Prairie Girl
Especially here
I am at home.My soul inhales,
long and slow
and my eyes stroke
the impossible horizon,
as my heart undresses
under the expanse. The Prairie
is vulnerability, an entrance
to eternity. Opened up
praise comes easy
and I lean into
the deep muscle memory
of belonging.© 2019 Laurel Archer
Forgive me for jumping right in with a poem, but arriving on the Prairies always moves me. I am, and will always be, a prairie girl. I am tethered to this vastness.
So, as soon as we got out of the city, I made everyone stop and get out – to take a picture or two…
…which wasn’t well received by Emma, who never tries to be polite about it. Had to settle for pictures from the car until we got to Drumheller! And who doesn’t love a good dinosaur story set in the Badlands. We opted for two short and simple pop outs. The Hoodoo trail — where you heard John say: “I thought they’d be bigger…” and Laurel made friends with a nice couple when she bent down to take pictures of the yellow flowers. The nice lady said, “That’s what I’d be doing too…people think I’m crazy.” So, I am, a crazy lady in the making, I suppose.
The other pop out was the Suspension Bridge over the Red Deer River. Now, you’d think with all the various fears that Emma has… (see two more below, no elevators and dogs (and especially ones that arrive suddenly out of hotel rooms…)
…that she wouldn’t go over the suspension bridge, but with Emma you never can predict…
(I just want to add here that Hutterites – like these crossing the bridge – are icons of my childhood. I was always fascinated by their otherness, but also by their with-ness. They lived apart, but enjoyed parts of mainstream culture without difficulty –seemingly. I was thrilled to share the bridge with them.)
Finally, travelling on Hwy 9 (Alberta) and Hwy 7 (Saskatchewan) was all but free of commercial amenities. Needing a ‘comfort break’ we were lured into Youngstown because Google advertised the Rosebud Cafe. But nowhere on this one town road was there a cafe.
But there was this offering of Prairie hospitality, absent of people – which was perfect for us – and complete with his and hers flushing toilets, right there in a field, tp included. So we were comforted, and then had a lovely spontaneous picnic.
Church Day today…stay tuned!