I feel connected to so many places in the world that I couldn’t resist submitting to yet another “love of place” publication. My love letter to Les Cantons de l’Est appears in the fall edition of Creative Guts ‘Zine. Check out their podcast and their activities here: https://www.creativegutspodcast.com/zine or read my missive below:
Love Letter to Les Cantons de l’Est (The Eastern Townships of Quebec)
It’s dull. Nothing much happens there. Yes, the cows moo in both English and French, and sometimes the Massawippi floods and the barstools at the Pilsen start to float. But other than that, Les Cantons is a pretty quiet place.
I first discovered The Townships about thirty years ago. I had driven up from New Haven, and booked an auberge at Georgeville. To stretch my legs, I climbed up the hill behind the general store. From that vantage point, I could see a green and rolling vista across Lake Mephrémagog.
Suddenly,I found myself somewhere in Europe. The tower of the Saint Benoit Abbey was the only visible structure on the horizon. I was incredulous and smitten. It could have been Switzerland. Not the high Alps, but the Jura.
Maybe all love of place is derivative. Maybe we first love one region because it reminds us of another, or the geography tugs at memories that cover generations. I went to school in Switzerland for a while and lived there when I was first married. Family ashes are scattered there.
Over time, I’ve learned how Les Cantons are a treasure in their own right. I’ve gotten to know several of its villages, renting farmhouses or staying with friends.
Sometimes people ask me, “So what do you do, up there, in the summer?” I start to tell them about walking along country roads to pick blueberries or to visit a local fromagerie and their eyes glaze over. They offer up their latest tourist adventures, museum hopping or bungee jumping or running with the bulls.
I suppose one could run with a bull in the Townships if one got caught on the wrong side of an electric fence. But it hasn’t happened to me yet. As I said, it’s pretty dull.
Gabriella Brand 
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