Fort Mcmurray-Til we meet again
The same place. Yes as I gaze over the metropolis of Fort Mcmurray I come to realize that I have indeed become very attached to this cube of space and as the tear down runs it's course the thought of leaving this
physical space called #312-5 Clearwater Crescent becomes sadder more melancholy.
But beyond the space I will miss my place in this "Little Big town".
It is not as though I have made a place for myself here, as I've mentioned, the Mac makes a place by giving breaks or puts you in your place by breaking you.
The Mac can seem to be selective and completely unrepentant in the souls it lets prosper and the lives which are shredded to pieces and at first glance it seems most get their just reward. But there are colaterial victims in this tempest of money and yes greed that premeates the social fabric of this Boom Town these are the people who have a bone to pick with Fort Mcmisery as the enabler of a loved ones demons. They are the ones that have to rebuild and regroup and wonder "what happened, how?". The sad stories that are written on this cities blank pages will tear at your heart and drive you mad if you don't look at the other side. Listen carefully and you'll hear the success stories of people who had next to nothing when they came to this place far from home to make a life which they could've only imagined when they were sitting in some wee village in Newfoundland, Ontario, Somalia, Jamacia, Australia, Alberta or any other place in the world.
I would be one of those people who was a millemeter from the street and was saved by Fort Mcmoney and this my third time up here was the charm.
The people of Fort Mac are aware that this is not a jewel of the north nor a flower of the sub arctic but it's not a festering sore as some seem to think. Sure you live in the shadow of large corporations but the people on the ground floor are still just that.....people and in the end this town isn't made exclusively by big oil its character and culture is etched by the people who (unlike me) stay and live and form this place.
Is this a case of having the band play while the ship sinks, maybe some are deluded into thinking that corporate interests are in the peoples best interest but very few, I think it more a case of making the best of an opportunity and being able to say "it is what it is" fully knowing that the next day will bring this or that improvement to the city. I will testify to these improvements and at the same time curse the traffic lights on Franklin that still aren't properly timed, because I have been here three times over the last 40 years and I have seen the best and worst of cities over half the globe this one is really no different.
That doesn't mean it is for everyone, no, for those who want everything right now and have wild expectations of money and ease of living this is a place that will disappoint. If you have a disposition to being positive and friendly no matter what you'll do fine.....whether you stay or like me work and leave makes no difference because if you have done it right you will have, like me, more than you came here with.
So this is my third farewell to this spot on the map and this time is different in many ways and I attribute this difference to my taking in a full adult portion of this place and having a more mature view of where I was and what it was I wanted from it. Beside that I also found the life blood of any town or city and became close to its source and that would be the young people who are Fort Mcmurrians some transplanted some home grown and all fantastic. Fort Mcmurray do heed my parting shot.......listen to the youth the harbinger of culture and you will hit a stride that will be the envy of any other city.
And now it is truly with a tear in my eye that I say NOT good bye BUT til we meet again Fort Mcmurray til we meet again fare thee well.
A lot of people friendly town with some
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