Seven Hundred New Brunswick Homes, Lost in the Woods

I have been intensely emotional lately.  But not angry! believe it or not.  Just weepy.  Even remotely poignant children's books leave me in tears.  Anything involving animals in danger is liable to send me under.  The CBC Ideas program on women's equality (lack thereof) was nearly unbearable.  And another CBC documentary on disadvantaged children finding inspiration and success in their community choir made me cry.  

The four of us went to a Queenstown potluck last night, and it was a good scene.  Lots of other kids, and someone had made a marshmallow/canned orange/coconut/miracle-whip salad, which is emphatically not on my list of healthy foods, but seeing it sitting there in its faceted glass bowl, muted artificial candy colours glistening, reminded me of my grandmother who died several years ago now.  I never thought I would ever see marshmallow salad served again, without even a whiff of irony.  It was comforting, somehow.  Even though I don't ever want my children consuming anything of the sort.  Sigh.  Food is political, whether we like it or not.  It is also nostalgia.  

So, the marshmallow salad nearly made me cry, and then I noticed a photo display on one of the walls of the orange hall, where, apparently, all Queenstown potlucks are held, as well as a monthly dance, which we will *definitely* be attending, next time.  The photographs were black and white: a collection of houses, all wood-siding, all built, by my estimation,  from around 1890-1920, all heartbreakingly beautiful. Then I realized what I was looking at:  documentation of just a handful of the homes that belonged to families who were evicted from what is now the Gagetown military training base.  Upon making the connection, my throat started to close and I honestly thought I was going to break down.  This is the history of our province: seven hundred families displaced for the sake of the expansion of the military industrial complex.  Seven hundred gorgeous, functional homes, schools and business, built with real wood, in a vernacular that speaks to the history of our province: farms, woods, homesteads.  In 1953, the families were moved out.  Some moved down to the river (where we are), and some, apparently, to the Sussex area, where there was more land available for farming (now that the Gagetown community had been stolen by the army).  For the next 20 or so years, the houses were left to crumble.  Then finally, they were razed to the ground.  A few buildings were salvaged, including the Orange Hall, which was moved, and where we had gathered this night to share food and company.  Our own house, our forge, our barns, in Queenstown, on the Saint John River, might have been one of those broken homes, but luckily, it still stands where it was built, close enough to the water to be out of harm's way.  I love that our house is known as Anne Fawcett's house, and then by the nurse who lived there before, and then by the original family--what was their name again?--who raised four children within these quaint walls.

I believe that the sentiments behind the disregard the government had for those 700 families, the prioritization of the military over real community and shared history--these feelings have been absorbed by the culture of New Brunswickers, unconsciously.  Institutionalized disrespect for the built environment is difficult to rail against, as an individual.  When the institution holds no value for something, this disrespect is internalized by real people.  This is why we continue to neglect beautiful buildings now.  Century homes all over New Brunswick continue to disappear at an astounding rate, or are covered with toxic vinyl, or are left to disintegrate.  If you live in an old house, please take good care of it.  Maybe someday there will be a shift in consciousness, and a renewed appreciation for what our buildings say about us, and what we care about.  Maybe someday your 130 year old home will be worth *more* than the airtight plastic bungalow next door.  This is the reality in places like British Columbia.  Maybe if we give it 20 years or so, the same will be the case in NB.  

PS:  I have started a little food blog project, and you may be relieved to know that it has nothing to do with the  emoting and venting that goes on here.  I post a new recipe or idea every day, based on the subject of easy, healthy, whole foods, with a focus on grain-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, fuss-free eating.  Check it out here, at www.forgekitchen.tumblr.com if you like.  Forgive the awkward format/posting.  I'm new to tumblr.  Ok!  Have a beautiful night....yo