Friday, September 11, 2009

Photo-Finish Friday --The Old Home Town Edition

This is Fort Assiniboine, Alberta.

It's where I'm from and this is the sight that greeted me every school day morning of my life. I never tired of it in the 12 years I went to school and I haven't tired of this sight in the 50 years and change I've walked the Earth.
The Athabasca River makes a bend here. It's obscured by the trees on the hillside in the foreground in this photo, but it is there.
The Fort was a hamlet, then it became a village, then it reverted to hamlet in the mid-1990s.
I like that it's a hamlet simply because the title suits the scenery.

16 comments:

the Bag Lady said...

"The old home town looks the same.... except there is no train..."

The grass sure looks green, though!

Great picture, cousin. Just down that hill to the left is the place I was actually born! Not very many people can lay claim to that fame!

Leah J. Utas said...

Nice work on the song.

That's very true. If I'd been thinking, or the least bit considerate, I would have taken a pic of it for you.
It just looks like a regular house now.

Crabby McSlacker said...

It looks so inviting! Love all the green. Sounds like the home of some great memories.

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

How very cool that you can go home and it all be mostly the same. The place where I lived longest as a kid was not only an unremarkable suburb, but became a slum when we had a housing market collapse here in the 80s. The area never recovered.

Cherish your memories!

Leah J. Utas said...

Crabby, the view from the hill really is like an invitation to step into the past.

Bunnygirl, yes, it is although the coalbed methane exploration is changing things there.
Sorry yours has been changed so much.

Thomma Lyn said...

What a gorgeous picture. And I love the word "hamlet." It looks like it was a wonderful place to grow up.

messymimi said...

A beautiful place to live and work indeed.

My problem would be living there in winter, when the snow would make me forget how beautiful it could be, as cold is very painful to me.

Still, I could have a summer home in a place like this, someday, when I'm rich... Hahaha.

Leah J. Utas said...

Thomma Lyn, thanks so much. It's an evocative word. I'm glad you love it, too.

Hello Messymimi, if cold hurts you, then the Fort is not a good place. That said, I think you'd enjoy the summers there.

Terrie Farley Moran said...

df Leah,

How wonderfully evocative.

I was born and raised in New York City, so, naturally, the first house I lived in is actually no longer there in fact, the area for wide span was all demolished decades ago and replaced with public housing projects.

The place we lived after that was demolished and replaced with row houses.

Such is progress?????

Terrie

Leah J. Utas said...

dfTerrie, I'm not so sure what to say about progress except we have this idea that old is bad and new is good and that's not really progress to me.
It's sad that roots get destroyed. I am quite lucky in that these places of my early life are still there.

Miz said...

UhOh.
where's my monday morning serving from the Goat's Lunch Pail? :)

Ill be back...

Leah J. Utas said...

Hello Miz, it should have been up when you came by.
Please come back soon.

The Fifth Sparrow said...

Hi Leah, I was inspired to post about my own hometown (not a hamlet). I'm sure our old house is still there, nothing ever changes there.
Pretty countryside where you are from. Is there a tour of BL's old house or is that shut down now that summer is over?

Leah J. Utas said...

Fifth, I read your post about Cardston. It's in a very pretty setting.

dfBag Lady was born in the humble nurse's cottage at the bottom of the hill. It's a private home now.

Barbara Martin said...

I love the photo of the winding river in the valley bottom. A person's birth place says a lot about them, and Leah, you certainly love the wide open spaces.

Leah J. Utas said...

Thanks, Barbara, and yes I do.