my Terrace life (more or less) in 12 photos

Backing up once again - I'm way behind on blogging thanks to hectic days and nights and more travel since the reunion weekend. Right now? I'm on Maui. Conrad is presenting at a conference here this morning, so I've joined him for a few days. Badly needed ones, in fact. Don't laugh.

Anyway, while he's off doing engineer activities (and let me add that I am immensely proud that he has been invited to speak at this conference) for the morning, I'm going to catch up on blogging, shop a bit, then meet him at lunchtime for an afternoon of laziness on the beach our hotel overlooks.

So, backing up, as I said. The recent reunion weekend was the first time I'd been back in my hometown in 5 years. Much has changed, but I was still able to re-show Conrad a number of the significant Terrace landmarks in my twentyish years there.

We moved to Terrace from Calgary in January, 1976. Yes, I am that old. I was midway through kindergarten, and we lived in this house we rented on Loen. I think it was later that year we moved to a newly-built house on Scott and lived there for most of the rest of my years in the town. Dad, meanwhile, eventually bought and settled into a home on Thomas after he and Mum split up.

From kindergarten to grade 3, it was a walk (or bike ride) a few blocks east to E.T. Kenney Primary School. I can recall my teachers' names, the lay out of the school at the time, the really cool playground that was built partway through my time there.

From grades 4 to 7 it was Clarence Michiel Elementary School for us, located on the same big parcel of land as E.T. Kenney. More teacher names, few playground apparatuses (hey, spell check accepts that!), the weird folding three-speed bike I used to ride to school.

No photos of Skeena Junior Secondary, where we spent grades 8 to 10. Since I left Terrace the school district has torn down the old Skeena and rebuilt a shiny new one. The new building has no meaning to me, and while we did stop to take shots of The Bench from the clear space of Skeena's palying fields, I didn't want shots of the school. We did, however, take photos of the R.E.M. Lee Theatre, home to the Skeena theatre arts productions. Conrad and I share a bit of high school drama geek background, it seems.

Next to the R.E.M. Lee (and everyone used to call it the Rem-Lee Theatre - Jeph, you'll appreciate that if you read this) was the Senior Secondary: Caledonia. Home of the Kermodes. Not an attractive building, I admit, especially not from this shot of one end of it.

In grade 11, I started an after school job of shelving books at the Terrace Public Library.
And look what THAT has bloomed into. Funny to think of now - I think I would vehemently proclaim back then that I would never become a librarian.

In adult life I worked several years at Don Diego's. In fact, the renovated building was not my experience for most of my years there. But when Conrad and I first dropped round to say hello to Annalee and Dick, the kitchen was sooooo familiar. We had lunch with Annalee the next day, sitting up at Table A. Yes, I can still remember the table numbering. Maybe I should have stayed a few extra days just to pitch in a shift or two in the kitchen or out front.

I also worked part time as an assistant swim coach (on top of spending my own time paddling back and forth in the pool), and built a nice circle of friends and activities based on the Aquatic Centre. That, too, has been renovated in the time since I left. A 3-foot shallow end? Did we really swim in that? Wow.

It's not a big town, it's not a glamorous one. I see headlines mentioning Terrace in the Vancouver or Toronto papers only when a particularly heinous crime, horrible accident, or immense weather system warrant it. All in all, though, it was as good a place to come from as any, and I hope you never catch me disparaging my roots in the town undeservedly.