I did a double take first thing this morning at 7 am when I turned the page-a-day Audobon calendar. A calendar often featuring different landscapes, and more infrequently, creatures of the earth.
A bird. In Cold Lake. My place of birth. In 1975 the population was 1,308. No, wait! I was born that year. 1,309. This is not a large town. When I was born in the Cold Lake hospital there were just two babies in the nursery, including me!
The town has since grown to the booming population of 15,000… but still! Of all the places…. in the entire world to be mentioned today? This is not even a Canadian calendar. A bird in Cold Lake featured today? Astounding.
Cold Lake was where Mom and Dad truly began life as a married couple. Below is an iconic pic circa 1975 – Mom and Dad’s Toyota in the foreground, in front of the Cold Lake sign (and Cold Lake itself) as they approached the small town. The Toyota Corolla was their first car, an important first major purchase for a couple many hours away from home base and where my Grandma and Grandpa Reade lived in Edmonton.
Mom and Dad were drawn to Cold Lake as teaching jobs were scarce then and Dad managed to score his first job out of University as a teacher in nearby Grand Centre. To me it speaks to Johnny Clegg’s “I’m searching for the spirit of the great heart” – such exciting, breathtaking potential wrapped up in a moment. The beginning of their beautiful life together, our family, Dad’s career as an English Teacher/musician/writer, and Mom’s in the medical field.
