Vankleek Hill

Vankleek Hill, originally uploaded by Sbmoot.

Vankleek Hill is a very small place. You can walk from one end to the other in about 15 minutes, I'd guess - though I haven't tried it. Certainly, you can walk the length of main street in less than that if you don't window shop.

But this place, for its size, is surprisingly vibrant and ... dare I say? Cool. There are, of course, lots of century homes and run-down rural buildings of all kinds, along with lots of random bored young people. But the fact remains that if I had children this is the kind of place where I'd like to raise them.

Cas and were talking yesterday about small towns. Vankleek Hill is the kind of place that gets idealized in American folklore - the small town in the country, surrounded by farms, where everybody knows everybody's business. In Canadian folklore, it's the kind of place where people freeze to death in winter after having had a bit too much to drink, or where a series of sordid murders happens, perpetrated by some disaffected pig farmer.

As far as I can tell, there are no pig farmers near Vankleek Hill. There are cattle, sheep, horses and llamas... but no pigs. No poultry, either. At least none that I have seen. So maybe we'll avoid the gruesome murders and ensuing media attention. As for freezing to death, I have a feeling that you could just knock on a neighbour's door and they'd warm you up with a nice draught of something warm before sending you home.

Mind you, I was somewhat disconcerted to learn that a village of fewer than 2000 souls apparently needs a food bank. It bears watching. More to come, no doubt.