She lived in Manitoba,
Alberta was her name.
Pious, humble, sober,
And her life untouched by shame.
She was a warehouse loader
To support her mother dear.
And they went to Minnesota
On vacation every year.

And then one day she cried aloud: "I'm almost thirty-three.
If I don't fly the coop today, there'll be no more life for me."
She packed her bag that evening and left before the dawn,
And a note beside the toaster that said: Mother I have gone.

I've gone to find Vancouver
And sit out in the sun
To see the flowers on the trees
And the smiles on everyone.
I'll miss you, darling mother,
And try to write or call,
But when you find Vancouver you may not return at all.

LYSE LEMIEUX (FRENCH): Vancouver is a beautiful city, a city of beautiful people where you can walk through Stanley Park in February and stop for low-fat latte' and go to the opera and afterward eat fresh seafood in a restaurant looking out over the water toward the mountains.

GK: Is that right?

LL (FRENCH): That's right.

GK: It sounds wonderful.

LL: It is wonderful. Believe me.

GK: I believe you.

LL: Good.

GK: He lived in Nova Scotia
Among the cold salt mists
Among the cold emotion --
Ally challenged Calvinists.
They ate oatmeal three times a day
And hardly ever spoke
Except for Christmas Eve when they
Would tell a small dry joke.

And then one day this pale young man said, "Why must life be dull?
Why must all life's joys be marked with a crossbones and a skull?
Why follow what John Knox taught and be depressed and gray?
I'd rather do the foxtrot" and he headed west that day.

He flew out to Vancouver
To lie upon the beach
In his bright red swimsuit
With a Molson't within reach.

He learned to talk to strangers
And smile and relax,
And when they find Vancouver they don't think of Halifax.

GK: You don't experience winter here the same as normal people, do you.

LL (FRENCH): Our average temperature here is 43 degrees in the winter, 66 in the summer.

GK: I envy you.

LL: Where do you come from?

GK: Minnesota.

LL: Ah. (FRENCH) The refrigerator state. The Land of Lutherans.

GK: Yes. Exactly.

LL: Do people there ever dance? Do they laugh? Do they love?

GK: Yes.

LL: Life is short. You should live it while it's here to be lived.

GK: He lived out on the prairie,
A broadcaster by trade,
His fortunes in Ameri-
Ca has long commenced to fade.
Although he'd been successful
In various formats,
He found it rather stressful
Trying to race with younger rats.

One day he thought, "I ought to go,
But where's a place for me?
Where there is sun and not much snow
And they have the CBC?"
A sophisticated city
With natural grandeur near,
And then three lovely syllables
Came drifting to his ear.

Vancouver, son, Vancouver,
When life's become blase,
Just call up the movers,k
And head North to English Bay.
Where half the year is springtime
And half the year is fall,
When they find Vancouver, they may not go home at all.

© 1996 by Garrison Keillor