A week ago we were having lunch with our grandchildren and our ten-year-old grandson was explaining how to do something and ended his explanation with “Bob’s your uncle.” I asked him to repeat what he had said. I hadn’t heard the phrase before. Upon inquiry, he said it means “that’s that,” or “that’s all there is to it.” I had to look it up. It turns out that he was using the phrase correctly - at least that use of the phrase would be understood in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Commonwealth countries. We live pretty close to Canada, which is a Commonwealth country, so it makes sense that a common phrase would have made the journey south.

The common explanation of the history of the phrase is that the expression refers to the appointment of Arthur Balfour as Chief Secretary for Ireland in 1887. The appointment by his uncle, Prime Minister Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, was seen as nepotism. Balfour lacked the usual qualifications for the post, so his Uncle Bob was seen as the prominent reason he rose to the position.

Wikipedia, however, sheds doubt on this particular origin reporting that the first documented usage of “Bob’s Your Uncle” is 1924. If the phrase was in common usage, it seems strange that it would take nearly forty years for it to appear in print. Whatever the origins of the phrase, it seems to have become a part of popular culture.

I expect that we will ourselves adopt a few Canadianisms as we continue to live here in a corner of America that can be described as “almost Canada.” Our son’s family farm is just over six miles south of the US-Canada border. We frequently visit Blaine, on the border. From a park where our grandchildren love to play, you can see the international boundary and the lanes for traffic to clear customs. The border is currently closed to non-essential traffic, but there is a steady stream of cars clearing customs in both directions. The tall buildings of downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, are in clear sight.

If we look due west, we can see another “Bob’s Your Uncle.” Point Roberts is an enclave - a bit of the United States on the tip of the Tsawwassen peninsula. The 1846 Oregon Treaty established the 49th parallel as the boundary between the U.S. and British territory from the Rocky Mountains to the Georgia Strait. Point Roberts is not quite to the Georgia Strait, but the peninsula extends south of the 49th parallel, so it ended up as part of the U.S. even though the only way to reach it overland is by going through Canada. Locals call the place “point Bob” and are used to going back and forth. There is a temporary ferry, set up due to the pandemic, available for folks who live at Point Roberts and work in communities on the mainland that avoids the need to cross the border twice to drive a few miles to and from work. We’ve met folks who work here in Mount Vernon, but live at Point Roberts. It is a pretty long commute, but when a couple has people with jobs in different towns, they make accommodations.

One of the neighbors of our son is a part-time farmer who also has a business delivering fuel from a nearby refinery. He has customers at Point Roberts and drives there with his fuel truck multiple times each week. He has paperwork to expedite his crossing of the border and during the pandemic is not allowed to stop in Canada on his way to and from Point Roberts.

Over the years there have been several conflicts over how to provide services to Point Roberts. During the Fraser gold rush, prospectors from Canada attempted to avoid taxes by settling in Point Roberts. A special arrangement had to be established in order to give Point Roberts residents U.S. phone numbers. The prefix 945 in area code 206 is established to give Point Roberts residents US phone numbers. They do, however, have to have international plans on cell phones because they connect to towers in Canada. There is mutual aid agreement allowing the Delta Fire Department to provide support to the Point Roberts fire department. A 1973 drought caused wells to dry in Point Roberts and it took until 1987 for the U.S. community to negotiate a permanent agreement to purchase water from the Greater Vancouver Water District.

It turns out there are plenty of Bobs when it comes to this corner of the United States and our neighbors to the north.

Since we moved to the area during the pandemic we haven’t been able to visit Canada. Prior to the pandemic, we would make occasional trips across the border when visiting our son and his family. We have made a couple of international flights out of the Vancouver airport and we once took a day trip to visit a Zoo in Vancouver with our grandchildren. We don’t know how quickly the border will open to normal traffic, but it appears that the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to keep the border mostly closed for a while longer.

Having an international boundary so close is a new bit of culture for us. Growing up in Montana, we did drive across the border into Canada on occasion and in those days, before the attacks of September 11, 2001, border security was lax. Passports were not required to cross the border in those days and crossing the border wasn’t much of an event. Increased securing following 9-11 changed all of that and I’m sure that those who live in border towns really noticed the increased security. Now that the border is officially closed to nonessential travel, tourism to Point Roberts has pretty much ceased leaving the area to be an isolated residential community only. I’m hoping that we will be able to visit once the border opens up again.

In the meantime, Point Bob is just a place we can see on the horizon across international bay. And, as they say, Bob’s Your Uncle.