My Dear Students: Winnipeg Geography

Winnipeg is a medium sized city set on the flattest plain I've ever seen. Roads cut across the prairie like graph paper. Each large square hosts a smaller square of trees surrounding a house. Square follows square follows square. Dirt on the sides of the roads shows the time since the last snow. Just before landing, we crossed the deep curves of a slow-flowing river. Where the ground doesn’t fall quickly, rivers turn back on each other like a garter snake ready to advance on the driveway. And where it’s this cold, the rivers freeze solid. I saw two tiny shacks on the ice and next to them two little bundles: people fishing I think.