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The Prairies
Who says they're flat and boring?
July, 1997
We
crossed the prairies on a series of minor roads, sometimes even gravel
roads. In doing this, instead of tearing monotonously along Highway 1,
we realized that this region is actually full of interest, and that interest
is divided between the huge sky above the endless horizon, and the detail
of roadside ditches and hedgerows, the thousands of weed-clogged ponds
and lakes, the multi-coloured fields.
We watched hawks and eagles flap heavily away from fence posts. We drove through clouds of dragon-flies. There were hundreds of abandoned homesteads and collapsing barns, rotting silos.
We
loved the prairies, both north and south of the border. There are gullies
and badlands slicing into the plateau. Each community has its silo, its
brick-built bank, its grocery store. Many have parks and small (often
free) camp sites. Trees heavy with summer leaves shade old houses. Elderly
ladies sit on porches.
But of course we were seeing the prairies in the summer, when temperatures (and often humidity) are high. In the winter we'd probably hate to be here!
In the Canadian prairies we found a town and a lake named after Lenore, and a..er..hamlet named after Ralph.
| ALBERTA | SASKATCHEWAN | MANITOBA | WESTWARD |