The sun has set on the longest day of the year and what a long day it was.
There are days when it seems nothing is getting done and days when there are so many things scheduled, when the lights go out it's amazing to look back at everything that happened since waking.
I didn't mean to schedule one of my busiest days this season for the first day of summer, but it did happen and it was a treat to make it home before the sun had set. I was grateful I didn't have to cook a meal. The house was hot and still more humid than I'm comfortable with and I had a good reason for take-out food.
There are an abundance of good ideas and good causes and when they come together it makes sense and it makes a difference. A while back a group made a take-out lasagne supper to raise money for disaster relief somewhere in a distant land. Over the past few weeks it seems we've been sandwiched between floods and fires in communities much like our own and often home to people we know or at least friends or family of friends.
It makes sense to help neighbours in other countries and it makes sense to reach out to those living just a few hours down the highway.
This week a group got together to layer noodles and sauce, prepare salads and garlic toast and make a meal time a little easier while collecting cash for victims of the fire in Slave Lake, Alta. It wasn't difficult and many hands made it light work and a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.
There may not be as many barn-raising type events as were popular while this province was being built, but the spirit of community remains and time after time I have seen the people of this small town and this province show they care.
It doesn't surprise me every opportunity to help out includes food. Prairie hospitality means caring, sharing and with the time and work comes the sharing of nourishment. It makes people stronger and it builds stronger relationships.
I'm proud to be part of a culture built on sharing what little people had to survive, a culture continuing to grow in times of abundance and in times when all some people are hoping for is a bit of rain and where others are wishing for the sun to shine.
We are stuck in the middle, sometimes it feels like the middle of nowhere, but the people here are like nowhere else I've ever been.
