Are you saying "Where? Where's the town? It looks like an empty field to me!"

See the grain elevator? It's the only one left in my home town. Not long ago, there were three. We are losing our elevators at an alarming rate all across the three prairie provinces.

The town itself is from the right of the elevator, to where you see the end of the spruce trees. This photo was taken from the corner about two miles west of town, where I turn to go to my sister's farm.

10:18 a.m.

I have been up and at the computer since about 8:30. It is time to go and move my body around, particularly as there is much to do before we leave for the Christmas party late this afternoon.

Email excerpts:

To a friend who hopes I can escape the commercialism of Christmas in the city:

"I enjoy the gift-buying and giving. My family keeps telling me not to do it anymore, I think because they feel if I do then they must, but I find it a pleasure to do and can't seem to help myself. Even if it's only a little item ... I feel good about giving it. Been doing it since I was in Grade 3 and my uncle gave a tobacco tin full of pennies to my sister and I, which we then used to buy gifts for grandparents, aunts and uncles, the whole clan."

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To a list where commenting on replacing the stone in an inherited ring segued into a post about my grandmother's engagement ring and her early death at near my age:

"More and more often, at age 44, am I brought up short by the realization that we do not have eternity to gaze upon the faces of our children and loved ones or upon the breathtakingly beautiful sky. It is a hard knowledge to accept, or even to really believe."

xoxoetc
~~Kate