INSIDE with the Festival Nomad (No. 24)

Over the years I have attended, worked with and organized hundreds of festivals and events. With this new series, "INSIDE with the Festival Nomad", I want to give you an "inside" look at some of the festivals and events that I have been involved with or that I have visited. Along the way, I have had a lot of fun and sometimes frustration, but I have never been bored!

ACROSS CANADA … The Police, again!

In Ontario, we have the Ontario Provincial Police (aka the OPP). In Manitoba, the province is policed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (aka The Mounties). It was quite late and rather dark as we traveled northward from Winnipeg to the Ontario border. It was a long stretch of road and there were few other vehicles in view! We were traveling along, minding our own business, when much to my surprise I saw "flashing red lights" in my rear-view mirror! I said, incredulously, "Where did they come from?" She just glared! I pulled over to the shoulder of the road and rolled down my window (a crack - remember Winnipeg!) as the officer approached my vehicle. I said, in my most innocent voice, "Hello, can I help you?" The officer immediately asked me, "Do you know how fast you were going?" I didn't know the answer, so I stole a quick glance at Judi. Her eyes were still "glaring"! With no quick or witty (not even half-witty) answer to the question, I sheepishly said "No". I said this with a "forlorn" look on my face, hoping for mercy! He said, "You were going 15 kilometers over the speed limit." I gulped and said "Are you sure, it didn't seem that fast?" Like Judi, he just "glared" at me! So much for sympathy! With that he handed me a ticket! I "thanked" the officer and bid him a "good night"! Frankly, I'm not sure why I bid him a "good night" because I was hoping that the rest of his night wouldn't go too well! So much for Canadian politeness! With a wave, I cautiously pulled back onto the highway and handed the ticket (unread) to Judi. She asked me how much it was for. I just shrugged my shoulders (a perfectly good male response) and said I didn't know because I hadn't looked at it! After a few minutes my curiosity got the better of me and I asked her, reluctantly, how much! She turned the interior light on and glanced at the ticket. With that, she started laughing! Annoyed, I asked why she was laughing! I told her that I didn't think getting a Speeding Ticket was a laughing matter! She just laughed harder! Finally, between breaths, she was able to blurt out that it wasn't a traffic ticket at all, but rather, a "courtesy" warning, to keep my speed down! It also told me to "drive safely and to have a nice day"! We finally entered Ontario and passed through Kenora. The "glare" was gone and we were both in good spirits! North of Superior awaited us!