MAY AND FRIENDS

Socializing in a rural place, especially a newly settled one, is a survival skill. No EMT, no welfare, no firemen and so on. Everyone took care of his or her own family and tried to help the other families.


July, 1920. Howard and Doris Innis and May Strachan enjoy a swing. I suspect that with trees that size, the swing is hanging from a board put across between two trees. Looks like someone spent money on a nice new rope.


This formal portrait was probably taken in a studio with a chair and a drape. I don't know where the mister was. They're a pretty family with plaid on the girl and a corduroy suit on the boy. The mum wears a lovely locket and we're glad her wedding ring shows.


May wrote on the back of this photo: "This was taken in 1920, too. The greyhound was not our dog but a stray. This is by the garden." Presumably the dog was just visiting and either went home or ran on. A greyhound is a practical dog for the prairie where it could run down rabbits and coyotes, though probably not kill a coyote. They are meant to spot their prey with eyesight rather than scent it with noses, so they are sometimes called "gazehounds."


This photo is dated August, 1920. "May Strachan with a bunch of high-bush cranberries picked on Roaring River." I know little or nothing about high bush cranberries, the prairie and especially along the streams there are always a variety of small bush fruits. They take longer to gather than the tree fruits, like apples or plums, but they are often particularly healthy.