One Thousand Dollars and a Tractor

The depression of the 1930's was worldwide but in the midwestern parts of Canada and the States, the depression was even more devastating. Drought, dust storms, infestations of locusts, poverty and despair were common. When I spoke to people who had lived through that time in history I expected grim tales. My first conversation surprised me. The 1930's seemed to bring back happy memories. One 93 year old woman was married in 1937. Her wedding was complete with "store bought" wine and a $10 wedding dress. It was a big wedding at a time when wages could average $30 a month. But imagine, the only car at the wedding was the groom's father's. Everyone else arrived by horse drawn sleigh.
When the young couple finally bought their own farm, they got four sections of land which originally cost $3,000 a section. But after a $1,000 deposit the seller tried to swindle them by telling them the title was clear. It wasn't, a loan for a new tractor was now a lien on the property. So, the deal was $1,000 and the tractor for four sections of prime farm land. Not bad, even in Saskatchewan in 1939.

“We’re going to be okay Maggie girl. You wait and see.”

Eva Edwards - "From the Dust"

Safe travels

Ryshia

The Great Depression - Saskatchewan 1935

Today the journey I am on is different from any other trip I have taken before and likely any trip I will take after. Firsts usually are.

My first book is about to be published!

I’m so incredibly excited that I’d like to share some of the journey with you. I’ll begin at the beginning with an excerpt:

“He died with liquor on his breath and poison in his soul. Doc MacPherson claimed that between the alcohol and the arsenic there were enough chemicals in his body to keep him pickled to the second coming.

It was a terrible way to die. Eva wouldn’t wish that on anyone, even him. She shivered. The last twelve hours had been awful. She pulled a bobby pin from her hair, rearranged a stray piece and secured it again. She hadn’t reacted well. She knew that. She regretted snapping at the child. She regretted a lot of things. None of them could be undone. Like Mr. Edwards, the time was gone, over. The damage had been done.”

And so begins the saga of Eva Edwards, a new widow and mother to a child not hers. Three steps ahead of one disaster or another, she struggles to survive on a Saskatchewan farm. It is 1935 and dust storms and poverty are rampant. But it is Tate Prescott Brown who becomes the biggest obstacle as he arrives from Ontario with wealth and status and a claim to her farm. It is a poignant battle against each other and the elements as two independent individuals face off.

“From the Dust”
A December release published by Black Lyon Publishing.

Stay tuned as the journey continues.

Safe travels

Ryshia

Travel Away to Where?

Do you ever feel like travelling, far away, to another place? I don't just mean travelling for a two or three week vacation but travelling indefinitely.

Do you ever think of moving to another country, another continent, another world and culture?

I do, all the time. Interesting, since I live in the same city where I was born in. While I do travel regularly, I've never moved away. Some day I know I will - but not now. In the meantime I think about what it would be like to live in another culture far from everything that I was familiar with. Exhilerating, for sure, scary, yeah that too. I've dreamed of doing just that for years. But for now I have a career, family and friends that hold me here and I have my vacation travels to hold the dream. Speaking of vacations and travels, I'm getting excited, the maps aren't out, as the destination isn't confirmed, but by the end of this year I'll hopefully be on the road to somewhere new and exotic. I can hardly wait. In the meantime, I have the map of the world pinned to my wall and am adrift in possibilities.

Safe Travels


Ryshia

"I suspect it's impossible for some people to stay in one place for good, once they've left the city of their childhood."--Stephen Vizinczey

A Journey of a Lifetime

A couple of things happened this week. One, I was scanning old family photos and trying to piece together family history. I am uncomfortable with how many faces are unknown to me. Who is that pretty baby or that elegant couple posed so earnestly for their portrait? On some there are dates, and it is oddly poignant to realize that many of these people are long dead. What were their dreams? What was their life journey like and what did they leave that we might learn from?

It was on the CBC show, The Hour, where I first learned about a 93 year old blogger. A man who discusses his own mortality and has collected a following of readers that is impressive. Unfortunately, by the time I stumbled on his site he had stopped posting for a time. No, he assures us, he's not dead and he's still blogging. But he's had a family emergency. Many of us, me now included, wait for further words of wisdom, and hope things are well with him.

