A Celebration of Western Movies… Pardner!
Pelicans …
They follow me around.
Cenote swimming hole!
Life is hard.
Not my best post on Mexico trip, but I’m composing this
as I’m running out the door for 12 days in Hawaii.
All the posts you’ve been seeing for the last 12 days
were all pre-scheduled.
I’m uncertain of my media access on the trip
so I apologize if I don’t readily monitor things here.
See you soon.
Swirsky is versatile in his subject matter
which spans from humorous subjects
to gorgeous nature images.
Denise specializes in sweeping Alberta landscapes.
Which again remind me of the raw stylings of
Canada’s famous Group of Seven.
https://www.facebook.com/keithandrewsfineart/photos
Not bad for a southpaw Keith.
Awesome.
Mark has been doing some of the most original artwork around.
I really like his recent work.
Call me crazy, but some of Mark’s art reminds me of
Group of Seven artist Lauren Harris.
It ain’t Western, but it sure is amazing!
This would look fine on my wall.
Gorgeous textures
This Art speaks for itself.
A power that seems to chiseled from the mountains themselves.
Inspiring!
George has a way of re-awakening the past in
style and image like few others.
Excellent work.
Vivid landscapes …
… joy for wildlife!
Karen loves horses.
It shows.
http://www.darcypresiloski.com/
You want Western?
Darcy’s got Western.
Sweet work.
https://www.heatherhawley.com/
Just great work.
http://www.tomhjorleifson.com/
That’s rather amazing Tom.
The sky is no limit.
Classic work Tom.
https://www.facebook.com/TheKenHoehnGallery
Great work guided by a great philosophy.
“Wild.Form” Michael calls it.
A specialty in powerful images of Wildlife.
Indeed!
Some of Terri’s work reminds me of the
great Canadian Artist
Tom Thomson
And that’s not bad at all.
Every year Rose and I go down to the Calgary Stampede grounds for
one particular reason:
Here we always find an array of exceptional Artwork
which I like to profile.
https://www.paulvanginkel.com
Paul is a regular exhibiter here and his work is truly exceptional:
Great stuff Paul.
https://sergedube.com/
Serge method seems unusual … but awesome.
Very nice. Powerful.
www.lorettakylesculptor.ca
These amazing works speak for themselves.
Coincidentally? … Pelicans.
Like my recent photos.
But you can see how gorgeous her work is.
More coming ..
August 21, 2022
Falling in and out of Love with You / Pure Prairie League / 1972
Red Winged Blackbird and Yellow Headed Blackbird
These two birds share the same habitat,
but are not friendly to each other as I’ve often see them fighting.
Our first shot of the Great Blue Heron as it flew across the pond.
Used to see these a lot out the farm. Redwings too.
Redwing. Female?
bring it on home to me / by Playing for Change / 2017
The American White Pelican
There are about 7 kinds of pelicans on this planet.
(there’s 19 on Pluto) (joke)
4 are overseas and the rest are in the Americas.
The Pelicans see here in Alberta are the
American White Pelican.
The first time I saw these Pelicans up here
was in Montana many years ago.
I figured this was an anomaly or they were
on their way to Tibet (joke)?
Fact is, they seem to have nesting colony’s here in Canada
and Winter in Mexico. (Smart birds!)
Wikipedia says they don’t nest here in Alberta.
I’m no expert, but they sure look like they’re nesting here?
That knob develops on their bill before the breeding season.
But maybe they’re just passing through?
These Cormorants (above) – also normally considered and Sea Bird –
OK … that’s it for the Pelicans.
Guantanamera / The Sandpipers / 1967
Signs …
Easy to get lost on the Resort.
Everywhere you go – beautiful flowers.
And there are pools everywhere.
Some crowded – some quiet.
We prefer quiet.
A walk on the beach.
Think that feels good?
You bet!
Along the strand …
Time for a libation?
The Resort next door seemed to be deserted?
Covid?
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ …
A turtle!…we don’t get them in Alberta.
I just liked the artwork on this bus.
That’s what’s great about travelling – everything is a novelty.
closer to the bone / Kris
YUP, we get pelicans in Alberta.
Though I’d normally think of pelicans as being Sea Birds
they’ve been around here for a long time.
Pelicans go anywhere there’s fish.
And we’ve got fish.
So when Rose and I heard about some Pelicans hanging out at a dam
in Wyndham Carseland Provincial Park, East of Calgary
we headed out … cameras in hand.
It’s about a hour’s drive South East of Calgary to the Park.
In this beautiful valley:
One of many beautiful river valleys carved out by the Bow River.
Plenty to do here:
Yet like many of Alberta Provincial Parks it seems
little used and almost unknown?
This is the Dam / Weir where the pelicans like to fish.
Weir: Definition: a dam in a stream or river
to raise the water level or divert its flow.
In this case the diversion is for irrigation canals.
Weirs can be dangerous.
Be aware.
We spotted the pelicans at the canal spillway on the far side.
With no telephoto lens we decide to head over to the other side.
On the other side we see more warning signs.
People have obviously died here.
But we’re going to get our pelicans shots
even if it kills us.
