Prairie Weather

           

            On Thursday morning I read Sinclair Ross’s story, “The Lamp at Noon”. All of his stories are about the hardship of farming on the Prairies and how it eats away at marriage like acid. The title of this story comes from the wife having to light the lamp at midday because it was so dark from the dust storm. His writing eloquently captures the Prairie landscape; it’s powerful weather and the emotions of those caught up in it.

            That morning I also read an hour of Nietzsche but I seem to only have a brain for philosophy after sleeping, and a siesta was what I stumbled to after an hour. I slept for more than two hours and felt refreshed, especially after a shower.

            I read Sinclair Ross’s “A Field of Wheat”, which I’d already read in the Canadian Short Stories course. It was hard not to cry through almost every part of this story. It’s especially interesting because the husband and wife are named John and Martha, and those were the names of my grandparents. There’s a symbolically erotic segment where Martha is touching and viewing her husband’s wheat crop. It clearly represents their absent sexual relationship.

            I also read half of Sinclair Ross’s “The Painted Door”, which takes place in a snowstorm on the prairie.

            I've learned the words to Jacques Brel’s “Amsterdam” but I still haven’t memorized the chords. Once I can play it all the way through I can fine-tune my English version.