A Small Town Has Big Ideas

April 11, 2012

In Val Marie there’s an active, far-thinking museum with big ideas. It’s called Prairie Wind & Silver Sage – Friends of Grasslands. The museum has functioned successfully for a number of years but in the last few has grown in exciting directions. Now Prairie Wind is also a gift shop with high quality Grasslands-related memories [...]

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A Small Town Has Faith

April 5, 2012

In 1927 the Val Marie Elevator was one of a proud army of approximately 3,300 Saskatchewan crib-style wooden grain elevators. By the close of 2009, the list of known such elevators in the province had declined to approximately 420. Now the Val Marie Elevator stands as sentinel against the loss both of a way of [...]

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A Small Town Makes Magic

March 29, 2012

Last night I saw magic happen. Not big magic, with walking trees and talking animals and wizards, but small, local magic. The kind that turns a key in your heart and opens the door. Last night the Val Marie Hotel hosted performer Glenn Sutter. Glenn is a singer-songwriter, described on his poster as playing “folk [...]

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Order. Enough Time. Hawks.

March 22, 2012

Yesterday morning I awoke early, in the dark, not knowing where I was. I reached out and touched the pillow next to mine. If my guy the big guy is there, maybe that will tell me something. But the other side of the bed is empty. Could I be back in Annaghmakerrig? No, the room [...]

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Lost in Connemara Mist. Found.

March 14, 2012

Fog. Mist. Green. Rocks. Sheep. Cows walking on rocks down to the sea. Miles of narrow roads on the wrong side of the road and the wrong side of the car. Keeping warm in a small island house where the the turf burns brightly but oil heat costs the earth and hasn’t been on for [...]

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