Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

I love this place.  I have to admit that despite making countless drives between Saskatchewan and Alberta during my film school years, and despite passing through Moose Jaw time and time again, the first time I actually stopped to walk around downtown was on a drive to Regina over the Canada Day weekend earlier this month.  I had briefly seen downtown Moose Jaw when I used to take the Greyhound and they'd stop there, but I'd never wandered around like this before.

Downtown Moose Jaw is almost like a period movie set.  The entire area is a mash up of 1910s-1940s architecture, with a bustling and vibrant main street full of original shops tying it all together.  I actually became fascinated by the alleyways because of their painted ads, old fire escapes, and crumbling facades.  There is so much character in that small city, and they've done a decent job of banking on their brief historic connections to Al Capone and that era.  I was genuinely surprised by what a unique place it was.  It's certainly worth pulling off of the Trans-Canada for.

CP Train Station ca. 1928

Post Office ca. 1912

Moose Jaw Collegiate ca. 1929

Back to the Campus

Over the Canada Day long weekend, Tyler and I revisited the University of Regina campus to retrace a few of the steps through our film school experiences.  I've previously written a great deal about my time in film school, but it's amazing the stories that get triggered from stumbling onto familiar places.  

The orange and yellow hue of the media wing along with the familiar classroom numbers still echo the assignments and presentations that we did there.  College West still looks and feels so familiar that just running up the stairs again makes you feel like reaching for your key card.  It was amazing to have stories come up so naturally from a variant of visual cues and share them with someone who had been through them with me.  It's only been 4 years since I left Regina (or 5 years since my final year in production), but it feels like a world away.  Life has changed dramatically in such a short time.


The whole experience made me think about how it's easier to view film school as a far more positive experience now that things have panned out somewhat.  I suppose just growing up and generally being in a better place in my life makes everything seem like it had more purpose.  It's bittersweet to go back knowing that it was as defining as it was, knowing that there's always one more thing that you wished you would've done, knowing that in the grand scheme it was so brief.  I think it's tough to comprehend it properly at the time because you don't know where it's taking you exactly, and towards the end that got in the way of enjoying it for me.  The visit gave me a lot to think about.      

Not taking anything on this nostalgia trip for granted, we followed up our brief tour with a walk to Mac's like we usually did (and frankly like I did with pretty much everyone I knew in university) to grab a slurpee.  Clearly not everything has changed then, but those few things that have sure made it feel different. 

As Summer Rolls On

Kicking back, taking it easy, and enjoying life in the sun.