These Places Visited

Here’s a few out of the way places we documented last fall in the far eastern reaches of Alberta. We’re hanging with a good friend, and cruising the back roads, not really caring what we find since it’s more about the socializing than it is the subject matter. Still, we make it a point to take in anything interesting we pass. The mood is laid back. No pressures, no expectations.

So here, presented for your approval, a post that does not delve deep into anything and where the photos are simple and and the write up done in a real casual manner. It’s for a change of pace – sometimes we’re too into the game that we loose sight of the little things. Here we slow down.

So we’re barrelling down some township road and kicking up the dust. We chat about nothing in particular. The world flies by, all those fields of grain, the golden stalks swaying in the breeze. Here’s the world’s breadbasket…and it stretches off to the horizon.

At some crossroad we come to an old farm. We got to stop. The house is all quiet and empty. An old boot gets us thinking of those who once lived here. Their joys, their pains. Why did they go? Clearly the place has been empty for many decades. Suspect it dates back to the 1910s or 1920s – around the time the area was opened up to settlement.

On one wall, a thermometer. Hmmm, seventy five degrees, Fahrenheit. A nice warm, not too hot, not too cool. The scale goes all the way down to minus forty. And out here on the plains, come a frigid winter, the wind howling, dipping that low is not unheard of. Your author has seen temperatures that cold in person (in Winnipeg Manitoba of course). Darn near froze the toes off.

In the shed, an old GMC grain truck. Looks like you could jump right in, turn the key (and they were in the ignition) and drive off to the Pool elevator in town with a load. As had been done countless times before.

Back on the dusty road – there’s no way to keep a vehicles clean out this way. Then it’s down some cart track, a fence hop and a little walk in. There it is, the remains of a stone-walled barn. Imagine all the work that went into making it! Imagine what it looked like back then. It’s huge! A lone tree keeps it company – I’m thinking of you John Sharpe.

Over there in the field, dodging land mines as we go (courtesy local cows), a cellar from the house. It too is made of stone. These buildings probably go back about a hundred years, and given there’s so little left, it’s been a long, long time since the people that lived here moved away. Growing grain is one tough business, and the many abandoned farms scattered about the region, much as this one, are a reminder of that. Many tried, many failed. The odds are against you.

Life sure was hard back then. Come the sweltering heat of summer, or that long cold winter, there was work to be done. Work from sun up to sun down, sometimes well into the night. The rains turn the land to mud then the sun bakes it concrete hard. Wind blows away precious topsoil. A deep freeze kills the cows. And breaks your spirit. Just a few of the hardships realized.

Then frustrated and at wit’s end, they pack up and move away. And left behind, remains of the the place they once called home. These walls speaking of family who’s dream went bust.

A BBQ back at our friend’s farm. And a cold one. Now that’s a great way to end the day. Earlier, we looked at an old house once connected to his family, moved to his property from elsewhere. It’s so tiny. Inside, a bunch of possessions, untouched for eons. It’s not forgotten about, but a little visited time capsule of sorts, in honour of those who came before. In a corner, a milk jug marked with the owner’s name, used to transport his product to market in town. Local and fresh.

The road calls and soon we’ll be homeward bound. We enjoyed the visit and the chance to document the old farms seen this day. Perhaps another time we’ll return and give them the full-on “BIGDoer Treatment”.

A big thanks to David McKinstry for hosting us this day. We had a blast! If you’d like to do the same, and take Team BIGDoer on a tour of your area, by all means, message us.

What a GREAT weekend it was…
Fairacres.
Kelts’ Collection.
St Norbert’s.
Woo Sam’s.
CNR #1158 at the Western Development Museum.

If you wish more information on what you’ve seen here, by all means contact us!

Date: September, 2017.
Location: Special Areas, Alberta.
Article references (and thanks): David McKinstry.

Our host shows us this old family possession…

…And the old family homestead, moved to his property.

Down the road this old GMC at an abandoned farm.

It dates from the 1910s/1920s period.

And has been empty many decades now.

The front door, welcoming no one.

A small reminder of those who lived here.

Home to memories and ghosts.

We imagine it lived in.

Reading 75℉

In the distance, the remains of a stone-walled barn.

Foreground, the foundation of the house.

Must have taken some time to collect all the stones.

A lone tree.

The work appears expertly done.

We know very little about this farm (but we keep searching).

Again, we think of those who called the farm home.