Thursday, July 12, 2012

Medicine Hat, Alberta, by Margaret Ullrich, part 18, Transplanting

It's official!!
The baby robins have hatched.
This morning when Mama Robin, with a worm, flew back to her nest, 
we saw a few tiny open beaks poking up over the rim.
After she had fed them, she settled down on top of her babies.
The sky had clouded over and it looked like it was going to rain any minute.

I can't imagine sitting on those sharp beaks.
It gives a whole new meaning to Motherhood bites.
I went to Safeway soon after it opened at 7:00 a.m.
I had one of their $10 off, if you spend $75 coupons.
Well, that's better than the deal on 10% Tuesday.

As it was a non-special day in middle of the week, Safeway was very quiet.
After the produce man put out fresh lettuce, I grabbed a couple.
Paul and I aren't vegetarians.
We just seem to go through a lot of fresh fruits and veggies.
I guess that's a good thing.
It's amazing how quickly one can gather $75 worth of groceries.
Well, food isn't selling at the same price it was in 1972.


Forty years ago it was a cool day in Moose Jaw.
We'd had a regular night's sleep, so we were ready to go.
Our trailer wasn't.
The post under the hitch had sunken into the asphalt.
So that was why the other trailers had wood coasters under their posts.
Paul yanked the post out and we were on our way.
We had left our mark on Saskatchewan.

The drive was fairly pleasant.
We saw a few memorable items.
Signs proudly proclaimed: 
Point of interest - 1/2 mile - Outhouses
Joe Hughes and his Wings
Scotty does his thing
Crop dusting display - with perfume!

Yes, indeed... It's a great big place.
Full of nothing but space.
Alberta - at least the eastern part - was the same.
We drove on, feeling a little homesick for the north of Superior area.
At least it had been shaded.


We arrived in Wild Rose Trailer Camp at 3:20 p.m.
There were worn out mobile homes in most of Wild Rose.
If we'd known the Dueling Banjos theme from the movie Deliverance, 
we'd have hummed it.
It was that sort of place.
Boy, were we ever missing Ontario!

We went to an A & W  in Medicine Hat for a couple of teen burgers.
We were getting used to burgers Canadian-style.
Feeling better after our stomachs were full, we decided to drive around town.
We reasoned the whole city couldn't be like the trailer park.
I'm glad we did. 
Medicine Hat was quite nice.

There was an interesting old white church.
It reminded us of churches in New York.
Things weren't much different in Medicine Hat than they were in New York.
When a church wasn't open for busines, it was locked.
A sad commentary on the times.
And it hasn't gotten any better in the twenty-first century.


Along with being a railroad fan, Paul loves comics.
He'd fit right in with the guys in The Big Bang Theory.
What amazed me was how quickly he managed to find a magazine store.
In those days comics shared shelf space with other magazines.
Comics didn't become a specialty item until a few years after our trip.

Paul went to drop off our mail at the post office.
I asked him to pick up some fruit.
He came back with enough to hold us for a few days.
Did I mention we seem to go through a lot of fresh fruits and veggies?

After supper we went to call our parents.
On July 8 Ma had remembered it was our three-month anniversary.
Today she remembered she hadn't asked if I'd gotten my period.
I said yes.
Sheesh... Pop was on the line, too!

We went for another drive to see more of the area.
Paul was feeling peckish and got a banana split.
It was his idea of a night cap.

No, he wouldn't do that now. 

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