4 - Friday, January 22, 1988 - North Shore News OB © strictly personal © WHILE OTHER, more sensible people | knew had already headed for Hawaii, I found myself climbing on board a jetliner aimed at Edmonton. Gawd, | thought. What am I doing? Nothing against Edmonton per se, you understand, It’s just that Edmonton is Canada's northern- most big city. I was going to take my Mustang survival boots, but my wife looked at the paper the day I left and said not to worry, it was warmer in Edmonton that it was in Van- couver. Take that, West Coast chauvinists! Some of my fear went away, so on top of my regular stuff 1 only brought along long underwear, ex- tra socks, gloves, scarf, pea jacket and toque. | whined as I packed, as is my wont under stress. As my travelling companion and { squeezed into our seats on a crowded jet on Boxing Day, I had a sense of Spidey-power foreboding. | was going to freeze my tootsies, ] just knew it. We were on a research expedi- . tion, with my companion introduc- ing me to various people whom I was to interview for a book. We ‘had a rented car waiting and a place to stay. It wasn’t all that bad when we Janded. I managed to walk from ‘the automated doors at the airlock — oops, | mean airport — across 50 feet of surface, with no spacesuit on, and climbed into our West Van park gets A CHILDREN'S water park will be built in Horseshoe Bay Park thanks to a donation of $46,000 from the Horseshoe Bay Com- munity Association. _ The District. of West Vancouver learned. of the donation at Mon- day’s council meeting. re four-wheeled module, with only a * couple of whimpers and one minor snivel, My friend had grown up there, but he quickly got lost. In the de- cade since he'd last visited, Ed- monton had mutated into a sprawling, gcomcetrically-arranged ultra-suburb, a Monopoly game run amok, with mercury vapor streetlamps stretching off into in- finity. UNTER we had finished our work, we found ourselves being drawn back to The Mall, as it’s known, natu- rally, time and again. Everything you could legally want was there. It must be a truc wonder of the world: a shopping supercluster. It creates a palpable field of energy that draws you like an asteroid caught by the gravity of a great mass. Or something. We didn't try to explore the whole thing. We were only there for three days, with busy sched- ules. But we did look in on the gigan- tic bubble of the swimming POO! | if E verything you could 1 legally want was there. It must be a true wonder of the world: a shopping supercluster. It creates a palpable field of energy that draws you like an asteroid cuught by the gravity of a great} mass. Or something. As we e drove i in earch of the apartment where we were staying, we saw the underbelly of the clouds ahead bright pink and cop- per, and realized we were cruising within view of ... ta dah!!! ... the WEST EDMONTON MALL! It humped into silhouette against a blaze of Sights, and as we turned to get around it somchow, we found ourselves driving for blocks and blocks and blocks and blocks. In the days that followed, when water $40,000 Association president Julian Alfreds has been meeting with the West Vancouver Parks and Recre- ation Dept. to talk about the pro- posed water park. The money was raised through the sale of the old Horseshoe Bay Community Centre. Bargain Prices aati aos she For a short time only — premium “ quality Simmons Beautyrest Bedding Sets, in Twin, Double, Queen and King Shop early . quantities limited” NY HOME FURNISHINGS FRIDAY SAM-OPE SUNDAY noon-4PM 1075 ROOSEVELT CRESCENT NORTH VANCOUVER _(2 BLKS BEHIND AVALON) 985-8738. os not tthe largest indoor pool in the world, I'm sure right up there. We checked out the ice rink and prowled several of the gilt- edged halls. went to a movie, tried outa couple of restaurants, and had one memorable moment after the show when we were among the very last to leave, our shocs echoing along a tunnel with its closed shops, everything chic and haunted in the ecric light. I was reminded of Isaac BRAND NEW The Militia Reserve your future 1 Work parttime eam ext and getexpenence trom: prolessoncls the Peserve ofthe Canadian Ane ropes! It's Your Asimov's Caves of Stecl, naturally: the future civilization wherein hu- manity takes to living indoors en- tirely and develops an aversion to the surface world. While in town, I heard a number of fancy explanations of why The Mall opened in Edmonton instead of some vastly larger city some- where else in Canada, among these that Edmonton sits at the dead centre of major intercontinental flight paths, and may thus attract the world's burgeoning jet set. But [ think the answer is that Edmontonians were ready to go underground, In winter, all Prairie people are prepared to go under- ground, like the groundhog. They see no shame in it. They love it. They are saved by it. The need was raore urgent in Edmonton. That’s why it happen- ed there. As the day came when we were supposed to Icave, the wind picked up. Flurries came down, then huge spider-sized Makes. Everything in the distance began to be erased. You got loncly, wherever you were. By the time I drove to the airport, we were in a white-out. The jet took off anyway, thank God. I felt like a refugee escaping — again. And when {| got home, oh Lord, it was raining softly! Don’t mind me, I get a big emotional about the cold @ Trade your North Van home for an EXECUTIVE COUNTRY HOME + Energy efficient * 4 dedims % 2 full baths & 2% baths & fam. em. & dining Large professional office # Very large covered deck & Designed & built by Harder & 2 acres * Fishponds & 40 min from N.Van. 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