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Sunday, October 25, 2009

Heading East - A Journey in Pictures

Leaving the Kootenays on a perfect fall day.




The Rocky Mountains




Descent into Calgary. brrr....




Somewhere on the prairies....

Compress and Decompress

Packing to take this journey to Winnipeg, I thought about the tasks involved. During the last few days, I considered what clothes to bring, and what to leave, especially as I am wanting to pick my outfits. (I am presenting at the Pan Canadian Symposium for Career Development and Public Policy.) I eventually decided on the bigger suitcase, and a wheeled carryon as I did not have a direct flight, and would be spending a few hours in Calgary. All of my belongs for 8 days I was piling into those two pieces of luggage. From an apartment full of my everyday needs, I was now compacted into these two bags.

When I arrived at the airport, and went through security, I was instructed to bring out the computer and any fluids (I had ink), and lots of my items were spread in plastic tubs. Through the x-ray, and then I was back to putting everything back together.

Before I got on the plane, a Dash 8, I realized my carryon would not fit in the overhead compartments nor under my seat so I Sky-checked my bag, taking out the computer and my Nintendo for the hour flight to Calgary. I organized and reorganized. And when I arrived in Calgary, I put everything back into the carryon.

My layover in Calgary was 4 hours so I decided to go to the food court and had to go to the outer area. i then had to go through security. Again, my belongings were pulled out of their storage spaces, for the security people to see. This time they found scissors that I had brought in the knitting pouch. I understand that they will be donated to a church.

Back in the waiting area, I thought of the travelling experience. Compression and decompression. And that's the way I will live for the next 8 days.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

The Gap

It has been a long time since I posted on this blog. August! What has happened since then - where have my travels lead me? To an internal place for sure as I move through changes in my life.

In August, I went to Winnipeg for my daughter's birthday (yahoo for money cakes!). September I went to Creston for the Fall Fair (cooler than you might imagine). And in October, I was off to Lethbridge for Thanksgiving at the 3rd Annual Euchre Tournament.

Here is some of the Gap in pictures. The garden was a happy place this summer, with all the sunshine. Through a dizzying number of trips to the various greenhouses, I ended up with 14 tomato plants, a bit excessive for one person. On the other hand, it was great year for tomatoes.

Here's one harvest day:


In this picture are Golden Pear, Romas, San Marzano, and my favourite - Grape, which are very full of flavour.

The strawberries struggled to start - I planted 10 plants in two containers, and two plants survived. They grew with the heat of the summer, lots of green leaves, but the fruit didn't come until September. Here was my breakfast on September 16th... The plants were mostly unharmed by the frosts, and are still blooming!



Today's soup had carrots straight from the garden. Yum!

September was a delight of warm weather. Unfortunately, the week before we went to Lethbridge, the weather turned nasty. Apparently, it was a Canada phenomenon. The temperature was suddenly cold, and with precipitation, it meant that there would be snow over the passes. So the rush was on for snow tires.

It did offer photographic moments...

The Rocky Mountains


On the way home - Crowsnest Pass

The temperature, thankfully, has risen, so now the trees are changing colours in all their glory. The fall clouds are dancing around; I am not finding this amusing. I am leaving on a plane in 6 days from Castlegar (nicknamed Cancelgar for its reputation of changes in flights when the clouds get socked into the valley).... TBC