Walking down memory lane Part One: The Beauty of the North

I have never been one for retrospective contemplation. Many times in my life I have picked up and walked away from everything never to return again. Though I may visit places of my past, I don't tend to feel the need to, or even the desire to very often. I miss the people and the friends I make but am usually comfortable with only having the memory and accept that friendships generally do not last a life time. The time that one spends in another life is often fleeting and should be cherished while there and remembered while gone but not pined for- you can not relive the past.

Or so I thought. Then I went home for the wedding. This is the first post of a series of reflections I have had during this trip.

Home for me is a small town far up in the Great White Alberta North. It's a place that I remember bittersweetly, as the home of so many of my favorite and saddest childhood memories. It's a place that though I loved, I happily left in my quest for bigger, better things; I didn't look back for somewhere around 7 years. (Well, that's not entirely true- I made a casual appearance there last summer for another friend's wedding but it was so brief that I didn't have much time to take it all in and I spent a few days there 4 years ago but I was so ill that I was confined to bed for most of it). So this week was the first real quality time I had spent back in Falher/Donnelly area, commonly (and appropriately)referred to as the Peace Country.

Though the whole week was a flurry, I am finally now able to organize my thoughts and allow my brain to sink in the experiences, most which were brought on by the beauty of the North. I'm a little like Scarlett O'Hara, I think. I take my stregth, my appreciate for nature and a great deal more of my character from the beauty of my small farming community- I am never happier than when I am there, surrounded by field upon field of gold and silver-blue, spending my nights staring at the dancing northern lights as they paint pictures in the sky, and feeling the warm northern wind on my face and in my hair.

I cried when I first got home.
I couldn't help it.
I doubt anyone could.


If I have ever felt the presence of a Creator, it was during my first five minutes driving the highway that leads me to Falher. All I can remember thinking was that when God (or whatever creative being you may believe it) painted the planet, he must have used the Peace as his palette, with every color imaginable. I wonder if I ever appreciated it as a child- was I ever able to understand the gift that I had in my own backyard? I think I did- I think that it has always serve as my inspiration; though my memories can't capture the image the same way, I think I have always carried the North very closely to my heart. At the very least I hope I did.

I am glad to be back to my every day life- I need to resume a routine and get some sleep. But I would trade a million Edmontons for Canola, Flax, and Forest anyday. Even if it means living in Falher.

Homesick,

Zita

Stay tuned for post number two: The more things change, the more they stay the same