Rural Routes, Blog Version

BIG THING:

The summer students were back in the common area outside our condo this week, raking and sweeping debris, tidying the plant beds and pruning the trees After a few shots of rain, our grass shows green here and there instead of the consistent brown we have grown used to seeing all summer.

We disturbed a doe and her fawn one evening as the dog and I walked alongside a bluff of trees. The doe went one direction and the fawn the other. I could easily see what had drawn the two to this particular bush. Someone had put out a large plastic tub of water and a pile of grain. Earlier this summer, we had spotted a pile of carrots at the same location. Deer love carrots.

When we drove out to what used to be ‘our farm’, we visited some of the dugouts on the property to see how much water remained in them. Some were completely empty. Others had small levels still in them. At one of those, we spotted bear tracks near the water’s edge.

We are thankful that, as retired farmers, we do not have the stress of raising livestock and growing crops this year. Yet we realize that everyone is impacted, one way or another, when the rain doesn’t fall.

“What is the chemical formula for water?”, the teacher asked.

“HIJKLMNO”, the student replied.

“Incorrect.”

“But you told us it was H to O.”

BIG THING

Two nephews on my husband’s side of the family served in Afghanistan. One returned; the other didn’t.

Recent events – the withdrawal of U.S. forces and a quick takeover of the country by the Taliban – have been difficult to think about for those who served there, those who were injured, those who lost loved ones.

When our nephew Tim died, a reporter asked me if I supported the Canadian government’s military involvement in Afghanistan.

I was taken aback by the question. It felt intrusive, bringing politics into something that was so personal and painful.

My eventual answer was that the family needed to support the cause, we needed to believe our young men and women were being placed in danger for good reason and that their presence there was doing good. Otherwise, the consequences of armed conflict would be too much to bear.

Fifteen years later, I feel the same way.

SMALL THING

There’s an old saying: “A fool and his money are soon parted.”

During COVID, my husband and I have spent many of our Saturdays watching an online antiques and collectibles auction streaming from Saskatchewan. In pre-COVID days, we enjoyed attending such sales in person and I am sure we will do so again when conditions permit. In the meantime, these virtual sales have allowed us the chance to attend sales that we would never travel to under normal circumstances.

It is not that we need anything, but wants and needs are two different things.

Take, for example, this Scholastic Book Fair clock, complete with bookworm. The clock works, which is a bonus. I put in the beginning bid of $5 and no one bid against me, another bonus. Best of all, every time I look at it I am reminded of the annual Scholastic Book Fair at the school my children attended. The book fair was a big deal.

LITTLE THING

Thanks to the generosity of friends, I received enough ripe tomatoes for a batch of my mother’s chili sauce.

All I can say is this – thank goodness for little things to take our minds off big things.

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