Gratitude Monday - Grateful Beyond Words

 I am grateful for the moments beyond words.

Photo-Finish Friday - Extreme Close Up

When I first got my Nikon CoolPix L820 I played with the available settings, including the extreme zoom.
I was curious what would happen and what it would do to the quality of the photo.
The above is the result.
I stood in town and took a picture of the mountains 50 miles away.
While it cannot be called a good photo, I like it.

Photo-Finish Friday -- West Country Easter

The Rocky Mountains at Easter. That's my husband in the foreground taking a picture. His presence adds some needed perspective.

Please click over to get the bigger picture.

Gratitude Monday -- Mountain Man Edition

The mountains offer many stunning sights and I am grateful for all of them.
Today I am grateful to have seen The Old Man of the Mountain.
We were out camping on the September long weekend and came upon him during a hike.
We'd camped virtually underneath him during the August long weekend, but I didn't notice due to the angle, and to not knowing he was there. A friend pointed it out after I posted a photo on Facebook that featured the fellow.
I confess I have no idea if I used to know he was there and forgot or simply never knew.
Now I've seen him. Now I know he is there, waiting patiently for who knows what? and I am grateful.

Photo-Finish Friday--Rocky Mountain Sunset

The sun sets behind a mountain at Windy Point along the David Thompson Highway (Hwy 11) in early August.

It's Banff National Park's Birthday

Bow Lake along the Icefields Parkway

The first national park in Canada, Banff, was established today in 1887 after the passing of the Rocky Mountains Park Act.
Thank you, Sir John A. Macdonald.
Let's all go hug a mountain.
*
Thanks to Messymimi for her listing of important things on this date.

In The Summertime

I'm getting a wee bit lonesome for green.
Winter is a fine time of year and I am so very glad to live in a climate where there's a clear distinction between the seasons. But I could do with seeing fresh new life poking its way out of the warming ground.
It's going to be awhile yet before we see any plant younglings so I decided to put up a summer photo to remind me that life will return.

And here's a bonus because I like to look at mountains.

Both photos are taken along the David Thompson Highway (Hwy. 11) in or near Banff National Park.

Moody Mountain

Bright, sunny days in the mountains are wonderful, but rain and snow bring a texture to the world around us not found any other way.
Above, low clouds with a smattering of rain cast a moodiness to Abraham Lake.

What We've Got

Some days it's important to sit back, relax, and look down the road at what we've got.

Gratitude Monday – Relaxation Edition

David Thompson Highway at Preacher's Point. Photo is unrelated to post, but is relaxing.

Hypnosis is a wonderful tool when done properly. I studied it 13 years ago and am reasonably adequate at it. I’m pleased and grateful to say that I am really good at self-hypnosis.
This comes in very handy when I have to do something that makes me shudder. I used it to remain calm during laser eye surgery, to relax my body so I wouldn’t gag during dental work, and last week I used it so I could handle getting my throat sprayed.

I had a Transesophageal Echocardiogram prior to my catheter ablation. The TEE involves sending a tiny camera down the throat to sneak a look behind the heart in case there are any nasty clots hiding.

The TEE proper is easy. I was sedated for it and only became aware at the very end when the camera was being removed.
The problem is getting my throat sprayed to make it numb so the camera can slip down to do its work.
The first time I had one of these done it took six shots and involved plenty of gagging.
Because I knew what to expect this time, I knew how to get past it. I suggested I’d remain calm and relax and not gag. I said it would only take one shot. They gave me three simply because that’s what they do, but the first one was easy.

I had to say “aaah” for the next two. This increased the difficulty.
Spray is administered while the patient is lying down on his or her left side. The spray attachment is put toward the back of the tongue. Making the tongue work for this made me want to choke, but I was so relaxed from my hypnosis suggestions it all went well.

I am grateful for that.

Gratitude Monday – Flat on the Flats Edition

We went for drive out west the other day. It was a beautiful Saturday. We cobbled together some lunch, filled a water jug, and went on our merry way on a 70 mile drive toward a spot out west called Ram Falls.

But we never arrived.

We were about 40 miles or so out driving through a lovely area through which Radiance Creek flows. Horses grazed on the east side of the road, but far enough away to be unconcerned by our trespass on their day.

I’d never seen horses there and have no idea if they’re tame ones left to pasture or transplants from a herd that roams free in Ya-Ha-Tinda 60 or so miles to the south.
We were enjoying the day. We pulled into a fish pond, a reclaimed gravel pit, for a pit stop when we saw we had a flat tire.
It was fresh, still hissing. We could see it deflate before our very eyes.

So my husband reinflated it enough to get us back to the approach where it was dry and then changed the tire. We went straight back to town.
It was still a good drive. It was a lovely day and really quite pleasant.
I’m glad he was there to do the work and I’m glad there was little traffic.
And if you must have a flat tire, is there a better spot?

Photo Finish Friday - A Rock and a Pretty Place

I loved the textured look of this huge rock on the hillside in the mountains out west.
Some day I'd like climb closer to it for more intimate shots of it. It looks like a lovely spot to sit and contemplate the scenery.

Peaks and Valleys

Banff National Park

Peaks are less intimidating the closer you get. But they're still high.


I had a very good writing day yesterday. I had a reasonable idea for a scene and a character and had fun writing it. I've alway felt good when writing, but it's been decades since I felt this good. My paraNano project has been wonderful. I'm inventing creatures and writing dialogue. It seems to have blasted through some barrier. I was never very good at dialogue and got to the point where I told myself I couldn't write it.
Now I am writing it.
Stop thinking and start doing. Or, as I tell people who are annoyingly negative around me, "Stop telling me what you can't do and start telling me what you can do."
I am supposed to hit the 20,000 word mark today, 20004 in fact. As of yesterday I was less than 1,200 away.
It is logical to assume I will get there.
And if I fall short today, so what? There's always tomorrow and there always will be a tomorrow as long as I'm enjoying it.

Guardians

Sempiternal

The mountains are our guardians of eternity, keeping watch over the plants and the soil. I like to think they’re keeping watch over us, too.

What can we do to repay them?

Again With The Bragging

Along the Columbia Icefields Parkway in Jasper National Park

The Mountaineer newspaper has seen fit to put up my latest freelance piece on its website.

It's a story on two sisters, Lane and Amanda Green, who left Rocky when they were young to study ballet at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. One is now a member of the professional company while the other recently joined the Alberta Ballet after several years dancing in England.

I did several stories on them over the years and was very pleased to catch up with them.

The photo above has nothing to do with the story. Even though it's a wee bit fuzzy I like it.

The Moon and the Mountain

Near the summit of Sunwapta Pass, Banff National Park.