Reflections on My Brief Visit to Thunder Bay

 

For the first time in a very long time, I set foot on Canadian soil. 

For the first time in an even longer time, I set foot in my hometown of Thunder Bay, Ontario.

My reason for doing so was a simple. It was my mother's 80th birthday. And if not now, then when?

The logistics of getting from Point A to Point B proved more difficult than I would have liked. Instead of my bag going straight through from Boston to Thunder Bay as it has in the past, I had to collect my bag in Toronto and go through customs twice. Once in Canada, I could not find a place to exchange currency and had to use U.S dollars. I was reminded there is a certain segment of Canadians who hold all things American in contempt including U.S. dollars. Mind you, there was a time when I was guilty of holding such sentiments. Now it is I who is the ugly American. 

There was also the annoyance of having to put a deposit on a hotel room which I had already paid in advance. It was annoyance because at no point did anyone tell me this would be part of the transaction. Complicating matters was the hotel would not accept my Visa debit cards forcing me to use a credit card for the first time in nearly three years which was something I had wanted to avoid. During the course of my stay, the heat stopped working in my hotel room forcing the use of a space heater. 

Then there was the fact Thunder Bay had a snowstorm which lasted more than three days dropping about 15 inches of snow. Or should I say 40 cm? However you measure it, the snow ended before my arrival in the city. 

Annoyances and inconveniences notwithstanding, I got to Point B and spent quality time with my mother and sister along with my sister's cat although she spent most of my visit under the bed as she is frightened of everyone and everything. While she was curious about my bags and shoes, her curiosity did not extend to me. This is a cat that will not be going to Harvard anytime soon. 

I also spent time reacquainting myself with the city. After spending so many years away, my recollection of where places were situated had become muddied. Places looked simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar. I managed to jog my memory by walking along the Thunder Bay Marina and taking numerous pictures of The Sleeping Giant (as seen above) as well as to my high school alma mater Port Arthur Collegiate Institute (P.A.C.I.) which is now the Lakehead University School of Law and the house Mom lived in for more than 30 years (of which I spent seven years there). On our way to a Vietnamese restaurant in the Fort William section we also passed the house I spent most of the first dozen years of my life.

There are parts of Thunder Bay which are quite desolate. Although this can be said of many communities in both Canada and the United States, the desolation takes on a different meaning when one knows of a time when the place while not thriving had some character and dignity. It is heartbreaking to see the Hoito gone up in flames and even more heartbreaking to see nothing built in its place. It doesn't help that Thunder Bay is the murder capital of Canada. While the hotel was all of a 10-minute walk from my mother and sister's apartment, they both insisted I send them a text when I arrived at my hotel room which I dutifully did to put them at ease.

Yet along with the desolation, there is a quiet in Thunder Bay and not much to do and this is of some appeal to my mother and sister. Whereas Dad has chosen to live out his days in the city which never sleeps. I find myself somewhere in the middle. Thunder Bay is no Boston, but Boston is no New York. As such, I was happy to be going home and the journey back was smoother. 

Still, Thunder Bay is not without its charm. The trees are a darker shade of green that I don't see anywhere else. I had also forgotten how late the sun stays out in March. Here it is pitch dark at 8 p.m. while the light still shines in Thunder Bay. In the summer you can still see daylight at 10 p.m. I remember when my Dad and I would play catch at Hillcrest Park at 9 p.m. under a bright sun. 

Should I visit Thunder Bay again I hope to do so one of these summers, but I don't know when I'll be going back that way again.