Prairie Roots

I grew up in the small prairie town of Mossbank. I remember well the smell of grain dust in the air in the fall during harvest time, the constant chirp of crickets in the evenings, or the way the wind grazing over the tops of the grain fields made me think of a cat’s silky coat being stroked by a giant invisible hand. I loved watching a thunderstorm out my front room window, taking in the power and awesomeness from the safety of the indoors while the whole thing played out across the huge expanse of sky that is such an important part of the prairie landscape. These are the memories of my childhood, and even though I no longer live there, there will always be something special about the place where I grew into an adult. I think the openness of the land and sky has a profound effect on those who are connected to it, and sometimes I still long for that sense of freedom that only comes from wide open spaces.

 

The first book in my MARSHDALE Series is set in a town very similar to the one I grew up in. In fact, I modeled Marshdale after my hometown of Mossbank, and those who are familiar with the area will recognize many of the unique geographical features, even though the names have been changed. For instance, there is a large, shallow, alkaline lake near my hometown which is a bird sanctuary of sorts and which is considered a prime hunting area for ducks and other waterfowl. Old Wives Lake was named after a Cree legend of the ‘Old Wives’. In the days before the arrival of the ‘white men’, there were some warring tribes in the area. In order to save their village, some elderly women stayed behind in the camp near the lake and kept the fires burning. This allowed the rest of the people to escape. When their enemies saw the smoke from the fires, they raided the camp, but found only the ‘old wives’ – the rest of the people made it safely away to a new spot where they were no longer threatened by their enemy. I invented a new legend and called the lake ‘Old Man’s Lake’; still there is some similarity.

I hope readers will sense the authenticity of the place. In a way, when you read it, it is like stepping into the world I grew up in.

This is the second of a series on my “prairie roots”.  Some aspects of these posts came from my first blog “Expression Express” (Now defunct.) I hope you enjoy this look into what made me the person I am today. I plan to share more over the next few weeks. The first post in this series can be found HERE.