And there they were … completely heedless of the warning signs
about swimming in the weir.
Never thought we’d get this close.
They didn’t seem to mind.
These are not award winning shots. We know that.
It’s just fun.
We moved to different angle.
Whew! that’s more than enough for now …
You’re Nobody ’till Somebody Loves You / Dean Martin / 1964
Like I said, I get ‘stuck’ at times.
Some posts just won’t come together.
And rather that just throw something on the board
I keep working on it until it’s right.
SO …..
Right now I’m working on a post about Pelicans.
Yup.
We got Pelicans here in Alberta and we heard about
some hanging out at a nearby park.
I’m calling that Rumors of Pelicans.
We got some good shots.
The second post I’m working on is another post
about our Mexico trip.
It’s not coming together swiftly either.
BUT … I do work on them just about
every day.
See ’em soon … I hope.
the rose / midler
We went out of town to take some pics.
Found a nice patch of Wild Roses –
Alberta’s Provincial Flower.
It’s been pretty rainy this year so maybe the Roses like that.
Was nice to see a couple of Bees doing their Bee thing.
Hope their making a comeback.
Because we need them.
Have a nice Summer!
The Essence of Now / by It’s a Beautiful Day / 1970
After a while the days start to run together.
As they should.
But who wants to worry about Time when you’re on Holiday?
Not me.
I just want to smell the … Roses?
And look at the birds …
Enjoy the ocean …
How sweet it is !
There were about 5 cenote pools on the resort.
You could tell that people were once allowed to swim in them, but this had mostly been stopped except for one central lagoon.
Too bad, because on a hot day that water is awesome.
Now … if I could just figure my camera out …
Coming up …
Visiting ancient Mayan ruins …
White Bird / by It’s a Beautiful Day / 1968
“White bird must fly …”
I’m officially old.
I take pictures of birds.
Years back I saw a pure white Heron in a marsh outside of town.
Pure white. It was beautiful!
I knew this was rare because in all my years in Alberta
I had never seen one before – or since.
But what was that bird???
I thought it might be an Egret, but Egrets don’t range up this far.
Upon much investigation I think I’ve finally solved the mystery.
Wikipedia says this:
“The Great Blue Heron is found throughout most of North America …”
And it is known that Great Blue Herons can sometimes be white!!!
That’s right. Pure white.
The above images are of a white Great Blue Heron I found on the internet
and a Great Blue Heron that I photographed in Calgary last week.
I stitched the two photos together so show that it is indeed the same bird.
Amazing!!
Here’s the other pics we shot at the pond.
Rose first spotted the Heron flying across the pond
and I snapped a quick shot.
We watched where he landed and …
… were able to get a couple of decent shots.
He agreeably posed for us.
Then he headed off.
There’s a big unresolved debate as to whether the white Great Blue Herons are a “morph” or an entirely different species.
I can only show and tell my own experience.
They look identical except for their color.
That’s all I know …
Except that they are beautiful to see.
For me, a decent day of amateur bird photography.
Yellow Bird / The Brothers Four / 1966
Rose and I took over 2000 pics on our trip here.
In the days of camera film that would cost a small fortune,
but with todays wonder of digital photography you can just fire away
and you’re bound to hit something occasionally.
We end up throwing a ton of pics away – (some were
plainly awful) – and hope to end up with something of interest?
There’s a little bit of everything here …
Down at the ocean.
… and lots more …
Get a few of these every year.
Most don’t do much damage, but on occasion
can destroy crops, houses, cars … you name it.
This one damaged the garden out back,
but only because it lasted about half an hour.
Otherwise the hail was small – pea size we call this.
Can be golf ball size or larger …
Love Shine / Kevin Costner and Modern West
Kevin can do this Cowboy thing:
And my favorite Movie:
Joanne / Michael Nesmith / 1970
Michael Nesmith
December 30, 1942 – December 10, 2021
I swear I just heard this on the news a couple of days ago?
Have I been in a Time Warp or something?
And I’m certain a few dozen people more notable to History and Arts have passed in the time being, but I always liked this guy.
He was a legitimate Artist, Musician, and Songwriter.
Silver Moon / Michael Nesmith / 1970
Of course, Mike had once been a member of the Monkees –
who I despised in those times as a commercial Group
that was fabricated to fleece Teenyboppers.
There’s some truth in that, but it prevented me from appreciating
anything they did. The years have fortunately softened me in MANY, MANY ways however, (thank GOD) and I can now go back and amend
some of the prejudices of my youth.
One of those prejudices is that I can now appreciate
some of the songs they did.
?
I wanna be Free
Daydream Believer
I’m a Believer
Take the Last Train to Clarkesville
?
OK … moving along now …
just not quite so fast.
Peaceful World / The Rascals / 1971
Backtracking a bit …
…. at last … 15 hour trip … from dawn to dusk before we reached our digs.
About 9:00 o’clock
Palatial
Excuse the fuzzy pics … but we were feeling a bit fuzzy ourselves
at the time.
All we wanted to see right now was our room.
On the way …
Buddha outside the Resort Japanese Restaurant …
Flash Buddha.
Buddha in Resort Spa.
