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It's probably insensitive to say I know how Jasper's residents are feeling, because I've never lost a home and community to fire, but there are growing numbers of Albertans who have been terrorized by wildfires, me included.
A few Junes ago, I recall taking video of everything in our home before we flew to a celebration in Montreal. Why? For insurance purposes, I needed a video record of our dwelling contents; there was a definite possibility our home could be ash when we returned. Then we packed our most important keepsakes into our vehicle and drove it to another community to park in a friend's yard, outside the evacuation alert zone.
Amongst all your cherished possessions (knowing you cannot take them all), contemplate having a few hours to decide which ones are the most important to save. You can take as many as will fit in your vehicle. Which ones would you be okay with never seeing again?
That was a tough month. Unlike many Albertans who've lost homes and businesses, we were spared. That time.
Our family has collected so many happy memories visiting Jasper. It's difficult to summarize why they are so special, so I won't try. If you'd like to read about a few of them click here, or here, or here, or here.
But one other memory keeps bubbling up, one I didn't write about. It brings tears; it shouldn't but it does. After skiing all day, just the four of us visited Jasper's movie theatre. The crowd was small and our kids were a little young for Blades of Glory but happy-tired from all the fresh air and mountain scenery, we settled in with popcorn and candy like that movie was made for us. It was. We laughed the loudest and longest, all at the same time. We were that family. Hilarity filled us to the brim and we watched until the very end of the credits, basking in the "Iron Lotus" induced endorphins, bahahahlalahaha. Remember that film?! "Spandex. Glitter. Egos. Ice blows." Clever satire, top tier improv, and goofy characters.
I don't know why but this memory feels so poignant today. It doesn't make sense. But what does in a world where one of the four seasons is now fire season?
And where next?
13 comments:
I enjoyed reviewing your Jasper posts, especially "anecgoat" (groan) and "TICKS!" (lol). I'm not a skier, so I've only gone to Jasper in the summers. My memories all concern the townsite, Jasper the Bear, hiking, elk, mountain goats, deer and wild tiger lilies covering the side of the road and ending precisely at the Park Gates.
After the wildfires here in NS last summer, imminent danger seems much closer to home. It makes a person wonder just how we, as puny humans in vast forested areas, can mitigate the danger of what is now a regular threat. It's scary. I can understand that being a poignant memory. The world has changed since you were there, and it really won't be the same ever again.
In 2000 we camped there for a night or two after driving up the Athabasca Parkway from Banff. I remember visiting Mount Edith Cavell and sitting in the hot springs at night. We also took the gondola up some mountain or other. Such good memories.
Codex: We learn that our childhood provides us with those happy memories that we can cling on to in bad times. A time of joy and naiveté. For a decade we have been confronted with losses and thinking about those losses. Kept in disaster and despair mode. It WAS better in our adulthoods. Safer.predictable. And those cycles eventually return.
Codex: I hope I can put this comparison here. Jasper is a natural beauty that cannot be replicated. Yesterday I watched the Olympic opening. Initially disappointed; spartan without the joy and pompousness of past Olympics. Then I got it. It was planned during covid; so it had to take place outside. And it's never been done before. No commenter remarked on it. In 2002 the French opened Paris beaches complete with chaiselounges that are free. About 50 new nuclear power plants are being built in France, the notre Dame is almost completely restored. The French have accepted climate change twenty years ago and done something about helping people cope.
Sorry. Correction 50 operable. 14 modernized beeing built.
I've never been in that corner of the world, but the loss of any natural area is concerning.
I get that memory or why you have it now. That happy memory is Jasper.
I can't fathom the devastation I am seeing on TV of your country and ours with fires. It is sad, scary and the thought of having to pack to evacuate is gut-wrenching to me.
What would I take? Do you always have things pack in case?
I have lived with snow beyond belief and now heat that takes your breath away. Blizzards are nothing in comparison.
I hope you and your loved ones continue to be safe.
Blades of Glory? It was a hilarious movie. I is funny what random things create special moments. We build our house as fireproof as possible. It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when. Hopefully after we are long gone.
I've been fortunate to not experience the devastation going on in Jasper. I used to live in Fairbanks and every summer there were fires going on and luckily we never were in danger. I can't even imagine what those people are going through but I hope they can be safe and not lose their houses or friends. Take care and stay safe.
I have seen photos of the fire. It is horrific. It's beyond my grasp what that does to people who live through it. We do get the smoke from the fires that have been happening up there, nothing like a fire, but a reminder of why there is smoke in Minnesota. I got some happiness simply reading your memory.
I can understand why the memory of the four of you in the movie theater makes you brim with tears. The pure unalloyed happiness and connection you shared, it was a perfect moment in time, and now the setting of that sublime moment, one among many others, is burning. I’m so sorry about Jasper. And I can’t imagine leaving home with the knowledge it might not be there when you return. You rendered it so vividly. Fire season. Our poor world.
It is scary and sad for sure.
In January, it was -9C cold, a police officer rang the bell. I was in a meeting but due to the cold in my warm PJ´s (we share but documents, maybe the upper half of the body, which was properly dressed).
He said, "get dressed, the house is on fire!" and waited by the open door.
I panicked. All I grabbed was (after kinda getting dressed) my work phone and the keys.
No ID with me, nothing. All went well, but my fear of fire is huge.
Ingo (Hubby) was a respiration unit firefighter. And I panic.
Love your cinema-story!
In Kalgoorlie, Western-Australia we went to "Elmo in Grouchland".
Ernie, full of fear: "Bert, have you ever seen a movie with a bad ending?!" - Bert: "Titanic". All adults laughed :-)
I hope the fires, also in Spain, Greece etc get under control. What weird weather. There are such heavy floodings, too, so many lost their homes...
I need to make a panic-map with all our important documents! And the taxes.
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