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I crossed into a different country.
A simple right turn, a cloaked and twisting onramp, curved and slow, then soaring over the laked bridge between two countries, neither one or the other. Such a surprise. Is there a divinding line through water? Then a passport presented, shifted and covered contents in back almost an issue; the question of time's passage, when I would be leaving this land. Acceptance.
Where does one thing end and another begin? Why are there fences to hold things in, keep things back? Who digs the holes? What slips through? When are you finally ientered?
I didn't know how to pump gas. The credit card slider was reversed (for me), and the card was supposed to be left in, not swiped. There were 5 questions before I got to lift the handle and begin pumping. After so little sleep, and so many miles,I wouldn't have passed the test without a boy's help, who was totallly intereted in the fact I was from the western US. A primer for my accent, and license plates. But the countryside looked like Minnesota and the faces familiar but nicer: signs on the side of the freeway say "texting stop" instead of rest stop, or "take a break, fatigue kills. I obeyed the speed limit. There was a $10,000 fine for going 50 kph (30 mph) over: 100 kph = 60 mph. The closer I got to Toronto, the more people chanced it.
Today, three states and one province. 9 hrous, 582 miles, my back arched around the tree of life pillow that tries to remind me to curve, a mercator line spine. Dancing to the radio in my seat, when the cruise control was engaged, palms alternately on the wheel. Letting music whisper its own magic between the air and my ear.
At dinner, in the bar of the hotel restaurant, Cajun jerk mussels with coconut milk, ale, lemongrass, scallions, a whole big bowl, Porter beer on the side. The perfect meal, fusion. A book to divert attention from the groups of traveling male salesmen, Argonauts, "a person in quest of something dangerous bur rewarding:, a different kind of traveling and negptiation. A new map. just being aware of it, not sure of the edges, what a gift.
bor·der
ˈbôrdər/
noun
1. a line separating two political or geographical areas, especially countries.
synonyms: frontier, boundary; borderline, perimeter; marches, bounds ("the Canadian border")
a district near a line separating two areas.
the edge of a surface that forms an outer boundary
the frontier of civilization
2. the edge or boundary of something, or the part near it: the brink, or verge
synonyms: edge, margin, perimeter, circumference, periphery; rim, fringe; sides
"the border of a medieval manuscript"
3. a band or strip, especially a decorative one, around the edge of something.
a strip of ground along the edge of a lawn or path for planting
a white border around a picture
verb
1. form an edge along or beside (something).
synonyms: surround, enclose, encircle, circle, edge, fringe, bound, flank
be adjacent to; lie on the border of; adjoin (abut, be next to, be adjacent to, be contiguous with, touch,join, meet, reach)
be close to an extreme condition. "Sam arrived in a state of excitement bordering on hysteria" (verge on, approach, come close to, be comparable to, approximate to, be tantamount to, be similar to, resemble)
provide (something) with a decorative edge. (edge, fringe, hem; trim, pipe, finish)
Origin
late Middle English: from Old French bordeure, ‘seam, edge of a shield;’ ultimately of Germanic origin, derivative of bord, ‘ships’ side, edge.’
