3000 meters(10000 ft) of Clouds Above me Tonight

       About 4:30 PM today it got dark enough  in the house to turn the lights on. Clouds built up steadily all day and it began to rain about 4:30 PM.

       We didn't have cumulus clouds today but layer after layer of clouds.


       Our forecast predicted rain for this afternoon , evening , night and tomorrow. So you know that a major system is moving into the area. The radar map show a large cloud system slowly moving north from Montana and curving in toward the Rocky Mountains. This is when we get a major rainfall. As I said in a post before, the air mass has to rise when it hits the Rockies and when it rises it cools and  dumps the rain on us. This system has come over the mountains of the north western states. Somehow much of the moisture remained in the system and it is released over us.


      When we get west winds we don't get rain. The air moves over the Rockies and all the moisture falls on the west slopes of the Rockies. 


      So you see at 4:30 PM this afternoon we had a huge build up of cloud which was full of moisture and some of it fell on us. With a very thick cloud layer much sunlight is blocked so we have to sit in the dark or turn the lights on.


      Since I like rain I'm fine. I like going out for a long walk in the rain. I think I'll have a good chance to walk in the rain tomorrow.

National Aboriginal Day

        June 21 was National Aboriginal Day in Canada. I wanted to post on June 21 but a number of other posts got in the way. June 21 st was summer solstice. I had written a post  about Brenda's blog and wanted that to be out. So here it is , better late than never, National Aboriginal Day.


       National Aboriginal Day is meant to celebrate Aboriginal culture. For a culture to survive it has to be practiced, appreciated and grow. That can be done when people get together and show off aspects of culture.


       I hope that sometime this year you will take some time to look at some aboriginal art. There's much to choose from. I particularly like bead work. Bead work was done long before the white man came and cheated aboriginals out of their furs for a few beads. They used cut up porcupine quills. Many aboriginals are fantastic artists using modern media. One of my favorite painters is Allen Sapp. Take a good look at some of his work.


      I hope you will take time to look at some aboriginal Dance. With colorful costumes and movement it becomes a ballet.


       I hope you will take some time and listen to aboriginal music. They had many songs that told stories. Each person had songs for various occasions. Drums were used to emphasize parts of the song. None of the original songs were written down . They were passed on orally. Today , many of those songs have been written down and will become permanent. Songs are still being made today and fortunately by young people. Many aboriginals have been able to do well in modern music. I particularly like Kashtin


      I hope you will listen to the aboriginal language. We still have areas where Cree is mainly spoken. Now young people are trying to learn Cree and keep the language active and living.


     We all must celebrate National Aboriginal Day. We learn something. Aboriginals  gain some self confidence so that they can  proud of their culture.

Introducing: A New Blog and Blogger

      Ordinarily new bloggers don't have an introduction by another blogger. But this time it's special so I'm proud to push a new blog.


      In Sept of 2011 my neighbor , Brenda, fell from a second story deck and suffered a spinal injury. She has been fighting back ever since. 

A special tricycle which gives more therapy and pleasure.

     Brenda has recently started a blog to publicize her condition and ask for support. I'm sure you will be impressed if you visit Brenda's blog. So go to her blog and she will describe what has happened and how she is succeeding. 


      I first met Brenda when she was a preschooler. She walked by my house everyday to elementary school. I taught her in middle school. Then I lost contact with her for a few years. About ten years ago she moved back into my neighborhood about three houses from me. I've enjoyed having Brenda as a neighbor and watching her two sons grow up. They are really neat kids. 


      So what I'd really like you to do is hop over to Brenda's blog and take a look. Any support would be most appreciated. After I visit Brenda I come away feeling much better as Brenda's great determination to get back to normal has really influenced me. 

Yahoo! It's the First Day of Summer

     The little kid in me says yipee it's the first day of summer. The older person in me thinks once again what the first day of summer really means. For a little kid summer means long , warm , sunny days when you can play outside. For adults we may also look at pleasant summer activities but also the changes in many things that go along with this time.


      For someone who lives on the land the solstice has very real meaning. I'm not sure how important the solstice is for urban dwellers or if they even are aware of the event.


