Two Sore Backs

As I write this, we’ve been home for a few days and had time to reflect on the last few weeks.

At first we were really disappointed about the damaged car. We didn’t know how long repairs were going to take, but with winter approaching we would have had to buy a (second!) set of snow tires (and probably abandon our summers) to drive it home. Insurance would pay an insignificant amount if we chose to have the car transported home for repairs. Also, while the allowance for travel home was generous, it would not pay for a return flight in order to pick the car up. Allowances for a rental car were also pretty thin.

On the positive side, Donna and Tom were incredibly accommodating – we had plenty of time to make decisions and we were definitely not roughing it.

There wasn’t a lot we could do before we got the repair estimate, so the first few days were just hanging out getting to know Donna and Tom a bit better. We got to meet a bunch of their friends and family members too when they hosted a first birthday party for their grandniece Iris. It was nice to see so many little kids in one place, having fun, eating cake, and making a mess – it’s been a while! Then we were lucky to be invited to Donna’s sister Dar’s place for Thanksgiving dinner. Such a nice experience!

It was fun reminiscing about our days at Polaris. Tom was there for most of the mine life, working as a heavy duty mechanic. I hired Donna in Finance shortly before my 1997 transfer to the Cominco head office in Vancouver, and they both worked right up until the end of mine life in 2002. They had a bunch of stories I had never heard, but one theme that repeated was how great the experience was – the people, the location, and the financial leg up. Without Polaris, all of our lives would be much different.

It was nice to learn about their lives since Polaris too. They’re doing great. Tom found plenty of work after leaving the mine and is now happily retired. Their property is far from low maintenance, so he’s still got his hands full!

Donna is still working. She’s a Director for Caledon’s largest social services agency and enjoying it. But she’s starting to think about retirement and travelling again.

Donna and Tom took time to show us around their area. The Bruce Trail system literally circles their property.

We checked out their next door neighbors’ place – it’s amazing.

It’s cool to see what these property owners are doing for the community – first class renovations to local heritage buildings including the Copper Kettle Pub in nearby Glen Williams. They now operate the pub and it is excellent. And they have a dog with the best name, and possibly the worst breath, ever. Gnarly Knots is named after a Blackcombe ski run, and I’m pretty sure it hadn’t been long since the poor guy got skunked.

We checked out the Caledon Rail Trail near Cheltenham.

We also learned about their friend, local artist Cory Trepanier, who recently succumbed to cancer. Watching his film Into The Arctic II and thumbing through his book about painting in the Arctic brought back great memories. He was an amazing talent. Check him out on YouTube and here is a scene from Beechey Island that Polaris alumni know well.

It took a bit longer than expected to get the repair quote, but, when we did, we were not surprised to see the time required would be “45 days, minimum”.

Waiting for repairs was out of the question, flying home would have been pretty anticlimactic, returning to Ontario and driving the car home in the middle of winter would have been daunting and expensive, so we decided to ship the car and have it repaired at home, and we would take the train home. We booked the VIA Rail “Canadian” leaving Toronto on October 25.

Not only did we have the train to look forward to – we were both excited about that – but we also had an extra few weeks to explore Ontario during the peak fall colours.

In the meantime, this was our breakfast spot for a few more days.

This is the same cappuccino maker that I bought for the Polaris High Arctic Club over 30 years ago. Donna saved it from being tossed down a vent hole during the mine reclamation. Still works great!

And to make a good situation even better, one of Val’s work colleagues from the Kruger Products office in Mississauga reached out to her. We met Elizabeth and her husband Brad for dinner at the Copper Kettle Pub, and for drinks later at their place which was basically in the same neighborhood. It was lovely. Kruger really is an excellent company, and Elizabeth and Val could have talked for hours about the people and their experiences there.

Those guys are doing well, and their son is just about finished school, so they’re starting to think about retirement too. Sports and the outdoors are their passions, and they talked about skiing at nearby mountains and windsurfing at their cottage in Prince Edward County. Knowing we had time to explore, before catching the train, they encouraged us to use the cottage. Oh my.

Prince Edward County just happens to be close to Kingston, where my uncle Mike and Aunt Nancy live, and we wanted to go back and visit them again. Plus it’s where my cousin Brenndan has a piece of property that he plans to build on, and we really wanted to see it. We had a plan.

So, what began as a bad situation had more than turned around. It was already a net positive!