A Southern Girl Wanders North

It’s odd. I can not lie. Why would a Southern (American) girl give up her annual trip to Texas to see her family to bear the frigid cold of Winnipeg, Manitoba for a week?

I am ill prepared. I am poor. I know no one there. I am a big city girl and the whole of Winnipeg has all of 600,000 people. They don’t even make travel books about Winnipeg, for god’s sake!

Oh yes, and then there is the COLD!

But still I want to go. In fact, I am so excited that I am counting the days:  It's exactly one month until my arrival.

So why?

Well, I am enamoured by the words of an amazing poet from Winnipeg, who makes me see things differently. I am in love with the music that blankets these words, so perfectly.

The poet is John K. Samson.

The band is the Weakerthans.

And in December of 2010, they will perform their entire catalog of music and words over 4 nights in their hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Um, that’s in Canada, by the way.

And I will be there.

I have listened to the Weakerthans romanticize this city they come from for so many years, that I simply have to see for myself. I wonder what St. Boniface is like. I want to look for the ghosts of Albert Street. And I am sure “Tournament of Hearts” will play in my mind when I see my first Curling match (if that’s even what you call it).

So, here I will write about my preparation (look, I didn’t even own a winter coat until I was 24, so I need to prepare), and about my journey. Perhaps, someone will read this and offer their wisdom on warm winter apparel or maybe I will even find a Winnipeg historian who will take me under their wing and tell me some stories over a pint in a bar the “locals” frequent.

At the very least my friends and family will be able to check here to make sure I have not died of frostbite during my journey.