I recently did a road trip to Thunder Bay and spent some time at a
local resident’s home. Two things I learned quickly – the word “camp” does not
mean the same thing in Thunder Bay as it does in Southern Alberta and when
someone is a long-term resident of Thunder Bay, they give directions based on
what was, not what is.
The directions thing – Thunder Bay was actually two towns at one point,
Fort William and Port Arthur, which merged into one. To be fair, they
apparently decided the new town shouldn’t contain the name of either of the old
places. Or something. I’m sure there’s actually a more legitimate reason but I
napped through that part of the tour.
As a result of this not-recent merger, directions from locals are now
given based on what part of Thunder Bay the particular address USED to be in,
as in, “Oh, that old place. Well, it’s over in Port Arthur, we don’t get out
that way much”. To further entertain locals, landmarks that no longer exist are
also used as directional references, such as, “Turn left where Franklin Street
School used to be”. Which is helpful if you know where Franklin Street is and
if the Franklin Street School actually happened to be on Franklin Street, not
half a block away on, say, Nora Avenue. Needless to say, I now own a current
map of Thunder Bay.
The other oddity is the use of the word camp. In MY world camp, in the
context of a place, is where you send your kids for some peace and quiet in the
summer. It should be in some kind of wildernessy place, or at least far enough
away from the neighbours so as not to impact their peace and quiet, and
hopefully the children will be gone overnight. Day camp is just teasing, quite
frankly. And camping, the activity, involves your RV and driving through summer
construction traffic for hours to get to the campground.
In Thunder Bay, however, camp is apparently what we here in Alberta
refer to as a “cabin”. Or if you have Southern Ontario roots, a “cottage”. So
when you enquire as to Joe’s whereabouts and are told he is at camp, you are
being told he has a lovely cabin somewhere, which he has driven through summer
construction traffic to enjoy some peace and quiet. Until you know that
vocabulary quirk, conversations involving locals, the word “camp” and all
related references are… confusing.
But there are certain things that hold true regardless of whether you
are at a camp/cottage/cabin or camping in your RV. Things that span
geographical boundaries and can be considered the great truths of summer non-hotel
vacations. These are the Rules of Camping (camp/cottage/cabin-ing):
1)
Sand is not dirt.
2)
Anything that can be stabbed with a straightened
wire coat hanger is fair game for cooking over a campfire.
3)
Nothing says crappy camping like the phrase
“Fire Ban”.
4)
The amount of days the same clothes can be worn
is in direct proportion to how far you have to drive to find laundry facilities
and/or how much of a nuisance laundry is compared to at home.
5)
Wet bathing suits dry best if never taken off in
the first place. This saves on laundry, too.
6)
The more rustic the camp/cottage/cabin, the more
appealing paper dishes become.
7)
If you are fortunate enough to have a
camp/cottage/cabin that has been in the family for more than one generation
before you, it must be furnished in “early relic”. Even if the original shack
has been rebuilt in its entirety with the most modern of buildings and fittings
it is a violation of all things camp to furnish in the styles of recent decades.
No exceptions.
8)
If you go to the same place long enough (RV or
family cabin/cottage/camp) you will develop a bizarre set of names for locals,
the relics or the traditions. This camping-cabulary will be indecipherable to
all but your immediate family and close camping friends.
And most importantly, it’s okay to send your kids to camp while you go
camp. At least in Southern Alberta it is… in Thunder Bay you’d likely all end
up at the same place.
No comments:
Post a Comment