Field Reflection #2: When the grasslands of Kamloops leave you breathless

Sitting next to a metal sign clanging in the wind I shivered. I was sitting on top of a hill looking across the grassland landscape over to Kamloops lake. It was a chilly day and I thought I was dressed warm enough, apparently not. The class made themselves comfortable sitting on the cinnamon coloured dusted ridge and began sketching three different plants we were instructed to pick on out short hike to the parks sign. I began sketching with soft, even strokes, attempting to perfectly replicate a strand of Wheat Grass. I pause while sketching to look around me. I could only hear silence, not a peep was coming from any of my peers; it was very peaceful to say the least. We continued up the hill and into the depths of the canyon, my feeling of being cold almost immediately disappeared. Instead of shivering I began to sweat uncontrollably and breath heavily, I felt like a smoker. There were moments where I thought I was to surely die; however, lucky for me my coordination was very good on our climb and I did not slip and die. We made it to our narrow destination at the bottom of a canyon. I found a spot to the side of the canyon amongst some rosehips and settled myself on a mound of dirt and clay. I began to sketch the canyon above. The cliff and shapes of the canyon resembled the illustrations from a Dr. Seuss story, or even a Tim Burton film. The shapes and mounds were crooked, had stacks, or were leaning. The imperfections are what made this canyon unique. I could smell the musty scent of wet dirt and vegetation, almost like it had recently rained, even though it hadn’t. We were well hidden from the wind, there was a slight breeze, but not enough to be bone chilling as it was the way up in the open area before we disappeared into the canyon. I finished up my sketch and began down and out of the canyon with the group, my legs were feeling jelly-like and I was afraid that I would tumble down the cliff like a small pebble. I even managed to hold onto a loose log for stability, a classmate behind me giggled when I realized that if I grabbed this log I would go crashing down the cliff with it in my hand, then probably land at the bottom with the log through my body. I remember shivering at the though. Once everyone was comfortably seated in the vehicle they came with we drove down the muddy road that lead us to cinnamon ridge. We passed a junkyard that was littered with vehicles, a bunkbed, and an old stove from perhaps the late 1800s or early 1900s. Scarier yet, there was a motor home in the middle of all this with smoke coming out of a tiny chimney on the roof! Someone lived in this apocalyptic mess! The scariest part about this place was the female mannequin dressed in rags tied to the tree next to the motor home. The car load of us was terrified, minus the driver who was too preoccupied with the water-filled pot holes. This was for sure a grand adventure. On the following Saturday I had to decide on what to put in my field journal. I decided to do an exercise from our field journaling guide “Finding Place” I decided to sketch sounds I was hearing. I sat in the cemetery of all places closer to the hill littered with mainly sagebrush and natural plants native to the Kamloops area. I closed my eyes and listened to the sound the sagebrush made as the wind rushed through it and the birds chirping nearby. I found that my hearing got sharper as soon as I closed my eyes. Pencil to paper, I let my hand and ears find the shape of the sounds.