Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: explore

Will have to post and more or less run this morning. Last night, I set two alarm clocks (one set very loud), for 5:45 a.m., but I slept right through an hour of very loud music and then woke up nearly five hours later (around 11:30 a.m.)! As a result, I have missed a trip to a great place - one that I don't like going to on my own. Knowing that there will be other people there today, I think I will still go, but not very far into the forest on my own. Hopefully, the others will scare any Bears and Cougars out of the forest and not in my direction! To say that I could kick myself is to put it mildly, ha! Added later, after getting home. Ha, ha, so much for hoping that other people would scare off any bears. When I arrived at the not particularly well-known natural forest, I signed the "guest book" as I often do. Before I turned the page to sign on a nice fresh page, I happened to read a comment that someone had written - a Black Bear was seen today on the very trail I wanted to go on! I put the can of Bear Spray into my fanny-pack (can't use a backpack because of the rotator cuff inflammation in both my shoulders), but after a few steps, knew it felt just too heavy. Put it back in the car and instead, attached my bear bell to my camera strap and clutched a small air-horn in one hand. I only spent about an hour in the forest, but did not enjoy a single step of it, lol! I was determined to at least go a very tiny way in, having driven all the way there. Very thankfully, there was no sign of the bear - but also no sign of any mushrooms other than one tiny cluster of Pholiotas at the base of a tree stump. Absolutely nothing, despite recent rain. Maybe it's still too early, especially after such a late spring? Saw very little on the drive home - a couple of Hawks (one on a hay bale), a few Ravens and a few Crows, one Cedar Waxwing, and several very distant ducks. I wonder what my friends saw today. Back to the subject of barns! So many of the old wooden barns and homesteads that scatter the prairies are in such a bad state, unfortunately. This one, in better condition than most barns I see, was photographed on 1 August 2014, when I drove some of the backroads SE of the city. I was looking for a particular barn that I had found a few months ago, and I just could not find it again. When I saw this one in the far distance, I thought it could possibly be the one I was looking for, but it wasn't. When I got towards the end of the gravel road I was on, I found myself at a rather fancy entranceway - obviously I must have driven down a private gravel road. Feeling rather uncomfortable, I took a couple of quick photos through the windscreen and left. I'm amazed that this shot came out! This was the day I got lost! I was looking for a paved road that would take me south, but it took a couple of hours to finally find my way out of the area and on to road that I was familiar with! Not a good feeling, especially for someone with a driving phobia! It was getting dark while I was lost, too, and I knew I would never be able to find my way in the pitch blackness. Who knows why old barns and homesteads are left to crumble? Farmers are very busy people and probably not too concerned about an old, rotting building on their land. Most are no doubt living on a tight budget, too. I'm just happy that I have an occasional chance to photograph a few of these wonderful old barns and homesteads - I can think of at least three that have disappeared since being photographed, which is always a sad feeling, I find. Also, you see so many photos taken inside such buildings (I never go inside any of them, as they are always on private land and I won't trespass). The wonderful old treasures that are covered in dirt and strewn all over the place are breathtaking. Seems so sad that so many things aren't saved and cared for. What an interesting task that would be. OK, I've got to run! Will have to finish off descriptions and tags when I get home.

A three hour + winter walk in a local park this morning made me long for a reminder of summer : ) So, here is a Rudbeckia flower that was growing at the Calgary Zoo early in October. The temperature today was only -12C/10F (supposed to be -28C/-18F on Sunday!) and in fact it was really beautiful out. Not sure where all the birds were - perhaps huddled in tree cavities or deep in amongst the branches. I've barely been out walking the last six weeks or so, so I knew I would be walking in agony, but just had to force myself to do it : ) We were lucky enough to see a Townsend's Solitaire - if I don't have a photo of this species on Flickr, I might just post one of the very distant photos I took today). Also, just before we got back to the parking lot, we stood and watched two Ravens way up high, either harassing or just playing with a Rough-legged Hawk. This went on for a long time : ) I was thrilled to bits when we came across a Spruce tree that someone had decorated with coloured baubles and a few other Christmas ornaments. Haven't downloaded them yet, but a couple of shots might be OK to post - other than the fact that there was just no way to take photos of them without getting my own reflection in them, LOL.

A Sunflower bud just beginning to open, in a friend's garden.