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A short word about yesterday's travels
Jul. 2nd, 2012 12:43 pmIn case you wondered:
Yesterday took me out to Shawville - about an hour's drive west of Gatineau on the Québec side of the Ottawa River - for a "Canada Day for Introverts" party. Transportation by fellow invitees was provided and gladly accepted, and the ride out to Shawville was fun. Also, the landscape reminded me of the Qu'Appelle Valley in Saskatchewan, but with some actual hills added in for good measure and bilingual and more than occasional "français seulement, SVP" signage for flavouring.
Shawville's one of those anglophone - possibly gaelophonic(1) as well? - enclaves that still - from what little I personally saw and heard - don't take well to intrusions from the "tongue troopers" from the Québec provincial government, complete with a still-active, though shrunken, branch of the Orange Order on Centre Street. Businesses from as far off as Pembroke, Ontario will send vehicles and drivers to participate in the town's Canada Day parade, and the mayor is usually right there in person with a workload small enough - but vital enough - for him to make time to chat with visitors on the spur of the moment. I've lived in and visited a few towns like that across the country, and there's definitely a positive value to this. You cannot possibly underestimate how good a thing that can be for a town to have.
I like the design of the street name signs. It's as modern as it is heritage-minded, and I hope to post a sample of one of them later in the week over on Flickr.
The food was good, the weather was fine if slightly overheated. The latter, of course, is beyond any one person's ability to control.
My thanks again to my hosts, my transportation-providers, friends and friendly acquaintances one and all.
(1) - Is that the right word for Gaelic-speaking people?
Yesterday took me out to Shawville - about an hour's drive west of Gatineau on the Québec side of the Ottawa River - for a "Canada Day for Introverts" party. Transportation by fellow invitees was provided and gladly accepted, and the ride out to Shawville was fun. Also, the landscape reminded me of the Qu'Appelle Valley in Saskatchewan, but with some actual hills added in for good measure and bilingual and more than occasional "français seulement, SVP" signage for flavouring.
Shawville's one of those anglophone - possibly gaelophonic(1) as well? - enclaves that still - from what little I personally saw and heard - don't take well to intrusions from the "tongue troopers" from the Québec provincial government, complete with a still-active, though shrunken, branch of the Orange Order on Centre Street. Businesses from as far off as Pembroke, Ontario will send vehicles and drivers to participate in the town's Canada Day parade, and the mayor is usually right there in person with a workload small enough - but vital enough - for him to make time to chat with visitors on the spur of the moment. I've lived in and visited a few towns like that across the country, and there's definitely a positive value to this. You cannot possibly underestimate how good a thing that can be for a town to have.
I like the design of the street name signs. It's as modern as it is heritage-minded, and I hope to post a sample of one of them later in the week over on Flickr.
The food was good, the weather was fine if slightly overheated. The latter, of course, is beyond any one person's ability to control.
My thanks again to my hosts, my transportation-providers, friends and friendly acquaintances one and all.
(1) - Is that the right word for Gaelic-speaking people?
