Image by Bee Iyata from Pixabay Can't stand the smoke, can't stand the heat, we've got to get out of this place. We are in the middle of the hottest driest summer in years. Farmers are giving up on getting a grain harvest on some of their fields and cutting the grain for green feed for cattle. Hay … Continue reading Making our escape
prairies
Too close for comfort
The days are getting short, the nights cold. These are the days when folks used to gather around the Quebec heater to visit. Stoves like the one in the picture below were found in most Saskatchewan farm homes, and in most stores. Most wood stoves still come from Quebec, for the same reason that most … Continue reading Too close for comfort
Maple bug lament
Boisea trivitatta - box elder bug - commonly known as maple bug in Saskatchewan They come marching into the house in fall. They can fly, but mostly I see them plodding up the walls, down the walls, across the ceiling, across the table, across the back of my hand. They are so light-footed that I … Continue reading Maple bug lament
The education of a pioneer bride
The first settlers on the Saskatchewan plains were faced with a quandary – there were no large trees that could be cut to build log houses, and lumber yards were usually far away. So they set to work to build their first homes out of the material under their feet – the sod. This was … Continue reading The education of a pioneer bride
Double-decker church planting
I grew up in a town I shall call Seagull, Saskatchewan. This is a fictional name, as are all the other names given in this account, but the events are true to life as best as my memory serves. Like all other prairie towns, there were a number of tall wooden grain elevators lining the … Continue reading Double-decker church planting
A tree falls on the prairie
One hundred years ago, settlers came to the flatlands of Saskatchewan. No need for axes and saws to fell trees, just a team of oxen and a plough to turn the virgin sod and prepare it for a first crop. Of course, the lack of trees also meant a lack of building materials, so the … Continue reading A tree falls on the prairie
Unexpected beauty
These are the flowers of scarlet mallow, a low growing plant that shows up in unexpected places here on the prairies, almost hidden among the grass. The plant is only about six inches high, the flowers about a half inch in diameter. When I was a boy I would ask my Dad what those little … Continue reading Unexpected beauty
Flatlander Faith 