My fondness for St. James will never end

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/06/2015 (3742 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I’ve lived in St. James my whole life, written this column for a year, and grown a lot in the process.

Since I no longer spend much time in this area, I feel like it’s time to move my writing outwards and onwards to other opportunities. Like an old friend, I will always think of this area fondly but I’m sure anyone feels that way about the place they grew up in. Putting what St. James means to me in words isn’t difficult. It’s deciding what to leave out that makes it harder.

It’s getting woken up on Saturday morning in the summer by music blaring from Assiniboine Park because there’s an event going on — best alarm clock ever. Hearing the inevitable roar of lawn mowers on a nice day, and then hearing them go silent at four in the afternoon so everyone can wipe the sweat off their brows and enjoy a cold beverage outside.

It’s the smiling faces of the people behind the counter at Sargent Sundae, even on the busiest days when the line is out the door and wrapped around the building. Watching the Canada Day fireworks at Assiniboine Park on the roof of my garage. Doing homework and catching up with friends over coffee at Joe Black.

It’s the sheer amount of greenery and the care everyone puts into making their gardens and lawns beautiful. The familiar building in the corner of the strip at 2015 Portage Avenue where I had my first job at Park Tower Restaurant, and later worked at Gus and Tony’s at the Park. A game of pool with my friends at Classics.

It’s the swimming lessons I took at the St. James Civic Centre pool. Learning tennis at the Deer Lodge Tennis Club (sorry for all the balls I smashed over the fence that rolled onto Ness Avenue). Saying “hello” when you walk by a total stranger on the street.

It’s a great place but if you live here you probably already knew that.