Let’s Chat: My happy place

By Linda Tooth on November 13, 2024.

Is there one place on this Earth that is your favourite to visit? I have a few, depending on the season, but right now as I sit in my hotel room I have to say it is Canmore.

This town of a little more than 17,000 has captured my attention and my heart. I am a Prairie girl who loves the wide open space, but there is something about the mountains that makes me happy to be alive.

Maybe it is the clean mountain air. I feel calm and have slept well since we have been here.

We walked miles in a rain-snow mix one day to miles in sunshine the next. That is what they do here in Canmore, and they do it with their dogs.

I am that person who will stop strangers just so I can say hello to their dogs. Do not worry, I have not forgotten about my love of cats, but nobody walks them here. The police might be called if I went up to strangers’ doors and asked if they had a cat and then I would have to explain who I am and my love of community cats.

Anyway, back to Canmore, I wanted to know more about this majestic town so I did some research and found out that Canmore, like Medicine Hat, traces its roots back to the CPR coming through in the late 1800s. According to Canmore Kananaskis, Indigenous Peoples hunted bison in the Bow Valley before the arrival of Europeans, and apparently left behind archeological evidence dating back some 8,000 years.

That is amazing.

Also, the name of Canmore is Celtic for Caeen Mor, meaning ‘Big Head.’ This translates to elevated stature or height.

Thanks to Queen Victoria granting a coal-mining charter in 1886, the town of Canmore became busy with coal-mining until 1979 when operations ceased.

The thought was that this area would quietly die out, but thanks to the Calgary Olympics in 1988, the Nordic events took place in Canmore and tourism began to take over.

Restaurants, pubs, coffee shops, a bookstore and so much more are must visits when you are here. If you know me you will not be surprised to know I spent more time in the bookstore than anywhere else.

Of course, I do not want you to think I forgot about Banff, just 20 minutes further down the Trans-Canada. We did go there and we lasted two hours.

It is definitely for tourists and that is OK. We got what we wanted and then got back into our car and drove to Lake Minnewanka, just outside Banff. This glacial lake is so majestic.

It is worth the drive out of Banff if you are looking for peace, tranquility and incredible views of the mountains.

After the past 10 months of chaos and medical concerns, we needed to get away for a few days to recharge, and we did that in Canmore. I love this place!

Mother Teresa is quoted as saying, “Peace begins with a smile.”

I am smiling in Canmore.

Have a Meowtastic Day!

Linda Tooth is positive culture co-ordinator at Sanare Centre

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