We were each sat in an inflatable ring on the shriek and groan inducing icy cold water of the shallow late summer Miramachi River, New Brunswick, Canada. The suspended bums, of my fellow maritime road trippers and I, were intermittently whacked by concealed rocks for a very long uncomfortable hour until we were pulled out by sadistic Steve the proprietor of the backside freezing business.
That evening we warmed our cockles in the charming and cozy old home of the parents of a friend of ours in the beautifully poetic sounding town of Miramachi, a collection of small historically Scottish, Loyalist, Irish, Acadian and Mi'kmaq (Aboriginal) villages alongside the Miramachi River. We were royally welcomed by the petite and softly spoken Mother who was born and raised in Miramachi and the warm and sociable Father, a man from Newfoundland with many tales to tell.
After a wonderful dinner we were shown by the father to the well worn cupboard in the basement where sat, next to some drying unidentified jerky, his dusty collection of jarred preserved exotic foodstuffs lived. Each jar had been prepared in a way which he had been taught as a child in Newfoundland. They contained rabbit, moose, bear, tongues of various varieties and an offensive smelly feet smelling jam made from cloudberries, a berry that we were told only grows in mosquito infested swamps of Newfoundland. We said "you're too kind" and "you don't need too" a number of times but after each different jar was shown to us it was in turn added to a bag for us to take on the road. The jam was recommended to be served with a specific tinned heavy cream so of course we got a couple of those too.
Later on, and after several people claiming they didn't play or didn't any longer play an instrument, a couple glasses of wine was all that was needed for guitars, hand drums and various shakers from Cuba to make their way out. We had several hours of enjoyable entertainment where everyone took part in the songs that ranged from, traditional Newfoundland folk, to classic rock to modern popular music. A merry son who had been losing picks from some exuberant strumming (a pile was forming underneath his chair) picked up a Toonie (a Canadian two dollar coin) at one point, after losing yet another pick, and on one particularly enthusiastic strum lost that inside the guitar itself putting an end to that song. He attempted to finish the song but because of the spontaneous laughter that ensued he couldn’t.
At 2am on the way to bed we passed the piano where we discovered two previously shy musicians.With a little encouragement this turned into another hour of entertainment before we finally retired.
We woke in the morning unfortunately having to leave; we had found a home from home. We said our goodbyes at which point we received all manner of return invites, phone numbers of people to meet further on our travels and were sent on our way to Prince Edward Island with sustenance of nuts and chips for the road. We all left knowing we had had a truly unforgettable experience with a wonderfully hospitable couple. I hope to return.
Since then the courage to try jam has only been mustered, I recommend it.
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