Saskatchewan, plain and tall.

Saskatchewan is a minimalist's paradise.

My wife's dad would joke,

"Art is easy there. One straight line across the page,

and you've drawn the landscape."

Yes, hard to pronounce--easy to draw!

Look hard enough and squint,

you see the back of your own head.

I know all the jokes.

The joke is the poor BC people.

I was one not long ago.

They are so blessed by a bounty of beauty, 

they cannot see the elegance of solid simplicity.

There, a curve is just another one of many.

Who notices?

But when you drive like an arrow and then get thrown a curve ball,

it's exciting!

Hills, valleys, rivers? They've got hundreds, each prettier than the last one.

When you suddenly drop out of the monotony into a dale

out here, you really notice it.

Then there is the sky, the endless, ever changing, panoramic, living skies.

We are people of such faith we said to the mountains,

"Be thou removed and cast into the sea."

They were blocking the view.

Out there, it's like, "Look at the beautiful sunse...oh it's gone behind a hill."

As we drive, we see a miles high cloud bank like a great wall.

To the left is azure fields of sky with wispy sheep of clouds.

To the right is God's own pastel palette air-brushed by the setting sun

and decorated with brushstroke slashes of rain falling miles away.

Behind us the night is steadily sneaking up like a swarm of grasshoppers.

You just have to open up your heart and see.   

The Queen City Exposition

 Regina is a grand old dame.

She has a slightly frayed elegance but well preserved.

She enjoys her theater, sophisticated art, and fine music.

While senior, she is healthy; not a pile of bones yet.

Her husband, the Regent of Regina is an earthy fellow,

not quite politically correct, but hard working.

A man of land, and sky, and wind, and dark clouds.

He may thunder, but he always feeds his children.

It must be his green thumb, which he wears to cheer the team.

Their children, Prince Albert and Princess Victoria,

Are perpendicular to one another, polar opposites.

The Prince runs from northern chill to southern heat.

He works like a buffalo to keep the economy going,

And to attract visitors to the kingdom of Saskatchewan.

There are broad entertainments at the royal gaming house.

Fine minstrels and even jesters can be found.

From the time the sun rises in the east,

Victoria provides a home for her many children.

Also being as shrewd in business as her brother,

She looks to the west for expansion out of bald prairie. 

They must have rubbed the fabled Elphinstone for luck.

Even for those poor folk down on their luck,

there is a soul's harbour for the weary gypsy spirit.

Thus a mosaic of people gather in the cathedral area,

and celebrate new friends from afar and old ones come back home.

 **FYI: This is about the city of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. There is also a street called Saskatchewan, as well as streets named: Regent, Albert(Prince Albert is also a Sask. city), Victoria, Broad, Queen, Princess, and Elphinstone. Mosaic is the multicultural festival. The arts fest is held in the shadow of two cathedrals. The local soup kitchen is called 'Soul's Harbour Rescue Mission'.