Saskatchewan, Naturally

Where do you go
To see the grain grow
Saskatchewan, naturally
For the birth of Medicare
I need to go where?
Saskatchewan, naturally
For dark sky views
Where should you choose?
Saskatchewan, naturally
To join the RCMP,
Where should you be?
Saskatchewan, naturally
I need potash galore, 
Where can I find more?
Saskatchewan, naturally
If you only relate
To borders that are straight
Saskatchewan, naturally
When you like to wine and dine
In many hours of sunshine
Saskatchewan, naturally

Yes Saskatchewan has all these things
And many other joys it brings
You might think it's kind of scary 
Because it's flat and endless prairie
But that's Sasatchewan--naturally. 
 

Pitchers in the Clover

Three wee tykes
In fields at play
They made their pitch for lives ahead
Dreams in clover, dare to tread
Where are they now?
No one can say
Perhaps to dust they have returned
A final rest, well-loved, well-earned
The marks they made in history burned

 

Fanfare for the Unknown Couple

Ba, ba--bum ba ba
Pum pum ba ba bum ba ba
Lum de dum ba pum pum pum
ba, ba--bum ba ba
 

Two Ladies in Aylsham

That might be my grandmother on the right...or one of her sisters. 
 

Robert Stone Woods on the Farm

Dad's grandfather, Robert Stone Woods, sometime in the 1930s. He looks like a character from The Grapes of Wrath. 
 

Outlaw Suzie

This photo from Granddad's album is labelled simply, "Outlaw Suzie 1941." Are Outlaw and Suzie the horses? Or is Outlaw Suzie one of the horses? Is Outlaw Suzie the man holding the reins? We'll never know. 
 

Saskatchewan Steeds of 1940

I believe that's my grandfather, William Woods, in the last photo. He's short enough and seems to have Dad's hair and face. 
 

Pickup Trucks

I really like the off-kilter composition of this photo, as if the trucks are leaning into the sidewalk. Very strange. 

I believe this is Dad's Aunt Amelia (Mely), and Uncle Bill in 1940. 

Grandma and the Snowman

Here's our paternal grandmother, Hope Woods, with a short-statured, fully clothed snowman. Or is it a snowman? The head looks more like paper with a face drawn onto it. Another strange mystery from the Woods family tree. OHO pun not intended, but I'll keep it. 
 

Plough Horses

This photo was right next to yesterday's in Granddad's photo album, and seems to have been shot a nearly the same place and time. I believe our grandparents lived in Aylsham, Saskatchewan, at this time, though I could be wrong about that. Look how tall the guy in the foreground looks compared to the person I think could be Granddad, based on Sean's comments yesterday and my own reflection. What a hardscrabble place it looks; I remember well how Dad told us his parents struggled to eke out a living here. 

National Cafe Rooms

 Based on some Internet sleuthing, it's possible that this photo of Grandma was shot in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. 

Grandma at Prince Albert National Park

Here's a picture of my paternal grandmother standing on a car at the entrance to Prince Albert National Park in June, 1941. Can anyone identify the make and model of the car? 

I've been to Prince Albert a few times, but I'm not sure if I've ever been to its namesake national park. Something to add to the list . . . 
 

Memory Wall

I picked up this wall-hanger thing for sixteen bucks and used it to display about 75% of my collection of buttons and pins dating from the 1970s to the 2020s. This saves a little bit of closet space and, more importantly, puts the nostalgia out where I can see it.
 

The 2030 NHL Expansion

Sean (and many others) were quite happy about the latest Edmonton Oilers win in the current NHL Stanley Cup playoffs. During a text discussion, the Florida Panthers were misnamed the Florida Planters. I jumped on the typo, saying that Atlanta should have a team called the Georgia Planters. Sean responded with some AI-generated art, including an adorable mascot (above) and a couple of jersey designs: 

Inspired, I turned to Bing Image Generator and asked it to create some jerseys for hypothetical future teams. Sports fans, please welcome

The Saskatchewan Saskatoons! 

The Halifax Schooners!

The Tijuana Fiesta! 

And the Reykjavík Vikings! 

Dad on the Left

Here are two recently rediscovered photos of Dad, on the left in both images. The boy on the right is George Wells. This would have been shot in Nipawin, Saskatchewan, sometime in the early 1940s; maybe 1944, assuming Dad is two years old in these images. 

Father's Day 2019

It's our first Father's Day without Dad, and it's hard. Here's something Mom found online a few months ago: a photograph of the church and manse in Rocanville, Saskatchewan. Dad was born in that manse in 1942. Miss you, Dad. 

George and Elizabeth in Saskatchewan

This photo was taken by one of my paternal grandparents back in June 1939, possibly in Moose Range, Saskatchewan. Stepping up to the rail we see King George and Queen Elizabeth I; this would have been shot during their 1939 tour of Canada. Grandma's writing on the back suggests that her brother-in-law, Lawrence Woods (yes, Woods; three brothers married three sisters), is in this photo somewhere; perhaps he's the fellow at the far left?

Pretty amazing they could get this close to the reigning monarch.

EDIT: Not Queen Elizabeth I, of course, but Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Elizabeth I reigned from 1558-1603. 

Saskatchewan Sunset, 2006

Shadow Over America: Antumbra

Fargo bustles, but we are too tired and short on time to explore. For us, it's a way station, our last stop before heading home.

The road home is long but familiar. We're treated to a particularly gorgeous sunset over Saskatchewan before pulling over for a few hours' rest in the car. After that fitful sleep we push on for home. And just like that, it's over - a once-in-a-lifetime experience we'll carry with us forevermore.

Shadow Over America, Prelude: Sunset in Sedley

To Estevan, after the sunset at Sedley, Saskatchewan, where I find in the dusty soil of the convenience store parking lot a Lego head, defiant on one face, grinning on the other. Kept as our talisman, we store our trophy in the crossover's console and journey on, pausing to recuperate just before the border, passports sweating nervously in my G&G travel bag.