Travels in Québec V: Sounds of the North

I like airplanes. Airline travel has become a drag, resembling the Greyhound bus rather than the elegance that used to course through the air. Remember the old days when one dressed to fly--jacket and tie for men, dresses, hats, and gloves for women. Real china, and if you're old enough to remember, a small pack of 4 cigarettes on each dinner tray! For a short time, some airlines even experimented with piano bars for first class. Ah, gone are those days. I digress. One of my favorite sounds is that of a float plane flying overhead. They make a lot of noise, I suppose because those floats are not very aerodynamic and the planes tend to have big engines for their size, so they can get off the water--lots of friction there. Plus the Beavers (not pictured here, by the way) just make a lot of noise with those radial engines.

Mostly you hear these planes when you are up north as they head out into the bush to take someone or something to an isolated place where you can hear other sounds of the north like loons, wolves, and the dip-drip of a canoe paddle in a lake. What a way to go!