Alcohol had once enabled me to admit my interest in some day becoming a Mennonite, but the three other people who heard that statement didn’t take it seriously and never again mentioned it. My two trips into Regina to attend a Mennonite church had gone completely unnoticed by those who knew me. I was quite … Continue reading Life takes some unexpected turns
Memoir
Belle Plaine, continued
My prescription for the heart pills ran out about as soon as I got settled in Belle Plaine. The doctor who had originally prescribed them had retired in the meantime so I saw Doctor Gass. He flatly refused to renew the prescription. I thought I needed it and tried to argue with him. "You don't … Continue reading Belle Plaine, continued
Belle Plaine years
In 1966 Belle Plaine had all of 16 houses, two grain elevators, three other small businesses and a school that was no longer used. UGG rented one of the houses for their elevator manager. I had learned the basics of weighing and unloading grain by now, how to grade it and determine dockage and how … Continue reading Belle Plaine years
Learning the grain business
This temporary job with United Grain Growers lasted about seven years. The Moose Jaw elevator was only a few years old, still one of the old style wooden elevators, but with a scale and hoist that would accommodate a semi. Albert Simmie was the manager, nearing retirement and needing a helper. My job was pretty … Continue reading Learning the grain business
Dennis to the rescue
During the time I had been away in Toronto my folks had sold the little farm at Craik and bought an older two storey house in Moose Jaw. It wasn’t hard getting used to living in Moose Jaw, it was where I was born, we had family in the city and had made frequent trips … Continue reading Dennis to the rescue
The Toronto Interlude
There was a bond between my mother and I that never existed between me and my Dad. The bond with my mother was established at birth and nurtured by years of talking together, working together and playing together. My older cousins have told me of their appreciation for their Uncle Walter. The man they described … Continue reading The Toronto Interlude
A Teenage Failure
It was good to be home again, to eat my mother’s cooking, to sleep in my own bed in my own room, to help out around the farm and to visit the old buffalo rubbing stone, my rock of refuge. I was sure that the people in town thought of me as already a failure … Continue reading A Teenage Failure
A Vagrant Without a Clue
I didn’t report the theft of the money to anyone. I never considered asking anyone for help or advice. To admit the theft would be to admit how stupid I was and face the humiliation of being publicly denounced for my stupidity. That was my state of mind at least. I don’t remember many details … Continue reading A Vagrant Without a Clue
I wasn’t grown up yet
In the fall of 1959 I left home to go to university. The question of what I wanted to be when I grew up seemed to be settled - I would be an architect. During the last years of high school I began to pore over magazines with house floor plans and to draw my … Continue reading I wasn’t grown up yet
The Day I Had to Bully My Father
Two years later we had a very dry summer. About the only things that flourished were the Russian thistles. Then they would dry up, break off at ground level and blow across the prairie landscape. Often they would collect in great masses along fence lines, becoming fire hazards. Dad liked to collect them in a … Continue reading The Day I Had to Bully My Father
Flatlander Faith 