In the mean time we can only wait and ponder the fact that this is a rare opportunity, an opportunity to learn from a man who is closer to the end of a long journey than the beginning. A man who has had time to reflect and to learn lessons to problems that many of us have not yet encountered. I think many of us in western society have revered youth to the detriment of losing the knowledge of our elders. This man reminds us of what is important and what it's really all about.

The blog is called "Don to Earth" and it's worth your time to give it a look: http://dontoearth.blogspot.com/

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."

Abraham Lincoln

Safe Travels

Ryshia

To Moose Jaw for Real

Today we went to Moose Jaw. I had to include a picture of main street with all the old buildings still standing. That's part of Moose Jaw's charm. The history is still there; tunnels, possible gangsters, historic murals, old buildings and one thing not so historic, Nits.

Nits - The best Thai food in Southern Saskatchewan. It's a short 45 minute drive from Regina on a beautiful summer day. Moose Jaw is bustling when we arrive at the unimposing restaurant just a block from Al Capone's famous tunnels.

There's nothing special about the interior. Worn and plain would best describe it, full of patrons with one waitress trying to handle it all. Still she smiles and our wait for a cold beer to wash down the hot prairie dust is not long in coming. And the wait for the food is more than worth it as we view the menu that rests between pages that resemble a travel journal, sip beer and watch as the kitchen doors open and close and catch glimpses of herbs being pounded and the delivery boy running to and fro. The food is always worth waiting for. The appetizer is leaves that hint at lime and wrap around peanuts, ginger, coconut and we things we can't identify that results in an explosion of taste. The curry is amazing as in the Pad Thai. As we clean up the last morsel, a couple sit across from us. They are carrying motorbike helmets and looking rather disheveled. Another pair that have taken the highway drive on this gorgeous, hot prairie day to this little town in the middle of nowhere Saskatchewan to enjoy Thai food like you won't find anywhere else, anywhere else but Thailand that is.

And if Thai food isn't your thing, check out the dozen or so murals around town depicting Moose Jaw and Saskatchewan history. Whether you like history or not, they are just plain gorgeous to look at.

Safe travels,

Ryshia

Memories of Hong Kong

Today's post brought back so many memories. It's been a few years since our trip to Hong Kong but I remember it vividly. When I entered Cathay Pacific's contest, 100 reasons you love Hong Kong, all those memories were rather overwhelming. So, I'm sharing my thoughts on Hong Kong. It's a concise version, as outlined in the contest rules, that hopefully gets to the emotional heart of that once city state. And, if you have any altruistic leanings feel free to hop on over to Cathay Pacific's website, peruse the other entries, and hopefully, vote for my entry beginning July 16. http://www.welovehongkong.hk/index.php And if you don't, well, I hope you at least enjoy this short essay. So without further ado....

To the world Hong Kong is the image of economic efficiency. A vibrant, modern city whose secrets are hidden behind the smiles of the old men in China town, behind housewives hanging their laundry on sampans in Aberdeen, behind Victoria Peak rising high in a tribute to nature, and behind the business men striding down the commerce jammed streets.

Hong Kong loves her secrets. When foggy skies hide the heights of the skyscrapers, it does nothing to dim the excited rumble of change that roams through her streets. Secrets are hidden behind frenetic building projects, shopping havens and, at night, a multitude of neon lights. In the sunlight, secrets whisper beneath the umbrellas of elegant women who move in a graceful flow to unknown destinations.

Hong Kong is the world's dynamo but inside this vortex of activity, the old world floats at an easier pace against a backdrop of business and modern technology. That's what I love about Hong Kong, its ability to fold both old and new together into a spicy mix of new ideas and old world customs. Its secrets draw one here again and again - for you'll never really know Hong Kong.

Its secrets make the rest of the world sigh as they take a collective breath and say, some day. Some day they too shall visit.

Here's to you, Hong Kong!

Safe travels

Ryshia