06/30/2019 A Blast From The Past

We recently returned from a nice little get away. A family member originating from Liane’s side was celebrating a graduation and we decided it would make for a nice week holiday. We spent the week just outside of Calgary Alberta. Dovetailing further we were in the area of Balzac.

The celebration was nice and as always it was great seeing some family. I enjoy it when Liane gets to spend some quality time with her family. It’s a family that made me a born in member of. The celebration was enjoyable and we got to meet some really nice folks while conversing.

The weather was iffy and rightfully so Liane’s sister though it might be best if she set up inside. She commented if the weather permitted that the folks would be free to wonder outside among the many chairs scattered across the patio and back yard. She has a five acres property so room to roam was not an issue. As fate would have it, it turned out to be the only clear warm sunny day of the entire week. I was so happy for both mother and graduate, but that’s when it dawned on me. Pardon the pun but Something Feels Wrong.

We found it difficult to comprehend how folks who live in a country that if lucky has two and a half months of sunny warm weather a year would be sitting inside on such a beautiful clear day. In fact Liane, myself, our friend Cole and just two others out of about 45 people were outside. The rest were inside and a fair percentage chatting about how bad the weather’s been this summer. Hello, am I missing something here?

There’s change and then there’s different. To me change points to a particular thing or a particular area. Different, however points too many changes added up over time. Oh yes I detected difference. People huddling inside, groups looking at a cell phone and commenting on whatever it was they were witnessing. At the wee ole hour of nine o’clock several who were still in their twenties were already calling it a night, on a Saturday night mind you. It was like two Woo, Woo’s and let’s call it a night.

In fact the entire area mirrors the States with shopping centers and strip malls running in abundance. A food court festival and it shows.

This was not the Canada I know and while pleasant in nature the people were definitely not the same fun loving Western Canadian’s I grew up with. Not judging only expressing some new found wisdom. I’m confident similar to the boiling frog syndrome if change is done on a slow enough scale it goes unnoticed. Most who live there simply cannot see it.

The highlight of the week came when my buddy Cole and I went out for the day to Banff. Banff is a quaint little town in the Rockies where I used to frequent regularly. As a kid I loved downhill skiing. I was excited to see even after all these years and with substantial growth it still remained tranquil. It hasn’t lost its quaintness. Too bad I can’t say the same for the rest of what I’ve seen. Whoever made up the joke that the definition of a Canadian is an unarmed American with health insurance must have recently relocated there. Thirty years ago that joke would not have made any sense. Until next time, Barry in DR.