To Ease the Passing of Time

This is the English version of an article that I wrote in French last week.

At the beginning of the cross-country ski season last December, when I heard that we were not allowed to cross the border to go to the Gatineau Park because of the lock-down, I was pretty upset. I’ve been skiing in the Gatineau Park for the last forty years, and I couldn’t see myself not being able to ski on the trails that I love so much. Instead of trying to sneak in like I know many people did, I decided to make the best of it, and find new places to go skiing without leaving the province. I didn’t have to look too far, and I didn’t even have to go out of the city. The lock-down gave me the opportunity to discover and enjoy new places to ski that I would never have discovered and enjoyed without the lock-down.

First, there is the sector called Mer Bleue, between Ottawa and Orléans, which is located about fifteen minutes from where I live. The trails are pretty well-groomed, and there are a lot of bird houses hanging from the trees that were put there by hikers in the summer and the fall. I went there many times by myself, and a few times with Maria. I must say that when I went with Maria, she spent as much time feeding the birds as she did skiing.

 Mer bleue

At Mooney’s Bay, about 12 km from our place, there’s a small cross-country ski center near the Rideau River where you can do either the classic or the skating technique. There’s a 5 km loop for both techniques. I went there maybe ten times to skate the loop a few of times. On the skating portion of the trail, the course is quite demanding, with uphills and downhills, and a few sharp turns. After doing it a few times, I have enough. The classic portion of the course is more flat. I went to Mooney's Bay two or three times with Maria, and once with Maria, and our friend Serge.

Maria at Mooney’s Bay

Even closer to where we live, there’s a recreational trail along the Ottawa River that goes from Rockcliffe Park all the way to Orléans. It’s used as a walking and cross-country skiing trail in the winter. I went there a few times by myself and a couple of times with Maria. One time, I think it was in February, we saw a woman bathing in a whole in the ice as if she was relaxing in her Jaccuzzi. It was about -10^oC. Her boyfriend was doing yoga near the hole. Maria asked the woman if she could take her picture.

She doesn’t seem to mind the cold water

Happiness is often in the way you chose to react to the many things that you cannot change or don’t always go the way you had planned or envisioned. If I had been in the same situation only a few years ago, not being able to ski in the Gatineau Park, I don’t think I would have reacted the same way. I would have been a lot more frustrated and upset. I’ve read somewhere that if you don’t have what you like; you should like what you have. It is so true. I realize that I am very lucky to be able to do what I do, and to have what I have. And when I was beginning to think that I had become some kind of a wise man, and started being a little proud of it, I thought of a young boy that I had seen in a video on YouTube.

The boy was horribly burned in an accident. He wanted to make the video because he had something important to share with us. I watched it carefully a second and a third time, and I wrote down a few things that I didn’t want to forget. He wanted to talk to us about hope, courage, strength, and love. It’s not easy to watch at first. It’s hard to go beyond the poor boy’s physical appearance. His face is like a big scar. You pity him, and at the same time you think that it could happen to anybody, even you.  And then you forget about what the boy looks like, and you listen carefully to what he has to say. It’s like his soul is talking directly to your soul, and you never want to forget what he has said. Here’s the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ST9vj2PAScY

 -What is the first very thing you think about when you get up in the morning? (interviewer)

 -It's going to be a good day.

 -I like to write stories, poems, and I like to make songs. It just takes you out of the real world. It helps to forget all my pain, and my sadness sometimes that I have. And I think that your imagination can take you to places where you want to be.

  -Why is it important for you to provide courage and strength to others? (interviewer)

 -Because this world needs it.

What brought me to tears is the fact that the boy had the generosity and courage to make the video because he thought that what he had to say would help me...and you. I felt humbled and grateful. After watching the video, I also felt that the personal experience that I had written about at the beginning of my article was very trivial compared to what that young boy had to go through, and I started to wonder if I should even publish it. And then I thought that we can only deal with what we are and where we are, and that what I had written could still be relevant for some of us.