Winnipeg

    I spent two days in Winnipeg exploring the city waiting for the next train west. It rained my first day and I was tired too, so I didn't get around to see as much as I wanted to. It's a nice city, not too big, with about 600 thousand living there, and that's most of people in the whole Manitoba Province.

   It's friendly, as they tell everyone on their licence plates and the electric cords hanging out of the front of cars here tell you something else too. I stayed near the university and part of my walk was down to where the Red River meets the Assiniboine (The Forks); there's a cool new bridge there. I was surprised to hear from a friendly local named Ken that the Red River flows north and empties into the Hudson Bay.

   Local TV includes the US stations from North Dakota; the hot news tonight is the frost warnings and tips for suburban homes on how to keep their yards bear-free.

   Tomorrow at noon I'll be back on the train. I expect I've seen the last of the boreal forests that help the world breathe and I'll start seeing the prairie farmlands that help the world eat.