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Canada has it's fair share of unusual town names, Moosejaw being the first that I've hit. Whilst sitting on the Greyhound from Alberta, the image of a goofy looking horse with horns talking non stop on the seat next to me kept popping into my head. Of course it never came to life, which is clearly a good thing as I don't really want to be that crazy on my travels. After a not so restful sleep rolling along the flatlands through the night, I thought my eyes were having some colour issues when I managed to pry them open. The horizon in front of me was such an intense blend of orange and red, it managed to bring me to my senses rather quickly. I suppose the license plate statement, 'Land of the Living Skies' is really true then. I reached into my bra for my camera (protective habits die hard) and began clicking away. The bus driver to my left was alerted to an awake passenger and we began talking about the riches of life on the prairies. And it was still barely 6am.

Moose Tales Under the Saskatchewan Skies

Coffeecat
2006-08-12 14:08:06

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I walked around I faced a mural that livened up the dullest brickwork. Taking in the details of these paintings were as good as listening to the best Canadian history lecturers. Fashionable flappers caught doing the fox trot on one wall, whilst hockey players swooshed alongside pedestrians across the street. I even understood more of the Saskatchewan wheat industry after examining the intricate tools caught within the artists' brushstrokes. It was such a pleasant surprise to find this artwork in Moosejaw. The only way I could enjoy it more would be with a coffee in hand, and I continued to resist joining the line-up at the Tim Horton's. It may be Canada's favourite coffee shop, but I'm afraid it isn't yet mine. My resistance paid off when I found a java juice hang out tucked into a building named after a great man, Walter Scott. It seems that my Scottish grandfather made his mark in more places than I knew about!

I then followed the guidebook suggestions and bought myself a ticket to 'The Tunnels of Moosejaw'. An actor dressed as an historic character, lead me down a few dark corridors before launching into a speech about what sort of activities usually happened under the streets. Chinese immigrants had arrived in Canada with dreams of building their fortunes, only to be forced to live in squalor beneath the shops. By day they built the Canadian railway or washed clothes for citizens able to live in fancy houses, and by night they barely survived. The second tour focused on the criminal activity behind the doors of the drinking Confirming the provinces' main industryclubs. I joined the actor in the bootlegging ways of life in 1929, and was comicly entertained, and appreciative of 2006.

My day in town had approached the end as I looked at the Greyhound schedule. Moose Javians had led my eyes to appreciate their town; I wonder what it will be like when I get to the capital of Saskatchewan. Regina has always been ...