Adam’s River Salmon Run

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Canadians.
We had to cancel our trip to Nelson, BC at the last minute as my sister Theresa was sick with the flu. And so, my Mom invited us to come to Kamloops and dine with my parents, sister Miranda and family. My mom makes the most delicious Thanksgiving feast ever. But I am no longer a teenager with a stomach that stretches. I ate too much. I almost never eat too much. My stomach actually hurt. I had to walk it off by going on an evening river walk with Miranda and her big dog Fozzy (aka The Fonze–my dad’s name for him). It just isn’t worth it–no more shall I ever gorge on my mom’s feasts. They are so good but I can’t take pain.

We spent Sunday night at my parents and I must say I had a very sound sleep aside from the odd mournful howl from The Fonze. Fernando was a good little pup for the entire trip and enjoyed his weekend at Granny and Granddad’s.

On the way home we made a detour and stopped at the Adam’s River for the annual Salmon spawning. They are ocean Sockeye Salmon–big fish. It is a huge run and the river was red with them. I had a wonderful deja-vu of a childhood class trip. In grade six or seven, I attended the very same Salmon Run with my school–Salmon Arm West Elementary. At times, I felt that grade six was yesterday as the run was so familiar to me.
We drove through Salmon Arm and I realized how close we were to my childhood home–an acreage near Salmon Arm. We drove to my old acreage and past my old elementary school. I was surprised at how little things had changed. Our acreage had changed the most though: many trees cut down on our land and the house painted grey. My school looked exactly the same–untouched in thirty years. It was strange driving by landscapes and landmarks that still occur in my dreams, yet are only altered memories from my childhood. Beautiful land.