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Today's deep thought
Aug. 28th, 2007 08:04 amLooking up my book on Chapters.ca never gets old.
Aug. 28th, 2007
RIP Linda Smith
Aug. 28th, 2007 06:02 pmWhen I found out about Linda's death, I called my editor, who was out taking her dog for a walk. I left a message with the managing editor (her husband). When my editor got home, she was given the news and assigned to the story, which appeared on the front page of today's newspaper.
Linda was only 57. She died because of complications from severe diabetes. She was going blind and lived alone. Friends went to check on her and found out that she'd passed on.
Linda will be remembered by many in the community. She was a children's librarian for years, and wrote six books. She was very involved with her church, and with the social justice group KAIROS. She also started a writing group at the library, and founded the Grande Prairie literary festival, which runs every two years.
Today I went to the library, and saw that the librarians had put up a memorial for her. THere's a large picture of her, with a display of her books and some flowers.
The line that they put under her name was- Linda Smith- Writer, dreamer, friend.
I think that's a wonderful way to be remembered, and I would be most honoured if people thought the same of me when I go.
Linda was only 57. She died because of complications from severe diabetes. She was going blind and lived alone. Friends went to check on her and found out that she'd passed on.
Linda will be remembered by many in the community. She was a children's librarian for years, and wrote six books. She was very involved with her church, and with the social justice group KAIROS. She also started a writing group at the library, and founded the Grande Prairie literary festival, which runs every two years.
Today I went to the library, and saw that the librarians had put up a memorial for her. THere's a large picture of her, with a display of her books and some flowers.
The line that they put under her name was- Linda Smith- Writer, dreamer, friend.
I think that's a wonderful way to be remembered, and I would be most honoured if people thought the same of me when I go.
Bison farm...
Aug. 28th, 2007 10:22 pmIt was a gorgeous day, which means it was a great day to head out on a trip to a bison farm. On the way there, I passed herds of bison with calves and almost died from cute overload.
When I got to the farm, I was introduced to 4 cousins and their spouses. All these cousins raise bison and sell it in various markets. The Hansons sell their meat in Granville island market at least once a month, Gil and Darlene sell their meat in the Calgary farmer's market, and the Kjemhus couple sell their meat at the GP farmer's market.
We had a farm lunch, complete with grace. The meal consisted of homemade buns with bison meat (yeah, I ate one to be polite) bison jerky (very salty), egg salad, veggies, cheese, lemonade, pickles, plums brought from the Okanagan (yum) and a variety of nut filled desserts from Granville island. The conversation was funny and then I did the interview while we drank coffee, etc.
Things I learned-
Bison grow well here because they are adapted to this climate and terrain. You can raise them like free range cattle and they can gain a lot of weight without a lot of feed. They can be herded etc, but they can also run pretty fast and get very aggressive when they are breeding or when there are calves around. They snort, grunt and make these really cool rumbling sounds and the bulls will make roaring sounds that are not unlike lions. They pretty much do what they want to do. After watching herds, I think you really have to know what you're doing and it would be pretty easy to get trampled.
The families were telling some stories about bison adventures, including a story about a three legged bull who got out and was running down the road, so they had to throw a pail of oats at him to get him back in the pen.
People really like bison meat, and bison is free range, antibiotic and hormone free. That's something that the industry prides itself on. Apparently some people get sick from the hormones in beef, so they choose to go to the farmer's market and buy bison instead. The families sell sausage as well, including Saskatoon berry and bison sausage, which sells like a hot damn in Calgary, but doesn't sell at all in Vancouver. The local food movement has really helped the bison industry and bison is now a high-end item at many restaurants.
(Side note- I watched a documentary about beef over the weekend and almost barfed when the filmmakers went to a feed lot. The cows up here don't look anything like feed lot cows. It's all free range here. I learned that Alberta supplies a quarter of Quebec's beef market and that the cow to people ratio in Southern Alberta is INSANE.)
People ask a lot of dumb questions when buying bison meat. One question that's asked a lot is if the cows are happy. (They looked pretty happy to me.) Some people say they thought that bison were extinct.
