Saskatchewan's secret beauty
Well, it's no secret to me. I've always loved it here. I wait around for the 3 good crocus days of spring and then beetle it out to a pasture somewhere so I can walk through God's purple blanket. I LOVE how the sun sparkles over the horizon of the prairie just before it sets.
This week I saw the most glorious sundog. Actually I thought it was a nuclear attack on Dundurn at first (no lie!). There was a brilliant ball of fire just over the surface of the snow, and I happened to be driving toward Dundurn... what world am I living in that my mind automatically thinks, "nuke!" But the 'bomb' moved with me, and when I moved my sunshield I realized that there was a beautiful circular rainbow all around the sun, with a blazing ball of fire sitting on the snow directly below it. I'd never seen anything like that. Maybe that's not a sundog. Maybe it's a dirty windshield. Either way, it was incredible. You can't see that kinda stuff in BC.
I was in Fort Qu'Appelle for 2 days. What a gorgeous gorge (tee hee). I wish I had time to ski at Mission Ridge - you can watch the slalom from the window of the room where I led the workshop. A hike through the hills at least would have been great. I watched deer walk past my motel room door every morning. I could have sat outside in the trees all evening and just watched the stars an listened for hoof clops. (On the last day, one of the ladies staying in the same motel as me asked if I'd found the hot tub that was in the cabin in the alcove of trees - D'OH!!!)
I met some really nice gals. They are secure in who they are, they know where they've come from, they're genuinely kind to one another, they're committed to their kids, and they hold such honour and respect for life. They taught me a lot and I am really glad to have met them. I was also humbled and disgusted to learn that the last residential school in Sask. only closed in '96. '96! That's deplorable. I used to wonder why there were no native kids in my small town school, back in the 80s. Today I realize also that our school system, unless things have changed a whole lot lately, keeps our children pathetically ignorant of the history of Saskatchewan people, which are our First Nations. It's too bad. We're missing out.
This week I saw the most glorious sundog. Actually I thought it was a nuclear attack on Dundurn at first (no lie!). There was a brilliant ball of fire just over the surface of the snow, and I happened to be driving toward Dundurn... what world am I living in that my mind automatically thinks, "nuke!" But the 'bomb' moved with me, and when I moved my sunshield I realized that there was a beautiful circular rainbow all around the sun, with a blazing ball of fire sitting on the snow directly below it. I'd never seen anything like that. Maybe that's not a sundog. Maybe it's a dirty windshield. Either way, it was incredible. You can't see that kinda stuff in BC.
I was in Fort Qu'Appelle for 2 days. What a gorgeous gorge (tee hee). I wish I had time to ski at Mission Ridge - you can watch the slalom from the window of the room where I led the workshop. A hike through the hills at least would have been great. I watched deer walk past my motel room door every morning. I could have sat outside in the trees all evening and just watched the stars an listened for hoof clops. (On the last day, one of the ladies staying in the same motel as me asked if I'd found the hot tub that was in the cabin in the alcove of trees - D'OH!!!)
I met some really nice gals. They are secure in who they are, they know where they've come from, they're genuinely kind to one another, they're committed to their kids, and they hold such honour and respect for life. They taught me a lot and I am really glad to have met them. I was also humbled and disgusted to learn that the last residential school in Sask. only closed in '96. '96! That's deplorable. I used to wonder why there were no native kids in my small town school, back in the 80s. Today I realize also that our school system, unless things have changed a whole lot lately, keeps our children pathetically ignorant of the history of Saskatchewan people, which are our First Nations. It's too bad. We're missing out.
Labels: nature, Saskatchewan
posted by Connie Jones at 9:21 AM
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