The main topic of weather this past week has been the rain we had Wednesday, between 9 and 10 a.m., followed by snow and winds. We can consider ourselves fortunate in not having it worse, as so many areas did. Wednesday afternoon saw a semi in the ditch north of the city and another jackknifed north of the 13-mile corner, blocking traffic heading south. I haven’t heard of anyone falling with dire consequences, yet, so we are all being more careful than usual. Many are still getting out for those important healthy walks.
News from my daughter Beth Wynne at Taber, Atla. tells of the fields around that area with green cover crops being eaten off by huge flocks of Canada geese with no snow geese among them. A tornado last week blew six big spruce trees over at the golf course and one that blocked the entry to a cul-de-sac. Board fences were laid flat, the roof was blown off a house in town and irrigation lines are tangled like pretzels out in the fields. We saw on TV that the empty semi trucks could not stay upright on the highways. There is still open water and no snow in that area.
The story of Willie Neale was in last week’s paper on the celebration of his 100th birthday, June 12, so I guess it’s not too late to express congratulations. He is now 100 and one-half. Willie’s son Terry and his wife Paulette are among our card playing buddies in Meota, when we play again.
There will be no more Husky Oil signs at the upgrader at Lloydminster as that company has sold out to Cenovus after being active and prominent in the Saskatchewan oilpatch for 74 years. We will surely miss those familiar signs in every town we pass through.
In the late 1970s, when our daughter Sally and Norman lived in La Ronge, they gifted us with two beautiful, large pictures of horses, done in the Mexican style of oil paint on velvet background. Growing up our granddaughter Shari loved those pictures, dearly. When I left Chitek these were given back to Sally. They travelled with Sal and Norm on their various moves throughout Alberta until they finally settled in the Carstairs area, on a farmstead. There the paintings were parted with at a yard sale. Shari has been watching for something similar for years and finally found one that she purchased. She showed it on Facebook and told her story. The lady at Carstairs who had bought the two horse pictures got in touch with her and is giving them to her, free. Shari and her sister, Lori, are driving there next weekend to pick them up and express their appreciation. Shari called me today, so excited she couldn’t believe it was happening.
