Fall

The sun shone today and I soaked up every moment of it. I turned my face towards the ball of heat and took a big breath. I rolled that sunshine up in my hand, placed it in my pocket near my heart, and will save it for a a bleak and snowy day.

The leaves crunched, the kiddo squealed, and I was happy.

A wise lady, who lives a hop, skip and a jump (in prairie distance) away from me talked about what Fall is in Alberta. Drop by her blog home and say howdy! Tell her I sent you...she gives you a good description of what Fall is like in our part of the world.

A Request

Dear Laziness,

You are overwhelming me these days! I know it's cold outside, I know they are calling for snow, but why do you think you should curl up in my home? It seems you have sat in my comfy green chair, with a little hot chocolate and have settled in.

I have projects to finish, a house to clean, and someone needs to teach this kiddo to keep her tongue in her mouth. The poor kid wanders around with her nappy  hanging out begging for a pair of suspenders or something, but gosh, Laziness, here you are trailing behind me, slowing my every step down.

I'm not sure what to do with you, but I'm getting awfully close to making pals with you. I'm thinking it maybe is time to head into hibernation mode. Maybe I could give you a nickname and share a bit of foreign chocolate with you.

Maybe I could call you Relax or Rest and then I'd feel more chummy. Do you think you could come back when everything is canned and all the Fall cleaning is done? There is a neighbour momma around here who seems to be able to do everything, could you go visit her?

Sincerely,

Cheyenne

PS-Do you know how hard it is to type with mittens on? Could you go visit someone in the south and haul some sunshine back up here? I know this is where you insert the eye roll. Thanks a lot, Laziness, I'm just going to call you Lazy from now on, 'cause that's what you deserve!

Road Trip!

Image found here

I've got one for your bucket list: Going To the Sun Highway in Montana.

What can I say? It is the most breathtaking road you will ever take. It is like something out of a National Geographic magazine, without a yellow border around the photos. Law, my eyeballs were almost bugging out of my head, and it wasn't because I was shocked at the fact you pay $15 for a lil bag of coffee at the beginning of the park. No sir, it's because the view of God's finest is comparable to your first dog- a rare beauty.

You do need to be prepared for wall to wall traffic, some construction, and a screaming baby. Oh wait, you don't have a screaming baby?  My hard and fast rule was to never give my kiddo food in her carseat, but gosh, I would've given her the $15 coffee and a Big Mac if I needed too!

This road is only seasonally open, and I don't know if the Chilkoot packers would want to be caught up there in the winter. It cost $25 for entrance to Glacier National Park, but that's for the week, and if you are into fishing, you can fish your heart out in the park. Not bad, considering we pay something like that a day up here in Banff.

If you are anywhere near Montana, or heck, if you aren't anywhere near Montana, set your GPS for this road of wonders and experience it in your lifetime. You need to!

9-11-01

Remembered.

Looking Around

A couple of years ago we visited a dear friend who was working in a children's home, for abused and neglected kids in Gallup, New Mexico. We loaded up our car and traveled almost 23 hours to show love to little brown faces. These children have left tiny fingerprints on my heart.

 Today when I was sorting through one of my drawers I came across a note from one of the sweet girls we met. Where is she today? Is she with her mama?

We often think we need to travel the world to make a difference in some child's life that is hurting, but right smack in the middle of the powerful and wealthy U.S. we saw poverty. When I helped in our own community's little school, there were kids who would show up without lunch-day after day.

My friend Jenn and a couple of the children, hiking through the rocks behind the home.

 Look out your own back window, there is probably a child who could use a smile and a word of encouragement spoken into their little lives. A grin and a "good job" goes a long way!

Remembering Big

Around 100 miles west of our home, across the prairies, into the foothills, and finally in the mountains is where  family history runs deep and my heart lies. Our cows are taken out there in June and pushed up high in the hills to grow fat and sassy. They'll wander down in the fall when it starts to get cool, ready to come home.
  
The range has been in the family for years. My heart grins that my daughter will make her own memories there, and hear about the memories of her family's past.
 
Stories that are vividly remembered and told over and over because history is so important to us. Stories about when her great, great Uncle was riding along with his five year old Bobby, in the bush, they came across a creek and the little guy said, "Dad, what's the name of this creek?" A reply came, "Well, son, don't   you know this is Bobby Creek!"

