The History Blues (sort of?)
Hey guys, long time, no update!
The good news:
-I for sure have a place to live in Ottawa! \o/ Huge load of stress off of my back.
-I've been driving up a storm on 1920s street. (Though sometimes I think I've gotten lazy and decide to drive the Model A Ford or use the old bicycle instead of walking one minute down the street, but whatevs!)
-Saskatoon berries are ripening at the fort! There are quite a few in the area, though we only share with other staff where they are because we don't want the public going on berry picking expeditions and finding things that aren't saskatoon beries and eating those potentially poisonous ones instead. (Saskatoons, for the sadly deprived, are purple-ish berries that only really grow in western Canada. They're kind of like smaller, tarter, reddish-purple blueberries.) I have been making pies at Mellon Farm a LOT on the wood burning stove. Saskatoon berry and rhubarb isn't a bad combination either!
So yes, I think that I'm doing well. I totally thought I was having fun on 1920s street - and I am! But this past week I worked two evening functions which kind of hearkened back to my earlier years in the park. (To review: this is my fourth year - one season on the 1920s midway, two in the fort, and now I'm on 1920s street.) I worked a function on the Midway (the carousel!) because they were short of people and I was the only person who was a) free to work that night, b) had experience on the Midway, and c) had a 1920s appropriate costume. Fun stuff! I was super enthusiastic for those two hours, but I can't deny I enjoy being an interpreter more.
Then, this evening, I did wagon tours for a group that ended up at the fort for a super spectacular fur trade themed evening. I did two fort-centric wagon tours - so I talked a lot about the fur trade - and then did crowd control and watched the festivities in the fort for an hour.
And I really, really miss it, guys. I miss having so many people around: fellow interpeters (to interpret with, cover lunches, do programs with, or just to sit quietly and do beadwork or cook or anything else) and, well, visitors. I miss the smell, the compactness, the history (the history very few people know about, unlike farming history, the Great War, the history of automobiles...), the york boat, the atmosphere of the place... I miss it really, really badly.
I'm sure I'll return to 1920s street after my weekend and it won't feel so bad, but it's still stressful because we're continually short staffed and spread out... and even little things, like how my 1920s shoes are much more uncomfortable than my moccassins in the fort, still bother me... I enjoy cooking sugary things on the woodburning stove, I enjoy driving and some of the 1920s activities, but it's really tough.
I think it's not so much that I dislike the 1920s - because I don't, at all! - it's just that while I feel the stress on 1920s street and I am content, I think that in contrast I was deliriously happy in the fort, and I don't think that I'll ever be able to return to that... and it makes me sad.
Brb, I just want to go live in the fort and its giant treehouse-like glory now. ;_; I need to eat saskatoon berry pie and watch an uplifting youtube video involving fluffy cats or something.
Edit (as soon as I clicked "post"): I'm not sure that this post will make sense to anybody but me, but I really had to get it off my chest. I feel so conflicted! I've grown to like 1920s, but I miss the fort really badly. I think that that's the crux of the matter. Seeing it be awesome for such a brief period of time brought my feelings crashing together. :(
The good news:
-I for sure have a place to live in Ottawa! \o/ Huge load of stress off of my back.
-I've been driving up a storm on 1920s street. (Though sometimes I think I've gotten lazy and decide to drive the Model A Ford or use the old bicycle instead of walking one minute down the street, but whatevs!)
-Saskatoon berries are ripening at the fort! There are quite a few in the area, though we only share with other staff where they are because we don't want the public going on berry picking expeditions and finding things that aren't saskatoon beries and eating those potentially poisonous ones instead. (Saskatoons, for the sadly deprived, are purple-ish berries that only really grow in western Canada. They're kind of like smaller, tarter, reddish-purple blueberries.) I have been making pies at Mellon Farm a LOT on the wood burning stove. Saskatoon berry and rhubarb isn't a bad combination either!
So yes, I think that I'm doing well. I totally thought I was having fun on 1920s street - and I am! But this past week I worked two evening functions which kind of hearkened back to my earlier years in the park. (To review: this is my fourth year - one season on the 1920s midway, two in the fort, and now I'm on 1920s street.) I worked a function on the Midway (the carousel!) because they were short of people and I was the only person who was a) free to work that night, b) had experience on the Midway, and c) had a 1920s appropriate costume. Fun stuff! I was super enthusiastic for those two hours, but I can't deny I enjoy being an interpreter more.
Then, this evening, I did wagon tours for a group that ended up at the fort for a super spectacular fur trade themed evening. I did two fort-centric wagon tours - so I talked a lot about the fur trade - and then did crowd control and watched the festivities in the fort for an hour.
And I really, really miss it, guys. I miss having so many people around: fellow interpeters (to interpret with, cover lunches, do programs with, or just to sit quietly and do beadwork or cook or anything else) and, well, visitors. I miss the smell, the compactness, the history (the history very few people know about, unlike farming history, the Great War, the history of automobiles...), the york boat, the atmosphere of the place... I miss it really, really badly.
I'm sure I'll return to 1920s street after my weekend and it won't feel so bad, but it's still stressful because we're continually short staffed and spread out... and even little things, like how my 1920s shoes are much more uncomfortable than my moccassins in the fort, still bother me... I enjoy cooking sugary things on the woodburning stove, I enjoy driving and some of the 1920s activities, but it's really tough.
I think it's not so much that I dislike the 1920s - because I don't, at all! - it's just that while I feel the stress on 1920s street and I am content, I think that in contrast I was deliriously happy in the fort, and I don't think that I'll ever be able to return to that... and it makes me sad.
Brb, I just want to go live in the fort and its giant treehouse-like glory now. ;_; I need to eat saskatoon berry pie and watch an uplifting youtube video involving fluffy cats or something.
Edit (as soon as I clicked "post"): I'm not sure that this post will make sense to anybody but me, but I really had to get it off my chest. I feel so conflicted! I've grown to like 1920s, but I miss the fort really badly. I think that that's the crux of the matter. Seeing it be awesome for such a brief period of time brought my feelings crashing together. :(