When I was a baby, my parents would take me camping and dig a hole to corral me. It feels like this is a great snapshot of my life growing up. Unconventional, but it works. 🤷♀️
I lived the first few years of my life in Calgary (check that Stampede pic for yyc cred 👌), before moving to rural Alberta. I grew up in Vermilion, which is the size of town where someone will inevitably message me after seeing this post and say they, or someone they knew, grew up there too. We lived in town and sometimes on the farm with my aunt, uncle and cousins.
I have so many good memories of that life – building forts in the trees, picking raspberries fresh from the bush, making perogies on the farm, dancing in the rain, having mud fights in the backyard, being chased by my crazy brother on the quad, cutting laps in town for hours, and weekends up at The Lake.
I also spent a ton of time with my mom’s family out on Vancouver Island where I took kayak lessons, went on tug boat rides, camped on the ocean, and marvelled at holly growing at Christmastime.
When I was a teenager, my first job was at a local cafe that also sold used books. The business was struggling and near the end, I volunteered to work in exchange for free books. I saw passion for local business and a town adamant about not being overrun with big box stores.
It wasn’t all an idyllic country life; being a part of a farming community can be rough. But both the good and the bad taught me lessons I carry with me still. Now in Edmonton, I hope to someday make a living with a local business and farming. I live next door to my brother and my best friend from growing up. We kind of just try to bring the best of rural community to the city. Unconventional, but it works. 🤷♀️
Leave a Reply