Sketches from a Steveston Housesit
There’s a certain beauty to a wintry day along the Fraser River waterfront in Steveston, BC. There’s snow on the wooden walkways leading out to the fishing boats, dirty grey snow on the lumps of mud at low tide, and the weeds in the ditches are barely visible through a thin layer of ice. Dark grey clouds mask the light-grey mountains in the distance, and the water is a steely grey. A sombre palette, broken only by gulls riding the wind currents and a tugboat towing a bright-red Seaspan barge upriver.
A loud horn shatters the silence as I walk back from the grocery store. For years, the whistle blew at 10 am, 12 pm, and 5 pm, punctuating the workday at the Gulf of Georgia Cannery. The cannery is no longer operational. Neither are the Britannia Shipyards, but they remain significant parts of Steveston’s culture, drawing tourists to the village.
Despite the forecast of snow, it’s a sunny day and the tourists are lining up in front of two ice cream stores side by side. For those seeking a more substantial meal, there’s no shortage of options – from fish and chips to pizza and sushi. At Steveston Pizza, you can splurge on a 12” pizza topped with a “medley of tiger prawns, lobster ratatouille, smoked steelhead, Russian Osetra caviar, snowed with Italian truffles”. Prize tag: $850.
Pizza Factory offers so many choices: Spicy Mango Paneer, Black Bean Veggie Taco, Veggie Pepperoni, Tandoori Chicken Margherita … the list goes on and on.
The supermarket is carefully camouflaged with old-fashioned siding and signage with two floors of housing up above. It’s attractive but somewhat surreal; the setting for a movie or a day out, not real life.
My friends avoid the boardwalk on weekends as there are too many tourists. There’s a price to pay for living in a pretty waterfront community. And yet, this is a healthy, thriving community. Kids are playing hockey on a makeshift ice rink in the park, and there’s an active tai chi club, ukelele group, and Rotary.
