Part of my dearth of blogging on late can be attributed to the fact that I was actually out of Arctic Bay for a week, and actually got to go home to Roblin for a short visit with my family, and to introduce Hilary to them.
The unfortunate thing is I can’t blog about my original reason for travel as it involves a non-disclosure agreement, at least for the time being. Suffice it to say that about a month ago I was approached by a documentary film company who had read some of my writings about my Grandfather online and they asked me to help out with a documentary they are making about the Great War. So part of my time out was spent being filmed in Roblin. Depending on how much of it ends up on the cutting room floor look for me on the small screen around Remembrance week, on well, on the channel that has the most to do with history.
Hilary and I flew out of here two weeks ago on Friday, and I have to say that she is a great traveler, much to my profound relief. I have to say that I dreaded the over six hours of flying, plus airport time that Friday. But she was superb. Luckily (as she was flying for free, and thus had no seat other than my lap) there was extra seats on all the flights down. She slept, she played, she checked out clouds from the top side, and the rest of the passengers in the plane.
It was amazing to watch her once we arrived in Ottawa. Everything was bigger, new, and there were more people than she’d ever seen before in her life. She was so quiet, taking everything in. You have to bear in mind that she’s never seen trees, or lawns, or a building the size of an airport terminal, or more than a couple hundred people at one time or… well you get the picture. Her eyes were wide open in amazement, and she point at things, but all this time she clung to me tightly and didn’t make a sound. In the cab to the hotel she’d look back and forth between me and the road, smiling widely, and finally by the time we were near the hotel she could contain herself no longer and began saying "Bye bye" and waving at everyone of the hundred or so cars in the immediate vicinity.
We visited for awhile with my Uncle Wayne and Aunt Diva, ate some junk food and grabbed some sleep before our early morning flight to Winnipeg. In Winnipeg my sister and brother-in-law met us at the airport (they were on holidays) and after a short stop for breakfast at Ron’s sister’s place we drove to Clear Lake at Riding Mountain National Park, where Michele and Ron were spending the week. My other big travel worry with Hilary – three or four hours in a car seat – disappeared as she settled in and either slept, or sat quietly enjoying new vistas unfold before her.
Mom and Dad met us in Clear Lake for the last hour and a half leg to Roblin, and got to meet their only granddaughter for the very first time. I think it is safe to say that they were charmed. Hilary warmed to everyone in quick order and reveled in the attention she was getting. But we still had some travelling to do, so we piled into Mom & Dad’s van, put on a Sponge Bob DVD and headed home.
Next… Roblin
Comments
5 responses
You will have to mention this again closer to the air date. I can’t wait to see it. How fun!
Naglingnaq!
Well now, and you drove right past me on your trip to dirty d!
It sounds like you are working on a very interesting project, and how great that you got to introduce your daughter to both your family AND Clear Lake!
I’ll bet the trip was very exciting for Hilary. Nice that she took it all in stride. Be sure to post something about that film before it airs so we can watch for it!
Hi Rurality,
Hopefully it will air down there. I’m not sure how much of our History TV makes it there. But I will post about it closer to the time.
Qujinamiq Joanassie (not sure about that spelling)
Thanks Karyn, and welcome. Dirty “D” eh? I thought they tried to change it to “Dynamic” “D”.
Hi Bev, it was very exciting for her. I’ll be sure to post about the air dates of the film. And hopefully a little more about it as it gets closer to being broadcast