We had a wonderful little getaway, despite some crazy weather.
It was great to re-connect with our Windsor friends, now not only married but Canadian citizens. We had dinner at a terrific little Salvadorean joint; if you find yourself in Windsor, it's worth looking up.
Driving out to Windsor, we hit rain so intense, we had to pull off the highway to wait it out. But the following day, when the game started, we actually needed sunscreen. The storm clouds rolled in, but not as quickly as Boston's runs. By the time the raindrops started falling, the Red Sox had a 7-run lead.
We quickly snagged two seats under the overhang - cushioned seats with extra leg-room and a little bench for your drinks - so when the downpour started, we were cozy and happy. By the 8th inning, the Red Sox lead was 14-2. The tarp came out and the fans streamed out. It was neat to be in a nearly empty ballpark, and great to see a big win in our only live Sox game this year. We had a lot of fun.
* * * *
This marked my third border crossing without the hassles stemming from the war resister passport incident. However, the crossing was not without its charms.
This time we experienced what we've been hearing about from many other dual US-Canadian citizens who use a Canadian passport. The US border is now sporadically enforcing a law that requires US citizens with dual citizenship to travel with a US passport. People get hassled, asked many questions, and are then allowed to enter the country.
According to the ACLU, if you're an American citizen and have not been deported, they have to let you in. In addition, Allan and I have both entered the US with our Canadian passports without one extra question. So it's meaningless harassment, as far as I can tell.
Yesterday, the guard said, "If you are US citizens, you are expected to travel with US travel documents. Since you are not using US passports, I will have to treat you as Canadians." (Us: OK.) His questions included:
- "Why did you become Canadian citizens?" (Because we live in Canada now, so we wanted to be citizens.)
- "Why did you move to Canada?" (Because we wanted to.)
- "But why? For work? For school? Just for fun?" (Because we wanted to.)
- "How are you US citizens?" (Because we were born in the US. Because our parents were in the US when we were born.)
- "Your parents, really? They were there?" (Just nods for this. Too strange to answer.)
- "Why do you use a Canadian passport?" (Because we live in Canada now, so we thought we should use a US passport.)
He looked at our tickets for the game and looked in the car, and sent us on our way.
I was actually pretty pleased, as this was another trip without the "surrender your keys and come with us" armed escort and detention. This was merely a five-minute annoyance that many other dual citizens are experiencing.
* * * *
At the game, the crowd was asked to stand not only for the national anthem, but for a "military salute" to a member of the National Guard. The crowd's applause only grew louder when they heard the man had served 30 months in Iraq, performing more than 15 missions. The applause extended to a representative of a private company that supplies military missions.
We were seated, of course, wondering how many dead Iraqis those 15 missions represent.
It's always so good to come home to Canada. Now off to the Marxism Conference!
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