The Port City Post

Hubby and I have now lived in Saint John for 2 ½ years.   I am now a little over half way through my emotional transition. 

I don’t think that is a real condition – it is just what I refer to it as.

I’ll explain.  When you first make a major move in your life, and even though you have an address, a phone number and receive mail, you still feel as if you are only visiting. 

On days when you are stressed or ill all you really want to do is go home.   Not home to where you will spend the night, but home to what looks and feels familiar.

For me, home was Edmonton.  I love it here in Saint John, but I was still an Edmontonian at heart.  I constantly compared and moaned ‘well…at home I could just go there, or do that or I would know where to find this in Edmonton…etc.” 

I know hubby was frightened that if I went back to Edmonton to visit, there was a good chance I would not use the return ticket.  This was why for the first year or so, I was never allowed to leave home with an ATM or major credit card.

This was also why he quickly brought home two cats.  He said it was because they were sooo cute.  But I know better – he knew I would have a hard time leaving the cats behind once I got attached to them.  Apparently I could leave him…but not the cats!

Verrrrrryyyy clever……

However for the last 6 months, I have been feeling more of a Saint John’r.   I do not want to be presumptuous as to suggest that I am a Maritimer yet.  I believe you must have been born here, or spend many years here before you may claim that appellation. 

I have been feeling less and less of an attachment to the West.  I am beginning to relate more to the Maritimer way of thinking.  So…like I said…moving through my emotional transition.

On the weekend….this feeling was almost shattered.   Hubby and I were on the phone with his brother who lives in Edmonton.  He was speaking to us while walking from his garage to the house.  You could clearly hear the sound his footsteps were making in the snow.  

It is very dry in Alberta and the snow is almost a powdery consistency.  During very very cold weather, walking in it makes the most distinct sound.  A sort of squeaky crunchy sound, like rubbing latex together…you have to experience it I think to truly understand.

But as he was talking and walking…we heard that sound….the effect was intense!  Both of us looked at each other and physically shivered!!

You see…the snow only makes this very distinct sound when it is Freekin EXTREMLY cold out. 

They say that sound and smell evokes or stimulates the most vivid memories.  That is exactly what happened when we heard the sound of his footfall.  Instantly I was back in Edmonton.  Memories flooded back.  Warming up the car or popping into a store, pumping your own gas etc.  The hair literally stood up on the back of my neck.

So the next time someone asks me why we would ever leave Alberta, land of milk and honey and ACTUAL shopping malls…I will just hand them this story from the Edmonton Journal.

EDMONTON  — It was colder in Edmonton Sunday than anywhere else in North America.

 

Environment Canada recorded a frigid -46.1 C, or -58.4 C with wind chill, at the Edmonton International Airport at 5 a.m.

 

Some flights scheduled to land at the Edmonton International Airport late Saturday night and early Sunday morning were diverted to Calgary because of the severe temperatures, said Edmonton International Airport spokeswoman Traci Bednard

“It’s really severely cold out right now, and if, for whatever reason, you get stuck or have to wait in a vehicle or get out, you’re going to be thankful pretty quickly that you were dressed appropriately for outside temperatures,” Dixon said.

“Act accordingly, be prepared and don’t put your safety at risk,” he said.

 

NOW for more awesome Giffties!!!

Kitchen Scraps ($29.95) Indigo; chapters.indigo.ca

Billed as superchef Thomas Keller’s most accessible book yet, serious home cooks will find much to emulate in this handsome, insightful bit of gastroporn. Word of warning: “Accessible” in Mr. Keller’s case still means recipes that involve making your own mozzarella. Too much? Canadian illustrator and chef-instructor Pierre Lamielle has a tendency toward kitschy recipe titles – “beans and gas,” “totally-baked-out-of-their-minds potatoes,” “religious hollandaise” – but he populates his first cookbook with whimsical illustrations and fun, manageable recipes.