To a North East Saskatchewan Farm
Zero degrees with a wind chill
Wind pushing car
Green grass and green trees in city
Black dirt out
New Construction soon
Old stubble full of plastic bags
Saskatoon expanded north
A biker heads into the wind
Ducks, geese, hawk go the other way
Three garage acreages have increased
Trucks in a hurry
Smell of anhydrous ammonia
Assails our nostrils
Strong! Lots of water around
More water than we’ve seen
Wrecking road and trees
Seeded summer fallow
Black dirt, black birds, old cattails
No boats on Wakaw Lake
Colder here
Less green all the time
Dark evergreens stand out
Railway bridge still there
Gold stubble flat lands
Green dugout; a windmill
Snow geese migration
Former flood plain drained
Melfort fields
Plastic bags sit
Pastures, fences, bridges, slough
Evergreened yards, white and grey bins
Lots of seeding to be done
Maple trees orangy brown
Poplars, pussy willow’s past
German, Hungarian, Scotch and Dutch
Ukrainian, English, French and such
Made this look as it does today
Seed farms, inland terminal
Tisdale airport
New and used farm equipment
Mall is gone, a new Co-op
3 murders, 3 suicides in last month
Definatly on my mind
Got gas; golf course eatery too cold
2 above; “bloody awful,” says Bob.
New campground, a burned motel
Soup and salad we have in cafe
Old neighbour visits over his
Ham, sausage, bacon and pizza buffet
Talk of calving, neighbours, butchering some
Off we head to see the land
Bottoming out on the dirt road
Few birds – knocked down yard sites
Creek and a green headed mallard
4 crows, 1 hawk; swallow type birds
Tractor, heavy harrows, no brothers
Low tire signal, head for the shop
Bob has dirt on his hands, away we go
A mirage in the south
Is it heat, water, smoke?
Find brother Bill
I ask about machinery we saw
A million dollar outfit
Track Tractor, air seeder, two tanks
45 minute visit in the car
On to the bin yard
Catch up with brother Buck
Head for cousin’s honey farm
Quiet yard, dog dish, no one home
Storage sheds for 45 gallon drums.
Now selling the bees
First magpie as head for the highway
Sunshine all day in car
Tea and talk with sister in law
A new way home
Past research farm, gravel pits
Geese in the field
A car killed a dog here about
A long time ago
More bush than I remember
Silver Park
All coloured cattle herds
Fenced in sheep
Tractor feeds round bales
Further south we go
Greener it’s getting
No one moving Sunday night
No traffic
Not night; 6 pm
Saw 7 horses today
Someone took train station
Parked it by a slough
Whitecaps on this now lake
No sign where 3 boys killed last week
Tire man looks small
Surprised no wildlife
Harrowing before seeding
Watson Auction Mart forever closed?
Stones, unbroken land
Touchstones of my past
In touch with present
Text to connect
Humboldt hospital visit
Fill up our bodies
Drive into the sun
Way greener here
Water damaged roads
Evening light, blue water
Green fields, grazing geese
Most traffic we’ve seen
Narrowest road
Highway 5
Top of every hill
See water
Lots of pavement used
Repairing roads
Now a sunset
Glowing orange ball
Yellow without sunglasses
Sinking in a cloudless sky
Trees reflected in water
Back to row housing
City Limit Sign
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