Respect your elders. Migration. Moving

June 09, 2002

Respect your elders. Migration. Moving on to a better environment. Those damn pioneers were hardier than me. We’re in the eleventh overtime of the hockey game in a sketchy hotel room in Regina all trying to dry off after being pummeled by the elements in the Cypress Hills of southern Alberta. Our tent sustained collateral damage and we had a pretty miserable laugh at ourselves. Hands frozen like iceberg mannequins we attempted to dismantle and pack our soggy things but really only achieved a grotesque facsimile of our usual ship shape situation. I can now feel what it must have been like trying to keep your leather pouch of wood shavings and flint rock dry while trying to avoid frostbite and hungry wildlife.
My comments about paleontology can be dialed back a bit after really enjoying my stay in the Dinosaur National Park near the Tyrell Museum Field Station (east of Bassano Alberta). Its a Unesco world heritage site and I impress upon you its spectacular nature by pointing out that my middle guy found two dinosaur bone fragments in the creek behind our campsite. He rose to the ethical challenge and left them there. He sure wanted to keep them. He confirmed it with the conservation officer and we took pictures. Modern day safari. No killin’ and keepin’ the trophy.
I’m seeing the prairies in a different light than I ever have before. Examining every nook and cranny. I always thought I ‘d need the ocean to help me adjust my head to its proper position in the world. Massive mountains and prairie can also make you feel small in just the right way.