The small town I grew up in is situated on Vancouver Island.
The good ol'
'Village of Cumberland.'
(yeah, it really was allotted 'Village' status. It wasn't even a town!)
I swear, inbreeding was an issue there, everyone seemed to be related to each other in a convoluted and strange (read 'unnatural') manner.
Having been born in a different (but equally small) town on the Island, I narrowly avoided the risk of being related to any of the riff raff belonging to that place.
Now, keep in mind that I'm talking about the town as it was during the late 70's, and throughout the 80's.
Today, it's actually become an interesting little hub of antique stores and talented artsy types.
Its' original existence was as a coal mining town during the 19th century, and at its' peak, it hosted the second largest Chinese immigrant population outside of San Francisco.
During the period of time that I lived in Cumberland though, it was a poor, poor town.
Merely (and barely) a bedroom community to some of the larger towns, it had few basic requirements for survival.
Including 4 pubs and a liquor store, this little town became known a few years ago as the "Luckiest Town in B.C.", due to the vast quantities of the cheap beer 'Lucky' which was consumed by the residents.
But it had no mall. No movie theatre.
No streetlights, just stop signs (I mean the ones that weren't shot out of course.)
It had 8 dusty Roads one way, and 10 dirty Streets going the other way.
The only street with a paved sidewalk was the main street, so if you wanted to get somewhere, you walked in the dirt.
Cars on blocks in the front yard, and dead fridges on porches were common sights.
And then there were the roving packs of pre-teens looking to pick a fight for lack of anything else to do in that town.
Do I need mention that more often than not, myself and the girls who befriended me were their targets?
(I suppose I should be glad I grew up back then. Nowadays those same roving packs of bored teens are killing those outcast girls...case in point, Reena Virk in Victoria was murdered by one of those groups.)
Small wonder that to escape that place was high on my list of priorities after graduation!
There were a
few redeeming features about that town, though...for instance, the surrounding forest played an integral role during my childhood.
To hell with Barbies and makeup and boys!
My dear friends and I had pointy sticks to sharpen, bows to make, hunting skills to hone, and trees to climb.
(Well,
I climbed the trees mostly. They would stand around at the bottom and call up to me pleadingly, "I don't think that's such a good idea, Tai.")
We roamed far and wide in the extensive bush behind Cumberland, hunting for edible natural foods, preparing ourselves for the inevitable apocalyptic end to the world as we knew it (of course, we would be the only ones who were going to survive! We had to be prepared and rigorously trained!)
I suppose we were lucky.
We had run of the town from dawn till dusk with little restriction.
Except for me of course.
We had exactly two corner stores in that town.
On opposite corners of the same block if you can believe that.A Chinese one (Leungs), and an Italian one (Marocchi's).
I wasn't allowed in Marocchi's.
Which was a cryin' shame, 'cus they had the best candy selection!
I don't know why my father took a dislike to it, but he did.
I knew I would rue the day he ever caught me in there, so I judiciously avoided it when I thought he might be about.
So I was in there a lot.
But I digress....
After dark and in the wee hours, we would sneak out of our homes and run about after midnight without fear.
And given the fact that we were prone to rearranging garden gnomes, it's more likely that the town folk feared us!
I'm hard pressed to think of anything else of any import...well, there
was the bakery...best glazed doughnuts EVER (Kripsy Kreme doesn't even come close) for a mere 25 cents.
ummmm...nope.
Can't think of anything else.
Of coure, while the feral cat population and the black bear infested garbage dump added some interesting features, I wouldn't call them selling points, really.
If you had a horse though, you could ride it up and down the streets all the live long day, if you so desired.
I wish I had a horse then.
I think I would have enjoyed doing just that.
