Nothing, and I mean nothing, says "you're not in Europe anymore" like South Edmonton Common. Surely if there is a hell on God's green little Earth, here it lies. A deep maze of vast and adjacent parking lots surrounded by lifeless big box outlets, roads that go nowhere and chain restaurants serving up processed, pre packaged calories in synthetic interiors. Everyone drives. Not a pedestrian, bike or dwelling anywhere in site. People come here to shop. Not for things they want or need, but just for the pure recreation of it. You see them pouring in and out searching, zombie like, for something, anything to take home with them. We've stopped here to pick up a few "necessities" on our trek back North. Being here is slowly sapping my will to live!
I suppose it's not quite THAT awful. Maybe it's just the stark contrast between this urban waste land and the beauty and serenity that greeted us when we arrived back in Canada last Friday that's gnawing away at my soul. After a ten hour flight from Frankfurt that took us over Iceland, Greenland, Hudson's Bay and into Calgary, we were met by our dear friends the Hansens and their four children. Just about eleven months ago we left our van with them and headed off around the world. They greeted us at the airport with a big welcome sign, hugs, hot coffees and a vehicle exactly as we'd left it save for the fresh oil change, new battery and re-inflated tires. We headed out of the sprawling city and to a friend's house in Cochrane where we barbequed, got caught up, shared a few belly laughs and just enjoyed the easy company of people more like family than friends. It was too hot, and we were too relaxed to head to the Calgary Stampede. Instead, we took the kids swimming and had one of Cochrane's "famous" ice creams. Not a big box store in sight. The only shopping we did was for tasty things to put on the grill or in a tall glass with some ice. The kids delighted in rekindling the friendships they started last summer. You just couldn't ask for a better home coming.
On Sunday we headed out to Calaway Park outside Cochrane for some packaged amusement before starting our final journey north. We were joined by the Estey family who we haven't seen since Mira and their son Severin were very small. Since then John and Gordana have added twin girls to their brood who immediately hit it off with Shannon. Johnny and I took the opportunity to rehash some timeless memories from our "formative years" in a government sponsored charm school for prospective "managers of violence." I love how it works when you see great old friends from an earlier time in your life after an extended period of separation. You seem to immediately revert to your former, younger and only slightly more immature selves. Several times we had to check ourselves from sharing the full versions of oft repeated and sometimes embellished stories because little ears were perking up around us. Any Regulators out there? You know the ones . . .
As mentioned previously, the very best part of this voyage has been the people we have met and reconnected with along the way. I'm so happy that this is continuing right through to the final days of our trip. As if spending time with Mike and John and their families wasn't icing enough on the cake, we spent last night in the country with our friends from Yellowknife, Sheila and Zeke. Sheila was the very first person I met when I came to Yellowknife for a job interview 17 years ago. Deb and I became fast friends with them and made great memories in those pre-kid days in the Knife. They are now "retired" on a gorgeous property near Sundre Alberta where they have taken up breeding thoroughbred horses. So much for the rocking chair! The girls were over the moon when Shelia took them down to feed their six majestic creatures that are very much a part of their family. One week ago the girls were counting the seconds until they got home. We practically had to drag them away from Sheila and Zeke's and only succeeded with a promise to come back and visit again soon. Thank heavens the world is still full of good people.
I'm thankful we built up so much soul capital in our first three days back in Canada. Today's visit to IKEA and the White Spot damn near got the best of me. Tomorrow morning I need to put my head down and make it through an hour or two of back to school shopping before we turn the nose of our little van north again towards home sweet home. The plan is to take our time and finish the year off the way we started - camping under the stars. When we hit the intersection of highways 1 and 3 we will have completed the symbolic trip around the world. We left a little cash under a road sign here a year ago before turning right towards the Alaska highway last August. When we turn right onto highway 3 again, we will be covering the same ground twice for the first time since leaving home. Not sure how long it will take us to get there. The highway has been closed periodically due to the forest fires engulfing the north country this summer. Given the choice between the forest fires and the underworld conditions here on the outskirts of Edmonton, I'll take my chances with the fires. Robert Service wrapped it up best in his perspective granting poem "I'm Scared of it all:"
I wish I was back on the Hunger Plateaus
And seeking the lost caribou;
I wish I was up where the Coppermine flows
To the kick of my little canoe.
I'd like to be far on some weariful shore,
In the land of the Blizzard and Bear;
Oh, I wish I was snug in the Arctic once more,
For I know I am safer up there!
I prowl in the canyons of dismal unrest;
I cringe, I'm so weak and so small.
I can't get my bearings, I'm crushed and oppressed
With the haste and the waste of it all.
The slaves and the madmen, the lust and the sweat,
The fear in the faces I see;
The getting, the spending, the fever the fret
It's too bleeding cruel for me.
After a year of traveling around the globe across five continents, twenty countries, countless UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Wonders of the World and many of its great cities, it's high time to get back to civilization. I know that it's safer up there.