There was a two-shelf bookcase in the grade 11 and 12 classroom of the school I attended in Craik, Saskatchewan. That bookcase was our school library. I read every book in that bookcase during the two years I spent in that classroom, mostly during class time. I don't remember any of the books except for … Continue reading History is not mathematics
Saskatchewan
Midweek Reflection N° 2
Joe drove me home after the bar closed. When we arrived in the village where I lived all the houses were dark, except one where we saw a light in the kitchen window. We had imbibed enough alcohol that pounding on the back door of that house at one in the morning seemed a perfectly … Continue reading Midweek Reflection N° 2
Rambling thoughts
Today is a holiday, not a national holiday but one that is observed, under different names, in every part of Canada except Yukon, Newfoundland and Quebec. Here in Saskatchewan it is called Saskatchewan Day. A singer-songwriter released a new Saskatchewan song today. I listened to it once and wondered whatever happened to songs that everyone … Continue reading Rambling thoughts
Surprised by beauty
We live on the Saskatchewan plains; some folks think there's not much to see here. Yet there is beauty all around us. Most of it is close to the ground, so one has to keep his eyes open as he travels. Taking a walk on the open prairie is a way to discover beauty that … Continue reading Surprised by beauty
Surviving the weather apocalypse
I was almost five years old when the great blizzard of 1947 hit southern Saskatchewan. After it was over my mother took a photo of me standing on top of what must have been an almost 10 metre snowdrift. Our driveway passed through multiple rows of trees and that snowdrift fully blocked it. A passenger … Continue reading Surviving the weather apocalypse
Lows and highs of August
August 1 was anniversary number 55 for Chris and I. We were tentatively planning a short trip to Moose Jaw where it all started. But that was for later. Today we were taking Chris's serger to a sewing machine repair shop in Saskatoon. The serger had sat in one place in her sewing room for … Continue reading Lows and highs of August
Scattered thoughts on a rainy Saturday morning
A few years ago I complained to my doctor about the arthritic pains I feel at times. His response was: "Well, you're eighty years old. What do you expect?" (In defense of my doctor, my arthritis pains have never come to stay in any particular joint, they come and go in different places.) Perhaps Saskatchewan … Continue reading Scattered thoughts on a rainy Saturday morning
The road home is always shorter
We left home Thursday afternoon to get to Carrot River for the last day of school at Pasquia Hills Christian School. This wasn't only the end of a school term, it was the end of our granddaughter Tami's three years of teaching there. She has other plans for the coming fall and winter. We stopped … Continue reading The road home is always shorter
Canadian Writers Should Write About Canadian Places and People
I listened to Jake and the Kid every Sunday afternoon on CBC Radio when I was a young lad (I was 14 when the series ended). These were people that I knew. Jake, the Kid, and all the other characters could have been people in my home town. The grass, the fields, the sky, the … Continue reading Canadian Writers Should Write About Canadian Places and People
Prairie Pride
A family from one of the US congregations of our church has been in France for two years now, engaging in what I would call pathfinder mission work. By that I mean they are travelling all over France to see if there are people with a hunger for the gospel and Christian fellowship, and to … Continue reading Prairie Pride
