Blog Archives

The Land of Enchantment

The Land of Enchantment

By Irene Butler For miles the parched raw sienna sand dappled with dark green juniper and pale olive sage stretched in all four directions; further off the chameleon mesas rose in grandeur turning from browns to russets with the slightest change of light; mountains in the distance began in charcoals, ending in layers of misty cobalt reaching high into a true blue sky resplendent with startling white clouds; standing in the middle of a back-road time stood still, squinting against a halogen sun, heady fragrances drifted on the silent breeze. Why New Mexico is known as “The Land of...

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Billy’s and George’s Backyards

Billy’s and George’s Backyards

By Irene Butler Arkansas conjures up visions of hillbillies in the Ozark Mountains cooking up homebrew; probably due to Jed Clampet and family hailing from “dem der hills” before striking black gold in the Beverley Hillbillies T.V. series. The banjo and guitar pick’in music and folklore of the Ozarks is still alive, especially along northern routes.

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America, Eh?

America, Eh?

By Irene Butler “You are going to Chicago, but you don’t know what you want to see there?” said the suspicious border guard as her colleague picked through our belongings. Quickly racking my brain for what I knew of Chicago, I only came up with Al Capone and Oprah, which I did not verbalize. Rick saved the day explaining, “We are travelling for several months and Chicago is only one of the many cities we’re going to visit. We investigate specifics on each city as we go along.” Her look told us not everyone travels like us, planning only...

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Friendly Manitoba

Friendly Manitoba

By Irene Butler Scripted on the province’s license plates, “ friendly” is a well-chosen attribute describing Manitoba’s peoples and places; with our thirty-three family members living here adding heaps to the cordiality. Hospitableness extends from the cultural centre of Winnipeg crammed with entertainment and fine dining, to the Precambrian Shield for adventures in the great northern outdoors, right up to Hudson Bay’s port of Churchill for polar bear and beluga whale sightings.

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Salute to Saskatchewan

Wheat elevators are landmarks in seas of grain; a complete turn with eyes scanning the firmament often reveals every category of cloud in the same rotation, the right sky is blazed with sunshine......

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