Musing

[written @ 7AM . . sent at noon from the Best Western lobby where hi-speed & a newish computer reside; guess I know where I will stay next time]

29C/84F F , hot calm & clear in Swift Current; we walked along the highway (Trans Canada) for a while, then up to the high school where off-leash meant ‘roam the football field & sniff every gopher hole’ for Gusta; our critter sightings were a sheep filled cattle liner parked at McDonalds & dragon fly carcasses being devoured by bumble-bees & some deer we saw in waist high wheat while watching a near-perfect sunset on a hill SW of town last night

cell phone coverage varies from sporadic to non-existent, high-speed internet at the Safari Inn motel is sssssssslow speed by my standard & people are friendly; things are clean & cheap, neither a Safari or an Inn

I had Gusta out for a stretch & P at a little roadside turnout where she did not understand the consequence of rushing through barbed wire to greet that black Brahma bull sunning himself in that corner of pasture – the epitome of slow motion, he was as oblivious to us as he was to the occasional car that trundled down that road

my descriptions inadequate to describe the special nature of this place; there is something incredible about this quiet country where everything outnumbers the people

Swift Current seems like a pun because the river creek snaking through this vibrant prairie town of 16,300 has neither current or any appearance of movement since it is damned both up & downstream; the trip yesterday was a great afternoon of exploring around Saskatchewan's prime cattle country Maple Creek, Cypress Hills Inter-provincial Park & area - gently rolling high plains where scrubby pasture & active dunes in the sand hills meet waving wheat in breezy Arizona-dry heat

just as Calgarians often overlook the special-ness of our place on the map, underestimating the awe-struckness of visitors, this fellow cannot understand why I find this area of SW Saskatchewan so captivating; I spent some time in the part of Saskatchewan when I was a child on holiday with my parents visiting relatives at Leader; when my mother was a young telephone operator she worked in this area – Maple Creek, Gull Lake & Swift Current so I am back here for the first time in about 25 yrs when we used to visit SK’s friends on their farm near Cabri

I will spend some time this morning with an agent who will show me farms & acreages For Sale; he cannot seem to understand why I would want to investigate buying a home on the range (where the deer & antelope play) here with a barn suitable for renovation-to-residence, just for weekends – thinking I suppose that I am just a weird big-city guy who wants a weekend make-work project 4 ½ hours from home; I see it as worth investigating a 3-day a week place to putter & write & golf - a place to sit outside in silence any time of day or night, where the stars are up close & the air is hot & dry – a place where people don’t lock their doors, where retired couples walking down a street hand in hand on Friday night to pick up a bucket of chicken is a big date

driving in the heat yesterday listening to my new Percy Faith tape (thank you CN&CM) & my audio book (Blink!) perfect background to incredible countryside; hey MW, I saw your stores in Brooks & Redcliff

I have a round of golf this afternoon @ Elmwood Golf Course that runs along the side of the river & will do more countryside exploring around Gull Lake as I make my way back to Calgary tomorrow

Mark

341,980