chill

*****


eye, the wandering artist, inherited an old steamer trunk that was filled with stuff from his great - grandparents who explored and lived in crows nest pass in western canada during the late 19th century. in the trunk was a collection of journals, diaries, logs, daguerrotype photos.  eyes great - grandfather, chill, fascinated him. he was a cowboy,  a surveyor for the canadian pacific railway,  the first to discover and report the rich deposits of coal to the hudsons bay company.  following is a excerpt from chill's daily log:
  
17 may 1888. 

chill  1871  (photographer unknown)
finishd ruf cuttin logs fer north wall.  we need wool n straw to fill craks batween logs.  food is runnin lo. only meat patato left. garden plantd. no rain fer 2 weeks. strong hurracane winds. got sum water up from spring. hard wurk. 2 horses pregnent, we mite haf ta eet one. 

rote a prayer las nite to god bout the hard blowin wind.

when the wind blose
everbudy nose
thata storms a comin
thata storms a comin
but we don wurry
no we don wurry
cuz ther aint no wind
strong enuf to blo
no ther aint no wind
thats gonna make us go
thats gonna make us leeve
this gloriful land
god help us buleeve

*****


Comments

Anonymous said…
Thanks for sharing John.
I was just thinking about the early settlers yesterday, while enjoying the wonders of a quasi spring ski, and wondered how on earth they managed to stay sane through all the hardships. I guess stubborn optimism and gratitude for the beauty of everyday was high on the list.
Look forward to seeing more of your creative outpourings.
R

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