The kids and I did get home (not home anymore, just the place I grew up), to Swan River to see family and spend my mom’s seventy-fifth birthday with everyone. We cancelled the plans to go to Winnipeg from there and the very nice front desk guy at the haunted hotel cancelled our room free of charge.

We ended up coming back to Thompson very early yesterday so that my daughter Cordelia could attend the viewing for her very best friend who passed away. I drove like a bat out of hell and paid for it by getting a $1228 speeding ticket because I didn’t slow down in a supposed “construction zone”.

This evening I want to share some more entries from my oh so boring calendiaries. Being there for 1.5 days this week only reiterated how slow the pace of life is out there in the country. It’s really no wonder nothing much happened in my teenage years.

July 26, 1990

Went to Yorkton and bought a trailer. It’s coming in August. Also bought a brown leather jacket. Had a good time in the mall. The trailer we bought isn’t the used one, it’s a new one.

So the trailer we bought was a house trailer. I remember it being a very exciting time because it was brand new and everything in it was brand new. Prior to that we lived in a small two bedroom house. My two sisters and I shared one room, my parents had the other. It was small and cozy but I guess my parents decided we needed a bit more room. The trailer had three bedrooms, my younger sister and I continued to share and my older sister got her own room.

Myself, nowadays I am not a fan of it. Mostly for one reason. The only bathroom is right behind the kitchen, like on the other side of the wall. Like right near the kitchen table. Terrible layout. No privacy.

I distinctly remember the brown leather jacket. By today’s standards, butt ugly. Might have even had padded shoulders. But I bought it all on my own with my hard earned baby-sitting money and was super proud of it.

July 26, 1991

Went to the parade in the morning. Met Jennifer there. Gena rode Holly and lead Starr in the parade. Went to Gramma’s.

The parade is part of the rodeo held in Swan River every July, the Northwest Roundup and Exhibition. Jennifer was my best friend throughout junior high and high school. Gena is my younger sister and she was always big into cattle and horses. Holly was her quarter horse and Starr was Holly’s colt.

July 26, 1992

Finally finished the grainery rooves. Now all we have to do is paint them. We are trying out a truck. It’s nice. Went out for supper and back to the rodeo. Gena and I went on two rides. Mom and Corinne are working.

I didn’t recall this until I read it but we (Dad, myself and maybe Gena?) replaced the rooves on three wooden grain bins. The same ones I fell off the roof of another time. I just can’t remember if I fell off the roof before we redid them or after. I was always the one who volunteered to go up there because I was not scared of heights. Dad had me go up to the roof and either open the lid or close it, I can’t remember which.

There was no ladder or anything to actually use to walk up the sloped roof on, there was only two inch stripping that ran the length of the roof from the edge right up to the lid. Dad said just get on your knees and inch your way up to the top holding onto that strip of wood until you get to the top. That was fine and dandy but coming back down I started slipping and was slowly sliding backwards, and down. I couldn’t get a good grip on that wood stripping and my shoes had terrible grip on the bottom and were no help.

I called out to Dad that I was slipping. He said that’s okay, just let yourself come down towards the ladder and I’ll hold the ladder tight from the ground and it will stop you. So that’s what I did but unfortunately he didn’t get to the ladder on time and when I came down to it, I kicked it over and fell and landed right on top of it.

I was shaken but relatively unharmed. We still talk and laugh about it.