Canadian Stories

Canadian Stories

Vol.14, No.82, December 2011/January 2012 An Apple Going Over Niagara Falls by Mila Purcell

This is a painting I did when I was five. Interesting choice of colours. You can clearly see the apple, rushing to its impending demise. There is a defining, pervasive sense of motion in the piece... suspended motion. I really nailed it, in my opinion. For a child, I had a strong sense of foreboding. Kind of eerie, actually, now that I think about it (which is something I hadn’t done in ages, until I found it in a stack of papers, coffee-ringed and largely ignored). But I’m beginning to feel the significance of it now. Powerfully. As if I’ve just realized that I’m holding the Rosetta stone to my life, masterfully executed by me at the ripe and sage fifth year of it. Weird. I don’t actually remember painting it. I do, however, remember having the idea to paint it... stranger still. Read More

Vol.14, No.82, December 2011/January 2012 Haying Time by Robert J. Patmore

We lived on a small farm in the North S a s k a t c h e w a n Parklands area. The country was a little rolling, with a few valleys. Most of us farmed the valleys, and ran a few cattle on the marginal part of the farm, down near the slough. Up on the hilly part, to the east, a lot of “prairie hay” grew. Prairie hay is not very tall, and kind of woolly. The mower has to be in good shape to cut it, and the hay must be very dry. Damp prairie wool won’t mow! You know, I am sure, all about that! Before you mow “prairie wool” you overhaul the cutter bar on the old 5 foot horse drawn mower. You rivet new mower sections in the knife, as well as new “ledger plates”, in the “stone guards”. Oil all the right places! Now, you are ready. Hitch up old Sparky and Babe, take along a gallon jug of cool water, and begin. When you arrive at the edge of the odd shaped hay patch, you lower the cutter bar from its transport position. Now, the mower has a big lever, so you can raise the cutter bar, to avoid any stones or “mole hills”. Gotta take care of your new knife! If you see a quite thick patch of grass ahead, you “encourage” the horses to hurry a bit, so the mower will cut this thick patch. Now when you are mowing, you can’t go around all the sticks and little shrubs. If they’re not too big, they’ll do for hay too! You’d be surprised what the cows will eat in the middle of the winter! After the mowing, the hay has to cure a couple of days or so, to be sure it’s dry enough. Then, along you come with the big hay rake. That’s fun! And the team seems to enjoy it too. You rake back and forth, so as to make long windrows. When you think you have enough hay in the rake, you just step on that tidy little lever there by your right foot. Up comes the rake tines. And your long row of hay looks so nice! But don’t get too much hay in each rake full, because if it should rain the hay won’t dry. Now, when you get the whole odd shaped hayfield into long rows, the next step, in a day or so, is to rake the rows up into ‘hay coils’, to be forked onto the hayrack. It’s surely not going to rain, now you’ve got this far, is it ? So make good big hay coils, as you gather up the long rows. Read More

Canadian Stories

A folk magazine written by or about Canadians — true tales, poems and art from coast to coast.

Reflections on Childhood Art and Memory

The discovery of a childhood painting often triggers a cascade of memories, some vivid and others frustratingly out of reach. Mila Purcell's recollection of having the idea to paint an apple going over Niagara Falls, yet not the act of painting itself, speaks to the selective nature of memory. Psychologists suggest that early childhood memories are often fragmented because the brain's hippocampus, responsible for consolidating memories, is still developing. What remains are emotional impressions and conceptual snapshots rather than detailed narratives.

For many artists, these early works hold a mirror to their later creative impulses. The sense of foreboding Purcell identifies in her five-year-old self might be reinterpreted through adult eyes, but it also underscores how children absorb and process the world around them. The choice of an apple—a symbol laden with meaning from Eden to Newton—hurtling toward a waterfall is remarkably sophisticated for a child, hinting at an innate understanding of tension and consequence.

Reflections on Childhood Art and Memory

The Art of Haying: A Seasonal Rhythm

Robert J. Patmore's account of haying time in the North Saskatchewan Parklands captures a vanishing way of life. The meticulous preparation of the horse-drawn mower—riveting new sections, oiling the right places—was not merely maintenance but a ritual that marked the beginning of summer's most critical work. Farmers knew that the quality of the hay depended as much on the sharpness of the knife as on the weather.

The process of cutting, curing, raking, and coiling hay was a delicate dance with nature. Prairie wool, with its short, woolly texture, demanded dry conditions; a sudden rain could ruin days of labour. The description of encouraging the horses to hurry through thick patches reveals the intimate partnership between farmer and team, a relationship built on trust and shared effort.

