September 2003

At any rate, one of the most interesting things I have discovered about this area are the late-summer festivals. Every town worth its salt has one. It all starts with the Manitoba Stampede in Morris and gradually the festival bug works its way around the entire area. I ask you, who needs a Santa Claus parade if you can sit through two parades, each well over an hour long, complete with farm machinery! Did I say complete with farm machinery? I mean, with a complete display of farm machinery (sadly, none of it exploding, although some of the old tractors sure sound like they're about to!). I'm not a farmer myself, as you are likely aware, especially from my opening comment of being a pastor, although I'm sure there would be a certain amount of fulfilment to be found in having a farm with a couple cows and a few chickens on hand (chicken soup, anyone?). But what I'm getting at is the massiveness of some of these tractors. Big does not begin to describe these monstrous vehicles. If you think a Hummer is a big vehicle, you have another think coming! Some of these tractors no doubt come with a vertigo/acrophobia warning: "Caution: This vehicle not to be used by people suffering from a fear of heights." And instead of wheels, to complete the "this is a really really big tractor" impression, these behemoths run on tracks, like a big tank would. There is something profoundly cognitively dissonant about thinking of tanks and tractors simultaneously, but that's not the point either.

What I was getting at before that little discourse got the better of me is that these festivals are really a very neat way of gauging the community. In Winkler, we have the Winkler Harvest Festival and Rodeo. A nice, community event, complete with live music in the bandshell on the fairgrounds, the prerequisite baked goods and crafts on display in the arena, the midway, and all sorts of freebies from all sorts of sources. In Morden, we have the Corn and Apple Festival, which revolves around, not altogether surprisingly, free corn and apple cider (well, juice, but in a pinch you can pretend it's cider, although, being pasteurized juice, it has about as much chance of becoming cider as Madonna does of becoming my favourite singer of all time... which is to say about the same as a 4-inch snowball surviving a 38 celsius day in direct sunlight, which is to say not very much, but it is way more fun to heap up allusions, isn't it?). This one is held right on the main street of town, and also features the live music, midway, and all sorts of freebies.

There are many, many more of these things. They are all a good time in their own right, and most importantly, they are a great way for these communities to rally and say, "Hey, you city folk up in Winnipeg, come see how REAL people have a good time!" And I'm all about showing the city folk a thing or two every now and again. Although, come to think of it, even Winnipeg has a couple big do's like these. Hmmm... must be something in the Manitoban air.

But as for me, I'm already looking forward to next summer. Maybe I can go around to one of these every single weekend of the summer and truly experience Manitoba at its finest! But until then, I'll just keep being busy and enjoying life as it comes.

Till next time...