moose pillows

Something strange happens to you once you've lived several years as an ex-pat. Some may call it homesickness. Others may refer to it as nostalgia. I call it a healthy sense of patriotic identity.

For me, it started with missing those things that I encountered daily: the CBC and the Globe and Mail, Tim Horton's, French on boxes of cereal. Then it manifested itself as cravings for foods unavailable in my new country of residence: ketchup chips, Peak Freans fruit creme cookies, Coffee Crisp chocolate bars. Most recently, after having lived now for over 4 years as a Canadian in the States, it has revealed itself as a sudden penchant for all things kitsch about my home country.

Case in point: A true indicator that I've entered this third phase occurred when I was staying at a lodge in Canmore, Alberta during a trip for a friend's wedding. Of course, there was the typical ski chalet/log cabin decor (see: furniture made from tree branches) as well as the magnificent backdrop of the Rocky Mountains that played a role in sending me into this fit of nostalgia. But despite the jackrabbit wall mounts and the twig clothes pegs, what really caught my attention were these garish pillows on which the silhouettes of moose were stitched onto a background of lumberjack plaid. What could reek more of rustic Canadiana? And yet, I took an oddly particular liking to them. So much so that I considered stuffing one into my bag (but then thought against that since I was staying in the lodge under my friend's hospitality).

Perhaps not surprisingly, there's a store that caters to maple leaf-obsessed individuals such as myself. Luckily, it's far far away from me, up in Toronto. Best to keep it that way.

CONSUMED: Paintbox Lodge; Canmore, Alberta