Oh Canada ENGL 372

We were lost, sitting in the middle of an endless string of lakes in Southern Ontario. We started our canoe trip at the local marina that morning after packing everything we thought we might need for what should have been a relatively short trip. Emergency boat kits, water, snacks and two maps but at the moment, none of that preparation was helping.

I had mapped the route out that morning with my Grandpa. He showed me the location of the marina on the map.

“This is where I’m going to drop you off” he said pointing at the map. I would later find out that the map was over twenty years old. “From there, you only have one job” he said looking me in the eye “make it to this passage here”. The passage was clear across the lake from the marina, simple enough to find. “Once you make it through the portage here, just follow the lakes and you’ll make it back”. “But, if you take this passage here” he pointed to a passage. The passage was also across the lake from the marina but to the left of our route. “Tell me where you end up” he said expectantly. I studied the map. I was fourteen years old and desperate to be the responsible guide that led my family through the trip. I also wanted to be ready to argue with my mom and Aunt when they informed me I was wrong about the direction we should be going.

“If we take that route” I said hesitantly “it looks like we would canoe North, it never links back to our destination lake”.

“Exactly” he said “I don’t know that area very well so I won’t be able to find you there”.

“Don’t worry Grandpa” I said “I’m keeping the map in my canoe”.

Of course, you already know how well that went…

If we had counted how many times we portaged we would have realized that we should only have done it three times before seeing a familiar lake not six, and counting. If we asked anyone what lake we were on when we waved at passers by, they might have told us and we may have found it on the map. If we had stopped to think for even one second during our trip we might have realized that something wasn’t right about a two hour trip turning into a four hour trip. But we didn’t because this was home. We canoed and laughed and canoed and talked and canoed and explored and portaged and portaged and portaged. We were so focused on our surroundings, the pace of our paddling and the good company that we never realized how far we had strayed.

For those that haven’t guessed yet, we took the second passage just slightly to the left of our route. We were lost from the moment we started paddling but it never felt that way. Even while lost, I had never felt more at home.

At portage number seven we hit a wall, almost literally. Normally we portaged gravel roads, rapids, trails and occasionally a crudely paved road. There was one highway on our route and we knew it like the back of our hands, this was not that road. This road was freshly paved over a bridge with hand rails lining the sides. On the other side of the bridge was the equivalent of a subdivision of cottages lining the lake side by side. It was like nothing I had ever seen. A man was parked by the side of the road with a fishing pole in his hand. I would tell you that we asked him where we were and that he told us the name of the lake which wasn’t familiar at all. I would also explain how we tried calling my Grandpa to pick us up but he didn’t know where we were either. I can’t tell you any details because I don’t remember. I was mystified at the new lake, the discovery that we had been lost from the jump and the lingering sense that I still felt at home in this new area though I couldn’t tell you where it is and I haven’t been back since.

I feel at home anywhere my family is, anywhere with water, anywhere with nature and anywhere with slippers. Home, to me, is a feeling. I have never been attached to any one location, house, etc. I have places that I am fonder of then others but for me, above all else, home is the feeling I get from the people I love most.

Work Cited

“Algonquin Park Almaguin Highlands Muskoka and Parry Sound” Ontario Canada, https://www.ontariotravel.net/en/explore/map?types=|1|2|3|4|701001&region=12&lat=45.548125&lng=-78.862169&zoom=8. Accessed 27 Jan 2020.

Callan, Kevin. “The Pain of Portaging” Paddling.com, https://paddling.com/learn/the-pain-of-portaging/. Accessed 27 Jan 2020.