Rare Birds Of Newfoundland

July 27, 2002

Rare Birds of Newfoundland Having been traveling almost every day for several weeks, we found a comfortable RV park in the town of Great Falls/Windsor, Newfoundland, where we could settle down for a few days to catch up on snail mail and email. When we were looking for the town library for its free Internet computers, and the Post Office to obtain the postal code of Arnold’s Cove, where the Escapee’s Club will send our mail in a couple of weeks, we happened upon Allen’s Video, where movies are rented and computers are sold. The young lady behind the counter gave directions to both places. Uncertain about her directions and unfamiliar with the town layout, I presented a city map we had obtained at the RV Park. She could make no sense of the map, so she pointed in a northerly direction and said, “Go that way up over the hill, past the churches to the Ford dealer, then turn right at the next intersection. The library is on the right on top the hill.” Consulting the map, I figured out the church street from the icons on the map. “The Post Office is just down the street on the right.” Our map did not indicate the locations of either the Post Office or the Library, but with these verbal directions, I figured that we now knew the general location of our goals and could likely find them with little difficulty.

Arnold's Cove Glancing across the room, I spied the movie section titled “Recent Arrivals.” Having only the local Canadian Broadcasting Corporation or CBC TV channels (Canadian Baby-sitting Channel?) for several weeks, I was eager to see a good movie. For some odd reason, one movie, titled “Rare Birds” stuck out. It starred William Hurt and Molly Parker and was shot on the coast somewhere near St. Johns, Newfoundland. To find a movie filmed in Newfoundland,

where we were currently visiting, seemed quite a coincidence. But, the fact that we enjoy observing nature and spend lots of time watching birds added to the attraction of this movie. But, maybe the clincher was the word “Winnebago” used in the movie abstract. Since we have lived in a Winnebago for seven years and driven one over 105,000 miles, I could not help but wonder what role a “Winnebago” would play is this movie.

Not so Rare Puffins My first reaction to this movie was that the actors did not attempt to mimic Newfoundland speech, so it seemed unrealistic. But, I could understand what they were saying, so I quickly forgave them. It was unlike the speech of the fisherman on a dock, who was explaining the current status of the fishing industry, when he stopped in mid-sentence and stated, “You are not understanding anything that I am saying, are you?” He was partially correct. Citizens of Newfoundland, who often refer to themselves as “Newfies,” pepper their vocabulary with slang words that are not in common usage on the Texas A&M Campus. Combine the slang expressions with a heavy brogue, and the results often require repetition for this partially deaf tourist. Anyway, the main theme of “Rare Birds” is about improving the profitability William Hurt’s restaurant, “The Auk” located on a remote coast in Newfoundland. William’s wife had left him and moved to New York, so William was drinking up any profits and often woke in the morning with a bad hangover. Things changed when he and a friend concocted a scheme to drum up business. They phoned a national birding show and reported that they had seen a duck, Tasker’s selferious – long thought to be extinct – in the cove behind the restaurant. As birders flocked to see the rare bird, they found that the only place to park was in William’s parking lot. “Only customers may park here,” he explained. So the birders made reservations for dinner and soon business was booming. William Hurt’s character used his extraordinary culinary skills to compensate for his bumbling, drunken behavior, and the redheaded Molly Parker danced seductively into his life. Everything was great until there was a report questioning the

