HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1962-07-12, Page 144 The Goderieh 8164=Star, nur$da3►, Jtily 12th, 1962
UGAR
and
SNCB
assBy Bill Smiley nimbi
One of my Grade 12 stud-
ents is taking off in the morn-
ing . on a trip. I rather envy
him. He's heading for Van-
couver, on a bicycle.
All he has, to_..do .is pedal
through the great loneliness of
Northern Ontario, ant -crawl the
endless prairies, . toil across the
Rockies and,; push the last long
stretch through the vastness of
B.C.
qi •
He has a brand-new bike,
$50 in cash, one army blanket
and a big supply of. peanut.
butter sandwiches, to commence
his journey. Also of course, he
has one ether thing—a stout
heart.
When he reaches Vancouver,
he will sell his bicycle and set
off for the Yukon. He hopes to
work there for a, year, save a
stake, then return home and go
back to school to complete his
education.
He wants to be a writer.
Thousands of young people have
the same desires but they, never
do anything about it except
dream about all the money a
writer is supposed to make.
This fellow does something
about it. He writes all, the time
poems, stories, •paragraphs—
struggling herpically with a na-
tural inclination to misspell.
He's going to keep a daily
_ journal on his trip.
rk :e
He could have chosen no bet-
ter method of acquiring the
experience and material so help-
ful to a budding writer. `There
will be 50 stories, a hundred
poems,- a thousand incidents, in
the strip of Canada across iwhich
his wheels will roll this sum-
mer. r
u7
.I envy him, as I .said. He
will grow brown and hard. He
willlie beneath the stars and
yearn, He will heat pork and
beans beside a mountain stream.
IAnd he will meet a
interesting people.
them will be mean,
them friendly.
a
.. =r. *
thousand
Some of
most of
He will see a Canada that
the passenger on transcontinen-
tal train or jet liner never sees.
He will smell pines and see
ripening wheat and feel the sun
on his back in the morning,
and hear coyotes yapping at
night.
He, will savor the joys pf hot
food in an empty .bely^,'`warmth
after "zero at the none," con-
versation after loneliness, rest
after exhaustion. He will mar-
vel at sunset on the prairies
and the moon setting fire to a
tiny lake. He will encounter
hospitality that will enrich him
with an abiding faith in human
kindness.
If he's very lucky, he will
have the most rewarding ex -1
periettce of ati—he _get to
se1f..S',h.is_ is ttie..nost
difficult of all things for mod -1
ern man, who is so seldom
alone, with time to think, and
feel, and wonder. Q.„.,'•
I think he'll make it. The
fact that he reads and tries to
write poetry does not mean that
he's a pantywaist who will. be
crushed by his first urutal en-
counter with life.- This lad plays
a rugged game of football. Last
summer; he got as far as Mexico
and wound up fighting -bush
fires in B.C. before returning to
school. -4He's sensitive, • but
tough.
But the-, important thing is
not that he makes ,it. It is the
fact that he is going, alone.
We hear so much today about
the desire of youth for conform-
ity and security that it's re-
freshing to seethe evidence re-
futed. ,F `
ti=.
I do agree that today's young-
sters seem to lack . a spirit of
adventure, But note "he word;
"Seem" 1, don't' believe 'they'
really lack it. I think they are
seduced .away from it by ,over,
protective parents; they are rob,
bed of their initiative by having
things made too easy for them.
i m 4
At any rate, Ill be 00410
west, id spirit, with this young
fellow, and wishing 1 were 20
years younger, ,,so that l could
be riding with him, l have. a
special interest in him because
taught,' him English and" en-
couraged him in his writing.
•
Sp I gave, him a letter of in-
troduption. It reads:- "This . will
introduce Jim McKinnon, one of
my Grade 12'• students. During
the year, this student has never
(a) pulled a switeI4 ade 'on .n e;
(b) written an essay in which
there were no spelling .errors;
(o) done anything of an un-
gentlenzanly, nature, while i was
looking at hIm„ Any favors
tendered him would be appy. edi.
ated by Bill Smiley."
There yo&'are. Fair warning
to my thousands of readers in
the west. If a dusty, unshaven
hobo with a bicycle appears at
your door,' or your newspaper
office, and pulls Out that letter,
you have a chance to tell me
off, by proxy. On the other
hand, ' if you don't feel too
hostile to me, don't be afraid to
give him. a cup of tea or a
shakedown in the barn He's
a decent tad,. and maybe some
day he'll put you in a .book.
777
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