      I was raise on a farm so the long days were very important. As a little guy I wanted to play more and work less. Success on a farm was closely controlled by the weather. Each activity was dictated by weather. Starting field work before dawn and watching the sunrise as a treat. On the other end I watched many colorful sunsets.


    I also spent five years in the Arctic and that was a much more significant solstice. There was much more celebration of the solstice as we would find a high point and watch the sun. Of course, the sun didn't set. It just went lower in the sky and then climbed back .


    Ancient peoples who were nomadic or those earlier people who were agricultural societies had there own solstice celebrations. It's interesting to know how the different cultures celebrated. 


     In Red Deer , Alberta today the sun rose at 5:14 AM and sets at 10:01 PM. I will try to stay up past my bed time to get a shot of 10:00 PM daylight.

North side of house 9:29 PM

Looking south 9:45 PM

Just before sunset 9:50 PM

Just before sunset

Directly west at 9:55PM

In my yard at 10:00 PM

    So here's to all of you! Have a great summer!

Monday Morning Clouds.

    This morning there was much activity in the atmosphere. We had rain over night and so the humidity was very high. With a little day time heating there was lots of activity with the formation of clouds. So I thought I'll try some shots of clouds. The title should be something like learning to take pictures of clouds or something.

    The cloud formations were beautiful but the photography was elementary.

       In November of 1958 I missed my bus. My only option was to get out and hitch hike. I had hitch hiked a lot so was very comfortable to be out in the November cold. I had faith that I would be picked up. Sure enough in a few minutes I was picked up by a young family with two young kids. They were travelling from Winnipeg to Edmonton so had been on the road a long time and the kids were bored. I road with them for about 160km (100mi). To keep the kids occupied they had them look at clouds and say what shape they saw in the clouds. So there were bears, horses, lions tigers and many more creatures. They also had my attention as I would be watching to which cloud they were referring.


     So I had a very enjoyable ride with this family and was entertained by all sorts of cloud  shapes the kids saw.


     Today I was entertained by the changing morning clouds.

Yes, I Had Another Garage Sale

       Today I had another garage sale as I was trying to get rid of some of my treasures. For those who have followed me for a while you know that I hate garage sales. I'm not going to go on another big whine session about garage sales.


      We prepared a number of items that we could handle without too much difficulty. So things were lined up in the living room and carefully priced. We listened to the forecast. In fact we looked at four different forecasts. It sounded like a decent day. Things were out and we were organized. Half an hour after we started it started to rain. We had about an hour of drizzle. So do I close my sale down or tough it out. We toughed it out. The weather improved and we had lots of visitors and sold a ton of stuff.


     Now you also know that one of the things I like about garage sales are the characters who come by. Today a four year old and his Dad paid us a visit. When the kid got out of the SUV I noticed that he had what looked like a sock with a weight in it. He would swing it around and I wondered what kind of toy he had. His Dad bought a couple of things. The little guy wanted to buy a board game set. By this time he had told me there was money in his sock. He also told me that he had three other socks with money in. So he made his purchase with his Dad's help to sort the money out. So it looks like it pays to "keep your money in a sock."


     There's always an interesting garage sale customer and this little guy was the winner today.


      Now my apologies for no picture. I'm not in the habit of carrying a camera with me. I'm too active and would probably go through a few cameras. Anyway that's my excuse for the missing picture.

A Rose in the Woods

      I went for a short walk in the woods this weekend and found two things I was looking for.

       First, I found the Common Wild Rose (Rosa woodsii). This plant grows abundantly around the edges of native habitat. It blooms in early June . These flowers certainly brighten up the woods. Going for a walk can make you very cheerful and hopeful.

      The second plant I was looking for was the Yellow lady slipper (Cypripedium calceolus). They grow widely here and appear to like areas of soil that have been disturbed as they like to grow in ditches. The ones I was looking for had been planted in a sanctuary. We took them from an area that was to be developed
Apologies for not having a photograph . I took pictures and when I came home I deleted pictures  that didn't turnout well. Only now did I notice that I deleted all Yellow Lady Slippers.


     Blooms are coming quickly now so the next flowers I will make sure that I keep some photos