have been in BC).
I recalled a conversation of times revisited, by one person, who had been a student of architecture at the University of Manitoba, who actually revealed his “at first snobbery for the prairies” yet with further dialogue conveyed his true reverence for this “savage & unrelenting land”. He, as a student had done field trips, out of Winnipeg and this is when his engagement and relationship with the prairies occurred. This is when he could say with conviction “I am a man who loves the sea; yet in springtime, the prairie has WIND BLOWING across an ocean of wheat.
There is a verticality, only in the persons who inhabit this flat land, the remainder of LINE is horizontal.,
Think Dorothy Knowles and you go into the horizontal line.
The other person, last evening, also helped me with my connotations of the Prairie. I know why. Yet this is difficult to pass on, unless you FEEL this. One only feels this from having lived many seasons here. I will try to give you some idea .. what my hostess last night cited
a time when a friend of hers had been stranded in a snow storm on some remote road in the northern part of Saskatchewan, THE RISK FACTOR, was great; how the story line went was how this individual was able to sustain his Life by adhering to basic instincts, acutely aware that if he did not stay with his vehicle he…WOULD SIMPLY DIE. And this is in the 21st Century.
Certainly, all the details were not given,but the message is clear:
the prairies represent a savage, unrelenting presence that keeps the average individual HUMBLE.
Between YOU and ME the greatest thing that keeps me humble, is the sky; an ever changing sky.
best wishes to you, from Susan
2012thislandisyourlandseatosea 