Month: April 2015

  • Early spring thoughts...

    It certainly has been awhile since  I have posted. The following was written on April 24, 2015 on a return train trip through the Rockies.

    image

    An early morning sitting in the top of the dome car of the VIA trainDSCN9056 heading from Vancouver to Edmonton, somewhere east of Kamloops along the North Thompson River close to Clearwater.BC. image Rain spatters the windows and the  new green leaves of spring poplars and birch delicately contrast with the darker boughs of the tall spruce. imageOvercast the clouds and white mist reach low over the Kootenay Mountains. Telephone wooden poles, no longer in use, with three or four cross ties and glass insulators tumble at various angles overgrown with vines or drooping wires next to the rail line.

    Travel by rail if one has the time is certainly enjoyable. Coach seats can be rather cramped for sleeping but dining car service is exquisite.DSCN9061

    On trip out on March 31, with a grand daughter DSCN9067we stopped in Jasper where she found this shop....note the name!

    Here we are together later in the trip.

    DSCN9107
    This trip taken two weeks later than originally planned due to a broken wristimage and subsequent surgery, serves as a quiet interlude between my two worlds.
    On the west coast of British Columbia,Vancouver and Victoria were, as I usually call it, " my first touch of spring " after what seemed like a long Alberta winter.
    The colourful blooms of red and yellow striated tulips, DSCN9134DSCN9077
    yellow and  white daffodils, DSCN9085
    blue  lobelias,
    and pink magnolia trees image
    brightened the pre-Easter days.
    Catching up with a life long friend, Fran. as we sipped wine exchanging family stories, DSCN9086
    and browsed Sidney nurseries for additions to her yard.image
    The Saturday outdoor family wedding at a small  winery image was blessed with clear sunny skies DSCN9090and image
    gathering of cousins,
    DSCN9109
    friends and family
    from elderly aunts to preschoolers and month old babies.
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    Whether a walk on the beach or cool winds on the Tsawassen ferry
    image
    through the Gulf Islandsimage refreshed me and reminded me of too short a planned trip. DSCN9143
    A trip on an unseen curb heading into the Telus Science Museum ( it was that yellow curb ) on April first ( my April Fools )imagebraced by my left hand resulted in the broken wrist with an ER visit, out patient clinic and day surgery in Vancouver over the next few weeks.Toting a soft cast, sling and under the watchful eye of my daughter Amelia, with her nursing background. I developed the skills of operating one handedly.
    Exploring  Vancouver's Stanley Park,image
    the Aquarium imageand gardens at UBC allowed me to take many photos.
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    Shared times with my daughter and her husband and dog Ilala, a two year old Rhodesian Ridgeback who liked to share a " spot in the afternoon sun."image
    which might not have occurred otherwise included neighbourhood dog.walks,
    stops at small coffee shops,
    image
    a few micro breweriesDSCN9162image and drives up to Whistler and Squamish where they are relocating.
    But it's not also without regrets that it will be awhile before I will  be able to cycle or garden again soon. Worried about my newly planted seedlings left behind in Edmonton, my pets at the house and return date to work.
    All questions to be left until the end of this journey!
    BTW..this is my Edmonton backyard perennial bed just completed in last few days....DSCN9170

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About me...

An Albertan & Canadian, definitely a northern gal. Social worker by profession, this blog has included some of my work over 10 years in Nunavut from 2002 on. Passionate about slowing down & taking time to appreciate the beauty of the outdoors or kindness in relationships as gifts & blessings; injustices against children in situations beyond their control; my faith; Nature, experiencing the outdoors whether cycling, walking. x-c skiing or gardening, my dogs, capturing on film God's beauty, experiencing life intensely & with the senses, richness of late afternoon light, wind in my hair cycling with my dog on a beach road, couching inches from an arctic flower or alpine lichen to capture it with my camera, insight of a student's new learning, a good conversation over a coffee.

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