Do you speak Canadian?

 

Although I reside in Minnesota, we are close enough to Canada to make a day trip to Thunder Bay, Ontario. When in Arizona, I've been asked about our proximity to Canada and whether I'm bilingual, speaking Minnesotan and Canadian. Yep. That's really happened. On several occasions. Instead of explaining that most Canadians and Americans speak the same variety of English, I've started smiling and saying, "Yes, I'm able to communicate with my Canadian neighbors without a problem." 

Although we have somewhat different political situations, folks on both sides of the dotted line delineating the US/Canadian border, are frustrated by our politicians and swear at them using the same words. I'll leave that topic rather than getting into details...

The cross-border influences are even stronger when you get to Two Harbors, Minnesota, the setting for the Whistling Pines mystery series. In "Whistling Pines", the first book in the series, there's a character who served in the Canadian Army. Upon his passing, his family requested that bagpipes be played at his funeral. That request set off a whole series of attempts to locate a piper, including a female piper who advertised topless performances for bachelor parties. Although she was located in Ontario, it turned out she was related to one of the Whistling Pines residents. While the topless piper was pure fiction, the cross-border family ties aren't uncommon. Many athletes, particularly hockey players, move to teams across the border to get more ice time or to play for a more competitive team. People commute across the border to jobs. 

My grandfather moved to Minnesota from New Brunswick. I have hundreds of Candian cousins. I stand for both "O Canada and "The Star-Spangled Banner" when the Edmonton Oilers play the Minnesota Wild. The bottom line is, I am from a Canadian bloodline, and I have a good time including some cross-border crimes and antics in the Whistling Pines and Pine County mystery series. My Doug Fletcher series protagonist is from St. Paul, Minnesota, and is asked at least once in every few books if he speaks Canadian as he solves mysteries in national parks located across the United States.

So, if my Whistling Pines characters sound a little Canadian, through their Swedish and Norwegian accents, it's because we're one big, albeit sometimes dysfunctional, North American family. The US/Canadian border is the longest undefended international border in the world. Yes. Really. And aside from some minor hassles about carrying excessing quantities Canadian whisky home, it's a darned comfortable trip no matter which direction, north or south, we travel.

A substantial percentage of my book sales are in Canada. I feel that says I'm speaking Canadian pretty well. Eh?

Check out Whistling Wedding on my (Canadian) publisher's website:

Hovey, Dean Whistling Pines series - BWL Publishing Inc. (bookswelove.net)