I’ve lived in Canada for 18 years now, and I absolutely love it here. The people are lovely, and the nature is undeniably splendid. However, one thing I miss is having being able to visit the place that I used to roam as a kid. Those places where I’ve made so many memories, like my grandparents’ house, or the courtyard in front of my apartment building are only reachable with the help of a very long, and very expensive flight, so I don’t get to go much. That is probably part of the reason why I love learning about Shane’s childhood memories in North Vancouver and the Okanagan, because I can sort of take them as approximations of my own, and actually visit the places and do the things whenever we want!
One of the top spots from Shane’s childhood in the Okanagan is Summerland Sweets. It’s a cute little shop, built at the end of a lane with orchards on either sides, with a little tractor in front for children to play on. Inside, you can find fruit jellies, fruit syrups, fruit wines, and of course, ice cream. The proper Summerland Sweets procedure consists of trying all the available fruit jellies, ordering your ice cream, and then eating it while going for a walk across a trestle bridge that’s just down the lane.
When Shane and his brother were kids, the bridge did not have wooden boardwalks on either side of the train tracks, and felt altogether more dangerous. Shane knew that if they ran out onto the bridge, their mum would not follow them, so they took full advantage. Now we are able to walk across without a creeping fear that we’ll end up in the river below.
When my brother Daniel started coming with us to Peachland, I was excited to introduce him to the Summerland Sweets + trestle bridge tradition. In fact, it’s one of his favourite activities to do in the Okanagan. I think he also values the repetitive, traditional quality of the activity. These are some portraits I took of Daniel while we were out for an ice cream walk.
