Growing up Canadian While Living Abroad by Geraldine Mac Donald-Moran

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Reflections on being Canadian

One recent morning I awoke from the depths of dreamland, humming the tune to the 'Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald' of all things. Has this ever happened to you?

There are those of us who can truly identify with a little brown jug of Ontario maple syrup, a knitted toque and a pint of Schooner ale; a beaver tail and cup of hot chocolate while skating in Ottawa or the call of the Loon in the Haliburton Forest. The train's whistle calls for kilometers before you see the engine lights in any Prairie town and the sight of float planes touching down near Stanley Park, on the Pacific side of our Country's sea to shining sea, is something to behold.

Nostalgia blooms in the hearts of Canadians abroad, true, but let us never forget what it means to be Canadian even when we live, work or travel elsewhere for a time.

And for those of us who reside year round in the great North, so free and wild, what makes you tick: what makes you hum, which tunes awaken you from dreamland?

The icons of Canadian culture, the ones who come to mind, are fewer than you'd expect based on the spectrum of multiple culture and traditions we share. Who can you conjure now? Can you see our beloved Gordon Lightfoot, Margaret Atwood or W.O. Mitchell: Dr. David Suzuki, the late, great Peter Gzowski or perhaps Dan Akroyd? Can you see images of those who laid the rails to BC? Can you imagine those who were stationed at their battalions in Fort Henry, at the mouth of the St. Lawrence or Sioux St. Marie among the Hurons? Can you see your neighbours, your father or sister, your friends or yourself?

Why are you an icon of Canadian culture, today, at home or at play?

Because it is the cumulative effort of all Canadians-- day-by-day, week-by-week-who hunt and gather their attitudes and beliefs, fish their souls from the deepest of blue lakes and hang them, salted, in the smoke house; so that they are able to share them with their communities later when winter strikes and preserves are low. It is the accomplished act of those who share, those who teach and those who are willing to learn, that brings Canadian culture to the surface and blows it gently across the fields and lakes or through pine forests and cityscapes, pollinating in the hearts and minds of our Nation's leaders or the great icons of this time. But it is the accomplished acts of you, your friends, family, and neighbours, which accumulate and cultivate a Canadian culture that is necessary to nurture the seeds that will grow.

The next time you stroll past the shore of Lake Superior (or any other) reflect on what it means for you to be Canadian and as the ballad says 'when the gales of November come early.'

© Geraldine Mac Donald-Moran


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