Going Back To My Hometown
7 juin 2016 15:18 Laisser vos pensées
When I tell people I’m from Quesnel the response is usually « Where’s that again? » This is what I hear when I’m in Vancouver anyway. My usual reply is « Up North. » If I’m travelling abroad, people don’t always know British Columbia at all, which is understandable, so I say « You know Vancouver? It’s like near there, but not really anywhere near there. » It’s about a 7 hour drive from Vancouver. I enjoy living in the city but it can seem a bit grey after a while and I do get a little homesick. I finished school for the year as a radio broadcast student and left Vancouver for the summer to return to Quesnel, where I’ve lived since I was 12.
I got up at 4am and my older sister helped me take my bags to the taxi before we said goodbye. At the airport, I boarded a very tiny 18 seat plane and took off for home. Flying over the Coast Mountains was amazing. There’s been a few times in my life where I’ve noticed two or three people getting them confused with the Rocky Mountains, which drives me insane. Anyway, they were gorgeous and flying right over the snow covered peaks and being so close to them was so cool. I swear I was the only one on the plane looking out the window which I thought was weird, but maybe everyone was tired as it was an early flight. As we flew further north I saw some farms and lakes in between the mountains and then they quickly they got lower and I knew we were in B.C’s interior and that I was almost home. As the plane started to descend, on my left I could still barely see the peaks of the Coast Mountains toward Smithers. On my right, I could see the Quesnel Highlands and behind them, the Columbia Mountains, which are parallel to the Rockies on the west side of the Columbia River. It was crazy to be between those two giant ranges and see them both at once. Then before I knew it, we were flying over the mill I work at, Quesnel Plywood. Then we flew north over the downtown area between the Quesnel and Fraser rivers. When we landed in the Quesnel airport, I heard the passenger next to me describe it as « quaint ». It has a red trim around it and sort of has the appearance of a old Western train station. I almost forgot one of my carry-on bags on the plane; I was tired and excited. Then I saw my mom, who was picking me up, and gave her a big hug and I was home.
One thing I really missed about Quesnel was the trees. There are so many trees and they look like they go on forever. In fact, before I even made it home, my mom wanted to stop at the nursery and we bought 3 trees. Along the drive home we saw more trees and farms and horses. When we got home, my mom insisted on showing me changes she made to the garden and the baby chickens and turkeys she got this year. Well, they’re sort of babies now, they’re over a month old. The turkeys look like little raptor babies. That’s another thing I missed; raising animals. In Vancouver, I buy meat and eggs from the grocery store, but here I know where they come from. I missed having a garden and a yard too. A studio apartment with noisy neighbours and no outdoor space isn’t always fun.
Like a typical summer in Quesnel, it turned from me getting a sunburn to torrential rain and thunder within half an hour. So, me and my mom sat under the gazebo in the garden and had a snack while the power was out from the sudden storm. I love thunderstorms in the summer here. They always bring a little excitement.
We went out for dinner because of the power outage but when we got home it was back on. So, my parents watched a bit of TV and I took my old Ford Explorer out for a test drive to see how it was running after sitting for most of the year. It ran ok, but the door didn’t lock. I was too tired to worry about fixing it by this time and I went to bed and snuggled with my two small dogs. I was falling asleep before it was completely dark outside. But as I laid in bed remembered how I always used to look out my bedroom window in the summer and see the stars. Stars that go on forever, in the way the trees do, but even more forever. In Vancouver, I might see one or two on a clear night. Here, I can the edges of the milky way. Unfortunately, I fell asleep before it was dark enough to see them come out. Although, I do plan on staying up past 10 o’clock at least a few nights this summer. On this night I was pooped. I had a long and eventful day, but I was glad to be home.