In a few days I will have been in Eastend two weeks or half my allotted time.  In those nearly two weeks, I have been to a traveling art show reception (organized by the Eastend Arts Council), a house concert in the Silver Willow Gallery and Guest House, an arts council meeting and last night as a guest at a Mardi Gras pancake supper which must have served a hundred people.   The entertainment at the supper was provided by a trio of seniors who variously played piano, saxophone and accordion.
The yearly Stegner House Dinner, held March 9 this year, has a theme of Ragtime Music and the Depression Years and so as a run-up, the trio played that old music that somehow everyone over the age of sixty miraculously found stored in the mind.  As a result, we all got dreamy and remembered and sang.

I cannot really find words to express the feeling of comfort I have in this energetic little town.  I think I know where it comes from - the attitudes, expressions and gestures of the lifers here are familiar.   I am reminded of grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins.   Even though I never lived in Saskatchewan except for one brief year when I was four, I feel comfortable.

And now here comes the dawning revelation that this is where my roots lie.  Is this the muse bestowing another sparkling insight - or am I getting bushed?  I think I'll go for a walk and talk to the folks at the coffee shop...