In the summer of 2016, a friend and I drove to the very tip of Canada from Saskatchewan: St. John's, Newfoundland.
(This was after another adventure that had taken us through Wyoming into LA and then up to Portland.)
We crammed all of what we needed for 6+ weeks, including a guitar and sound equipment (it was for a tour for my music) into a 2-door Honda Civic and did it.
Approaching the coast of Nfld. on the ferry was a wild experience - to be so, so, so far out from my neck of the wood, and yet still in Canada, still among my people. Within a couple of days, we had driven another full 8 hours in to make it to St. John's and look over the Atlantic Ocean, knowing there was nothing but sea for as long as I could imagine. Next stop--Europe? A deserted island?
It was an incredible experience. I have been meaning to write more about those stories from the road for a long time; somehow, I always find it so hard to dig it all up from the deeps and share it in a way that I feel justifies the experience. Life is so rich, and all of the people you meet with their incredible stories just seem too large for life and certainly too large to fit my measly words.
But I think that might be the experience of nearly every writer. I end up a lot happier in my self-coined "poetic impressionism" thing that I've found myself in in my songwriting--you can say more and less all at the same time, through the intuition of the right words.
But I really think it's high time I tried to write about some of it - because it's beautiful and interesting, and because otherwise I might start forgetting it all.
The people in Newfoundland are a suffering, fighting people; I was deeply touched by their goodness, compassion, and shocking generosity, and also by the stories of poverty and despair in the wake of some painful scandals and a significant economic downturn. It is a world very different from my own, and the further east you go in Canada, the more you find a notably distinct culture; while they still had that Canadian "thing" about them, they also had very much their completely unique way of being, and I was fascinated by it.
I only wish I'd had more time, and that I'd been on a tour to write about their lives rather than to rush around just having concerts (although that was really special, too!). It's time I put together a bit of a travel series, I think.
Anyone been to Newfoundland?
xx,
Kay
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
P.S. Been away from Steemit for a day or two to re-stock on LIFE so I have more to share again (I can become all-absorbed in this little world and then burn out pretty easily! But I wrote this quirky article the other day and would be interested to hear your thoughts, and also recorded a low-key version of Sia's "Elastic Heart" the other day, if you're interested in hearing me sing.