There’s nothing quite like spending time with family and friends.
Two weeks ago, I took some time off to head out to Edmonton for a little quality time with my parents and little brothers. As the eldest, I miss them keenly, even if two of them are now my height and likely to end up taller than me when all is said and done.
It was time off that was both welcome but came at an awkward time. When I left, 100 Mile House was under evacuation alert, so I was worried I’d be working from my parents’ basement. Thankfully, that’s been rescinded.
My little brothers joke our current wildfire situation is all my fault. Zach, Eddie and Danny all are convinced that all I need to do is grab a super soaker, hike out into the bush and just ‘put the fire out.’ To Zach’s credit, he’s willing to come with me and figure out the logistics of bringing water to dampen the blaze. I reckon that I’ll leave the heroics to the BC Wildfire Service.
Beyond the smoke from B.C. and lingering concerns about a potential evacuation, my time in Edmonton and later Cypress Hills was amazing. In addition to my parents and brothers, I got to spend time with my grandparents and several good friends.
One activity I particularly enjoyed was a game my brother Zach introduced to the family, One Night Ultimate Werewolf. It’s a card game with quite a few rules, but boils down to the players trying to determine who around the table are werewolves and voting them out. The fun of the game comes from lying and detective work, which led to a few memorable games with my brothers and grandparents accusing one another of being the werewolf.
After more than a year of not seeing them, it did my soul a lot of good. When the week of Nerf gun wars, beach days, zip-lining and just spending time with people came to an end, my brothers jokingly said they were praying I would get evacuated so I could spend more time with them. Thankfully, everyone else’s prayers were answered instead.
While nothing can replace family, I’ve been comforted by the strong sense of community the South Cariboo has been displaying this summer. Even during these wildfires, people are happy to take time out of their day to talk to me and ask about my own welfare.
With my batteries now recharged I’m looking forward to showcasing that community spirit in the paper every week until the next time my feet take me home to my family.
patrick.davies@100milefreepress.net
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