|
Submit
a Valley Voice op-ed.
You know you’re
home in Low
By Bev Foley Ironside
Since moving to Low, Quebec…we have discovered
something…A jewel in the rough. We have
lived in a few small towns, Apsley, Colborne,
Wakefield to name three, but there’s something
about Low that makes you know at an instinctive
level that this is home.
I haven’t felt that since I was 12 years
old and living in Apsley, Ontario. We bought this
small little house that needed some TLC and before
we even had the bed moved in, we were on a first
name basis with the owner of the local market,
the local gas station, and the lovely lady behind
the counter at the municipal office. Forget needing
a phone book; you want to know who to call to
get what – firewood, snow plow, back hoe,
water for your pool – just walk into any
of the three above mentioned places and ask. Within
seconds you hear, well that’ll be Jimmy,
or Dave, or so and so, and out comes a post it
note or an old receipt and a phone number with
a first name is scrawled on top, and wham –
you got what you need.
Heck, I asked at the municipal office/library/heritage
hall today who to contact for water for my pool,
and out came the inevitable notepad with name
and number, and before I even got in touch with
the man, the fire truck was showing up at my door
with water!
I said, “How did you know where to come?
Are you the fire chief?” (That was the name
and number I had been given and had left a message
for.) “Nope” he said, “but he
gave me a call and told me what road and your
name, and since I know everyone around here, I
figured this had to be the place, because you
are the only folks I don’t know.”
Yup, I am home alright. By the fourth and final
truck load of water (at a quarter the price I
would have paid elsewhere) I was invited to be
a member of the local quilting club, on a first
name basis with three of the fire dept, found
out that Canada Day started at the heritage hall
for breakfast at 9 a.m., that the entire day of
festivities was not to be missed, and had invited
them here on July 12th for our roof raising where
they could bang away on some shingles, have a
swim and eat BBQ.
The deputy chief perked up at that and warned,
“Well, there are 20 of us you know.”
I just laughed and said, “I guess I will
be buying extra burgers then, huh?” That
sealed it. We have been here just over a year;
know where the best fishing holes are, where to
get the best breakfast, who to call for sand and
water. I know the names of the last two previous
owners of my house, and know at least half my
neighbours for a stretch of 1 kilometre, and guess
what? I know the numbers for the local store,
the municipal hall, the snowplow man, the water
guys, and where to get wood. You just have to
ask me, I would say, “I am home. Low is
home, and we’ve settled at last!”
Bev Ironside Foley lives in Low.
|
