 |
| The house that Ralph built |
Tuesday, 14 August 2012
calgary/inglewood
 |
| Inglewood,the strip |
 |
| Colors of Inglewood |
 |
| Street Art |
 |
| Relic |
 |
| Ironwood |
 |
| blue house #1 |
 |
| Blue house #2 |
 |
| Blue house#3 |
 |
| graffitti |
calgary/bridgeland
 |
| Along the sidewalk |
 |
| church on the hill |
 |
| downtown viewed from bridgeland |
 |
| the old side of bridgeland |
 |
| urban barn |
 |
| Ukrainian orthodox church |
 |
| bridgeland,through the trees |
 |
| bridgeland/edmonton trail |
 |
    |
Sunday, 12 August 2012
Finally I seem to have gotten to the whole point of starting this blog,that being to write a memoir of my time growing up in Moncton New Brunswick and beyond,perhaps.There seemed to be a lot of preliminary work,like setting out the context for the memoir,and reminding myself of the kinds of people who populated my life at the time.To that end,I'm sure I've not remembered them all,but I needed to write it down as a reference for myself.I know it may all seem odd to a reader,but this blog is as much about the process of memoir writing as it is about the memoir itself.And this is the first memoir I've ever tried to write.
A few notes to my readers are in order.First,what is to follow is my memory of my life,and it may well be that my memory is not perfect.It would have been better I believe to have recorded my life as it happened from my earliest years,but that did not happen.I try to be true to what I'm writing,but to be sure,I have to call upon imperfect memory and draw inferences that may not be completely correct.It's important to realize that a memoir is,at least in this case largely an interpretation of events and memories.
As for the actual recording of my life,I am doing that too,but that is a very different activity.Likely you will still get to read some of that so you need to realize that I am actively recording now,while I also record the past.But the "now"and the "then" are two very different activities.I do them separately and keep them far apart.While I expect you will see a reasonable memoir evolve,I'm not certain you will get all of the other writing I do on a daily basis.Someday though,most of it may emerge.Keep in mind there are things that I write that I may choose to keep relatively private.
It was not my original intention to provide memoir done in two different forms,but that's what this memoir shall be.There is,of course the more or less chronological activity of recording and interpreting life events,which I always thought memoir was.But memoir is not limited only to that form.
While in Toronto,I had the privilege of meeting weekly with a wonderful group of memoir writers weekly where we practiced writing topical pieces in relation to our lives.It was an invaluable activity which I still tackle in these blog entries.Anyone in the group can suggest topics which we then draw out of a coffee can and write for about ten minutes.The only real difference in the way I do this exercise is that after I've written down what I have to say,then I put it in the blog.The exercise is supposed to take ten minutes and I would have no hope of accomplishing that using a keyboard.I've always considered these exercises as being of a "hunter/gatherer"nature,a way of collecting resources that I would likely otherwise overlook.So,I go about the exercises because I wish to remain connected to that particular community of writers.They have all been so inspiring.And in deciding how to lay out this memoir,I've made the decision to present some of those finished exercises in unedited form,as a sort of deviation from simply following the "history text"style of memoir.
For all of those still with me-Enjoy.
A few notes to my readers are in order.First,what is to follow is my memory of my life,and it may well be that my memory is not perfect.It would have been better I believe to have recorded my life as it happened from my earliest years,but that did not happen.I try to be true to what I'm writing,but to be sure,I have to call upon imperfect memory and draw inferences that may not be completely correct.It's important to realize that a memoir is,at least in this case largely an interpretation of events and memories.
As for the actual recording of my life,I am doing that too,but that is a very different activity.Likely you will still get to read some of that so you need to realize that I am actively recording now,while I also record the past.But the "now"and the "then" are two very different activities.I do them separately and keep them far apart.While I expect you will see a reasonable memoir evolve,I'm not certain you will get all of the other writing I do on a daily basis.Someday though,most of it may emerge.Keep in mind there are things that I write that I may choose to keep relatively private.
It was not my original intention to provide memoir done in two different forms,but that's what this memoir shall be.There is,of course the more or less chronological activity of recording and interpreting life events,which I always thought memoir was.But memoir is not limited only to that form.
While in Toronto,I had the privilege of meeting weekly with a wonderful group of memoir writers weekly where we practiced writing topical pieces in relation to our lives.It was an invaluable activity which I still tackle in these blog entries.Anyone in the group can suggest topics which we then draw out of a coffee can and write for about ten minutes.The only real difference in the way I do this exercise is that after I've written down what I have to say,then I put it in the blog.The exercise is supposed to take ten minutes and I would have no hope of accomplishing that using a keyboard.I've always considered these exercises as being of a "hunter/gatherer"nature,a way of collecting resources that I would likely otherwise overlook.So,I go about the exercises because I wish to remain connected to that particular community of writers.They have all been so inspiring.And in deciding how to lay out this memoir,I've made the decision to present some of those finished exercises in unedited form,as a sort of deviation from simply following the "history text"style of memoir.
