My cousin pointed out an interesting characterstic that many of these people share. They are all from somewhere else. Well okay...not all of them, but a huge majority are. People from across Canada and the rest of the world move to B.C. to ski, bike, rock climb, sea kayak, and take part in other such activities. They come out here by themselves, or to raise little "extremelings". Once here they buy toyotas and nissans or, better yet, real imports with right-side drive. They get season passes, and park passes. All come because of the strong attraction to the lifestyle that we British Columbians enjoy. The thing that I find fascinating in all this is that the people who are the most persistent about portraying the west coast image are the ones who are from someplace else. I thought this was a phenomenon reserved for a select few places: B.C., California, New York etc. Last night I finally connected it to St. John's Newfoundland as well.
Although Newfoundland and B.C. are vastly different places they each offer solace for a different kind of extremist. Here on The Rock I'm talking about the "amateur musician and music scene enthusiast extremist" (I definitely have to start calling these people "AMMSEE's" for short). Often when I go downtown to see music the bands are from away but have moved to St. John's and set up shop. The audience is largely CFA's (come from aways) that want the real experience. I would argue that for aspiring musicians across the country, there is no more enticing place than St. John's. It's hard to get professional entertainment to this outpost and therefore small time local-ish bands in St. John's thrive more than they would anywhere else. The community in general makes it comfortable for musicians to set up, from the cheap rent to the ample bars to perform in. The jam spaces and "make an album in 30 day challenges" of Newfoundland are the mountain bike parks and rail contests of B.C.
I understand that there are natives from each of these places that do indulge in the activities they are most known for, but they go about it in a less boisterous way. I ski and bike, but I don't advertise that I do. The advertising comes from the people so pumped up about the place they have uprooted themselves to go be part of it, whether it is music or kayaking. In the end however,the more you are actually a part of something the less you need to insist that you are.
Contemplating this migratory wonder I am brought to the conclusion that the land really does shape the people. And if the land you were born on is in the Sudbury area of Ontario, you may need to get out west to rock climb. If you were born in Vancouver, you might need to get out to St. John's to get your band heard on a regular basis. All us residents that bookend this country with our limitless athletic and musical activities should ask only one thing of the middle. Please keep feeding us out here, because though the middle parts may not appear as glorious as the ragged edges. I certainly don't want to go back to a diet of only cod and root vegetables.