Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: fire

On 22 May 2017, this beautiful, historic church was burned to the ground by an arsonist. Such a very sad loss! Three days ago, on 4 October 2017, I finally made the drive to witness the charred remains for myself. Such a sad sight to see the burnt outer walls, knowing that that was all that was left of this special little church that was almost as old as Canada itself. I loved this little country church, especially the long, photogenic fence line leading up to it from the parking lot. The church was built in Carpenter's Gothic style of architecture. A sign had the following words on it: I have added a previously posted photo in a comment box below. "The historic church at the end of this pathway was constructed in 1875. At that time, native people were still hunting bison on the prairies. The young nation of Canada was only eight years old; the Canadian Pacific Railway still nine years in the future. And this church would become the heart of a thriving community, Morleyville, and for a time the largest settlement in what would be southern Alberta. The story of this church is really the story of Rev. George McDougall who moved to western Canada with his family in 1862 to minister to the fur traders and native people. In 1873, the McDougalls established the first mission in the region and built this church. In doing so, they wrote an important chapter of Alberta's settlement history". After George McDougall's tragic death in a snowstorm, his body was brought back to the church at Morleyville and laid to rest. www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=8788 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morley,_Alberta This was my final stopping point towards the end of a day of driving N and NW of the city. My intention had been to drive some of the back roads a bit further north of where I have been two or three times before, almost as far as Olds. However, after finding myself on a couple of muddy, slushy, potholed country roads caused by our recent snow storm, I decided not to risk driving on any others. I ended up stopping and photographing two of my absolute favourite barns that I had seen a couple of times before, and was happy to see again. Total drive distance was 369 km. A beautiful, sunny, fall day for such a trip.

On 22 May 2017, this beautiful, historic church was burned to the ground by an arsonist. Such a very sad loss! Yesterday, 4 October 2017, I finally made the drive to witness the charred remains for myself. Such a sad sight to see the burnt outer walls, knowing that that was all that was left of this special little church that was almost as old as Canada itself. I loved this little country church, especially the long, photogenic fence line leading up to it from the parking lot. The church was built in Carpenter's Gothic style of architecture. A sign had the following words on it: "The historic church at the end of this pathway was constructed in 1875. At that time, native people were still hunting bison on the prairies. The young nation of Canada was only eight years old; the Canadian Pacific Railway still nine years in the future. And this church would become the heart of a thriving community, Morleyville, and for a time the largest settlement in what would be southern Alberta. The story of this church is really the story of Rev. George McDougall who moved to western Canada with his family in 1862 to minister to the fur traders and native people. In 1873, the McDougalls established the first mission in the region and built this church. In doing so, they wrote an important chapter of Alberta's settlement history". After George McDougall's tragic death in a snowstorm, his body was brought back to the church at Morleyville and laid to rest. www.historicplaces.ca/en/rep-reg/place-lieu.aspx?id=8788 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morley,_Alberta This was my final stopping point towards the end of a day of driving NW of the city. My intention had been to drive some of the back roads a bit further north of where I have been two or three times before, almost as far as Olds, but after finding myself on a couple of muddy, slushy, potholed country roads caused by our recent snow storm, I decided not to risk driving on any others. I ended up stopping and photographing a couple of my absolute favourite barns that I had seen a couple of times before, and was happy to see again.

This was a highly zoomed shot of the very straight tree trunks that had been burnt, towards the top of a mountain slope in Kananaskis. The snow on the ground makes the black tree trunks stand out even more. I would imagine that there had been a lightning strike at some time. I love the resulting texture when seen from a distance. What a day I had a few days ago (7 December 2014) with friends Cathy and Terry, in an absolute winter wonderland! We set off about 7:45 am (still dark) and drove westwards to the Kananaskis area of our majestic mountains. Early in the drive, the sunrise turned the still distant mountains pink. This is always such an amazing sight to see. Once we had reached Kananaskis, we drove the area of Highway 40 that is still open (the rest of this highway is closed during the winter months) and also the Smith-Dorrien road. There had been a recent snowfall and the trees in many places were still covered in snow, which turned everywhere into a winter wonderland. There was no wind and the temperatures hovered a few degrees around 0C. Sunshine, a few clouds, and fun company made it such a great day! My friends had been hoping for a long time to be able to show me a winter Moose and yesterday they did well, finding a beautiful female and, at another location, a male with antlers that looked rather like two little twigs sticking out of the side of his head. The size of both these wild animals was huge! The closest we saw them both was when they approached the car. You can stop the car some distance away from them, but if they are busy licking off the salt and minerals from any car in sight, they sometimes might eventually come close. All the female was interested in was doing this very thing : ) She would occasionally stop, straighten up and look and listen - usually this would be because she had heard or seen people show-shoeing or cross-country skiing on a nearby trail through the forest. The rest of the time, she licked and licked and licked some more - the slurping sound could be heard from quite some distance : ) At one point, she bent both front knees to kneel, so that she could reach the lower part of a vehicle. Lol, she did a fine job of cleaning headlights till they shone. Impressive and rather amusing at the same time. Free carwash, anyone?? We saw the female first, then the youngish male, and then we saw the female a second time, later. After feeding on dead leaves and tiny twigs from under the deep snow, she then lay down in the snow near the edge of the trees - the first time I had ever seen a Moose lying down. Such a peaceful scene - no one else was around, either. I always feel so privileged when I witness any kind of wildlife, especially so when you get the chance to watch a while and learn the behaviour of the animal or bird you are lucky enough to see. My friends were so delighted to be able to let me experience this yesterday, though I always tell them that just being in such spectacular scenery and being able to photograph the mountains is more than enough for me. Yesterday, they did really, really well! Be warned that I took a lot of photos, so I hope you won't get tired of seeing Moose and snow-covered mountains! Guess I'll have to throw in the occasional old Weasel or Pika photo to break the monotony for you, ha. Thanks so much, Cathy and Terry, for such a great day - including the delicious chili that you brought along. Hope you are enjoying going through your own photos and video : )

I've had this cheap, plug-in, electric "fire" for maybe 25 years. It gives no heat, just a glow, which I appreciate at Christmas.