Canada

It looks like it’s going to storm (and there is a plague of mosquitoes outside), so we headed in and I thought I would write the second article this week about my country—Canada. It’s fitting that it’s Canada Day, but Canada has been on my mind lately. Likely it’s because the algorithm on social media is pushing some pretty patriotic and inspirational stuff at me, but also because we are taking a vacation to the East Coast this summer, somewhere I’ve never been before. Don’t worry—I’ll keep the article centered around our pets.

Oh Kahlan, my sweet Golden who our family had before Bunsen. Memories of her come so easily, and if I stay in them too long, tears may follow. She was such a special dog. I am wondering if the reason I’ve bonded so strongly with Brix is the same reason I bonded so strongly with her—that she saw me as her person.

Our young family was just trying to scrape by when she joined us, and our holidays were far from extravagant. We would occasionally camp in a large tent, and Kahlan would come with us. I have wonderful memories of lying in the tent, snuggled under blankets while it rained, reading a book with her soft body beside me, gently snoring.

Near Red Deer there are literally dozens of really nice campsites. They don’t offer Rocky Mountain vistas, but they do offer sprawling nature. Red Deer sits near the centre of Alberta, and surrounding us are a bunch of small lakes. Nothing too crazy—just lakes scraped out of the ground by the retreating glaciers of the last Ice Age.

We made the mistake of camping in the badlands, which are to the south of us, and it was insanely hot with absolutely no shade. We all cooked, and that was the last time Kris really wanted to go camping.

My mom organized a really fun Zackowski reunion on the east side of Vancouver Island, and Kahlan came with us. It was my first trip to the island as a dad with my family in tow, and it gave me the bug to return every few years. Our home is landlocked, and the ocean is this far-off thing. Walking the beaches at low tide, seeing Kahlan swim in the ocean, hiking through the coastal rainforest—it was all wonderful.

Later, after Kahlan left us, Bunsen dragged me out into the winter.

I’ve written before about how Bunsen had such a zest for the snow that it became infectious. Up until that point, I was pretty content (as are most sane people) to ride out the worst of winter inside by the fireplace. Bunsen was having none of that soft life. I upgraded my winter gear, and out we went.

We snowshoed through blizzards and skied across the frozen reaches of the farm. It was there I saw the beauty in the swirling snow that would form snake-like patterns across the ground, the curling drifts, the snow-laden trees deep within the creek forest, the foxes, the moose, and so much more. It was a whole part of Canada I had missed my entire life.

Much to my surprise, Kris joined us, and before long we were hiking trails in the mountains through snowdrifts up to our shoulders. Sometimes it was bitterly cold. Sometimes the wind chill was dangerous. Sometimes I wondered if I might not make it back.

I did.

With Bunsen leading the way.

Most mornings when I wake up and go outside to the south side of our house, looming in the distance are the Rockies. I’m not a downhill skier, so the draw of the huge mountain slopes entices me not, but after our first taste of winter hiking with Bunsen, I was hooked.

From his first birthday on, we ventured out to the Rockies multiple times a year, and we found trails we could walk again and again with joy, and even a very secret mountain lake high above Canmore that we often had all to ourselves.

We bought watercraft—a kayak, then paddleboards.

When Beaker joined us, she brought with her an even greater love of the water.

Though Bunsen’s days of kayaking are over, we did a ton of water adventures over the years. There is nothing like softly paddling through an emerald lake, hearing only the sound of rockfalls from the mountains surrounding you.

Adam and I have taken Beaker out onto our secret lake on paddleboards, parked in the centre, and swum in the refreshing icy water. I’m not sure if Bernoulli will ever get the hang of paddleboarding (he’s kind of too big), but little Beaker is my pirate.

When she was a puppy, she jumped overboard in Reservoir Lake, a popular place to paddleboard near the Nordic Centre in Canmore, and swam to a nearby canoe filled with strangers. She hopped into their vessel and quickly became everyone’s friend.

We learned our lesson after that and started tethering her in. We needed no such tether with Bunsen. He wasn’t willingly jumping into the water.

We have now been to these little towns on the westernmost edge of Canada four times. Three times with the dogs, and once without.

I did enjoy the freedom we had without the dogs, but part of the time, while walking the beaches, I knew it would have been better with them. Beaker LOVES the endless beaches on the west side of the island, and the cool air and ocean spray kept Bunsen comfortable even on hot days.

It was here we attempted to sea kayak with our lake kayak, and it was a disaster. A wave came and spooked Bunsen, who bailed and jumped into the ocean.

Instead of waiting for rescue, the big guy panicked and swam back to shore. He was SO mad at me for about three days afterward. He ignored me as if I didn’t exist. I think he eventually forgave me, but he hasn’t really been a fan of kayaking since then.

Canada isn’t just Western Canada. It isn’t just Alberta, the Rockies, and Vancouver Island.

We have been to Saskatchewan dozens of times, though not with the dogs, and I’ve been way up north in Manitoba to see the polar bears along Hudson Bay. Kris and Adam have travelled east on school trips and with marching band. They have both been to Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec City. They have also been to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island.

Our country is so huge, and so beautiful.

We meet wonderful people everywhere we go. As teachers, we teach students whose families have been in Canada for generations, just like Kris’s and mine, alongside new Canadians who are proud of their new home. We have witnessed the two Ukrainian refugees my parents took in go from shell-shocked survivors of war and devastation to full-fledged Canadians.

Canada is a place, yes. It is mountains and snow, ice, wind, tides, forests, and plains.

But it is also an idea.

As Mike Myers (of Austin Powers fame) has said:

“Canada isn’t perfect, but it tries hard to get things right, and in that, it is something very beautiful.”

It’s also where my heart is, where my family lives, and where my pets explore.

Happy Canada Day!