authenticity of the rare bird alert. William’s friend, played by Andy Jones, used his homemade submarine to tow, from underwater, a carved and painted mimic of the Tasker’s selferious duck around the cove, where a birder took its photo. The picture quickly appeared in the national newspapers and business continued to boom in the Auk Restaurant. Andy Jones, paranoid that secret agents of the Winnebago Corporation were out to steal the design for his submarine, found out that the agents skulking around the cove were really RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police). At this point the movie took some unpredictable twists and turns, but proved to be good entertainment. I would award it about three stars and give it a thumbs-up. Even though it appears to be a relatively low-budget movie, the scenery along the Newfoundland coast was authentic and the movie was fun. We have since observed that there are a couple of other films shot in Newfoundland. “Random Passage” and “Shipping News” were both also filmed on the island. However, “Rare Birds” showed little of the real Newfy character – if there is such a thing. As we travel Newfoundland, conversations with the locals generally center on the question of “How do you like Newfoundland?” And “Are you enjoying your travels through Newfoundland?” Since we have greatly enjoyed our gentle adventures through Newfoundland and appreciate the generally friendly natives, it is easy to answer that we like Newfoundland and find the natives very friendly. But, to “stir the pot” a little, my more recent answer to their question is that the citizens of Newfoundland are really mean folks. The startled, dramatic, bewildering change in their expression is just as quickly followed by a big smile as they realize that they have been baited. In one sense, Newfies are much like Texas Aggies: they are both the butt of jokes. Other Canadians make fun of Newfies by naming bologna “Newfy steak” and such. There is little question that citizens of Newfoundland tend to be somewhat provincial, but I find it understandable. It is only in fairly recent years that some of the communities have been connected to the rest of the world by all-weather roads. Historically, the community in one cove might speak French and attend the Catholic Church, whereas only a few miles away, in a neighboring cove, the citizens speak English and build Anglican Churches. Many cemeteries are separated, one with a sign indicating that it is Catholic and the other Anglican. One can only imagine the torment of families that have learned that a Catholic boy has fallen in love with an Anglican girl, or vice versa and is therefore doomed to spend eternity in “Hell.” However, as an outsider, the difference among Canadians from the different provinces seems relatively minor. The biggest difference seems to be between the citizens of Quebec and other provinces because of the difference in languages. Many folks from Quebec find a greater affinity and allegiance between themselves and France, than Canada. We find that citizens of Quebec, who speak English, are as friendly as anyone else, but those who speak only French appear to be less outgoing and shy. When we meet folks on the walking trails and they do not look us in the eye as they pass, we tend to suspect that they are Francophones. However, if I force the issue with a “Bon jour” usually they will smile and reply anyway. An analogy in Texas might be the difference between Aggies and Teasips. The Aggie aficionados tend to wear maroon-colored clothing and the Teasips tend to wear burnt-orange.

But a Canadian, venturing into Texas and having dinner with members of both groups, would be hard-pressed to find a significant difference in their behavior or attitudes. Of course, there are subtle differences that only a native Texas can see – such as the showing of the Aggie ring while picking the nose or the hook-em-horns hand signal that is sometimes confused as a sign of sexual preference. Maybe Canadians can also detect the differences between members of the various provinces, but we struggle to see the differences. Canadian TV tends to focus on the differences between the United States and Canada. Seldom do we watch Canadian TV where there is no comparison made between the two countries. Restrictions on the importation of Canadian products into the USA tend to irritate Canadians. The economy of Canada grew at a 6% rate last year, and there seems to be some movement away from the focus on social issues. But for all the perceived differences between the USA and Canada, the differences would seem very minor to a visitor from outer space. The difference between the governments of New York and Louisiana may be almost as great as the differences between the laws of the two countries. The major difference is that Canada has a much smaller tax base than the USA, so we are seen as the “big giant to the south.” We find that most Canadians have a wonderful sense of humor and seldom show any overt hostility toward US citizens. Surely, we are sometimes chided for not speaking “proper English” or for not understanding some Canadian expression such as “hydro” for electricity. But mostly, we enjoy Canada and her people and maybe the folks of Newfoundland exemplify the typical Canadian country warmth and friendliness more than others. But even after traveling in Canada for several years, we do not claim to be experts on the Canadian persona. We only know that we have enjoyed our interactions and conversations with the citizens all across the country as we learn about their history, government and natural environment. We have found that it is possible to become an official Newfy without living here permanently. To become official, it is necessary to undergo a ritual consisting of consuming some hard liquor and kissing a dead Cod fish. Given the option of finding a new bird or kissing a dead fish, we have so far concluded that kissing a fish is “for the birds.” We plan to retain our allegiance to Aggieland, Texas, USA and the civilized world – not necessarily in that order. Winfield