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Summer 2020

Summer 2020

It is summer now, and its a stay at home kind of year, thank you Covid-19! Staying close to home has given me the opportunity to putter in the yard on projects from the to do list. From a hobby perspective, this year has also provided the opportunity to spend time photographing around the yard and the neighbourhood.

My wife has done a wonderful job of choosing flowers that bloom at different times. We’ve gone from apple blossoms, to bleeding hearts and tulips and others and this has provided me an opportunity to photograph all kinds of different flowers. Now I’m trying to timelapse the kitchen delphiniums blooming. So far no luck but I set up in the morning and snap along all day.

Photographing the neighbourhood includes treks to the duck pond, here I can catch various water fowl and see them arrive, hatch their ducklings and throughout the summer watch them grow up. As we head to the autumn we’ll get the opportunity to watch them become yearlings and get set for their journey to the south.

Overall, it’s a different type of summer, and it is not a total with a little imagination and effort there is still adventures to be had, albeit at a much more local level.

Well keep safe, wash your hands and keep a mask handy. Enjoy the summer and the adventure challenges it will bring.

Cheers All.

Summer 2020 picture gallery
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Backyard Critter Video

Critter Feeding Time Video

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Autumn is here

Ahh autumn’s in the air

So it’s this time of year, autumn. After the summer we’ve had it seems to be a welcome change, summer rain directly to autumn colours.

The interesting part of this time of year is actually watching the changes. Through the spring the water fowl came to our neighbourhood and paired up and nested. The summer, besides the rain, brought the young ones along allowing us to watch them go from soft and kind of furry to feathery.

Now with this change of season the birds are gathering in flocks for their travels, the leaves are changing and dropping and the local critters are beginning to hoard their stashes for the coming winter. Overall a fascinating display played out from mother nature

Over the coming weeks I’ll keep walking the pooch with camera in hand as the birds migrate and the local critters forage for winter food.

Stay tuned…

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Summer Curious

  • Curious Squirrel

Summer, this year the weather has been less than summery. Starting off with a heat wave and fires in Northern Alberta, then changing to constant cloud and rain. How do we get or maintain enthusiasm for summer then? When the weather doesn’t cooperate then finding the curiosities of each change can help us find the enthusiasm to enjoy the summer you have.

This year we are staying local for vacation, it has been a hectic spring so working on our yard and completing projects is our exciting prospect for our summer. We are curious on what the finished yard will look like by autumn. Staying local has also allowed us to partake in the Edmonton culture scene, the Eskimo’s football club, K-days, symphony under the stars, Fringe Festival, these are a few of the events we have taken in and and a few of the events we plan on attending.

On a more immediate curiosity offering is our local neighbourhood. An interesting mix of local pets and urban wildlife, rabbits, birds, water fowl and other rodents. The local wildlife keeps my camera busy, and add in a flower close up or two and our curiosity lives on in our local level.

Whatever the summer holds for you, local, travel and everything in-between, stay curious my friends.

Until next time, keep snapping

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Groundhog Day

  • Wiarton Willie’s words of wisdom

So once again we have survived Groundhog Day. Anyone who knows me know it’s one of my favourite days of the year. A bunch of years ago I bought this little guy from Wiarton Ontario (home of Willie the weather prognosticator!!) So I position him in the window and snap a picture and look for a shadow. The morning of February 2nd was a bit overcast and snowing, so my little guy didn’t see his shadow!! Yaa early spring!! If it was just so easy, since then we have been in a deep freeze waiting for our early spring.

On Groundhog day I was thinking about the movie, if I lived this day over and over again would I want it to be this day? Maybe maybe not, so I guess the wisdom of the rodent is to live each day as well as you can, it may be your last or you may be stuck living it over and over.

Thoughts to consider and remind all to take it to the limit each day, work hard, play hard and above all things don’t forget to stop and smell (drink) the coffee!

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Its Christmas…

This decoration is an antique and about 80 years old

Christmas 2018, almost the end of the year. As with all years this year has come with many ups and downs but in the end it has been a good year and with this week off it’s time to relax and reflect. 2019 is knocking on the door and is going to enter whether we answer or not, so bring it on!! Other than the usual, eat better, exercise more, I’ll be looking for ways to slow down time and savor the next 365 days. I guess the best way is to just remain in the day and not be so concerned about tomorrow that I miss what is right in front of me. So come on 2019 and show me what you got and lets enjoy it!!

But for this week, everyone enjoy the remainder of the year and Merry Christmas to all!

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Epic Moments

I often participate in photo challenges, the site I usually play on is “Gurushots” (www.gurushots.com).  The site contains photo contests that caters to amateurs and professionals.  The contests include all sorts of categories and there are plenty going on at all times. 

One of the challenges I entered was called “Epic Moments” and this got me to thinking…what are considered “Epic Moments”?  Here are 3 of the images I sent in.

  • A moment with the cousins
  • A moment watching a CP Locomotive at Craigellachie, the last spike
  • A quiet moment with a morning cup of coffee at Gwillim Lake

After reviewing the pictures in the challenge it appears epic moments are those times you look back on.  Were these images my most epic moments?  Not by a long shot.  They were memorial but not particularly epic.  This challenge helped me reflect on my epic moments,  the moment I tried to say “I do” to my wife and I said it with a cross between the traditional “I do” and a laugh of happiness…and it sounded like no!!  Another epic moment was the first time I held my daughter and hearing her squeak for the first time. 

I have had other epic moments and great moments, and will continue to have epic moments.  I now know that the actual epic moments happen at anywhere and anytime, and as such I now look to savor the moment, then reflect on how epic it is.

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9/11

“If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn that life is short and there is no time for hate.”

Sandy Dahl, wife of Flight 93 pilot Jason Dahl

So here I am with an Emergency Medical Responder class on this particular day,  September 11, 2018. 

It has been 17 years since the fateful day that the world changed.  2 aircraft graphically struck and collapsed the twin towers, another struck the Pentagon and the passengers on a 4th aircraft did the ultimate sacrifice and brought the aircraft down before it could cause major damage.    In the aftermath borders were tightened, trust seemed to vanish and terrorism became a household word.

How to convey to the next generation of practitioners entering into the world of Emergency Medical Services the meaning of that day to all emergency services.  I remember the skies were empty of all but military and essential aircraft, even that night when I was called for a medevac and the pilots telling us that if we stray from our direct flight path we would be seen as a threat!!

In these 17 years  good emergency plans and the right people in the right place has never been more important.  In-spite of the changes in the world even on that day there were hero’s, both on ground zero, across the country and around the world.  Cities like Gander NFLD made room in their homes to take care of stranded travelers until the skies were opened and they could return home.

The new generation is training, learning the skills to treat those who have been affected by trauma or medical conditions.  Their world includes the now common word terrorism…let us hope that in their lifetime we can find peace.

“If we learn nothing else from this tragedy, we learn that life is short and there is no time for hate.” —Sandy Dahl, wife of Flight 93 pilot Jason Dahl