Just so you know, I didn’t fall off the planet. I just went to Canada.
Yes that amazing country sitting above the U.S. Land of hockey and maple leaf flags. I’d never been there before although Alberta is only a few miles to the north. Here are some of my impressions, I hope I don’t offend anyone.
Calgary is located in the orient. I know this is geographically incorrect but I was floored by the fact that most of the people that we met were from one of the oriental cultures. Not saying there is anything wrong with that, but it’s just not what I expected.
It is expensive. Of course coming from Montana where there is no sales tax I guess I should have expected that.
It is possible to get a sunburn in Alberta in April.
Ozzy Osborne puts on an awesome concert even at his age, so sayeth my daughter and husband.
Canada is the “elephant graveyard” for abandoned sheds. On the way to Calgary we passed many, many, many farms where there were little sheds stood leaning and dilapidated. I’m not saying that the Canadians don’t take care of things because they do. It is a very clean country but there really was a large population of old sheds. So here is my theory. All over the continent sheds that have been abandoned or neglected slowly start their migration north. A corner off the foundation then a wall and soon the whole shed is on its way to Alberta to join its relatives. They congregate in windy marshy plains and lean ominously waiting for their brethren to joint them. I did see one ranch that had corralled them behind a large wooden fence. What is the purpose of this mass migration of sheds? The world may never know.
Then there is the return home. What I like to call the “Home sweet, oh that…” syndrome. It is a condition that all vacationers go through when they are having a great time, care free and happy, and then they get home and there is laundry, and dishes, and bills, and work, and, and, and… You get the picture.
So here we are back again richer in chocolate and poorer in pocket with memories and new found knowledge that will never leave us.
adriana pridemore 