We began today’s walk in the Roberta Bondar Pavilion. Sault Ste. Marie is the birthplace for
Bondar, Canada’s first female astronaut, and the pavilion and park where it is
located are named in her honour. I am
quite fascinated with the idea of men and women travelling in space, and once
had the privilege of meeting and shaking hands with Mark Garneau, Canada’s
first ever astronaut.
We walked from the pavilion towards the boardwalk along the St. Mary
River. My first surprise was a group of
men – two RCMP, two customs officers in uniform, and numerous males in business
suits. All were wearing dark
glasses. When Lyle told me of this group
I immediately wanted to have my picture taken with them. Lyle explained to me that these men were not
there for the white cane walk! Perhaps
they were just being cool and going incognito. There is no photo attached here!
My next surprise was in the parking lot. Lyle spotted 36 geese walking along the edge
of the path. He helped me carefully
thread my way through the other evidence of their presence there!
We walked the three kilometres to the St. Mary’s canal locks. I found the boardwalk was not conducive to
the roller on the tip of my cane and ended up lifting it up and using it more
as an identity cane. The cracks in the boardwalk
were too jarring otherwise.
We were in luck at the lock.
Two boat we inside the lock.
Although I couldn’t exactly see the level of the water I did see the
boats lowering in the lock as the water was drained. The lock gates then opened and the boats
proceeded down the river.
The afternoon we are headed further down the highway in preparation
for the walk in Spanish tomorrow morning.
Enjoyed the article from OutLook.
ReplyDeleteDorothy