A Saturday Afternoon Drive

Went sightseeing yesterday touring small towns and checking crops on scenic drives on a hot and rainy summer's day. Not much traffic on those sleepy country roads and even less on the main street in my home town in Saskatchewan. We saw one car parked, one vehicle moving, and one person walking the street.
It used to be that Saturday afternoons were the busiest afternoons. There would be cars angle parked all along the street. People walking on sidewalks going in and out of grocery and hardware stores, getting the mail and meeting for coffee in the restaurant. Country kids would be dropped off at the town playground while parents did their business. Gas stations would be busy filling vehicles for those farmers who had only 'purple' gas in their yard tanks. 😉There was nary a soul even at the sports grounds whose entrance was guarded by stantions erected by the local Legion.

Ironically the only person we saw who I actually talked to was someone who happened to be visiting at the cemetery To add a bit more irony we did not know each other but had both grown up in the same community 40 years ago.

*Purple gas was gas that was untaxed and stained purple for farmers to use soley in their farm equipment. It was not legal to have purple gas in the family car. There would be regular or rather 'irregular' checks by police checking for the dreaded evil doers using purple gas revealing the character flaws of many an upstanding citizen including teachers and ladies of the UCW..United Church Women League
.... and everyone in between.

The police now focus on more meaningful check stops such as truck safety and .08 driving impairement as so they should.