Roadtrip
Last week we took a road trip to New Brunswick. It was one of those trips we’ve been planning for years — before we got the EV, before we had Auggy, and before we believed that we could do it. Road trip to the east coast. That was the plan.
But planning is one of those words — it can mean many things. It can mean mapping, scheduling and booking. Or it can mean thinking, considering and dreaming. And so we found ourselves on the road and heading east, researching our route in the car, frantically looking for our next stop and a place to stay.
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New Brunswick though, was lovely. We walked across the ocean floor to the other side when the tides were low. There on the other side was a summer mansion owned by a very rich man about a century ago. We walked through the mansion, admired the mid century decor, and read every display erected in the rooms.
The narrative spoke of legacy, being a major figure behind the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The man was described as romantic, creative, and hardworking. He was influential, a problem solver, and also an artist. And then there was that one display that talked about his son, summed up this way: His son was a victim of his parents’ destructive love, and turned out lazy, weak, and spoiled. His son was a failure.
So there it was, a man’s entire life, all of his parents’ love, a lifetime of yearnings and regrets - distilled to a single line on a display for onlookers to consume, digest, and then pass by.
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My emotions during the road trip went on a trip of its own. Nature has a way of doing this, unravelling your emotions and leaving them in wide open spaces. Like that gust of wind that picks up suddenly over a picnic table, swooshing napkins and paper plates and disposable cutlery all over the place. And then you find yourself running, trying to pin them down, one by one, and at some point, you realize that the napkins and plates and cutlery have become unsalvageable.
So we travelled: two adults, two little kids, our bags and my girthy emotions squished in an EV. We made many stops. We also spent many hours in the car listening to Baby Shark. There were many tears and a few apologies. We saw waterfalls, trees, deers, sunsets, the ocean, whales, starfishes, live scallops. We spent hours in the pool. We lost a stuffy and goggles along the way.
But here it is, a summary of our trip, distilled to a single line of absolute meaning — it was amazing.