fires on the prairies

Anyone who has ever seen Planes, Trains & Automobiles can sympathize with my plight on the long haul from T.O. to Edmonton. I basically sat next to John Candy's character, except instead of a shower curtain ring salesman, he was a hunter. He was doofy and apologetic about his awkwardness... always wanting to talk, but always couching that in apologies about wanting to talk. He came prepared with motorcycle and guitar magazines. At one point, as we passed over the prairies, he said "Right now we're flying over thousand of deer. I'd like to be shooting at them."

I didn't see any deer from the plane, but I did see a lot of fires. Nothing serious, just burning brush on farms, but the wind carried the smoke from all of them into long plumes, and the sheer number of burnings, each with their towering chalky column, made for a memorable sight.

I passed the time avoiding John Candy by making faces at the baby sitting two rows up. We made faces at each other for hours. The guy sitting between us didn't seem to appreciate it, but he fell asleep and let us have our fun.

As I was getting off the plane I noticed that Halifax artist Nick Brunt had been sitting across the aisle from John candy the whole time. We said hello as we scurried off the plane, parting ways at the gate as we each bolted to make our connections.

The plane was bound for Kelowna. It was an extra stop I hadn't anticipated. Being in a plane for that long was starting to wear on me and I thought I'd lose my mind. One of my teammates sat next to me for the last leg, Kelowna to Victoria. It was nice to have someone friendly to talk to, but my god she let out farts so horrible that she may have been responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs in a past life. Holy shit were they bad.

Upon arriving, bags were found and I rode into town with one of the organizers and her partner. They were wonderful hosts, and made me a vegan chili that, despite my apprehension, was amazingly delicious.

I slept in a bunk bed, with a dog named Caleb Paco Hernandez just outside the door. I woke up to the sound of a delightful acoustic version of the theme from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Chinese Buffet for lunch with the family, who were all very nice.

Then we went into town...