Just a reminder that if you’re here looking for posts about book launches or other literary events in Regina, Saskatchewan, those are housed on my LatitudeDrifts blog.
If you’d like to use or download a photograph that’s featured there, send me a note. (And if it’s of you, I’ll be especially happy to share.)
Happy reading!
Graduation Graffiti Barn, somewhere near Mankota, Saskatchewan.
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Recently, I shared a series of my photographs of Saskatchewan birds with Dr. Alberto Yanosky, the biologist who heads BirdLife International affiliate, Guyra Paraguay.
The photos were to illustrate Dr. Yanosky’s article about his visit to Saskatchewan, the importance of protecting biodiversity and habitat, and the migratory birds shared by our two countries, Canada and Paraguay.
“We say that they decided to breed here, but they are our birds, that we lend them to you,” he explained when I met him in June.
“And you think that it is on the other side, that they are your birds, and they go south to avoid winter here.”
Shared birds. It continues to amaze me that our Prairie birds travel that far.
And what fun to receive an e-mailed copy of the July 2013 issue of Urutau Electrónico featuring the Alberto Yanosky / Shelley Banks collaboration!
I love the prairie birds of summer, gliding to rest on the grass or a fence. Lately, I’ve seen several Western Kingbirds around Regina. Here’s one of those lemon yellow and grey flycatchers; it landed on barbed wire and watched until I drove on.
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A favourite shot from one of last fall’s Northern Lights displays… Aurora Man!
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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.
On prairie hillsides in Saskatchewan, the Prairie Crocus has finally come into bloom. I’m glad these delicate flowers didn’t surface in the midst of our snow! It’s lovely to see their fresh, unmarked petals.
Spring!
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I love getting mail, especially when it’s a large brown envelope with a magazine that’s published my work. And so this week, I was delighted to find a copy of The Society on the table by the door.
The Society is published annually by St. Peter’s College in Muenster, Saskatchewan, to celebrate “extraordinary work by both established and emerging artists and writers from across Canada.” Whee! Great description! And amazing contributors. (I share a page with Dave Margoshes — what more can I say?)
St. Peter’s College is on the same site as the writing retreat I attend every year or so — I was last there in February for a very productive re-immersion from daily life into the writing life.
The mating displays of the Sharp-tailed Grouse, Saskatchewan’s provincial bird, are highly entertaining to watch. They dance, they prance, they leap, strut, pout… They rattle their feathers and gobble.
I’m so happy I had a chance this year to visit the lek (location of these dominance displays, and the displays themselves), to watch this! (I have a short video, too, on my Prairie Nature blog.)
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My 2012-13 literary project: To attend and document as many Regina writing events (readings, launches, celebrations, etc.) as I can, and post pictures of the writers on my LatitudeDrifts blog.
To date, I have perhaps a 70 per cent success rate… There are far more book-related events in Regina than I realised when I set myself this personal challenge, and scheduling literature and life at times gets complicated.