After lunch, I went for a ride in the truck out to see the herds. We got close to the electric fence and I took a few pictures through the fence. Bison are VERY curious and they like to come up close to see what's happening. I couldn't go in the pen because there were calves and it's breeding time.
We drove to another location where I could get a close view. I took a lot of pics of various animals and jumped about ten feet when a big bull came over the hill. I didn't see him until he appeared in my lens, and I was startled even though the fence was between us. He was huge and had a massive ruff and beard. The bison were galloping and running by, which was really cool. I learned that bison calves are red when they are born, and turn darker as they age. Bison and sheep can't be kept together because sheep carry a virus that kills bison.
Eldine and I drove around and looked at various herds and chatted. Every time I do a farm story, I feel really angry/depressed because the majority of farmers have to have another job to supplement their income. Many of the men up here also have oil patch jobs or drive trucks. The women work their asses off too. It pisses me off that an industry that creates something necessary to human survival is devalued and disrespected so much.
When I got to the farm, I was introduced to 4 cousins and their spouses. All these cousins raise bison and sell it in various markets. The Hansons sell their meat in Granville island market at least once a month, Gil and Darlene sell their meat in the Calgary farmer's market, and the Kjemhus couple sell their meat at the GP farmer's market.
We had a farm lunch, complete with grace. The meal consisted of homemade buns with bison meat (yeah, I ate one to be polite) bison jerky (very salty), egg salad, veggies, cheese, lemonade, pickles, plums brought from the Okanagan (yum) and a variety of nut filled desserts from Granville island. The conversation was funny and then I did the interview while we drank coffee, etc.
Things I learned-
Bison grow well here because they are adapted to this climate and terrain. You can raise them like free range cattle and they can gain a lot of weight without a lot of feed. They can be herded etc, but they can also run pretty fast and get very aggressive when they are breeding or when there are calves around. They snort, grunt and make these really cool rumbling sounds and the bulls will make roaring sounds that are not unlike lions. They pretty much do what they want to do. After watching herds, I think you really have to know what you're doing and it would be pretty easy to get trampled.
The families were telling some stories about bison adventures, including a story about a three legged bull who got out and was running down the road, so they had to throw a pail of oats at him to get him back in the pen.
People really like bison meat, and bison is free range, antibiotic and hormone free. That's something that the industry prides itself on. Apparently some people get sick from the hormones in beef, so they choose to go to the farmer's market and buy bison instead. The families sell sausage as well, including Saskatoon berry and bison sausage, which sells like a hot damn in Calgary, but doesn't sell at all in Vancouver. The local food movement has really helped the bison industry and bison is now a high-end item at many restaurants.
(Side note- I watched a documentary about beef over the weekend and almost barfed when the filmmakers went to a feed lot. The cows up here don't look anything like feed lot cows. It's all free range here. I learned that Alberta supplies a quarter of Quebec's beef market and that the cow to people ratio in Southern Alberta is INSANE.)
People ask a lot of dumb questions when buying bison meat. One question that's asked a lot is if the cows are happy. (They looked pretty happy to me.) Some people say they thought that bison were extinct.
After lunch, I went for a ride in the truck out to see the herds. We got close to the electric fence and I took a few pictures through the fence. Bison are VERY curious and they like to come up close to see what's happening. I couldn't go in the pen because there were calves and it's breeding time.
We drove to another location where I could get a close view. I took a lot of pics of various animals and jumped about ten feet when a big bull came over the hill. I didn't see him until he appeared in my lens, and I was startled even though the fence was between us. He was huge and had a massive ruff and beard. The bison were galloping and running by, which was really cool. I learned that bison calves are red when they are born, and turn darker as they age. Bison and sheep can't be kept together because sheep carry a virus that kills bison.
Eldine and I drove around and looked at various herds and chatted. Every time I do a farm story, I feel really angry/depressed because the majority of farmers have to have another job to supplement their income. Many of the men up here also have oil patch jobs or drive trucks. The women work their asses off too. It pisses me off that an industry that creates something necessary to human survival is devalued and disrespected so much.