Far North Friday #53: Time Flies
This story is not restricted to the Far North, but it is triggered by my far north travels.
There are certain markers of passing time. Seeing adults, who you first met as children, is one of those markers. I suspect that all teachers can relate to that experience!
I recall a discussion, in the basement of the geology department, at McMaster University, with a colleague named Bob Bowins. Bob was quite a skilled person. He could build sensitive electronic research instruments from a box of bolts. He said to me “we don’t notice our ageing when we work together, as colleagues, for 5 or 8 years, because we all age together. But when you walk into a lecture hall, and see the faces of new, young first year students who look really young, you realize that time is moving along.” I had not thought much more about that conversation until this week.
This week, I experienced a reality check. I posted photos of two children we met in the far north community of Fort Hope, Ontario. It was evening. We were walking around. These two friendly children joined us. We ended up at the shore of the Eabamet Lake. That is a fun place because there are lots of rocks to explore along the shore.
Not surprisingly, almost immediately after I posted the photos, the identity of those two children was revealed: Chrystyna Atlookan-Spence (Photo 1) and Irene Boyce (Photo 2). The reality check to me was finding out that Chrystyna and Irene, who were is photographic stasis, are now Mothers, with young children of their own. Children do grow into adults! Someone said on the post “that was a long time ago - 20 years?” That evening was 18 and a half years ago. Yet, it was an evening that I still recall well because two young community ambassadors walked with us (well, we walked, they rode their bikes), talked with us, played X's and O's with us, and threw stones in the lake with us.
Photo 1: Chrystyna Atlookan-Spence standing and laughing beside Eabamet Lake, in the evening light, where we stood in the wind, threw rocks into the lake, played X’s and O’x by scratching one rock onto another rock surface, chatted, and just relaxed. This photo was composed on Aug 25, 2003. Time flies.
Photo 2: Irene Boyce standing in the golden light, holding a piece of quartz, which is almost alive with the golden light. I learned that in the local Ojibwe dialect, quartz is sometimes called ween-nin-no-wah-bic, because it looks like layers of white animal. But quartz is also known by other names. I won’t embarrass Irene, but perhaps she will share the name she called the quartz that evening, 18 years ago, if she is comfortable. If not, I may share in a different story. This photo was composed on Aug 25, 2003. Time flies.
I received a language lesson on the streets of Fort Hope from Noah Ooshag who I met on a different evening while walking around the community: niin bah-bam mov-say = I am walking around. Eighteen and a half years ago, we were just out walking around (wiin bah-bam mov-say) and ended up spending a lovely time with two delightful young people. So, Chrystyna and Irene, thank you for spending that time with us on that warm evening 18 and a half years ago. We never know what memory comes from a simple community walk.
Now, these are not the only examples of people we met as children, who are now adults. But it is my most recent reality check. Time does indeed fly.
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