      
The same Uncle was guiding a televised moose hunt, when they came around a bend, onto a creek bed, and stumbled across a grizzly bear. Faster than you could spit, he was off his horse, rifle in hand, and a bear on the ground. When this hunt was shown on TV, it's the one time mom's family was allowed to stay home from church on Sunday and watch the hunt. To this day, these creeks are still named Bobby Creek and Grizzly Creek.
 
One creek crossing, that's referred to in the family as Wet Socks was aptly named after my Grandpa's  mishap. A hired man found him sitting by the creek, drying out his socks over a little fire, where he'd obviously fallen in while he was out checking cows.
 
One of the best stories of a trick to pull my Dad has passed along to my husband. After a good, heavy wet snow, give a tree a good boot while you're riding by, and the next guy get's covered in snow.
 

My mom grew up riding through the range at a very young age. While her love for these parts grew strong, so did her ability to ride a horse. I heard on a few occasions from my Grandpa how good at riding Mom was.

  

Mom tells stories of my Grandma, bringing five children out in the summer to play and make memories. She cooked huge meals in a little cabin, with no running water or electricity. She would bring her typewriter and sit and clunk away in the beauty of the wild, as there were no extra house chores to do, or people phoning or popping in. 

 
Grandma had an ability to tell stories about  life. She wrote for most national farm magazines,published several books, had stories that were heard over CBC and Drumheller radio, and many recall her hilarious weekly columns for the Red Deer advocate that would include stories about being 'Out West.' Grandma's stories were never exaggerated, our family simply remember's big! I'm blessed beyond belief to continue to pass down these stories, and am  fiercely proud to be a part of this family.

A Motley Group of Thoughts

Since I tend to keep it a little random here on the prairies, I'll give you a bit of an update of the craziness nothingness that has been going on....in no particular order!

1) The gypsies called today, they are safe on a working farm near Rocky Mountain House and lost their precious cat en route. For all you nay sayers and non believers of the circus story of my life, they will be on CTV news at 6:00 tonight. Yes, we dined with near celebrities. Since we don't have TV, I will definitely be skulking out a house to watch the news. Watch out, I could be coming to your house, with a smelly baby in tow.

2) Yes, a smelly baby. Have you ever heard the quote by Roy Rogers, "Never kick a cow chip on a hot day?" You can quote me, never leave a fast baby, with curious hands anywhere near where cattle are run on a hot day. You'll be in for a treat! You might just come home and give the babe a scrub in the sink long before bedtime. Remember G, (and I don't mean G as in G-dawg, G-unit, just G) she let's her lil' girl wander around in the winter carrying horse, ahem, droppings. They are frozen, what's the harm? They don't go in her mouth (yes, things are a little different on those big ranches out east) but she assures me this same rule does not apply in the summer. Lesson learned.

3)I said goodbye to a dear friend today who will be moving to a land of swimming pools and fruit trees. I'm pretty sure I've never heard of such wonders. We live in a land where there are heat alerts (in Toronto) when the weather soars to 27 degrees Celsius and we have shelters at the ends of our lanes for the children to wait for the bus in. I am going to miss her piles and am expecting her to package up some sunshine and send it my way. I will be sure to package her some snow and wind to remind her of the prairies.

4)My cupboards are cleaned out! Hooray! I love taking  things out of their original packaging and putting them in something 'cute.'  Things like old jars for my muffin liners, a cute red enamelware bowl for my coffee filters, and a sweet, red and white vintage inspired snack bin. It feels good to have them cleaned, it won't stay that way long, if you want to come look at my cupboards, come today. Possibly you have until tomorrow-by the day after that they will be a disaster.

5)The greatest outdoor show on earth is on now in the big city. People come from all over the world to see the Calgary Stampede. We grew up going to a lot of rodeos. Innisfail, Olds, Three Hills, Airdrie...all these lil' towns I've visited and some I have possibly 'muttin' busted' at as a child. The big, old Calgary Stampede I've been to twice. Once when my husband and I were dating (the first time I had been there) the second time was last year. Someday I will write a post on my Grandpa and  his friend Ralph Loosmore in good ol' cow town...the stories are legendary and you may have a little trouble believing them. If you knew my Grandpa-you would not, he was legendary.

6)I am roping my Dad into making some things for Little Prairie Baby. You heard it here first ladies and gentlemen, the Prairie Pirate himself will be handcrafting some stuff in the loft of the barn for your precious babe. If you would like to encourage him in his endeavor, feel free to contact me, I can give you his full contact information and the land location where my folks live. He loves visitors and phone calls after 9:00 at night.