Maple Leaf Mailbag rock'N roadshow

Kindersley and Eston. Stayed in Kindersley last night. Great drive by night through rural Alberta and Saskatchewan. Places like Jenner, Acadia, Oyen and Alsask. You can see the stars clearly, Orion's belt shone through the windshield almost the entire way. Slept, ate, planned, and now we are in Eston. We are in Eston because this is the place where Blake was born. We have returned to the seat of the family home. Why? Because history is forever and because we are learning about a kind of Saskatchewan that we really don’t know about in central Canada. There are less than a 1,000 people who live here. We have not visited a place so small. There are derelict cars and snowmobiles in driveways, there are shops with no signs, there are no people on the single main street, it’s not that cold, maybe -5. The thing you notice the most is the time. People here live horizontally. They are living as if there is no past or future. You see the horizon and understand why. It's almost like a time line. You can see future in front you, and as you get closer to the horizon you can look back and see the past. You realize that past and future will each have their turn ... so why not live in the present and wait for things to unfold. Sidenote. Still unhappy with some of the members of the team. There is a "passive" resistance to some of my suggestions which I am finding increasingly aggravating.

The day dawns we are in Kindersley, Saskatchewan. The team seems to be gelling quite nicely the last few days. The fact that we are all feeling physically better may have helped. Driving down highway 44 we pass Madison, Snipe Lake and arrive in Eston. My Eston; AKA mecca, for those with a long term association to the town. There is history here, my history. The small prairie town is on the endangered species list. Eston hangs on, even growing slightly in the last year. We speak to the locals. They use colorful colloquial language to describe small town life. People know me or know of me but I'm an outsider here. What would life be like if I would have stayed here instead of moving at age five? How would have I been different? I see some familiar sites, the old hospital , where I was born. The great west cafe. A six foot tall statue of a prairie dog . Over at Eston College, the boys and I are treated like wheat kings. Dinner is on the house. The hospitality shown to us draws parallels to the parable of the good Samaritan.

We need to find an internet connection. The problem is, Eston is a tiny place. The woman at the library tells me I can use her computers, but don't put anything in them. I need to use my own computer, though, so we head to the bible college. Eston Bible College, where we are welcomed in, offered free internet access, offered dinner, offered a place to sleep. Either Blake's family name is gold around here, or these Christians are just really nice people. Or both. After tacos, we set up in the main student lounge, and "Pop da Weezel" signs some autographs. Long story... The local lounge is the scene of some pool-playing and some big-buck hunting. A rather soused local befriends us. But we wonder, should he be driving his truck home? And to make matters even more frightening, his rifle and ammo are right there on the front seat! We're not in Montreal anymore! We notify the bar-keep, and she calls the police. They come all the way from Kindersley to talk to the man. But then his friend shows up and drives him home. Community. Tomorrow we visit Blake's family farm, where his great grandparents homesteaded.

(Kindersley to Eston): Breakfast at Humpty's, drawing a funny picture of Ian pulling his hair, shooting video with small camera...Finally, we're in Eston, Blake's hometown! I was expecting a dead village but it's pretty exciting: dogs barking, kids going to school, tons of tractors ...Kids are excited to meet "POP THE WEASEL". Its an instant hit...Just looking at their faces when POP enters the cafeteria was priceless...Went playing Hunters game on arcade on evening, want to be the ultimate hunter...Altough some real people actually carry some real guns in this town....Actually, they're more interested in booze than guns...!