We are at the halfway point of the summer, at least from a student’s perspective and perhaps from the parents of that student’s perspective. Once again, amazing how fast time flies when you are having fun! Or not. Hopefully, you have had the chance or will have the chance to take a vacation while the weather is co-operating. That doesn’t include visiting relatives, sometimes known as an “oblication”, which can be good but often doesn’t have any downtime built in for personal sanity.
A European study found that 23 per cent of vacationers noticed no difference in how rested they felt when they returned from their time away and an astounding 17 per cent actually reported feeling worse after their vacation! The line between our personal lives and work lives is exceedingly thin; our work has a huge impact on our personal lives, and the reverse is also true. What happens on our vacations, or during any of our downtime, can have a huge impact on how we cope with stress at work, our creativity, productivity and workplace morale.
So, if you get the chance to get away, make sure there is enough rest and relaxation time built in to leave you feeling refreshed before coming back to work or other obligations. Whenever possible, we try to build in a cushion day, an extra day at home to decompress before returning to our regular routine. Sometimes that buffer makes all the difference.
Speaking of relatives visiting, we have our second go-around of kids and grandkids stays happening so we pay a bit more attention to events or fun things happening around the area that they can participate in then go back to Alberta and gush to their friends what a great place this is. The other night we decided to try the Hot Summer Nights event that Creston Fire Rescue has scheduled for four nights over the summer at either Centennial Park or the north parking lot at the Creston and District Community Complex. On Tuesday, they brought in four or five fire trucks, as well as a dunk tank, and set up a couple fire hoses that you could blast at some pylons to test your aim and steadiness. This event not only provides a rare opportunity to see these vehicles up close and personal and ask any questions that come to mind, but also a chance to meet and chat with many of the firefighters from the Creston Valley. In fact, there was even an option to drop them into a tank of cold, murky water proving what a game bunch they are (and hopefully don’t carry a grudge or remember your face).
Happening again at approximately 7 p.m. (weather and emergency call dependent) Aug. 9 at Centennial Park and Aug. 23 at the community complex, it is a great event for children and adults alike and can be classified as one of those small-town opportunities that may not exist in bigger centres. We learned volumes about some of the intricacies of the road rescue and ladder units in 20 minutes thanks to Capt. Randall Fabbro, and looking at the expression of two-year-old Carter after starting the engine, blasting the horn and playing with the lights, you could see the seeds of a future fire fighter starting to germinate.
Neil Ostafichuk is the recreation supervisor at the Creston and District Community Complex.
