A few weeks ago, I remarked that it looked like winter is here. After that, it warmed up, the snow melted, and it has been very pleasant ever since with very little precipitation and temperatures hovering around zero in the daytime. Lots of sunshine, too.

Another former Greenwater resident, Carl Wikberg, passed away on November 13th. Carl and Jean moved to Saskatoon about ten years ago and Jean still lives in her apartment. Carl was in Lutheran  Sunset Special CareHome at the end of his life. We knew Carl and Jean since they moved to Wynyard in about 1961. They were in the plumbing business but also, in partnership with Helgi and Avis Peterson, ran the Laundromat and the Wynyard Motel.

When we moved to Greenwater, they had retired and were living at the lake, and we saw a lot of them. Carl and Herman Duerksen and George Wilkes and I did a lot of biking together, in fact I have a photo of Carl, Herm and myself biking through Lakeshore Campground away back in the ‘80s. Those were fun days. Carl and George were with Herm on that fateful day they biked to Kelvington; Herm dropped dead at the end of the trip. Carl never rode his bike after that.

Sincere condolences to Jean, to Lynda and family, and to Loreen and family. A memorial is being planned for spring, likely at Greenwater, and we will see them all there.

When we went to Moose Jaw last Sunday, there was practically no sign of snow anywhere along the way. Buffalo Pound Lake appeared to be frozen over except where it runs under the highway, but nobody was out fishing.

While there isn’t much ice on the streets right now, we have decided to do our winter walking indoors. A fall could really ruin life for us. Doreen’s sister, Lucille, has been in the cardiac program at the Field House for months, and we can go, too, as her support people. The Field House is only about ten minutes away and on Friday we made our first visit. There is a huge, oval track with six walking and jogging lanes, on a cushioned surface. There are also weight programs, which I may get into a little later, and a room with a lot of rowing machines, stationary bikes, and hand bikes. There are a number of therapists ready and willing to help out with any questions or problems, and a very good atmosphere. We spent about an hour and a half there Friday; I estimate I walked about two miles, and my legs felt like it. I also spent a few minutes on one of the rowing machines, but that is going to take a bit of getting used to. We signed up for Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, early enough that it won’t conflict with my Wednesday morning coffee group. It should give us a reason to get up and get going in the morning.

We visited some Sunseeker friends last night, Dave and Reta Simpson. They tell us that their favorite diversion is to get in their car and cruise the Saskatchewan back roads, investigating the small towns and looking for wildlife. On one recent trip, close to Saskatoon, they spotted a cow moose with two calves; three elk, a coyote, and two snowy owls. Some deer, too. We tend to think one has to visit the provincial parks to see wildlife, but that obviously is not the case. We have to get out more.

They lent us a video production by John Kalesnikoff, a videographer who lives at Meota, up north of North Battleford. The whole production is done around Jackfish Lake, has some lovely landscapes of the area, and close-ups of birds and animals of the area. Fascinating! The title is “Saskatchewan Jackfish Lake Naturally”. I don’t know if it is in book stores, but the library might have a handle on it.

We went to a Christmas party tonight, a get-together of Wynyard and Foam Lake people. Among them were the people I have coffee with every Wednesday morning. We met at Mulberry’s in Market Mall and had a wonderful dinner. There must have been thirty or more there, many of them old friends. We sat with the Cochlans, the Goodyears, and Claudia Smith but visited with many others. I had a great visit with Beatty Scyrup who ran the lunch room at our Wynyard plant for many years, back in the ‘60s. Beatty lives right next door to Market Mall.