It’s said to be a bad omen when an east wind blows.
Well an east wind blows for me, but this is no ill omen. This east wind is taking me back home.
I will soon be finished working at Arrow Lakes News because I have been offered and have accepted the position as the general reporter for the Western Graphic in Alberton, Prince Edward Island.
By the time this issue comes out I will have just over one week left in the community.
When I arrived in Nakusp on Sept. 8, 2015, I was terrified. Not only was this was my first job since graduating from college, I would be moving to a place I had never heard of before finding the job posting, to a province I had never been, where I knew no one aside from my editor who would be two hours away, and my closest family being almost nine hours away.
I had the choice to either sink or swim. I chose swim.
Being the only reporter has had its benefits and its challenges.
I’ve been able to cover stories and events in the community a cub reporter would not have been assigned to at a larger paper. I’ve written about brothers reuniting after nearly six decades, breaking news that a fire had broken out at a local mill, and covering the bomb squad from Kelowna when they had to make a visit to the village. The big standout is by far my Brexit series. Never in my wildest dreams would I have believed I would be writing about such a major international event from three local points of view.
On the flip-side, because I’m the only reporter I’ve sometimes had to choose which events to cover. Many a time I’ve been heard bemoaning the fact that I can’t clone myself to cover multiple events at the same time.
Despite my complaining, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here at Arrow Lakes News and in Nakusp.
The people of this village are so friendly and so very welcoming. I’ve met people here I will never forget, and friendships I will cherish forever.
With all that being said, it’s time for me to go.
While I have family in Alberta, my grandmother and grandfather are both still living on P.E.I. They’re in their 80s and 90s, respectively, and I don’t know how much time I have left with them. I want to make the most of whatever time that is.
As I look back on my time in the village with fondness, I look to what lies ahead with a determination to prove what I am capable of, whatever may come.
As J.R.R Tolkien said in the first chapter of The Fellowship of the Ring, “The road goes ever on and on.”
