Celia Barker Lottridge in Saskatchewan

My journey through the small, middle-sized and large towns of southern Saskatchewan is a mixed tale of disasters missed or averted and many highlight moments. To begin with, as I drove into Moose Jaw, my rental car showed dire orange warnings on its dashboard. With visions of a breakdown on an empty highway somewhere between Moose Jaw and Estevan, I abandoned that car and got one that only threatened to run out of oil. The rental folks said, "Oh, don't worry. It's just a glitch." So I gave up worrying and drove, enjoying the open skies and fields just starting to turn green. They were right. Nothing happened.

When I reached Estevan I learned that by starting my tour to the west of Regina I missed a huge storm east of Regina which had closed Highway 1 and broken trees and roofs with the weight of snow and ice. By the time I arrived one day later only a few snowdrifts and a lot of water standing in fields remained.

A serious problem emerged on Tuesday. The teachers of Saskatchewan announced a one-day work stoppage for Thursday. One day taken out of a five-day tour is pretty drastic but Ruth Barker, from the regional library, and Arwen Rudolf, coordinator of my tour, arranged for me to go to the school on the White Bear Reserve and do two readings there. I was sorry to miss the small towns I was planning to visit but it was a real treat to go to the reserve located in a range of forested hills called Moose Mountain. There is a provincial park there and I stayed at the Inn in the park and also got invited to a potluck dinner in the nearby village. Bad luck really turned into good luck.

Of course, the best part was meeting so many children who were wonderful listeners, good questioners and great welcomers of a stranger who came with stories. I want especially to thank all the librarians who made this possible. It was librarians in the regional system, in the town libraries and in the schools who helped me at every turn and made sure that the children were there and eager to hear me. What a wonderful week!