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By ED JOHNSON

My fellow Americans...

We made it. Nice, cool somewhat rainy morning that probably contributed to our convincing the border guy we were okay folks. I was a bit nervous after observing the two-mile line of cars backed up at the U.S. entrenched entry checkpoints, but we managed to fool the Canadian counterpart and we’re now in the safe house in Ottawa (Password: Novotel).

We moved into the drivethrough area on the Canadian side and this young trooper looked at me, suspiciously I am convinced, and asked coolly: Do you have any alcohol or explosives with you? How long are you going to be in Canada? Do you plan to leave anything in Canada? Answers:

(1) No (I lied about the bottle of wine);

(2) A couple of weeks;

(3) Only money.

He nodded, ominously. Okay, he said, have a nice visit...I figured it was some kind of trap, but we weren’t stopped as I pulled away.

We drove eastward, along the St. Lawrence, for several miles. There were many boats around, many of them using our U.S. waters. At lunch we kept sharp eyes on the shoreline areas and observed several American boaters who obviously had slipped into Ontario without proper papers, which means the reverse is possible in case an Ontarian wants to slip into the good old US of A and harm us. I will advise the Border Patrol when we return, if allowed back. By then maybe the waiting lines to enter legally will be shorter.

I regret to advise you that the weather in subtropic North Florida is not appealing at this time. Perhaps later, like January, or after the next election. I suggest this only to point out that something desperate seems to be happening to my perspective. I shall meditate.

Ed of the Klondike

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Ed Johnson, a former Tampa Tribune reporter, was noted there, among other things, for introducing some needed pizazz into a daily front page feature, Quick Look At The News. He later served time in the New York Times regional newspaper heirarchy and is now retired. He travels and has been seen almost everywhere.