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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Where the sun always shines

My favourite place in the city is just steps away

By: Robbi Goltsman-Ferris

Posted: 10/21/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Robbi Goltsman-Ferris at her favourite place in Winnipeg: her front steps in River Heights. (RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

I stare out my window at the copper leaves collecting at the curb and idly reminisce about my favourite place in Winnipeg -- the front steps of my River Heights home, when the air is warm and the heat of the sun fills my lungs with quiet, unfettered joy.

It's morning as I settle into my high-backed, white, plastic, Walmart-purchased lawn chair, my bare feet resting contentedly on the faded but resilient green side table -- coffee in one hand, newspaper in the other. I inhale the heady scent of fresh java, behold my king's breakfast -- a hard-boiled egg, two slices of multigrain bread, smeared with margarine and raspberry jam, and a small tin of V8-to-go -- and savour the moment.

I don't think about what the day has in store for me, or my plans for tomorrow or the next day or the day after that. I don't wonder if I'll live up to my own expectations or somebody else's, or worry about some real-or-imagined parental obligation or insufficiency. I take a deep breath, relax and enjoy the now.

My eyes settle on the familiar neighbourhood tableau -- smartly kept homes line the street, flanked by billowing birch, oak and elm trees, sprouting from freshly mowed lawns. A neighbour across the street waves at me. I smile and return the wave, commenting on the day.

My mind wanders back to when we first moved to River Heights. It was 18 years ago. In the Jewish religion, 18 means Chai or life -- so I suppose my musings today are appropriate -- maybe even heaven-sent.

I remember the day we moved into the two-storey, three-bedroom house on Cordova Street. My daughter was three months old and my son was five. The first thing he did was climb the stairs (a two-storey house being a new concept to him) to gaze appreciatively at his large, plain-looking, new bedroom -- the one he left in Windsor Park had blue wallpaper covered with yellow sheep.

Being a new mom to my son was the best thing that ever happened to me. I remember, so clearly, his blond curls, pouty lips and round blue eyes. It's harder to recall just when his infectious giggle and wobbly walk -- you know, the one all toddlers have just before they grow into little boys -- disappeared, and he became a big brother.

What I do recall, however, was how much I longed to do it all again -- this time, with a girl. Even better, I got the chance to share the experience with my adorable, five-year-old son -- and my loving husband, of course. (Did I forget to mention him? He was there the first time too.)

Now, 18 years later, I'm living in the same home, looking out at the same front yard that I love. Other than that, not too much has stayed the same. My daughter, now 19, recently moved out of the house into a charming apartment in a heritage building (not far from River Heights), which she shares with a friend. And where she'll make her own memories. My son is planning to move out at the end of the month -- then we really will have an empty nest.

Of course, the view outside has changed as well. Staring at the leaf-blown lawns and nearly naked trees lining the boulevard, I know my summer sanctuary has already cooled. I'll have to wait another nine months till my favourite place in Winnipeg is reborn and I can, once again, revel in my time-honoured tradition of breakfast under the sun.

Although I'm sad to see summer go, I am comforted by one thought -- living in Winnipeg, I know the sunshine is never too far away.

Robbi Goltsman-Ferris is a published Winnipeg writer and songwriter. In 2000, she wrote and produced the musical, Passages, for the Winnipeg Fringe Festival and is currently close to completing her new musical about Canadian writer, Elizabeth Smart. She has been employed as a writer for the Manitoba government since 1999.

Do you have a favourite place

in Winnipeg?

We'd like to hear about it. There are no prizes to be won, but if you're published, you get to bask in the admiration of your friends and feel the glow that comes from doing something nice for your city.

Email your story to dave.connors@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 21, 2012 A8

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