Freedom to Play: We Made Our Own Fun

ACROSS THE PRAIRIES ON A PONY

prepared hot dogs and we played with the train for hours. We built things out of balsa wood for the “village” in the attic—log houses, tents, little cars and trucks, a mountain or two—and we imagined great journeys, discussed important things, and found a safe place to share our hopes, our dreams, and even our questions. ACROSS THE PRAIRIES ON A PONY Maple Leaf Club, Family Herald and Weekly Star December 6, 1911 RURAL Alta. (I hope you are all better by now, Rural, and that your trip to Ontario will make you strong for good and all. —Ed.) Dear Maple Leaves: I live in Alberta and like it fine. I don’t know what I would ever do without the coulees, the wild flowers, the wild berries, and the wild and free prairie. I am never happier than when I am on horseback striking across the prairie. I have a roan pony, and I think so much of her that I don’t know what I would do without her. I am a great reader and read everything I can get hold of. I have read by Cooper, “The Pioneer,” “The Deerslayer,” and “The Pathfinder.” I have read “Bleak House,” by Dickens. Also “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” “Ten Nights in a Bar,” “Tom Brown at Oxford,” “Ivanhoe,” and many others, besides all the serials in the Family Herald for about four years. I have been sick for over three weeks, but I am getting a little better now. Please excuse bad writing as my hand is pretty shaky. I am going to Ontario this winter for my health, as this country is too high for me. Well, I guess I had better leave off, as this is getting to be quite a long letter. 198 Freedom to Play ...