For all of those still with me-Enjoy.
memoir introduction/part3/places
Goose bay was a city in Canada's north,with two military bases,one Canadian,the other American. Redmondville was the community in northeastern New Brunswick we moved to when we left Goose Bay.On the old route 11.Curtis Park was the military base where my father worked.The towns to the south were St.Louis De Kent,Richibucto,Rexton,Buctouche,notre Dame,Irishtown and then Moncton.
Moncton was a small city in southeastern New Brunswick.In the very center of Atlantic Canada.It had huge locomotive repair shops in the middle of town.Moncton was the center of our world.The Trans canada Highway passed,going both east and west and we had occasion to travel it often.
To the east lay Memramcook,an Acadian community in a pretty valley.then there was Dorchester,a town with a huge prison on a hill.Sackville was the next town,home of a small university.The Tantramar marshes,flat and barren lay beyond on the road to Nova Scotia.At the border there was a traffic circle with a sunken garden in the middle.Often a piper was there playing the bagpipes.Amherst was the first town in Nova Scotia.a small but busy town.The next major town was Springhill,a coal town.But first you passed through Fenwick,where there was a sugar woods,and Little Forks,and Springhill Junction where I once saw a wolf.Ann Murray called Springhill home,as did my father.Oxford,on the river Phillip was next.A sleepy little town.Then you passed through Rockley and Roslyn and Port Phillip,where I once caught a very strange fish,on the way to Pugwash.Pugwash was a seaport with a salt mine and some very large mansions.They have a gathering of the clans on july 1st,and also a philosophers conference.Fox Harbour was beyond Pugwash.A cottage community where my family had a summer cottage.You could use any of three different roads to get there,but whichever road you took you had to turn at the Co-Op store which was not much bigger than a large shed.Beyond Fox Harbour,Wallace was the closest town,a fishing village with a few stores and a dump.Tatamagouche was the next town,bigger than Wallace.Drysdale Falls was located east from Tatamagouche in a community called The Falls.An impressive waterfall to be sure.Balmoral had a restored flour mill with a big water wheel.From there you passed through Earltown and North River on the way into Truro,a big town in the center of Nova Scotia.Back to the west you came to Glenholm,then,if you took the Fundy coast road you would pass through Bass River,a village with a wooden chair factory.Economy Mountain was really a big hill with a picnic area at the top.From there you could look down on Five Islands in the bay.My grandfather is said to be from Five Islands,from Blue Sac Road.Beyond Five Islands,a scenic area,you come to Moose River and the Lynn Road which leads back to Springhill.There was a school house on Lynn Road that my grandfather was said to have blown up with dynamite.If you pass Lynn Road,you come into Parrsboro,a seaport and boat making town with a huge statue of Glooscap,a native deity.Parrsboro once hosted a session of Canada's parliment because the Parliment buildings in Ottawa had been damaged by fire.From Parrsboro,it's maybe 30 miles back to Springhill,then on again to Amherst,Sackville and Moncton.
To go west you first had to go north to Megnetic Hill.From there you passed by the village of Berry Mills where the train tracks passed over the road.Farther on was a cross roads that offered two different routes to Fredricton.One road would take you through Canaan,then through the bush on the south bank of the Canaan River to Coles Island.It was an isolated road where you could sometimes see moose.The other road took you through River Glade where they raced stock cars,then Peticodiac and into Sussex,a quaint dairy town with a lot of covered bridges and jersey cows.Then it was up over Kierstead Mountain,through Bethel and into Coles Island,that had two bridges and a lot of water.The the road wound through Youngs Cove at the bottom of Grand Lake.Swimming was good at Youngs Cove.The road then led through Cambridge Narrows and on to Jemseg with its very high bridge.From there it was river bottom all the way to Fredricton,through Gagetown with it's military base,and Burton,Sheffield,Maugerville where there is a very large potato,and into Fredricton.The Princess Margaret Bridge bypassed Fredricton but you could see the whole town from the bridge.There was a huge church there called Christ Church Cathedral.Beyond Fredricton was a huge dam,built in the 1960's.The dam holds back a huge reservoir.Beyond that is Prince William and Kings landing,a restored historical site.Pokiok is beyond that.There was once a waterfall here until the dam flooded it out.The Starlite Motel is there too,where my parents began their honeymoon.Nackawick,on the far side of the river is next.My mother used to tell a story about Nackawick and the Devil every time we passed through here.Nackawick had a large mill too.Up the road a way is Crow Hill and the turnoff to Canterbury.My grandparents lived there,past downtown on Orchard Street.It used to have a mill and a few stores downtown but there is not much of it left any more.My parents and grandparents rest in it's cemetery.Dead Creek and Skiff Lake lie beyond.Skiff Lake is a gem of a lake,and Dead Creek is nearly forgotten country.Beyond that,through the bush is the American border.
