I’m sure all of you are absolutely exhausted with our hellos and good-byes here at the Fitzhugh, so I’ll keep mine brief. 

Hi! I’m Nicole. The new Annalee.

Now that we’ve been formally introduced, please indulge me a little as I talk about the Rockies. I know they’re nothing new to all of you. Actually, they’re not all that new to me either. But they are new to my boyfriend, who was born and raised North of 60 and up until the beginning of October, lived in his hometown of Yellowknife. That’s where we met. I was writing for the community newspaper and he was working as the photo co-ordinator. 

For all of you who haven’t been to the Northwest Territories, it’s fairly flat, with a few rolling hills here and there, but nothing even close to a mountain. Basically, what I’m trying to say is, Yellowknife looks nothing like Jasper. So as we rolled through the park and into town a couple of weeks ago, the car was full of oohs and aahs.

“They’re massive!” was one of the first things out of my boyfriend’s mouth as he struggled to keep his eyes on the road and off of the beautiful landscape around him. 

He had no idea what he was in for. 

His mom had told him the mountains make her claustrophobic, I had talked endlessly about how incredibly gorgeous they are, and he had even looked at photos online, but until we arrived in town, he didn’t really get it. He just didn’t understand how powerful mountains can be. That was until we made a trip up to Pyramid Lake on Thanksgiving weekend. That’s when it really struck him.

He stood on the floating dock staring across the lake in absolute awe. He even sat down. He said he could have stayed there all afternoon, just staring. While I, on the other hand, having grown up on Vancouver Island in a village surrounded by mountains, got a little antsy after about 10 minutes. Don’t get me wrong, I love mountains. I actually missed them more than anything while I was living in Yellowknife last year. I find them cozy and comforting, unlike the wide-open, endless northern skies.

But now that I’m in Jasper, I want to see Jasper. I don’t want to spend hours looking at one thing. I want to spend hours exploring all the things. I want to hike every trail. I want to see all the wildlife. I want to see every mountain, every lake, every river and every stream. 

I’m sure the boyfriend does too, but for now, he’s too infatuated with the sight of mountains to get beyond gawking. It’s like they’re pinup girls. They leave him speechless, with a gaping mouth. 

I’m not complaining, though. I mean, at least he’s staring at mountains, right? 

DISCLAIMER: The Last Word is an opinion column, it is meant to provoke thought and debate. As such, any opinions written here are the writer’s own and do not reflect the viewpoint of any other Fitzhugh staff member or the directors of the Jasper Media Group Inc.