I once wrote about a friend who accidentally put a $1000.00 bill in a trash barrel while she was cleaning up her Dad's house. I thought of that today when I threw something out that cost me $1000.00 and it was never used.
In the late 70's I bought a piece of recreational property. The plan was to build a summer residence and we could spend our summers at the lake.
Things had moved along by the early 80's and we were ready to build a chalet type cabin. Now during the previous 5 years the whole project grew. We were avid do it yourselfers. We had put in a water and sewer system. The lot was completely forested and we had cleared what we wanted . Other improvements had been made. A small garage was built to store a holiday trailer and then pull the trailer out in the summer and use the garage for a kitchen living room. This plan worked well and we had lots of fun. During this time my kids were 6 - 13 years old.
I was ready to put up the building. I had plan made up. This cost me $990.00. At about the same time the realization came upon us that this project was becoming too big for us and the Micro Manager wanted a time out.
Well, the time out lasted a long while . We never did build. We did have a lot of fun spending time at the lake.The kids had experiences they'd never have had if they'd just stayed in town. Time went on. Time went on for a long time and the cabin never got built.
So today was the day that we looked at the plans we had made up and decided that they would have to go in recycle. We sold the property in 2014.
So the complete plan package was torn up and put in recycle.
It's one of those goals that was never completed but I'm not unhappy about how things turned out.
In the days of railroads everything came and went on the railroad so the railway went through the center of town. It was handy for passengers to catch a train or get off. Freight was loaded and unloaded. Towns grew up around the railroad.
Slowly the moving of freight changed. Roads were improved and so trucks began hauling freight. Trucking was more flexible as the truck could pick up and unload closer to the source of the freight.
So there came a time when rail roads were taken out of the downtown or in our case the railroad was taken right out of town. I wonder if any freight is received or sent out of our town. The grain terminals are about 20 km away.
So since the movement of freight changed the railroads had to change. Railroads became a nuisance in town because of all the crossings. The large amount of land railways had became a valuable asset for other development.
Railroads were torn up and the land set up for redevelopment. This process was costly even though the land was valuable.
This is where my bridge comes into the story. If the railway didn't have to take a bridge out it saved them money. So find a use for the bridge in the community and sell it for a dollar and the railway is free of a costly asset.
Now people have a bridge . This bridge was refurbished for lots of money and incorporated into the large trail system we have.
This bridge give an excellent connection to both sides of the city. The morning I took this photo many people were riding or walking to work.
When I took the photos I could imagine that huge steamer slowly crossing the bridge. How many trains have crossed that bridge? How many times have I crossed the bridge?
The Red Deer River has it's source in the Rocky Mountains not far from the city. There is a major dam about 30 km upstream from the city. This dam controls the river's flow very effectively so that flooding and problems with low winter flow can be avoided.
Now I like the river and have photographed in other areas.
The other morning I had some time and took photos of an area that at I rarely visit. The area is where the river flows through the downtown. This area has been altered by development of the city core. Bridges have been built and abandoned. A large water intake and treatment plant are on the bank.
However , it's still an attractive part of the river.
Let's take a look.
I've been driving by this mural for a few you. Of course , I say to myself ,"I want to stop here someday."
Well, early Tuesday morning was the day. The Micro Manager had a lab appointment nearby so I took the camera and went for a walk.
The mural is large. You can see how far back I had to be to get the whole mural. However, when I zoomed in on some of the faces they were spectacular.
I don't know what the mural was about so I've just given myself some homework.
Many of you mentioned that you liked the pomp and ceremony of the Royal Wedding. You enjoyed the color and performance that went along with the occasion of the Prince's wedding.
That makes perfect sense to me. It's a show and it brings out all kinds of emotion.
However the pomp and ceremony got me thinking about what pomp and ceremony is and what is it good for.
Mr Google isn't much help. If you google pomp and ceremony you get items on high school graduation and that the march played at most grads is called Pomp and Ceremony.
Then I tried to find a definition for the term and that was inconclusive. Some want to change it to Pomp and Circumstance.
Then I was thinking that there must be some practical value for pomp and ceremony. So Google that and I don't find anything.
So I'm left with coming up with my own ideas about the value of Pomp And Circumstance. My own ideas could be pretty wacky.
One of the results of Pomp and Circumstance is to remind us about historical origins of our system. Much of the pomp has a long historical relationship. Uniforms have many parts which represent something as in officer stripes that show the rank.
It's obvious that the leader is designated by various uniforms. My son was in our Reserved Armed Forces and was an officer and at one time OIC. He led and directed his men.
The pomp is to act as mentor...an example of correctness and leadership.
Ceremonies are self congratulatory. We celebrate what we've done and give ourselves confidence for the next challenge.
Now this is my speculation because my limited research didn't turn up anything.
What do you think about pomp and circumstance? Is it just beauty and celebration? Does it have a practical function in our society?
The world has been told continuously for the last few months that Prince Harry is marrying Meaghan. Now I'm not excited about this event. I fully understand why some people would be keenly interested and I'm not trying to offend those who are going to follow the event.
When I was bought up the King and Queen were highly thought of by my Mom . My mother was a royal follower. I remember listening on the radio to Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip's marriage in 1948. Our radio wasn't working so we get dressed up as if we were going to church and went to the neighbors to listen to the ceremony.
King George VI toured close to our town in 1939. I know I was there. My Mom was pregnant with me at that time.
My Mom also made sure I saw Queen Elizabeth when she visited Saskatoon , Sask in 1958. The Queen drove by and was gone in about 5 seconds.
So I've been exposed to royalty in a positive way but I'm not interested in them. Yes , I do sing God save the Queen when it needs to be sung.
Now I know that the Queen is a formal and constitutional part of our government and parliamentary system. Queen Elizabeth is the Queen of Canada.
Now she is to sign every bill passed in parliament before the bill becomes law. Since she doesn't live her she has official representatives who do her duties. We have a Governor General who acts for the national government. Governor General , Julie Payette visited Alberta last week.
Each province has a Lieutenant governor General who signs provincial government bills into law. I couldn't tell you the name the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta .
So I may not be interested in the pomp and ceremony but I somewhat understand the constitutional place of the Monarchy.
The Micro Manager decided to go to a Chinese Buffet for Mother's Day.
Well , this suited me because I like Chinese food.
This city has three Chinese Buffets. The oldest one has seen better days but to our experience was the best of the three. One of the buffets is smaller with less variety. We tried the newest buffet about five years ago and it was awful. Recently Joe and Nancy said the new one was very good.
So we went to the old stand by. We looked at the price for seniors. The regular price was covered up with a piece of card board and Mother's Day prices shown. As far as we could tell they raised the price $5.00 for Mother's Day. We thought that maybe since were at the restaurant that we should eat . A minute later I said, "I'm not eating here when they raise the price that much for Mother's Day."
So off we went and decided to go across the street to the latest buffet that had been terrible. Here , they raised the price dollar but were open about it. The place was busy and noisy. Good sign. People were having fun.
We were completely surprised to find that the restaurant that we had terrible experience with was absolutely fantastic. Great food! They had extra items like large shrimp, roast turkey, roast beef and a few other extras.
So since the other restaurant was so devious, they've lost a couple of customers.
Now most of the time I would not have walked out of a restaurant, but this time it was a matter of principle. Don't try to rip the customers off on Mother's Day.
