4 - Sunday, July 6, 1986 - North Shore News Bob Hunter FAMILIES! When I was a kid | took my family for granted. I was part of it. It seemed an eternal thing. Your family would always be your family, and I more or less assumed I would always remain in exactly the same relationship with my cousins and aunts and uncles, etc. But this is Canada late in the 20th Century. 1 don’t know how typical my own experience has been, but | do know there are plenty of Canadians who, like me, have seen their families dissolve be- fore their eyes and scatter on the wind. If there is a word to describe my family, on both my parents’ sides, it would have to be: nomadic. | only thought of this recently, while contemplating the arrival of a beloved aunt from Toronto who is coming oul to see Expo. Leaving the old hometown a long time ago, she had moved East, as many of them did, while most of the rest of us trickled out to the Coast. It ts only when one of these long-lost relatives shows up that there is a stirring of the old tribal instincts. Really should get together with everybody now that so-and-so’s here. A sense of history, perhaps. But, gee, I’m busy and the schedules clash and whosit has acold.... The family that [ think of as “the family’ is different, of course, from my Mother's sense of it. She still talks about departed cousins and HER aunts and uncles mo.e or less as though they were still alive. Their memory is alive. | wouldn't be surprised if she talks to THEM more than she gets a chance to talk to me. Similarly, | carry vivid recol- Iections of cousins 1 haven't seen for decades and probably will never sce again. Yet, to my own kids, these people virtually don’t exist. [ read somewhere recently that the average Canadian can't tell you the first names of his or her own grandparents — a measure of just how fragmented the old tribal pat- tern has become. Sometimes it saddens ine that my once tightly-knit family has lost its centre of gravity. But mostly, | don't think about it. It might be that family ties themselves have fallen victim to that famous Canadian apathy. Some families are more nomadic than others and _ this makes a big difference. Families © strictly personal ® whose members stay in the same city are going to interact with each other a lot more than if Cousin Shirley moves to West Germany. Families are your basic tribes. And they’re all over the place. You no sooner leave your own tribe behind, landing on a dis- tant shore, than you get swallowed up in another one. Take me, for instance. An immigrant from Winnipeg, I married a local West Coast girl and she promptly took me back to her village, in this case a neighborhood. The next thing I know there are all these tribal events to at tend: Christmas, birthdays, funerals, marriages, ete. It's all very entertaining. The gossip is lively, The fife-dramias go on like an endless soap. The sub-plots are unbelievable, How can | get bored? | wanted to swim in the biological soup -— here it is! There are poignant moments between the grandparents and our kids. Sister-in-laws learn to cope with life. Daughters grap- ple with fate. Boyfriends and — girlfriends appear, and finally, an actual daughter-in-law. Lord, it’s busy! As an experience, | upend a few seconds every now and then contemplating the wa: between Iran and Iraq. When 1 get together with family, 1 try to bring up the subject, just as a discipline. Well, I might say to my cous- in’s husband, what's YOUR view on the Iran-Iraq situation? This is not to say that we won't have a lively conversation lasting maybe a full 10 seconds. It is just that, mainly, families tend to talk a iot about family. Mothers, especially. That’s why they're called mothers. You know the drift conversation: When is so-and-so going to come to terms with her pro- blem? | wonder if you-know- who is EVER going to get a grip on his existential angst. When is whatshisname going to pop the question? Look at the pot-belly on HIM! He works too hard, poor dear. DRINKS too hard, you mean. {t's fascinating stuff, family talk. But sometimes | DO want to talk about Iran and Iraq. | know the subject can't begin to compete with the baby’s latest trick or whether it was coyotes that got the kitten. I guess the big question about the modern Canadian family comes down to this: Family — a federal or provincial respon- sibility? God knows. I don't. Bless ‘em all anyway. Argh. of the Worth Van company to drilf second well From Page 3 Yellow Point, will be located ap- proximately five kilometres south of the first well aid will be drilled to a depth of 6,500 feet. The well is scheduled to take 38 days to complete. Laurel has a 1.8 per cent interest in the second well. Both well sites are located ap- proximately 20 kilometres southeast of Nanaiino. Webber, who is originally from Nanaimo, said he has always believed in) Vancouver Island's potential as a petrochemical pro- ducer. Estimated market for natural gas on Vancouver Ssland is 10 billion cubic feet per year. Annual B.C. production is currently 230 billion cubic feet. Brinkerhoff Drilling Canada Corp. has been contracted to do the drilling for BP Canada. $700,000 GRANT FROM VICTORIA Municipalities get boost NORTH SHORE municipalities are getting an over $700,000 boost for im- provements from the pro- vincial government. The grants, which are part of the 1986/87 Revenue Sharing Pro- gram, will go toward upgrading roads, bridges and water systems in North Vancouver City, District and in West Vancouver. North Vancouver City received the most grant money, $401,125, while West Vancouver received almost $220,000 for two projects and North Vancouver District also received $100,000 for two projects. The grant money matches municipal monies used for the pro- jects. Over $210,000 of West) Van- couver’s grant) money will go toward extending a bridge over Brothers’ Creek east) of Taylor Way and below the Upper Levels Highway. The bridge will supply a second toad into the area which presently can only be accessed via) Keith Road. The remaining $8,750 will be us- ed for a study of the water main af Eagle Lake. North Van District will use almost $90,000 of its money to ex- tend the water supply trunk loop over the top of Grouse Woods, said district engineer John Bremner. The other $10,000 will go toward a water system analysis. Bremner added the district is hoping to receive funding fer the reconstruction of parts of Seymour Parkway, but this funding will come directly from the Ministry of Highways and not through the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, said Bremner. In announcing the grant ap- provals, which amount to $18 mil- lion province-wide, Municipal Af- fairs Minister Bill Ritchie said: “These grants represent an in- vestment in the future of the pro- vince, one which not only creates jobs now, but maintains and im- ——> Lf EWA | IS proves community amenities for our citizens. ‘“*A sound infrastructure is essential to economic renewal. Provincially, miunicipal highways grant approvals total $10.3 million for 60 projects. Sewer and water capital grant approvals total $6.9 million for 125 projects. Sewer and water study grant ap- provals total $544,935 for 69 pro- jects. And transmission line assistance grant approvals total $207,730 for four projects. Fine Cuisine & Bistro Bar from 5 PM Deep Cove, North Vancouver for reservations ph. 929-2373 _§ 4 ae RACE The Ninth Annual North Shore News Sailing Race. co-sponsored be Sea Wing Sailing School and CJOR 600. will run on SUNDAY JULY 27. Whe event is destaned to be a ‘fur’ race and is open to all skippers. theit families and crews. regardless of club affihation. Follow the race on the Sea Wing CJOR 600 Sailng Reports daily Mail or deliver entre form and $25.00 entry fee to the North Shore News. (Cheques patable to the North Shore News). For more information contact Janice Silver 985-2131. Entry Form Deadline for entries Friday, July 25th at 12:00 noon. Shippers nan Sddress Vessel pe Hal color Age soungest crea member V7M 2H4 7139 Lonsdale Ave. North Vancouver Vesrel name Rig Noe oldest crew, member Age ot esse: As ine Sea Wing Sailing School SEER Le ce 1818 Maritime Mews, Granville Island V6H 3X2