[Previous entry: "Nervioso to the thousand!"] [Next entry: "The Fin(n) Family"]

05/30/2007: "The Badlands aren't really bad"

In Saskatoon, two days

In Saskatoon, we stayed with the Bartons, a principal/librarian team who seemed to just love books. The first night, Nathan slept fitfully, talking in his sleep -- he was muy nervioso for his performances.

The next two days were a whirlwind. We visited Dundonald and Hugh Cairns schools on Thursday and Greystone Heights and North Park Wilson on Friday. Fin navigated the city like a tour guide, and Nathan ended up being absolutely stellar during the presentations. The kids loved him.

There were definitely a few presentation highlights. One young fellow asked if there was going to be a dictionary published with Nathan's language in it. What a great idea! And another girl smashed the world record for amount of questions asked for an author visit at a whopping 19. All the students and teachers in Saskatoon were wonderful.

On Thursday, after the first two presentations, we were able to get a gander at the South Saskatchewan river (see photo) and to visit McNally-Robinson bookstore. The manager at the store was very excited to meet Nathan, exclaiming, "It's Nathan Blue!" and then turning to her employees, "Look, it's Nathan Blue." My young companion meanwhile had transformed into Nathan Red. He can get so bashful when the spotlight is on him.

On Friday afternoon, after our last school visit, we said goodbye to the North Park Wilson's librarian Brenda Nissen (see photo), poured another bottle of oil down Fin's esophagus, and began the 7-hour drive to Calgary.

It was sad to leave such a great town with such amazing readers, but it had to be done. We were all still mourning our departure when we stopped to get some gas. While I paid, Nathan looked for some Adventureland comics to cheer him up, to no avail. When we got back into Fin, he had a surprise for us of the worst kind.

Saskatoon to Calgary, 600ish kms

The Service Engine Soon aka S.E.S. light was back on! Nathan noticed it first, exclaiming, "The S.E.S. light! The S.E.S. light!" Fin still had no explanation for the light and he was purring like always, so there seemed no real reason to delay our journey.

The road to Calgary was amazing. At first everything looked much like the flat prairies we had been driving through (see photo) but then things got a bit more rollicking. Nathan insisted it all pretty much looked the same to him, so I warned him in jest, "Well, just wait until we hit the Badlands."

Nathan was strangely quiet for about five minutes, and then he asked, "We're going to the Badlands?" and I said, "Yeah, just for a bit." There was another long silence, and then Nathan stated, "We can't go to the Badlands of the 9th quadrant. That's where the roaming scouts of the Dark Soldiers of Noir are camped."

"I don't think so," I said, "The Badlands aren't really bad, Nathan." But he shook his head, "You see. They're already scrubbing your mind with evil thoughts. They are going to suck us into the Badlands, and then we'll never get to Couvervan, and..."

"Fine," I said, "We'll go around the Badlands." And I really did mean to go around them, but at a certain point we suddenly started going down into this strange valley. Nathan sat up. "This is the Badlands, isn't it? I knew they'd get to you. Don't look at them or you will be blinded and then we'll all DIE!

"Nathan, I think the surest way for all of us to die is if I close my eyes while I'm driving."

"Suit yourself, creature," he said, covering his eyes. "Wow," I said, as we descended into the stratified lowlands. "It's gorgeous down here," but Nathan wouldn't take his hands away or speak to me.

Finally, I slowed down Fin, and took a picture (see photo). Within minutes, we were ascending the little bit of Badlands, and Nathan blew out like he had been holding his breath.

"Listen, I don't know if I can trust you any more. You know what happened to the Captain and the Apprentice on the planet Rupeg with Werlcott Wilson by the Sand Sculpture of Setnero, don't you?" (See page 39-41 of Earth To Nathan Blue)

I knew I couldn't argue, so I kept driving toward Calgary and our next adventure.