Trip to Saskatoon

Since having that root canal a month ago, I've been feeling right back up to snuff. But the specialist had to make sure all is as it should be, so a followup trip to the city was required. This is one of the worst parts of living out here; you have to travel some distance for medical and dental care beyond the basics, and it requires both time and money that many can't spare, or at the least it adds the burden of travel when you're already pressed. I hopped the bus on Wednesday morning, spent a minute and a half in the dentist's chair yesterday, and rode the bus back home in the afternoon. At least I got to spend my time there with Cathy, so a required trip to the city always has a treat in it. Had I stayed longer I could have seen other good friends, but Cathy has a lot on the go today and all weekend and I was eager to get home and back into my flowerbeds.

A few of the things I saw on a very busy mainstreet Wadena while waiting for the bus:

Crosswalk? We don't do crosswalks in Wadena. We walk across the street wherever we please, every one of us. 

We have a lot of First Nations residents, or they come in from the Fishing Lake Indian Reserve.

Not the usual STC (Sask Transportation Co) vehicle. This is a stand-in while the regulars get their spring make-over.

I did take a picture of a local daycare provider herding her half-dozen small charges across the street a few minutes before the bus appeared above, but won't post such a thing without the permission of their parents. And I've no clue who those might be. What was I thinking?

Lots of activity in town on a weekday morning, anyway. The bus didn't have many passengers but I did make some new friends — this is easy in Saskatchewan, because everybody talks to everybody, friends and strangers alike, or at least I do. It's one of the best parts of living out here. People are not afraid of each other or, as I found in Toronto last May, offended or suspicious if you speak to them before you have been introduced. That's not to say city dwellers are never friendly and open. They are just a lot more careful. Perhaps they have to be.