Early October
in Vancouver is harvest time. Plants are lush and fruits and vegetables ripe
for picking. The Sunday before we moved to Calgary, we celebrated Thanksgiving
with friends. After feasting indoors, we spent time outside on the porch and in
the garden enjoying the company and the mellow air.
A few days
later, I had my first view of Calgary. I took one look at the brown grass and
leafless trees and thought, “How soon can I get out of here?”
It took 10
months to get back to Vancouver. In the meantime, we worked. I changed jobs a
few times. I remember working in a fabric store. Winter-dry hands aren’t the
best for handling fabric. It was a Vancouver company and the paycheques were
late around Christmas, the truck bringing them was stuck in the snow in the
Rockies. I also had a few jobs in working for the oil industry in Calgary
offices.
In the dead
of winter, Chris and I were sharing a downtown flat. It was so cold I can remember
hovering over the radiators and only the part of me closest to the heater felt
any warmth. It was in Calgary that we found out that -40 is the same on the Celsius
and Fahrenheit scales by going for a walk in it.
There were
new friends and new experiences while we were there. We changed residences and
roommates on several occasions. Our original crew seemed to drift apart except
for one time. We all agreed to take a trip back to Vancouver, just for a visit.
An early October picture taken in a Vancouver suburb
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