The first time we visited the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump, was in 2012. Located approximately 10 miles (18 km) west of Fort McLeod, Alberta, the interpretive centre and stunning views are more than worth the visit.
In 2015, I wrote a 99-word story based on the prompt landlocked. A picture I took on that inaugural visit paired nicely with the words I penned.
It’s World Heritage Day, and it seems fitting to share the photograph from that visit as well as the story it inspired.
Prairie Sea
Some might say being landlocked does not give way to an ocean view of crashing waves with boats bobbing up and down in swelling water. They may even perceive that those living in a landlocked world are lacking by not having this experience close at hand.
Sadly, for them, perhaps they have not encountered the rolling hills stretching out from the shores of rocky bluffs. Animals grazing as they follow the grass tide. Grain fields in their many colourful stages, harvested to feed and nourish.
An ocean, after all, is merely the scene from the eyes of the beholder.