June 24 - Montreal to Toronto by train

Off we go. Summer 2009 roadtrip officially begins today. It's ambitious and taxing and lasts about 2 weeks. We're driving over to San Francisco for my graduation from Animation Mentor, starting by train today in Montreal and doing the first leg to Toronto.

Gotta get my plastic divider bags together now cause need to be at the station at 11 something.

REM's 'Night Swimming' on the IPOD as the blue and green of Quebec and Ontario whizz by the picture window. The clouds dry-brushed a snow white on the high summer sky above. Fabri and I discuss the difference in language for forest, jungle, rainforest and woods from English to Italian before agreeing to disagree. The classifications do n ot translate easily. We decide that the names of groups of trees are not so important. What's important is where Monkeys live. I follow the power cables which neighbor the tracks with my eyes and it lulls me into a slight trance. I often believe that the train is the only way to travel in Canada. And imagine my surprise when there was free WiFi! You Canucks don't know how good you have it. All praise VIA rail! I even think I just spotted a deer – it must be close to my birthday.

Choo choo past the slate blue and brick red cottages, the playgrounds, lakes, trainyards, power transformers abandoned in a long fields, 'cornproducts' tankers, maples... so many maples, piles of train ties – wood and rotten, a barn on a hill with silo, canadian flag in a chinese rock garden, sunny graveyard. Choo choo choo. The Canadian train helps you to feel small and insignificant in the best of ways. It's even better if Lenny Cohen starts singing 'Halleluiah' in your ears just as the sun breaks through the trees.


BBQ at my brother's house. Tamara cooked mountains of delicious food – remember the scene in A mickey's Christmas Carol with the ghost of Christmas past? Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum??? We're talking that amount of food. All Canadian style: from all corners of the world. Marty cooked up some ribs on the barby. We played ball with Max and Jack, remembered what it's like to be an aunt and uncle and had a really great time in general.