We set off in a new direction for our walk and made a beeline for a country lane near us that was just too unpleasant to saunter along in the summer months. We tried to explore it a few times, but the bugs kept making us turn back; not on this day though. The cold air, blustery winds and sunshine made for the perfect day to walk to the very end of it if we wanted to and we did!
The river was just beyond the trees to our left, and huge farm fields stretched out to the right. We thought a new sub-division was being built back here, but there wasn't a sign of building anywhere. We walked along the rutted gravely road for quite a way, and didn't see anything but trees and rough rutted fields. I did catch a glimpse of orange here and there in the fields to my right and wondered what it was, but a heron, in the woods to my left, captured my attention and the orange was soon forgotten.
We got to our turn-around point in the road and when we made the turn I suddenly saw the most amazing thing. I blinked my eyes in disbelief - orange markers were lined up like soldiers in the rutted field. Was I really seeing what I thought I was seeing? Blink, blink, blink - a landing strip? Yes, a smooth, well tended, grassy landing strip was stretched out before us in the middle of this muddy, rutted field. Orange markers lined the edges and a big orange wind-sock fluttered in the breeze on one side of it. On the walk in we couldn't see the landing strip, even though we were walking right along the edge of it. It wasn't visible until we turned around and looked back on it. I could hardly believe what I was seeing. If you followed it to the end and kept going for a few hundred yards through some bush and across a road you would probably end up right at my front door! Yikes! How could this landing strip be almost in my front yard and I not know about it? How could I have walked all along the edge of it and not seen it? Why was it here? Who used it?
My imagination started to run wild and I could picture all sorts of interesting possibilities for it. I thought of the Diefenbunker we happened upon about a month ago, in the middle of what looked like a barren field, on one of our jaunts around the county.
What is a Diefenbunker you might ask? Well, it is a four story building built underground in the 60's during the time Diefenbaker was our prime minister. It was to house Dief the Chief during a nuclear attack but now serves as Canada's Cold War Museum. In case of enemy attack, the prime minister could be whisked off to this bunker undergound, and run the country from there. So, can you see where my imagination took me when I saw this hidden landing strip? Seeing as we are only minutes from Parliament Hill it seems like this secret air strip could have many possibilities. It could be the Stephenstrip leading to the Harperhanger. (Our Prime Minister is now Stephen Harper)Yes, I have a wild imagination!
Here I am thinking we live in this sleepy little town but then I discover this secret landing strip right at my doorstep and I begin to wonder. You just never know what is just around the corner from you, or under that grassy hill in the middle of that barren field next door.
Do you know what is in your back yard? Hmmmm, makes you wonder doesn't it?
AC found this image on Google for me and was kind enough to mark in red, our walking path from our house to the landing strip.
3 comments:
Now that would be a bit of a shock. I'd missed your post about finding the Diefenbunker. On future walks if you find 'crop circles' - scratch that path off your places-to-stroll list :0D
From the look of it, I'd say crop dusting ... on the other hand, it IS Halloween, soooooo
Hello! Greetings from S. Korea!
Fall is such a beautiful season... I love getting bundled up and traipsing about.
xo!
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