familia

familia
Originally uploaded by Chonky.

The Family in Turner Valley. That's my Mom, Dad (hiding), me and Holly. We had an impromptu family dinner last night. Mom and I had taken a long drive through the Alberta semi-wilderness. The idea was to go hiking, but I don't think our hearts were really into it. So we didn't and instead wen to Elbow Falls, a beautiful place that has been carefully managed and built up to include walking paths (wheelchair accessible) and prime picnic spots.

Wandering the asphalt paths (as much as you CAN wander on asphalt) I began to understand why the beauty of Alberta has been a bit of a ho hum compared to what Noah calls the humbling beauty of the Yukon. The feeling of a place being manicured, packaged and managed for tourist enjoyment takes away from the beauty of it. All the people, tourists with cameras, bored children and grandparents resting on rocks -- they take away from the beauty too.

I guess it depends what you're heading out into the wilderness for: fresh air, exercise, quiet, or to check off yet another 'must see' from the 'have seen' list.

In any case, I was happy to spend some time with my Mom. To sit on a huge rock shaped with layers fallen away so that it ressembled a tilted, straight backed couch. To place my hands in the frigid Elbow River waters and to think of my friend André who most certainly would have dove in. To watch the boys jumping from rocks into the shallows, with their Dad standing watch, ready to help them out before they got close to the falls.

(The Falls, by the way, aren't that high at all. They fall in stages, as the Elbow River is an old river, mostly wide and shallow. These fast parts are few and far between. Mom didn't recognize any difference from when she had seen them as a child to now. They will, however, slowly wear away at the rock until the fall becomes merely a bump and then part of the smooth river channel.)

I go home on Wednesday. I miss home. I miss my friends. I worry that they don't miss me. That I've been away long enough that my absense has been blended into the experience of every day and that my presence will be more alarming. And I know that when I return to Vancouver that I will miss my family, miss the times we have had and the times we could have. I contemplate moving back, making a conscious break. No answers yet. Just thoughts floating.