Memories of the past 80 years

Dear Editor:
I was born July 29, 1942 during the horse and buggy days as I remember my parents joining seven other threshing groups taking turns to help each other. The ladies would begin cooking porridge at 4 a.m. and the men from the threshing crew would begin breakfast at 6 a.m. In those days, farmers had more communication than nowadays when they harvest on a combine.
Mom was 47-years-old when she bore me since I was the youngest of fifteen children. One day when a rainstorm hit our house, the lighting was so bad it split a huge tree near our garage and then came the blast of thunder that shook our house. We prayed earnestly before the icons on the wall and suddenly the storm subsided.
On June 28, we heard on the news that Manitou Beach had a tornado that headed for the lake and a kayaker had to get out of the way or be swallowed up. The major damage occurred near Foam Lake, Saskatchewan when the storm raged through a farmer’s granaries and threw them on the highway causing its closure.
Lydia and I plan to spend our vacation at Manitou Beach and God willing the storm will not reappear at the same area. They have had their share of floods and other calamities. We haven’t been to Manitou for three years and we are glad the lockdown is over and now we can travel again. The environment is very refreshing — no pollution, just the smell of sulphur that is very similar to rotten eggs, that helps clear your chest as we walk around the beach. This is the best place to spend your vacation— in the hot spa of the Hot Springs Hotel or the lake itself. This place is known as the “Dead Sea of Canada” with 99 per cent salt and one per cent other minerals. If you cannot swim don’t worry as you cannot drown but float instead.
I look forward to my 80th milestone birthday; we’ve invited some people for the celebration on July 30th at our home. Come by for coffee, cake, and refreshments.
Paul Jones, Coaldale

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