The photo of the exterior of a store at Cymric, Saskatchewan in the Buildings album says a lot about my province. Cymric is a Welsh word that refers to both the Welsh language and the culture. It reminds me that place names here are derived from so many different sources, from the Indigenous peoples who lived here for thousands of years before European contact, to the people (mostly from the United Kingdon and Europe) who settled here in the 19th and 20th centuries. Place names helped keep alive memories of home for these immigrants.
The stor owner told me that Cymric was once a bustling little hamlet, located across the highway from the store. I walked through a farmer's field where the townsite must have been, but could not find a trace of a basement foundation or sidewalk. While the railway line still runs close by, once the grain companies began to consolidate their collection points, Cymric and many other hamlets and towns lost their reason for being. Wikipedia describes Cymric as "a former community", although it is one that still has a postal code. When I took the photo in 2012 the provincial bus service, STC, still stopped at the store. That service has since ended, but the store and the modest little post office inside, survive. At least for now..