Onward to the living skies

Continuing with the posts on my road-trip, here's the third installment, about the third day, July 28^th, exactly a week ago today. (Really!? It's been only a week?)

With each successive day, we got an extra hour of sleep. Did not hear S's voice announcing the start of our day until 6:30. I started the day in somewhat low spirits – It was a combination of morning and mid-trip blues. I found myself staring at the clouds a lot that morning, and discovered menacing images among their patterns. Didn't stop anywhere except for gas, drinks, and a short pee break, until we pulled into West Edmonton Mall at around 2 pm. My eyes glazed over as we scooted in through the T&T Supermarket, down Bourbon Street, and into Jungle Jim's. By then, my spirits had revived. Nothing in the world tasted better to me than that Cajun chicken sandwich. Being in the mall was overwhelming and surreal. I felt so out of place.

Then, it was onward toward Saskatoon. We reached Lloydminster, the town literally on the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, fifteen minutes before the visitor centre closed at 8pm. Made it to Saskatoon at 9:30, and had a most excellent meal. Back at the hotel room, the news on television reported the events of day seventeen of the raids in Lebanon. I felt an entire universe away from Inuvik, but the news of the Middle East somehow linked me to the mood I was in during those solitary days at home. There was no escape.

A bit of a downer that day, but couldn't help myself. We had reached the “land of living skies,” and the flat fields were alternately awe-inspiring and disparaging, depending on my own internal landscape/mood. S and I spent much time discussing the rolled up bales on the sides of the highway, and the processing mills (or whatever they were) dotting the fields sporadically. I guess in a couple of months, all of those questions we had will be answered, once S becomes acclimatized to being a resident of that land. (By the way, what do you call a person living in Saskatchewan? A Saskatchewanian? Saskatchewaner? Saskian?)