Wednesday 4 February 2015

Highway 23 near Range Road 251, Vulcan County, Alberta


A slightly foggy February 1, 2015 on a lonely stretch of highway with long abandoned farm buildings.

About fifteen minutes due south of where I live via the Queen Elizabeth II highway is the City of Calgary with over one million people. Further south and a bit east is Vulcan County with a land area of 2,096 square miles and a population density of a little more than one person per square mile. It is really quite surprising how quickly you can go from a major urban area to wide open empty spaces. I often wonder how people live in very rural farms. I keep thinking it must get lonely.

I was born in a small town and lived in a succession of them until I was out of school. The smallest one I lived in was about one thousand people. We had one store for groceries and the other one was actually called the Dry Goods Store. That place doesn't exist anymore. I do like small towns probably because I spent my formative years in them and I like to drive through and explore when I get the chance.

On this day I took a route that was new to me. I did not see much, just seemingly endless prairie. Any day where you can take a drive, be alone with your thoughts, and reacquaint yourself with Willie, Waylon, and Haggard is never a waste.

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