A Trip to the Falls

We stopped at Athabasca Falls in Jasper National Park on Saturday.

It's a lovely spot and a definite attraction, but for too many people the real attraction is to hop the fence and get as close to the falls as they can.

I hope you enjoy the video.

Gratitude Monday -- Wild Beauty Edition

I saw a wolf.
I love wolves, always have, but I rarely get to see them.
Husband and I left early Saturday morning for a day trip to Jasper to see who we could see in the wild.
We saw this wolf on Highway 11 about 10 or so minutes east of the Banff National Park gate.
We watched for a few minutes and were able to get some photos. I also shot some video.
I think they are beautiful, and misunderstood.
Wolves they mind their own business and do not attack humans as a rule.

This was a grand treat for me and I am grateful.

Photo-Finish Friday --Moonrise over Syros

The near-full moon shines down on Syros, Greece.

Stakes on a Plane

The world of  public marriage proposals has always bothered me. Why do you need to make such a big deal of it? Are you scared she'll say no?
I can only guess this must be the real, underlying reason for them.
Oh, we can get all dewy-eyed and romantic about it.  He wants to shout his love from the rooftops, share it with the world, we tell ourselves.
Crap.
I call it ambush and I want it to stop.
I was ear witness to one at ComicCon in Calgary a few years ago. This was the big ComicCon, the event that reunited the cast of Star Trek: TNG.
He popped the question during the intermission between the buildup to the reunion and the actual taking of the stage of the actors.
She said yes. The crowd cheered.
That particular proposal was fine. It was a grand nerd on nerd moment and I am happy for them.
But I and others were trapped with nowhere to turn on a recent flight to London.
Our eager suitor was so insecure –I believe—that he had the First Officer announce from the flight deck that a gentleman has a special request of a lady.
Suddenly a plane full of strangers are right there in the big moment with you. You are about to be asked to marry and the whole plane is waiting for you to say yes.
What choice do you  have?
Saying no, even if you want to, will cause huge embarrassment to you, to  him, and to everyone who had to be along for the ride.
The suitor knows what's at stake: his happiness. He wants her and in his mind the best move is to go public.
Maybe he can't afford some of the big deals we see on YouTube or even the evening news, but he can have hundreds of people rooting for him.
And he did.
We were near London, but still over the water, I think, when he made his request. He was a few rows ahead of me. I had a glance at the ring.
She said yes.   We know because the First Officer announced it later on.
I choose to believe she wanted to, but I can't help but think she felt blindsided. She had nowhere to go and if she'd said  no there'd be pitying looks, or dark mutterings, or what have you from her fellow passengers.
Maybe I am wrong about public proposals. Maybe it isn't monumental insecurity that propels a man (or a woman) but rather the sweeping dizzying overwhelming all-encompassing love that makes the asker want everyone to know it, be a part of it. He or she may just have so much love it must be shared.
But I don't think so.
Whatever their reason, I hope they put as much effort into the marriage as they do to the proposal.

Athens, Olympics, and Stadia, Oh, My!

The news has been full of Olympic news lately, mostly with countries bowing out of bidding.
They have good, solid reasons for it.  It's an economic disaster for them. What a city needs to host this event bears limited relationship to what a city needs.
Take Athens, for instance.
Facilities built for the Olympics are unused and crumbling.
Interestingly, this stadium in Athens built thousands of years ago looks like it's ready to use.

Thousands of years old and still in better shape than the stadia
constructed for the 2004 Olympics.

They money sunk into these sites could have gone to way better use like proper infrastructure, cleaning the city up, and getting a handle on its horrible stench.
I'm sorry, Athens. I love you, but you stink.
The Plaka (Old Town) I knew from the early 1980s is virtually unrecognizable today.  It is restaurant after restaurant after tourist trap.
I eventually found my way from Syntagma Square to some of my old haunts, but it was not the same. Not that it should be, of course, but it was crowded, filthy, and overbuilt.
I presume it was done in preparation for the influx of people for the games.  One cannot blame anyone for doing this.  Opportunity came and they jumped on it. Who wouldn't?
That said, the facilities built for then are a blight on the cityscape now. Athens has no need for them and there's no money for their upkeep. Unlike the ancient stadia,  these will likely never be historic sites.
They may serve as historical lessons,  but not the kind of site one dreams of seeing.
Meanwhile, (animal lovers please take a breath) the stray pussycat population of today in Athens is barely a whisper of what it was in the 1980s.

Master and Commander

They were everywhere underfoot at the outside eateries back then. Today, they still come by, but I only saw two or three at a time. Thirty plus years ago one would spot a dozen without even trying.
On the good side, when the government tried to get rid of the stray dogs prior to the Olympics the people got upset. They banded together, adopted the dogs, and put collars on them. These dogs still wander, but they are fed and loved and very friendly.

Athens has gone to the dogs.

Gratitude Monday–Coasting to Gratefulness

We took a pleasant morning's walk along the coast of Paros during our Greek Islands holiday.
Being on vacation is enough to be grateful for in itself, but the walk was one of my highlights.
We set out from the village of Drios and ambled along a path for as long as we felt like.
It was warm with a welcome breeze and the walking was easy.
Best of all it was just the two of us. Those are the memories we want to have and for them I am grateful.

Photo - Finish Friday -- Changing the Guard

The changing of the guard in front of the Greek Parliament in Athens. The guard changes every hour.