Labour Day weekend has involved very little labour for Pam and me so far this year. For the first time since our eventful arrival in Edmonton, we have spent a significant amount of time in a car, and have done some travelling. At the moment of writing this, we are just outside Calgary, on our way north back to Edmonton.
On Friday, we rented a little car and headed through Calgary, stopping to see Pam’s godfather, and on to an isolated prairie town called Brooks. Pam’s longtime friend Cyndie, who is originally from Marystown, Newfoundland, lives in Brooks with three other Newfoundlanders and a Nova Scotian.
Pam last saw Cyndie five years ago, but it was only a short visit. They had hoped to see a lot more of each other after that, because Cyndie had planned to attend St. F X University in Antigonish, while Pam and I were in Halifax. That relatively short distance would have allowed some visits. But, alas, it did not happen. Cyndie moved, instead, to Calgary, after some time in Newfoundland, trying a bit of school and trying to find work. Pam and I had no idea that we would be following her a couple of years later.
Cyndie and her four housemates (one of whom is her fiancé) all work in a beef processing plant in Brooks, enduring the night shifts. Twenty-five minutes for a cow to go in live and come out packaged. Don’t tell the Vegans.
Coming from NFLD., Cyndie and her housemates certainly knew how to show us a good time when we arrived on Saturday night (they were, however, outmatched by the lone Nova Scotian’s hosting skills). Piles of BBQ awaited us in their newly purchased and remotely situated house. This house, it must be mentioned, was being furnished in a most interesting manner. Although there was not yet any furniture in the living room, the rec room downstairs was equipped with an easy-chair, a dartboard, a pool table and a bar! Suffice it to say that we had a great time, didn’t go to bed until it was getting light on Sunday morning, and were tempted to stay Sunday night as well. We would have loved to stay, but Pooh, piles of laundry and research papers forced us to do otherwise.
So, now we’re on our way back home, speeding along in the little rented car, and I am running out of light to see my writing. I might have the few moments needed to relate one more thing. Pam is hooked on driving. She was jokingly looking through the classified ads for used cars last week, but after this weekend, I don’t think she’ll be joking anymore. There is an opportunity through her boss’s sister, as well, who wants to sell her small 1987 Dodge (I didn’t know Dodge made small cars). She said it was appraised for $1500, but she’d sell it to Pam for $900. We’ve yet to see it. Sounds a bit too good to be a truly good deal. We’ll go see it, but she can’t sell it until November, so we’ve got plenty of time to look, test drive and ponder.
Straining my eyes in the dying light, I will
conclude that it has been a great Labour Day weekend, despite the cost
of rental cars. Pam and I agree that even if we have to rent a car again
(if we don’t have one of our own), we will return to Brooks in the near
future.
Any comments?
