Home, Sweet Home
Welcome to Small Pieces Of Paper! I debated for a long time what my first blog post should be. After flipping through some of the photos I had already taken, I decided that this stamp, issued on August 27, 1980, should be the first. Even though I wasn’t actually living in Saskatchewan at the time of issue, it has become my home for most of my life and is where I’m currently based.
I’ll spare you all the dull yet at the same time, brutal colonialist details of the birth of this province for now and focus more on today. Many people assume that there’s nothing to see or do here. During my time living in Ontario in the mid 2000’s, the number of people who insisted on telling me that they have no interest in ever visiting Saskatchewan was both astounding and incredibly rude. But while there are definitely some problems here, there’s a lot more going on than people assume. There are loads of gorgeous outdoor scapes for outdoor activities like hiking and paddling. Many cities have become hotspots for fine dining with mentions of some restaurants being found in media around the world. And the number of cultural activities such as the Saskatchewan International Jazz Festival is huge. For a flat piece of prairie, there’s a lot going on but this image of the province still lingers in the minds of Canadians in both positive and negative ways.
There’s an old joke about a man from Saskatchewan taking a trip to the Rocky Mountains. People asked him, “What did you think about the place?” to which he replied, “It’s was nice but the mountains hid the view.” When you see the skies here, you’ll understand!
Random Saskatchewan Facts
| Area | |
|---|---|
| • Total | 651,900 km2 (251,700 sq mi) |
| • Land | 591,670 km2 (228,450 sq mi) |
| • Water | 59,366 km2 (22,921 sq mi) 9.1% |
| Area rank | 7th |
| 6.5% of Canada | |
| Population (2016) | |
| • Total | 1,098,352 [2] |
| • Estimate (2021 Q3) | 1,179,844 [3] |
| • Rank | 6th |
| • Density | 1.86/km2 (4.8/sq mi) |
| Flower | Western red lily |
|---|---|
| Tree | Paper birch |
| Bird | Sharp-tailed grouse |
