The Story Of The Most Exciting Thing That Happened To Me While I Was In Flin Flon A Couple Of Years Ago

So I finally get home on Friday night after working a full day post-call and am looking for something to do. I decide to go for a drive, since I've barely driven my car since I got here. I'm cruising down the Saskatchewan Highway To The Middle Of Nowhere a few miles out of town when I see two horses standing beside the highway. No saddles, no people, nothing. I thought that was a bit odd.

About a hundred yards down the highway was an entrance to a ranch. I shifted my keen deductive mind into high gear and concluded that the horses had probably escaped from the ranch, so I turned into the driveway to tell someone there about their horses. Well, about 50 feet into the driveway, the ground turns into mud about a foot deep. Not seeing any sign of people at the ranch, and having no desire whatsoever to push my car out of this swamp, I decide to turn around. It's a narrow driveway, though, so I have to do this slowly.

While I'm making this seventeen-point turn, the horses have come wandering back to watch me. They are now standing right in the middle of the driveway. Now, I'm a city kid through and through. I know exactly two things about horses: first, they're A LOT bigger than me and my little Golf, and second, they can get spooked. So I calmly consider my options. Going backward into the swamp was no good. Going forward into the horses was no good. Honking at them seemed like a BAD idea. And there was NO WAY I was getting out of the car. So I sit and wait for them to keep wandering along.

Well, my car was apparently the most interesting thing they'd seen all day, so they wandered over to get a closer look and sniff my engine. And they stayed there. I once again reviewed my options. Going back was still out. Going forward was even more out. Honking was looking like an even worse option than before. And I was even more definitely NOT GETTING OUT of the car. So I continued to wait for them to lose interest.

But they didn't. Now, I realize that the Golf is an attractive vehicle, but this was getting ridiculous. I sat there for about ten minutes before a Mountie drove up. He stopped on the other side of the highway and, either being much braver than me or else knowing more about horses, got out and started inching his way towards me and the horses. (I'd taken to calling them Dumb and Dumber by that point.) And they started inching their way away from him. However, they were now right beside my car. No worries, though - my window was rolled up! Nothing can get me with the window rolled up! The cop motions for me to roll down my window, but there was no way I was doing that with 1500 pounds of spookable animal ten inches away from my face.

So the cop continues to inch towards Dumb and Dumber, and they continue to inch towards the back of my car. Finally I feel like my rolling down the window isn't going to cause the horses to trample me and my car into a pancake, and the only thing the cop has to say is, "Uh... you know anything 'bout these horses?" I was about to ask him the same thing, but since I could now leave I elected to shake my head, wish him a good evening... and get the hell out of there.

on the road again

Here I am in my palatial new apartment in Kenora. It's huge - 2 bedrooms, in-suite laundry (speaking of which, I better get on that), even cable tv. My living room overlooks the bay, downtown Kenora and our dock, and my balcony is soon to have it's very own barbeque. This is sweet, except that it POURED rain all day long.

It's going to be a good summer.

made it back

So we survived our little jaunt through the woods with most of our ligaments intact, though most of us are missing at least a little skin from our feet. The trail was hillier than I remembered, but at least it didn't rain until Monday afternoon.

And our fame is spreading! Turns out they're using the same poster on bus shelters around Thunder Bay (and probably other cities), so we're up all over town!

we're famous!!

So we made it onto the promotional poster for 2004's Live from the Rock Folk Festival! You can see us on their webpage - just scroll down to the bottom of the page, and on the left end of the ribbon of pictures, that's Clare, me and Alyssa huddled under a blanket! (It was raining.) And the poster is up all over town! We're famous! I expect to start signing autographs and having to duck the paparazzi any second now.

The picture was taken at last year's Live from the Rock festival in August. (Slogan: "Get all folked up at Red Rock!" At least, it was the slogan until the dorks with no sense of humour complained.) It was Red Rock's first ever folk fest and the organizers really did a terrific job. I'm hoping to make it back this year. The best act we saw there was this guy named Mark Reeves, who's from Winnipeg. He was great! If you can find it, his album sure is a pretty name is amazing, and the title track is a riot. A bit risque - our program director felt we were much too young to listen to this song. You can see him on stage 4 pictures down from us - the guy in the light blue shirt and the backwards hat playing the guitar.

hiking, hockey and kenora

So, four more days till we hit the bush. Food is well in hand after running two dehydrators at all hours of the day and night for the past week. Most of my gear is spread all over my living room floor, though, and I can't find my big pot. Went for a day hike along Pigeon River, which forms part of the US-Canadian border (there was a marked contrast between the forest on each side of the river - the American trees were exercising their Second Amendment rights). Boy, am I glad the Canadian Shield in eastern Manitoba is less hilly than it is out here.

So the Calgary-San Jose series... why can't either of them win at home? Currently the score is 3-0 Calgary in game five, with about ten minutes left. What a quirky series - you have to stay up till the wee hours to see the visiting team smoke the home team.

Two more weeks till I head to Kenora for five months. Not that I'm ready to move by any means, but I'm sure looking forward to it. Gee, Lake of the Woods in summer... rough gig. I suppose I should start thinking about what I need to bring - sandals, sunscreen, roller blades...

cooking for the bush

So I've got two giant stock pots of chili on the stove, a bag of meat marinating in the fridge and a big pile of fruit sitting on the counter. All of this is awaiting its turn in the two dehydrators I've got going. You guessed it, a hiking trip is coming up. (You may have noticed a theme in my recent posts. Expect it to continue.)

The thing is, this time I'm planning the menu. That's a new one - usually my job is just to carry stuff. So, in an attempt to live up to Jason and Mel's standards, here's our menu for hiking the Mantario Trail in two weeks (66 km of fun!).

Breakfast: Oatmeal, dried fruit, instant hashbrowns, beef jerky.

Lunch: Crackers, cheese, oysters or sardines, hummus, pitas, peanut butter, granola bars, beef jerky, trail mix.

Dinner: Chili, stew, and something else that the Winnipeg squad is going to make for us.

Snacks: Berries and anything you can catch in the bush.

So my dehydrator is going to be going full steam for the next few days. You can dehydrate pretty much anything, and I plan to do just that.

You know what would be really nice out in the bush? A nice glass of wine. The trouble is, wine is way too heavy. (If you're carrying likker into the bush, it better be 80-proof or better.) Maybe I should dehydrate a nice red...