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Truckin'
Highway 43I would like to say that in three months nothing has changed much except for our minimalistic views on our lifestyle choices. But then I would be lying to you. And I am just not comfortable with this. However, what I can show you is a story of two people who have finally overcome
reverse culture shock and found themselves comfortably living
30 minutes due westof a little city called Edmonton.
It was not an easy decision the one that landed us here... after all, I had received a job offer in Whitecourt a virtual jumping off point to the "patch" for many oilfield workers. I spent a few weeks driving back and forth to a job without an office or a building to report to or report from. It did put money in the pocket. And somehow we landed a very nice, never been lived in, new condo unit in a small quaint rural Albertan town.
The loudest noise we have to deal with are a few stragglers each weekend coming out of the Early Stage Saloon. Its a local watering hole that doubles as a country and blues concert hall. We've stopped in twice for burgers and
Iron Hill
Route 679 beers. Its your average farmer's wood shack with a nice wrap around deck out front, perfect for sipping brews in the warm summer sunshine. Its decor is straight from the 1900's with two-man saws, horse shoes and lanterns adorning the walls. Covered in soot and dirt this dirty all wood rustic Saloon is your perfect "country town" pub.
Besides the noise on the weekend from one of the two pubs near main street there is the ever popular car wash. Pretty much a constant sound of water spraying and bouncing off dirty vehicles can be heard from sun up to sun down, if you care to stay at home on a Saturday.
Otherwise the view from the patio is a bit of rooftops, a deserted alleyway an ever growing population of green leaves and a couple of farmers' silos off in the distance. Our new foldable lawn chairs accompany our ever vacant porch for a nice place to sit and watch the people down below.
Since our arrival we have both been able to take on a few jobs and relinquish ourselves from those that were of little interest. At this point we are satisfied with our
Curling Competition
2012 Alberta Winter Games decision to live in the Northern part of Alberta. Our jobs are finally coming to fruition as we meld ourselves into our companies futures.
Distracted as usual by things happening after work, we've joined a Monday night modified-softball league. In basic terms, we are playing softball with a fast pitch and an option to steal bases once a pitch has been thrown. There are a few other "modified" rules that we are governed by but nothing that really needs to be discussed. We joined the Mavericks a local Parkland County team that has been around for about 5 years now. 80%!o(MISSING)f the people on the team are new which brings a new element to the team and the game for all of us. At this point we have split our wins and losses to 1-1-0. With another game this Monday Night.
Not to say that we are not enjoying our time spent on the diamonds in Parkland County but I really wanted to play a sport where there was more running involved. So, I located an Ultimate Frisbee league in Edmonton called
EUPA. And its a whole lot of sprinting, running, jogging, walking until you cannot stand to be upright on two feet!
Our team is mostly "newbies" like ourselves but we are all enjoying our time at this point learning the game and skills of our teammates, too. Plus by playing different sports in different areas we are meeting and befriending numerous people.
Outside of all the sports playing we are doing Shauna has been getting reacquainted with an old college friend and her family. And I have begun volunteering through various organizations. But my favorite at this point is
Parkland County Search & Rescue or PSAR, for short. I also donated my photography skills to the 2012 Alberta Winter Games held locally in Stony Plain and Spruce Grove. As well as time at
Horizon Stage & Theater. My final thoughts on this brief update go a little something like this... we are happy to have moved into Northern Alberta but sad that Seoul is so far away. We are happy to be able to speak and understand English in the context for which it exists but are sad that we do not play enough "charades." And I terribly miss my "farmer day markets" because they are just
not the same experience here.
As for wrapping it up here on Travel Blog... I'll continue to write from time to time especially when we are out and about, running amuk somewhere in rural Alberta. But until we find ourselves trapped in a country where "English is a second or possibly third language" its just going to be a bit of random exploration. We hope all is well for everyone upon their travels.
~ Cheers
The JacksonCrabb's
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Barb, The Old Crabb
non-member comment
Out there in The Hinterland
As always, enjoyed your latest. Especially liked the photo of curling. Your Grandfather Crabb was a curler and we spent many a sunday afternoon in a frigid curling shack watching him and his team in competition. The old rink, which was behind Donald's house, above the river, has long ago been replaced by a modern, heated and comfy rink outside of town. Not the same, I'll bet. By the way, curling is great exercise. Stay well. Barb