I can’t remember the year. I know I was younger than I am now, by quite a few years. Probably somewhere around 50 years younger.
I was hitchhiking in Ontario. No money, not much of anything else, only a desire to make it to Toronto, which didn’t happen, but that’s another story.
It was late in the summer, so it could be quite cold at night. Usually I tried to find a wrecked car to sleep in, but that wasn’t always possible. On this occasion I just slept beside the road. It was late, and I was tired when I finally lay down. There was a bit of an upslope beside the road that leant itself to my comfort so that was nice.
As I said, I was tired, and that is not overstating things. As uncomfortable and cold as it was, I fell into a dreamless sleep. At least until about two or three o’clock in the morning when I discovered the little upslope that was so comfortable was part of the raised ground of a railway track that ran about 6 feet from my head.
When the train came by, I woke up. It was pretty loud, but I was so fagged out that I didn’t even flinch…well maybe a little bit. However, I fell back to sleep as soon as it passed, only to be woken up in the early dawn hours by some people passing by in a car. One of them leaned out the window and shouted, “Hey, wake up”, to which I drowsily sat up and looked toward the car, in the hopes that this might be a ride, but no. I can’t remember what else they said, but they drove off without asking me if I wanted a lift. Maybe they just wanted to know whether I was dead or not. Would have been a good story for them if I had been.
By that time I’d had enough sleep that the discomfort of my surroundings wouldn’t let me back into dreamland, so I got up and started slogging down the road again. The beginning of a new day, and another number of miles on my shoe leather.
Getting from the West to Ontario without money – kind of a Canadian mythic journey of obstacles. Good thing you hadn’t ended up sleeping on the track! And just as well I didn’t try hitch hiking to Montreal. Wrecked cars – you don’t really see them around anymore, but I remember them growing up.
I’ve been across the country by train more times than I can estimate. The rail line took us next to farms that were somewhat out in the countryside. With lots of space and the cost of towing, many farms had an assortment of abandoned cars. Sometimes in a disorganized jumble and sometimes lined up neatly.