foran_object

Monday July 17, 2006: Work on hay bail machine, and visit to Corner Gas

Jen was awake and fidgety at the crack of dawn, annoyingly disrupting my unusually light sleep. Fortunately, everyone is up early, and she joins them in the kitchen, leaving me to sleep comfortably. As I get older, sleeping somewhere outside of my home becomes more and more of a discomfort.

After breakfast, I go outside to help Jen, Mr. C, and Grandpa working on the bail wagon. It feels good to actually be doing something, rather than sitting around chatting. We change out a tire and a hydraulic hose. Unfortunately I broke one of Grandpa’s sockets. I pointed out that the shiny socket isn’t designed to be used with an impact wrench, but we use it anyway, and sure enough, it first cracks, then later breaks, probably not helped by my inexperience with the big air-compressor driven wrench.

Lunch--sorry “dinner”, as I’m not used to calling my midday meal--is of giant proportions. Nice food, but bland. Roast beef, potatoes, and some vegetables.

This afternoon, Jen’s cousin Adam takes us to the Rolleau, Saskatchewan, aka Dog River, site of the show Corner Gas. I had found the show to be mediocre, until I watched several episodes while feeling lonely and homesick in some country and I can’t remember. The show gave my some much needed comfort. Rolleau, isn’t far from the farm, but again, basically in the middle of nowhere. We’re not allowed into the set. The gas station and the Ruby, appear obviously fake—actually seeing them in person. We catch a glimpse of the character Hank. He gives a brief wave. The rest of the cast in currently in the bar, filming. We go into the police station, which is actually a coffee/souvenir shop. I can’t believe how many other tourists are here. Who wants to drive all this way just to see Corner Gas? The number of people in the town is probably double or triple due to the cast and crew, and our fellow tourists. I buy a “Brent’s shirt” and copy of the 2^nd season DVD set. Normally wouldn’t, but I’m caught up in this strange small town Hollywood place, and the shirt is damn cool.

In the evening, Mrs. C, takes Jen and I out into the pasture in the what she calls, “Blackie”, an old Chevy pickup truck. Our goal is to reunite a sickly starving calf with her bloated mother, who needs to be rid of the excess milk that is causing her swollen “bag” to hang nearly to the ground. If you’re picture the pasture as flat, you are wrong. I’m surprised at the 2-wheel drive pickup’s ability to make it up and down the rocky rolling hills. Although on one occasion, we fail to make it up a hill, and need to back down and try a different route. We never do find the calf. Mrs. C says both calf and mother may die. I worry about their fate while my stomach is full of the roast beef we had at dinner.

posted by foran  # 11:09 AM