I went to PEI for the weekend. (That’s Prince Edward Island, for non-Canadians.) My friend Yoko has some visitors from Japan here for the week and we drove up Saturday, took the ferry across, arrived in time to see the last performance of Anne of Green Gables, went back to the hotel, celebrated one of Yoko’s friend’s birthday (her 27th), and finally went to sleep at 1 am.
Sunday morning I awoke early (as usual) before everyone else and went for a swim in the hotel pool. It’s a big pool, perfect for lane swimming. And I was the only person there. The acoustics in the pool-room gave a lovely echo and somehow I began singing Puff the Magic Dragon every time I came to the end of the lane. It seemed appropriate.
For the rest of Sunday, we wandered around Charlottetown for a while, then went to Cavendish to the Green Gables House/Park, then across the Confederation Bridge and home around midnight. I took a lot of photos but left my camera at a friend’s house today so I can’t show you any yet. It was a picturesque excursion.
The Japanese are known for their love of the Anne of Green Gables story so it was especially nice to be in that world with them. I was expecting to see a lot of orientals in the audience but, interestingly, over half, maybe even three-quarters of the people were sporting grey or white hair. I don’t think I have seen that many people with grey hair in one room in a long time (and it was a very big room!). It reminded me of an interview on the radio show Q with Jian Ghomeshi the other day (I think it was Tuesday). There was a panel discussion on the common use of neuro-enhancing “smart” drugs. One man was extolling the benefits of mind-enhancing drugs. In fact, he believed in a few years, maybe ten or so, it will become common for people to take them with no stigma. As an example, he pointed out that not too long ago you never saw older people dying their hair whereas now it is the norm: you rarely see people with grey hair. That is a huge leap of logic for me: from outer appearances, fashion, to the inner side of human behavior. But then, I never expected to be singing Puff the Magic Dragon in a pool in Charlottetown, P.E.I.
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