Day Eleven

Warmth and sunshine greeted us as we continued eastward across the prairies after breakfast at our hotel in Medicine Hat.  Aden Miller gave the meditation this morning, encouraging us to remember we should reflect our spiritual parentage, just as our genetics reflect our earthly heritage.   

What followed was almost two hours of singing by anyone on the bus willing to make a joyful noise.  Someone looked at the sky and saw a cross.  It might have been clouds, it might have been air streams.  Either way it was inspiring.

The occasional farmhouses, surrounded by a few trees, were separated from each other by miles of wheat fields, stretching from horizon to horizon, broken only by the dark ribbon of roadway upon which we traveled.  We passed mammoth grain silos and, every once in a while, herds of cows dotted the countryside like black dots on a green canvas.

We stopped in Swift Current for lunch and shopping at Walmart. Paul and I made believers out of everyone on the bus regarding the superiority of Cadbury’s Canadian offerings so we cleaned out several of the store’s candy bar selections. 

Next stop:  Moose Jaw.  Debate as to where the name originated yielded few believable answers.  Was an actual moose jaw involved or was it a very homely man with an enlarged mandible?  Tom read a brochure he found which said there are several official theories.  One is that it may come from a Cree word I can neither pronounce nor spell that essentially means “warm place by the river.”  Another says it’s from the Cree words moose gaw which mean warm breezes.  Still another says the shape of the Moose Jaw river as it runs through the town is in the shape of, you guessed it, a moose jaw.

The town has little claim to fame other than the beautiful murals scattered around on the otherwise, nondescript and architecturally-challenged buildings.  There are around forty quite beautiful paintings all depicting notable events in the area’s history.

We made an early stop tonight so I’m sure the evening will be filled with socializing, eating, games, eating, walking around town, eating and maybe even some eating.  We are staying in Regina, Saskatchewan.  It’s not pronounced the way you might think.  The “i” is long.  Not kidding.