Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: interestingness#66

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.

Yesterday, 20 July 2014, I plucked up courage to do a drive that I’d never done before. I had been that route once before that I can think of, when I carpooled with others. A good part of the drive was in familiar territory, but I’d never driven the last part of the journey myself. I had met my daughter at 9:00 a.m. and we were both eager to see a display of birds of prey that had been brought up from the Coaldale Birds of Prey Centre. We came across Dee (rockymtnchick) and her partner, there to see the owls. Great to see you both! This year, there were fewer birds, but it was great to see any at all. This year, there was a Burrowing Owl, a Barn Owl, the beautiful Great Horned Owl in the above photo, and a Golden Eagle. Another real treat that was an amusing one, was seeing a baby Barn Owl that was just 45 days old! This little ball of fluff was acting as a great ambassador, letting young kids get a close view and ask questions, and fall in love with it – and to hopefully, in the future, do everything they can as adults to protect our precious wildlife. The enjoyment of seeing these birds up close reminds one that the reason these birds are not free to live in the wild, is because of some kind of interaction with humans – such as permanent injuries from being hit by a vehicle, pesticide use, or even worse, being shot by a human! This is what happened to “Spirit”, the magnificent Golden Eagle, shot and blinded by someone. This exhibit was our first destination in the park, though on the drive from Calgary, we had stopped at the small McDougall Church at Morley (one of the photos posted today). After seeing and photographing the birds of prey, we then drove to Middle Lake that’s in a different part of the park. We walked the very short distance to the edge of the lake, but didn’t walk around it. From there, we drove to Many Springs Trail and did a very slow walk around the lake, stopping to look at different flowers and photograph a few butterflies. Though slow, it was still further than I should have walked. Certain wildflowers were already finished, including various Orchid species, but there were still plenty to see and enjoy. Even the weather cooperated, though the forecast had been for isolated showers. Not too hot, nice clouds in the sky and lovely to have my daughter’s company for the day. Thanks so much to the people down at the Coaldale Bird of Prey Centre (near Lethbridge, down towards the Canada/US border) for bringing your gorgeous birds of prey for us to see! I have been south to the Centre three times I think, and always long to go back again, but it's not somewhere I can drive to, so this was a much-appreciated treat yesterday!