> H O M E

It’s been a little over a year now since I started my current job. Tonight as I was flying back from Fredericton (via Halifax — that one never fails to crack me up) and watching Montreal during our final approach, it occurred to me how much of a routine this has become. Sit on the left, usually 12A or 13A on Embraers like tonight, to be just ahead of the wing and get the most of it. According to my Aeroplan account, this was my 53rd flight on AC, UA or US. Add to that maybe a dozen segments on non Star Alliance carriers, with an average of one connexion per trip, that’s probably 15-20 landings over Montreal in the past year.

Yet I don’t seem to be growing tired of the view. The approach really is quite a sight, especially coming from the West or South. The flight path circles east of downtown, around Mount Royal and over Outremont and VSL. Every time I go through the same ritual, spotting the bridges first, then almost immediately Place Ville Marie and its unmistakable rotating beacon. From there I can easily locate our ‘new’ downtown office building. As we circle the mountain the University of Montreal tower and St Joseph’s Oratory both come into sight, both major visual anchor points in our borough of Côte-des-Neiges. Then the Decarie expressway and the Hampstead Apartments tower both suddenly appear as we get closer to the ground — that’s my place right there, just a block away! Finally, almost right in the axis of the approach, my former office building zooms by, sitting in the middle of the Place Vertu shopping centre, a mere couple of kilometres from the end of the runway. Next thing I know, we’ve touched down and start waiting for AC ground crews to prep a jet bridge and unload our luggage — which, in YUL, can take a while. Although to be fair, since the start of the Great Water Scare I’ve been checking bags more often than not, and AC and the various airports I’ve been through have done an outstanding job at routing my bag — special kudos to the Halifax crews who’ve consistently pulled it off, even on connections as short as 20 mins.

Anyway, I’ve been in Montreal for exactly two years today, and it always amazes me how much the city means to me already. Especially seeing it from above, I realize how much history I have in these multitude of places all over the city. I don’t seem to experience this anywhere else, not to this level anyway — this is more than just memories, it’s a definite connection to the place, a sense of belonging. We might end up leaving Montreal somewhere down the road, but this will always be home.