My relationship to Winnipeg is not uncomplicated, but is dominated by genuine love for this place. I love it here. That’s been my response to everyone back in Toronto asking how it’s going in Winnipeg: a heartfelt “I love it here”. And I do.
I haven’t always loved it here. I knew from a very young age that I was going to leave. At 17, I couldn’t get out of here fast enough after finishing high school (Dakota Collegiate, 1999). I wanted to be somewhere bigger and livelier, where I could meet new people and reinvent myself. Weather was not part of my motivation; fear of inertia was. I didn’t want to be one of the people that never went anywhere. What’s so wrong with never going anywhere? Nothing, really; there’s a huge diversity of experiences to be had right here in Winnipeg. But my horizons were always wide, distant, and irresistible. I had to follow that incredible pink and purple sunset - not knowing that it would never be as beautiful as it is right here.
That’s what’s struck me most since moving home. The sheer beauty of this place. I’ve even started an IG account, though I’m a big social media hater, to document Winnipeg’s remarkable aesthetics (@winnipegisararebeauty). The statuesque trees in my new neighborhood against the backdrop of that enormous blue sky - the bluest sky in the world. The sunrise, the sunset, the sunshine on the sparkling river when I cross the Disraeli footbridge. The bridges themselves; fine and evocative structures from Arlington to Salter. The stunning green of the parks all summer and the inviting carpet of soft snow we had for two weeks in mid-October. It’s a gorgeous city, and in my mind, absolutely unparalleled in it’s beauty.
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