Houses In Which I've Lived

So, on my 2002 summer trip, I managed to get pictures of all the places (that still existed) where I had lived in the Maritimes.  That gave me the idea of putting together a page of places I'd lived.  And here it is.

 The first place I remember living.  229 Charlotte St, Fredericton, N.B.  We lived in the left side of the duplex, with the Browns, an older couple, on the right.  To the right, out of the shot, is the apartment building which was under construction when I was 4.  I fell into the basement and got the scar on my forehead.  And probably a  concussion - but I don't remember! (Get it?  'Cause the concussion...  Yeah.)

16 Swanton St, St. John, N.B.  We moved here in the summer of... 1968, I believe.  We had a brick barbeque pit out back, with prints of all the children's hands.  Also, the back yard opened onto fields and trees, which are now more subdivisions. I remember being allowed to stay up past midnight, drinking coffee and eating Oreo^tm cookies, when I was 8 in the summer of 1969, to watch the Apollo moon landing on our new colour TV.

Rural Route 3 (or 2?  I can't recall), Titusville, N.B.  I remember we moved in November, after my birthday, and that the Grey Cup was on while moving.  This house had 100 acres of land attached.  My older sister had a horse.  We boarded sheep and cows - my brother raised ducks.  There were cats, and a dog, and rabbits.  We were basically free-range children.  The closest neighbour is 1/2 mile to the left.

 The front drive.  I think we moved here in 1972.  All the trees you see were planted by family members other than me. Just under the pine tree on the right you can see the remains of the barn/shed we built.  One of the central features of the house is a spiral staircase built around a (in my memory) huge tree trunk.  The house is very old, and we had a ghost named Alice.

In the summer of 1974 (if memory serves), we moved to 3 Gerald Blvd, Moncton, N.B. Kind of a huge change, from the house plus land to a mobile home - of course it was 14 feet by 70 ft. - the largest available at the time. Down the hill the trailer park ended and became the salt marsh, where we bicycled and set fire to things, and later I had my first motorcycle accidents.  My mother despaired of my elbows ever healing that first summer. Every time the bandages were removed, I'd dump the bike in the dirt.

Summer of '78.  I was going to UNB in Fredericton in the fall, and debating residence or living with my paternal grandfather.  Fate removed the question - Grampy died and the whole family moved to 453 Westmoreland St., Fredericton, N.B.   There have been comments made that the picture does not allow you to see that this is the center of Fredericton and there are houses on every side.  Thanks.  The blue spruce on the right was no bigger than me when I was, oh, 5.  Mom and dad still live here - it has been much improved.

In 83-84 I attended school in Lawrencetown, N.S.  The one in the Annapolis Valley, not the one near Halifax (luckily, for my marks).  I shared the house with 5 other students.  The window on the bottom right marks my room.  My studies lasted a full year, so for the spring I had the downstairs to myself, and for the summer the whole upstairs was mine.  The mailing address was P.O. Box 86, but mail addressed to "Yellow House by railway tracks" and "Church House" (there's a church to the right) also got through.

 In September of '84, I worked for a month at the Bedford Institute of Oceanography, and lived in Dartmouth, N.S.  But when I went by the spot, the building was gone (or, fairly, I was lost). That month was my first experience in an apartment, and it was to continue.  In October of '84, I started working in Toronto, ON, and got a place here.  75 Thornecliffe Park Drive ("A good place to live, work, shop" according to a sign that is no longer there.) was my new home. It was a bachelor apt., with a bathroom that you had to go through a walk-in closet to find. And it was an excellent introduction to living closely with other cultures.

In (about) 1987, I moved to this "railway" apartment at 376 Queen St. East. (Railway because it is long and narrow. And thus has almost no ventilation).  When I lived there with Kath and Judy (and Kath's boyfriend as a bonus), the downstairs tenant was a temp labour agency, so at 6:00 a.m. the smoking, swearing and yelling would start.  Yee-ha.  But it was great to be seconds from everything downtown.

But by 1988 (or '89), Kath had gone off to marry the boyfriend, and Judy had a little place of her own at Church and Dundonald, so I moved in with a work roommate at 1423 Mississauga Valley Blvd.  Ah  Mississauga. Lot's of greenery in this area.  I stayed here for a long time.  Work roommate left, and my brother moved in for a year or so.  Finally I was occupying the three-bedroom apartment alone.  And I stayed there, moderately happily, for over 10 years altogether.