We've all seen them: the quaint, picturesque groups of carolers dressed in the full costume of 17th century british peasants. They stand in perfect 'choir' formation and sing beautiful christmas songs.
But what, you may ask, do these carolers do when they have finished caroling for the day and it is time to go back to their 21st century homes? Do they disband and head for their suv's and minivans? Do they slip into a phonebooth and pull off a miraculous time-shifting transformation?
Earlier this evening as I walked through the Portage Place shopping centre, I chanced upon a group of carolers in just such limbo, stuck between their two realities. Having apparently finished their carols for the day, they were wandering around the mall window-shopping. As I passed them, they paused to look at some t-shirt designs displayed in a clothing store window. Whether it was force of habit, some form of conditioning, pure chance, or simply artistic dedication to their performance, they came to a halt in exact choral formation without seemingly paying any attention to it.
As they stood their conversing in hushed tones about t-shirts with designs like 'Pot Nation' and 'Ask my wife--she's always right!' I marveled at their juxtaposed realities. A given passerby might equally well mistake them for time travelers as identify them as modern-day winnipegers browsing through the mall. For a moment, they seemd childlike in their blissful ignorance of the startling reality they presented.
Then one of them suggested they head over to Tim Hortons. "F* that! I'm going home'" was the answer, and the paradox dissolved as the temporal shift was completed and the group dismantled.
Good old Winnipeg.
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where the past meets the present eh? I remember cruising past a horse as it trotted down the street carrying passengers... "oh, I should pass in front of that slow...horse carriage?" meh. if only time travel were possible...
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