Tools and Techniques of Traditional Haying

  • Horse-drawn mower: A five-foot cutter bar with stone guards and ledger plates, requiring regular sharpening and replacement of sections.
  • Hay rake: Used to gather cut hay into windrows, with a foot-operated lever to lift the tines and release the hay.
  • Hay coils: Small piles of hay formed by raking, designed to shed rain and facilitate forking onto the hayrack.
  • Team of horses: Often named and treated as partners, their pace and strength were essential to the operation.
The Art of Haying: A Seasonal Rhythm

Community and Continuity in Rural Life

Both pieces, though different in medium and era, reflect a deep connection to place and tradition. Purcell's painting, found among coffee-ringed papers, is a personal artifact of childhood imagination. Patmore's haying narrative, on the other hand, documents a collective practice that once defined rural communities across the Canadian prairies. The shared knowledge of when to mow, how to rake, and the signs of impending rain was passed down through generations, binding neighbours in a common rhythm.

Today, these stories serve as valuable records for readers exploring the Archives 2006 or the Archives 2007, where similar firsthand accounts of rural life can be found. They remind us that the seemingly mundane tasks of cutting hay or painting an apple carry within them the essence of human experience—our fears, our labours, and our need to create meaning.

Community and Continuity in Rural Life

The Enduring Power of Firsthand Accounts

What makes these narratives compelling is their authenticity. Purcell's wry self-awareness and Patmore's practical detail invite readers into worlds that are at once specific and universal. The apple's "impending demise" and the hay's vulnerability to rain both speak to the precariousness of life, a theme that resonates across time and geography.

As Canadian Stories continues to publish such works, it preserves not only individual memories but the broader cultural heritage of the nation. Readers interested in earlier contributions may wish to explore the Archives 2004 or Archives 2005 for more tales of rural ingenuity and artistic awakening.

The Enduring Power of Firsthand Accounts
  • Archives 2004

    Vol.7, No.40, Dec 2004/Jan 2005 O’ Tannenbaum By Ada Grier IAt home on our prairie farm, we always had a real evergreen tree inside the house for Christmas.

  • Archives 2005

    Vol.8, No.46, 2005 Jack Frost I Love Thee Not By Wally Kasper Jack Frost Begone! Depart! Fly hence from me!

  • Archives 2006

    Vol.9, No.52, 2006 Billy’s Very Special Christmas By Elizabeth Symon

  • Archives 2007

    Vol.10, No.58, 2007 Without Form by Mac Wallace (NB)

  • Archives 2008

    Vol.11, No.64, 2008 Love At Our Santa Party by Lini Richarda Grol (ON)

  • Archives 2009

    Vol.12, No.70, 2009 Wacky Words of Curling by Alison McEvoy Murray

  • Archives 2010

    Vol.13, No.76, 2010/2011 Father Christmas Finds Our Family by Anne J. Fotheringham

  • Archives 2011

    Vol.14, No.82, December 2011/January 2012 An Apple Going Over Niagara Falls by Mila Purcell

  • Archives 2012

    Vol.15, No.85, June/July 2012 Do Angels Make Pickles? by Bonnie Jarvis-Lowe

  • Unexpected Joy

    Vol.12, No.65, 2009 Unexpected Joy by Phyllis Jardine (NS)

  • Kitchen Love

    Vol.12, No.66, 2009 FICTION: Kitchen Love by Annette M. Bower (SK)

  • Best of Show

    Vol.12, No.67, 2009 Best of Show by Charalene Denton

  • A Day In The Life Of A Superman

    Vol.12, No.69, 2009 A Day In The Life Of A Superman by Donald Lugers

  • Family-Moon

    Vol.12, No.70, 2009 Family-Moon by Peter C. Joyce

  • Father Christmas Finds Our Family

    Vol.13, No.76, 2010/2011 Father Christmas Finds Our Family by Anne J. Fotheringham

  • Meeting Motörhead

    Volume 14, Number 78, April/May 2011 Meeting Motörhead by Donald Lugers

  • Life in a Canadian Village

    Volume 14, Number 78, April/May 2011 Life in a Canadian Village by Hilda J. Born

  • The English Lounge

    Volume 14, Number 80, August/September 2011 The English Lounge by Matthew Clarke

  • An Apple Going Over Niagara Falls

    Volume 14, Number 82, December 2011/January 2012 An Apple Going Over Niagara Falls by Mila Purcell

  • Haying Time

    Volume 14, Number 82, December 2011/January 2012 Haying Time by Robert J. Patmore

  • A Day on the Farm

    Volume 15, Number 83, February/March 2012 A Day on the Farm by Virginia Buckland

  • Do Angels Make Pickles?

    Volume 15, Number 85, June/July 2012 Do Angels Make Pickles? by Bonnie Jarvis-Lowe

  • English Language

    Volume 15, Number 85, June/July 2012 English Language by Eleanor Kolisnyk

  • I Chose The 1938 Plymouth - Book 1

    It is with pleasure that we present to you another volume of Canadian Stories under the title of I Chose The 1938 Plymouth - Book 1: Trips & Rides.

  • Special Edition 2006

    It is with pleasure that we present to you another volume of Canadian Stories under the title of Special Edition for 2006.

  • Canadian Veterans' Stories

    It is with pleasure that we present to you another volume of Canadian Stories under the title of Canadian Veterans' Stories - Special Edition for 2007.

  • Test Edition 2006

    It is with pleasure that we present to you another volume of Canadian Stories under the title of Special Edition for 2006.

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