Saskatchewan Fall Colors
By Joan Eyolfson Cadham		  
     
 
Saskatchewan does not have hardwoods to create splashy shows of red and crimson and scarlet. However, the softer golds and bronzes, burgundy and corals are framed by the never-ending sky and painters and photographers recognize something special about Saskatchewan light, especially as evening shadows lengthen.  
 
     
  Because every roadside bluff, every aspen grove, every stand of birch, every stand of saskatoon, chokecherry and wild rose lights up in the fall, looking for colour does not require adventuresome travel. Any gravel road - or any major highway - will offer up autumn gifts of colour and movement.  
     
 
  Autumn in Saskatchewan is all of a piece. Closest to the road, sapphire sloughs are ringed with catkins that appear to leach their colour directly from the late day sun. Still water is cut by the vee of a scurrying duck, and the challenge is to remember to find somewhere entirely safe to pull off to take the requisite photo.
 
     
  Swathed fields provide corduroy patterns ranging from the deep cream of oats through the rich bronze of flax. Overhead, a skein of geese unravels across a soft blue sky. In the corner of the field, a splash of crimson and gold signals a chokecherry bush with, perhaps, a few tenacious deep purple berries.  
     
 
North on Hwy. 9 to Hudson Bay, aspen gives way to showy golden birch punctuated with dark old pines, all accented with little flashes of coral or orange saskatoon bushes. The logging roads beckon until the first sign: One Way Road. Watch for Logging Trucks, Logs and Rocks. Pavement suddenly looks like the better choice.  
 
     
  There are deer, sometimes using hay bales as a lunch counter and not very concerned about an approaching human with a camera. The have their limits, however, and bound into the woods leaving the rest of their lunch behind, no doubt to collect later.  
     
 
  The Qu'Appelle Valley is worth the drive, though pulling off is hazardous on the main roads. Batoche offers history and striking leaf colour.

Wherever you go, the same rules apply. Pull right off the road, well onto the shoulder, and don't stop on curves.
 
     
  Leaf time in rural Saskatchewan is also fowl supper time, an engaging community fund raiser that guarantees the meal of all meals almost any Sunday evening from September to the end of October. Two or three choices of meat, fresh garden vegetables, salads beyond description, freshly baked home made buns, lashings of tea, coffee or juice and as much lemon, saskatoon, rhubarb, coconut cream, chocolate or pumpkin pie as a body can manage, all for $6 to $7, the money going to fund the local swimming pool or the rec centre or one of the local churches. Everyone sits at long tables and conversation flows as easily as the coffee. Check the local paper for times or locations - or ask someone.  
 
Bring a change of warm clothes - Saskatchewan can offer all manner of surprises this time of year and evenings can carry a chill. Bring a camera and extra film. Bring enough time to drift and explore, to take photos, to enjoy the silence broken only by the call of the geese.  
 
     
  There are rumours that, because Saskatchewan's sky is so spectacular, residents of the province would be considered greedy if they also demanded the showy colours of an Ontario or Quebec autumn. As possible proof of that theory, leaf time in Saskatchewan is also the beginning of orthern lights (aurora borealis) season. There's no need to understand the science to enjoy the white and red and green dancing veils that swoop and swirl across the northern sky. The best shows are found out of town, away from local light. However, don't try to sky watch while driving. Pull safely off the roadway, stop, and enjoy.  
     
 
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