To the east lay Memramcook,an Acadian community in a pretty valley.then there was Dorchester,a town with a huge prison on a hill.Sackville was the next town,home of a small university.The Tantramar marshes,flat and barren lay beyond on the road to Nova Scotia.At the border there was a traffic circle with a sunken garden in the middle.Often a piper was there playing the bagpipes.Amherst was the first town in Nova Scotia.a small but busy town.The next major town was Springhill,a coal town.But first you passed through Fenwick,where there was a sugar woods,and Little Forks,and Springhill Junction where I once saw a wolf.Ann Murray called Springhill home,as did my father.Oxford,on the river Phillip was next.A sleepy little town.Then you passed through Rockley and Roslyn and Port Phillip,where I once caught a very strange fish,on the way to Pugwash.Pugwash was a seaport with a salt mine and some very large mansions.They have a gathering of the clans on july 1st,and also a philosophers conference.Fox Harbour was beyond Pugwash.A cottage community where my family had a summer cottage.You could use any of three different roads to get there,but whichever road you took you had to turn at the Co-Op store which was not much bigger than a large shed.Beyond Fox Harbour,Wallace was the closest town,a fishing village with a few stores and a dump.Tatamagouche was the next town,bigger than Wallace.Drysdale Falls was located east from Tatamagouche in a community called The Falls.An impressive waterfall to be sure.Balmoral had a restored flour mill with a big water wheel.From there you passed through Earltown and North River on the way into Truro,a big town in the center of Nova Scotia.Back to the west you came to Glenholm,then,if you took the Fundy coast road you would pass through Bass River,a village with a wooden chair factory.Economy Mountain was really a big hill with a picnic area at the top.From there you could look down on Five Islands in the bay.My grandfather is said to be from Five Islands,from Blue Sac Road.Beyond Five Islands,a scenic area,you come to Moose River and the Lynn Road which leads back to Springhill.There was a school house on Lynn Road that my grandfather was said to have blown up with dynamite.If you pass Lynn Road,you come into Parrsboro,a seaport and boat making town with a huge statue of Glooscap,a native deity.Parrsboro once hosted a session of Canada's parliment because the Parliment buildings in Ottawa had been damaged by fire.From Parrsboro,it's maybe 30 miles back to Springhill,then on again to Amherst,Sackville and Moncton.
To go west you first had to go north to Megnetic Hill.From there you passed by the village of Berry Mills where the train tracks passed over the road.Farther on was a cross roads that offered two different routes to Fredricton.One road would take you through Canaan,then through the bush on the south bank of the Canaan River to Coles Island.It was an isolated road where you could sometimes see moose.The other road took you through River Glade where they raced stock cars,then Peticodiac and into Sussex,a quaint dairy town with a lot of covered bridges and jersey cows.Then it was up over Kierstead Mountain,through Bethel and into Coles Island,that had two bridges and a lot of water.The the road wound through Youngs Cove at the bottom of Grand Lake.Swimming was good at Youngs Cove.The road then led through Cambridge Narrows and on to Jemseg with its very high bridge.From there it was river bottom all the way to Fredricton,through Gagetown with it's military base,and Burton,Sheffield,Maugerville where there is a very large potato,and into Fredricton.The Princess Margaret Bridge bypassed Fredricton but you could see the whole town from the bridge.There was a huge church there called Christ Church Cathedral.Beyond Fredricton was a huge dam,built in the 1960's.The dam holds back a huge reservoir.Beyond that is Prince William and Kings landing,a restored historical site.Pokiok is beyond that.There was once a waterfall here until the dam flooded it out.The Starlite Motel is there too,where my parents began their honeymoon.Nackawick,on the far side of the river is next.My mother used to tell a story about Nackawick and the Devil every time we passed through here.Nackawick had a large mill too.Up the road a way is Crow Hill and the turnoff to Canterbury.My grandparents lived there,past downtown on Orchard Street.It used to have a mill and a few stores downtown but there is not much of it left any more.My parents and grandparents rest in it's cemetery.Dead Creek and Skiff Lake lie beyond.Skiff Lake is a gem of a lake,and Dead Creek is nearly forgotten country.Beyond that,through the bush is the American border.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)