Continued from Legends of Myself 102 103. Burnaby, 1961. Magic Pencils and Snowball Fights. Although they dominate, not all the memories I have of Schou School are of the schoolyard. I remember our teacher bringing his old Edison phonograph into the classroom, and I got my first look at an Edison cylinder, a technology obsolete before […]
August 3, 2015
Continued from Legends of Myself 101 102. Burnaby, 1961: Courtyard and Schoolyard The Sunset Auto Court was laid out like half a squared target, with the offices at the bull’s-eye, a driveway around that, and the apartments making up the outer layer. Behind and parallel to the street was the alley, technically not accessible anywhere […]
July 6, 2015
Continued from Legends of Myself 100 101. Burnaby, 1961: Becoming a Family As I said, the time at the Sunset Auto Court was a time when we were learning to become a family. If you had happened to ask me six months earlier, I would have probably said that a father and a boy was […]
November 3, 2014
Continued from Legends of Myself 99 100. Burnaby, 1961: Rabbit Ears and Gorilla Suits The Sunset Auto Court was technically a motel, with two-vehicle garages separating the apartments. But the place was filled with families, and I don’t remember too many of them having cars. The garages between the apartments were mostly empty. Our place […]
November 2, 2014
Continued from Legends of Myself 98 99. Vancouver, 1961: Tall Buildings I suppose because of arrangements my father had made with welfare, the first night we four spent in Vancouver was in a room overlooking Hastings Street, at the Hazelwood Hotel. Across the street was the Lenity Café, which no longer stands, and down the […]
August 29, 2014
Continued from Legends of Myself 96 97. Highway 16, 1961: On the Road Travel was slow and rides were few. I have a vague notion that it took us all day to reach Terrace, but that’s only an impression. In the ample spaces between rides we walked in a desultory fashion along the highway passing […]
August 24, 2014
Continued from Legends of Myself 94 96. Highway 16, 1961: Four Ragtags I left school, and the four of us left Prince Rupert, presumably because the money ran out —what little of it my father had (divided with two partners) after the fire in the Boneyard. The new digs we retreated to, a block or […]
August 17, 2014
Continued from Legends of Myself 93 94. Prince Rupert, 1961: Suddenly Family And yet I can’t help but wonder whether the fire that burned down our shack in the Boneyard didn’t lead to what followed, and whether—ultimately—that was a good thing or not. What followed, in the course of things, was a misfortune, a kind of […]
August 16, 2014
Continued from Legends of Myself 92 93. The Boneyard, 1961: Mail-Order Fire The fire in Essington happened perhaps a month into that Boneyard summer, though it is located at no particular time in my own memory. As the summer progressed, some funds from fishing would have started to come in. That resulted in Squires’ rifle—purchased in […]
August 6, 2014
Continued from Legends of Myself 91 92. Port Essington Burning Dates are scarce for most of the events in my life. Nowadays we get a date-stamp when we purchase milk at the store, but the dates I usually assign to matters from my early life are necessarily approximations. But one day I am certain of is […]
August 6, 2016
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