My braid and Margaret Atwood

Shelley Banks, with Margaret Atwood
Shelley Banks, with Margaret Atwood

There is a story behind every photograph — including this one…

But I’m not yet sure how to tell it, except by saying that yes, I spent several days with Margaret Atwood in Val Marie, Saskatchewan, early this summer.

What a trip.

First, what amazing company.

Margaret Atwood, yes, and also her partner Graeme Gibson, along with Ian Davidson (Nature Canada), Alberto Yanosky (BirdLife International Affiliate Guyra Paraguay), Saskatchewan writer/naturalist Trevor Herriot and others.

And what an awesome chance to learn about the fragile prairie ecosytem, and the symbiotic relationships between our grazing animals and the grassland birds we love. (Birds we saw included a Baird’s Sparrow; an Upland Sandpiper and a Bobolink, both of which migrate all the way between Paraguay and Saskatchewan; a Common NighthawkChestnut-collared Longspurs and Long-billed Curlews.)

I’ve posted other pictures from this Prairie Passages tour on my Latitude Drifts blog, with photographs of prairie wildflowers and photographs of birds and bison on my nature and flower blogs.

As for this photograph…

Well, yes, I do have a very long braid…

And my thanks to Colin Hubick of Red Hat Studios for capturing the moment… (At least, I think I’m grateful…)

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Shelley Banks

Writer, editor, photographer.