FULL CIRCLE

 FULL CIRCLE MOMENT AT DEER LAKE

Tulip enjoyed  another flashback moment the other day. She met her friend long term Joan at Deer Lake Regional Park in Burnaby — a community where she once lived during her teen years. It is a site that has been beautifully developed over the years, once including the playground for medium security inmates of what was known as the Oakalla prison.

As they wandered along the full circle lakeshore pathway, on freshly rained upon cedar planks, they looked over and saw a bunch of fishers on a dock near the beach. Curiosity led them off the path to find out what they were trying to catch. They approached quietly, and slowly, so as to not negatively impact the fishing outcome, and as soon as one head turned to them, they whispered “what are you hoping to catch?”

“Rainbow trout,” said one as he bent over to open a zip sealed plastic bag to proudly show his catch. Instantly Tulip just had to react to share her childhood memory of being a young successful fisher of rainbow trout.

“I’d stick a live slimy worm on a hook tied to a sturdy bamboo pole and wait for a bite. After each catch I would knock a large stone on its head, cut open its belly, remove the guts, and sprinkle it with salt. Within moments I would have lit the kindling laid out between large rocks, placed a cast iron frying pan on top of the flame, waited for the butter to melt, and then fried up the tastiest and freshest trout possible. It truly was incredible.”

“Where did you do that?”

“High up in the mountains at a creek named Scuzzy.”

“How old were you?”

“Ten, and if I caught more than two, I’d take the rest home.”

The man was speechless as his eye lids lifted to their max and his eyeballs rolled in disbelief. Some of the other guys who were clearly listening in, looked in her direction and were equally astounded, as the two grey haired ladies wandered back to the path to carry on with their journey.

“Could you do it again now?”, asked Joan.

“Absolutely! A full circle moment. Next time we come here, let’s bring rods, a pan and Coleman stove.”

“Okay,” she said. “And I will bring the wine!”