I knew the moment I was flying over Saskatchewan.
I鈥檇 been in the air for five hours. I鈥檇 left Halifax at four in the morning, and despite having been awake for seven hours, my clock told me it was now six a.m. Time zones are designed to destroy the human psyche.
I was next to a window聽 (because who needs the leg room of an aisle seat, right?) I saw聽 the massive sprawl of Quebec, the vast lakes of Ontario, and the...adequate vistas of Manitoba.
At some point, I fell asleep. Rough turbulence jostled me awake. Semi-conscious, I pressed my forehead against the window and looked down. I blinked to make sure I was seeing things right.
I was looking at a grid. It was a gigantic patchwork of fields and farms, all interconnected like a quilt. Huge squares of yellow and green stretched on for miles. Thin strips of highway ran between them. It looked like something God would use for Tic-Tac-Toe.
They reminded me of crop circles. You could almost see the hidden images they projected to aliens in space. 鈥淣ice parking here.鈥� 鈥淭ry the poutine.鈥� Stuff like that.
Of course, E.T., Alf, and the gang had nothing to do with this grid. It was built by human hands, which only made it more impressive. An almost perfect layout of this size was created by people.
As I touched down in Saskatchewan for the聽 first time, I was dazzled. The horizon seemed to extend out forever. It felt like potential.
I鈥檓 from the East Coast, specifically Nova Scotia. I鈥檝e lived there my whole life. I鈥檝e swam in the Atlantic Ocean, I鈥檝e eaten donairs at two in the morning, and I鈥檝e eaten my fair share of lobsters. If you know a Maritimer stereotype, I鈥檝e probably done it.
Until two weeks ago, I鈥檇 never been further west than Toronto. I鈥檝e聽 wanted to see more of the country, but I haven鈥檛 had the opportunity. Well, now I do. I鈥檝e been hired聽 as a reporter for Yorkton This Week. I鈥檝e sold my things and traveled to the Prairies to work. I imagine there鈥檒l be some culture shock.
That鈥檚 what this column is about. I want to chronicle my integration into the Saskatchewan lifestyle. I want to document how a Maritimer transitions from life by the coast to life in the fields. Maybe we鈥檒l learn something along the way. At the least we should get a good chuckle out of it.
