Making It Up As I Go Along #403

All Tucked Away in There
Where you live changes everything. I spent the majority of my life in Wedgewood Park. A little enclave now within St. John’s was once a small community on the outskirts of town. A forested place where holidays brought parades through the streets and services such as trash collection and snow plowing was carried out by men who lived within the park.

Growing up there isolates from the rest of town. The outside world seemed like a days hike through the forest. Occasional trips downtown were exotic. It felt foreign there. I liked downtown but didn’t know it.

As years went on, the forest disappeared and the city overtook Wedgewood. Snow clearing was now a city responsibility. We had no idea when they’d make their way through our streets. And the ball field, which was always ours to use, was suddenly rented out to strangers... driving in from who knows where.

My home space was no longer isolated and I was at an age to move, so move I did. And on the edge of that exotic downtown I went to.

St. John’s suddenly became a whole new town. Those foreign streets became familiar. The type of familiarity that only comes from slow walks. Hidden alleys, unknown from car trips, suddenly opened up.

The uniqueness of my home town suddenly became evident. Gardens and patios appear out of nowhere. Lanes bring you within the city. The main roads avoid the character of the city. I grew to appreciate St. John’s in my three years living on Hayward Avenue. It became an entirely different city than the one I lived in for the first twenty-seven or so years.

But work brought me to Ottawa. Only one other time had I been any longer than a vacation away from the east coast. Some three months in Vancouver with my sister and her family brought a connection to the west coast. And again, a lack of a car helped to appreciate the city of Vancouver in the same was as downtown walking in St. John’s would do a few years later.

The sea wall around False Creek and Stanley Park afforded good exercise and amazing views while you get to where you’re going.

Now, in Ottawa, I still feel a disconnect. I’ve been here almost seven years now and yet three months of Vancouver continues to feel more me than this place. Walking can be done in my neighbourhood. The pond near me brings a much appreciated taste of nature in the summer, spring and fall. But there are no secret lane ways. No breathtaking views. And no hidden gardens to be discovered.

The closest you get to any of that is the experiences of a late night walk. When people are in bed and the rabbits overtake the neighbourhood. It’s just not the same as Vancouver, St. John’s, or Wedgewood Park.

I’ve always been drawn to the cozy place to live. As a kid I wanted a small room with the door closed. At my grandparent’s, I’d climb into a hidden room off the closet. I always thought it was a hidden room. It turns out my grandparents knew it was there. A storage trunk of old romance novels was a treasure chest of ancient texts... in my mind.

When I left my childhood room, I moved into the basement, and made that hidden away bedroom cozy too.

Moving to Hayward Avenue, I originally slept in the smaller of two bedrooms and spent most of my time in the loft, with an old wood stove, low ceiling, and small windows looking out to the rest of the world... while I was tucked away cozy.

Yes, cozy is best for me. It would carry over to daily activities as well. When berry picking on a hill, I was lost for quite sometime. Lost to my parents and their friends anyway. I had found a depression in the ground, with several big rocks on one side and a stand of trees on the other. I sat there, in the sun, eating blueberries... nice and cozy.

At a table, I pick the seat in the back corner. When looking for a place to stop during a hike, I look for a little gully tucked up against a grove of trees or, even better, against a glacially deposited rock... anything to act as a wall to break the wind and hide away behind.

In England, I liked the town of Bath. Where you were down in a valley and able to walk along small streets with small shops.

In Greece, Mykonos was my favourite town. A maze of small white homes and shops, woven together along streets too narrow for cars. A hill on one side of town, the ocean on the other. Borders to hold you within the maze. And it literally is a maze. Dad and I lost mom on our walking. You knew which direction you were traveling in but there were a half dozen streets that could take you there. And some side streets would lead you to those hidden courtyards or patios. Those places that look very different from the ones I’ve mention in downtown St. John’s. But representing the same hidden treasure feel. Places you wouldn’t guess would exist until you’ve rounded the corner to find them there in front of you.

Just like the walking vistas along the sea wall of Vancouver. And that hidden room at my grandparent’s, with the treasure chest of romance novels.


MONDAY...
— Awake too early this morning. 4:10 and I don’t get back to sleep.
— Morning at work is alright but I’m quite spent after lunch and have to get up and move around every 20 minutes or so. Continue fight to stay awake in the evening... need to keep up for a good night’s sleep.

TUESDAY...
— Wake at the same time as yesterday, but luckily, get back to sleep.
— Work is alright. I’m tired in the morning but perk up in the afternoon.

WEDNESDAY...
— Work... is work... go to lunch with Shannon and Janice and that’s nice.
— By the end of the day, I’m tired and just feeling worn down so... start the weekend now!
— Home for some hockey and TV. Montreal ends Washington’s winning streak and Republic of Doyle is fun. And I can stay up late again... a relief.

THURSDAY...
— Sleep well again... nice to rest up.
— Some movies in the day and the return of Survivor tonight.

FRIDAY...
— Olympics with troublesome beginnings. Georgian luge athlete killed in training leaves questions of that track and amount of training available on it.
— On a less serious front, part of the cauldron fails to raise up for the lighting. Feels like these games could be in some trouble. I wonder if rain will cause problems. Hopefully there’ll be no more injuries or worse.
— The effects that cause the floor of GM Place to become ice fields and an ocean... then prairies and mountains... it’s all very impressive. Especially seeing whales swim through.
— Crazy Heart is seen tonight. Sarah and I go and only four other people are in the cinema... but what a movie. Jeff Daniels is incredible.

SATURDAY...
— Olympic day at home. And I’m really still not liking Jamie Campbell. The moron made me almost unable to watch Blue Jay games (thank goodness Sportsnet got rid of him for Buck Martinez) but now he’s calling the women’s moguls event and spends half the air time proclaiming how Jenn Heil would win gold and be the first Canadian to do so on home soil. This whole Own the Podium plan by team Canada has drugged our sportscasters... turning them into blathering meat heads. I felt good for Heil’s silver and wish we could ditch the fools being paid to present these games to us.