Memories from Colonsay, Saskatchewan when I was working on a construction crew; Sunrise over the Saskatchewan River

Working Construction at Colonsay: Yesterday, driving back to Winnipeg from Saskatoon, Naomi and I passed the town of Colonsay where the Potash Mine (photos above) brought back memories of when I worked there many years ago.

It was a summer when I was 19 years old.  My brother Peter and I both spent the summer working construction at the mine site.  Much of what we did was preparing for and pouring concrete as the various buildings around the mine were erected. One day, I will never forget.

We were shoveling concrete from the bucket of a front end loader into the base of a wall which we were building.  The front end loader, running on a diesel engine, was angled toward the wall and there were about four of us shovelling away.  For some reason, the operator left the driver's seat and stepped to the side to watch or to talk to someone.  And just at that moment, the front end loader started moving forward.  We had  no warning, and immediately we saw what was happening, we scrambled back and out of the way as quickly as we could.  It was moving right toward the wall.  One of our work crew was caught and could not escape.  His leg was trapped right between the bucket and the wall as the front-end loader moved forward. His weight was on his other leg standing inside the bucket.  He turned white and yelled in fear. 

But, by luck, his foot slid between the teeth of the front end loader.  For a moment, it looked as if he would be crushed as the machine continued onward into the wall. Fortunately, one end of the bucket caught the wall, the front-end loader slowed, the driver leapt back into his seat, put the brakes on, and then slowly reversed relieving the pressure on our fellow worker's leg.  Several moments later, he had freed his leg, and still shaking, examined it closely.  The skin was bruised, but from what we could see the leg was not broken.   He was taken to see a doctor to get checked up.  We heard later that day that he was ok, and two or three days later he joined us back at work.  It was a close shave, and one I still remember vividly.

Sunrise over the Saskatchewan River:  While in Saskatoon, we had a really good visit with my brother Peter and his wife Nikki.  Nikki and Naomi really enjoy each other's company (second photo).  My son Tom and his fiance Nadine enjoyed visiting with my father (bottom photo).