Jill Browne, from home and away

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Away: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

What a nice day to hang out with good friends doing nothing in particular.

It’s been a long time since I lived here. My Edmonton experience breaks into two periods. The first time, I was on my own, had just arrived in Alberta, didn’t know anything about anything, but had a job at a garden centre and that was all I really needed.

The old house where I rented a room and shared a kitchen and bathroom with two other women (strangers to me when I arrived) has long been torn down and a high-rise apartment put in its place. It’s probably just as well, because the nostalgia would be overwhelming.

I met one of the women years later at the wedding of a mutual friend, though of course I had no idea we had a friend in common. It’s that six degrees thing again.

Her secrets are still safe with me.

The day included a trip to Greenwood’s Books. Always a pleasant browse. I bought a book. I asked, “Do you have magazines?”

“No, sorry, we have no magazines.”

“Eighteen Bridges?”

“Except that one.”

Eighteen Bridges is a new Alberta-based Canadian literary mag. One of the two founders, Lynn Coady, is a friend. The magazine just won an award for best new mag of the year. If you support reading and literature in Canada, subscribe!

So, I bought a book and a magazine.