Page 10 - Giv'er Miramichi Magazine - Summer Giver 2024

People of the River

By Doug Dolan

Hi and welcome. My name is upriver from here. Watching the a boy and young man. Our small
Douglas, but I prefer Doug. These sunsets, we were captivated by a community of Miramichi had an
senior apartments are comfortable with montage of rich red, orange and purple outsized reputation for its many
many services, a fine staff, and friendly hues. They were framed by clouds characters and so was a perfect
fellow residents. refracting the light into a kaleidoscope classroom. Those people were ordinary
But what I most enjoy is often of subtle colours. folks, with many quietly living
beyond my reach now. My arthritic My father, a man of practical extraordinary lives.
knees sometimes kick up when I want persuasion, was driven to an artistic The Miramichi region has
to look at the river. But this warm July obsession trying to capture those experienced massive changes over time,
evening soothes those knees and allows passing sunsets through the lens of his some of which will alter its future. Most
me to stand at the window. I watch the camera. The photos numbered in the of the characters of my youth are gone,
river gliding powerfully and silently hundreds. I have one here. You can see but there remains a uniqueness and
past just a few hundred feet away. the last rays of the setting sun peek quite strength in the people of the river.
This community of Miramichi, above our nearby island, which appears Doug Dolan, a local author
New Brunswick, was once a port for ink-black and brooding. The river is a recently published Stories From the
large cargo ships from all parts of the mirror reflecting in dazzling precision River, a memoir of his life on the
world. It shut down with the collapse of the rose-tinted clouds. Miramichi. Copies can be
the forestry industry. The river nurtured Dad and Mom taught me to learn purchased from the author,
my body and soul; first as a boy and from people and events I experienced as dougdolan1953@gmail.com.
then as a young man, I spent countless
hours rowing a punt (square-end
rowboat). The river and I became
friends. I learned her moods, with the
wind and currents acting as guides.
A southwest breeze on a quiet
summer morning was particularly
exhilarating, gently caressing my face
as I rowed into it. Painful at first when
forming, the thick calluses on my hands
became evidence of my joy with the
river. Combined with my muscled arms
and legs, I felt invincible, the pride of
youth.
My parents and I enjoyed many
summer evenings on our verandah, a bit Photo by Chirayu Patel, Centennial Bridge

10 www.GiverMiramichi.com Summer 2024