn't.Glacier Park has some of the most magnificent scenery anywhere and I'm certain Americans feel the same about Banff,given the number of American plates that can be spotted on cars there.Here in Calgary,there are a lot of truckers that bring produce back from Texas and California,so they spend much of their working life south of the border.One of the stories I hear from them has much to do with one of the differences between Canadian and American society.It seems that there is a truck stop somewhere south of the border where truckers stop,put their guns in a locker,then proceed into Canada,only to pick them up again on the return trip.More than once a trucker has told me that traveling in the southern states can be dangerous and that he would never be caught without a gun.That may be true,but I've never felt in danger in Montana,Washington,Idaho,or any of the Northeastern states either.




I guess taken as a whole,our countries can seem really different.but that doesn't seem to be nearly so true when you live near the border.True,Whitehorse and Miami have little in common.Neither do Los Angeles and Montreal or Vancouver and New Orleans.But here on the border things are very  similar regardless of which side you are on.Most of what we couldn't get years ago on our side of the border we can now.Canada has most of the big American stores:McDonalds,Burger King etc.Even Target is making it's debut in the Canadian market.I know I can hardly wait.We don't have any Sizzlers restaurants yet,but that's likely a good thing(one of those stories for another time).And I do suspect the when I access itunes to buy music here in Canada that I don't get exactly the same selection as I might if I were in Houlton,Maine or Great Falls, Montana.And that still truly annoys me to no end,so I guess in some ways,big brother still casts a big shadow.














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