Stargazing Mermaid: Alberta

Showing posts with label Alberta. Show all posts

Tuesday, 29 July 2014

Truly a stargazing mermaid

14:08 Alberta, astronomy, photography No comments

I don't make resolutions. But after I started photographing the Northern Lights, I realized that it has been a long time since I saw the Milky Way with my own eyes. What with living in a city and all. I decided that I was going to see and photograph the Milky Way at some point in 2014.

I've actually made camping plans for later this year to address that. But that wasn't my only plan.

The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada - Calgary chapter held "Milky Way Nights" last week during the new moon. It was at the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory. I went there as part of a meetup, but due to circumstances, only met one other person. It's okay. Because the event itself was awesome. There were astronomers at all three big telescopes, plus lots of others at smaller telescopes, and a guy with a laser pointer pointing out constellations and planets and stars. I saw Saturn. And a double star that's part of the Big Dipper. And globular clusters. It was fun and I would totally do it again.

And I saw the Milky Way.

Milky Way over Rothney Astrophysical Observatory

A visit to an alpaca farm

20:19 Alberta, alpaca, farm, photography No comments

Susan told us knitters that a local alpaca farm that sells wool was inviting visitors for tours. Add in the fact that she just bought a new car and we had a road trip yesterday. :-)

It was great to see a part of Alberta that I hadn't been too yet. It would have been nicer if there had been public washrooms along the way. ;-)

A to Z Alpacas has over 300 alpacas and is tucked away beside the Bow River. Our hostess, Leslie, was very gracious and showed us around. Her father, Rod, also helped educate us on alpacas and the history of the farm. We'd been told we might get to see some crias (babies) being born, but it was not our lucky day.

The first pen we visited had females and their crias (not newborns). The alpacas were curious but kept their distance.

This is as close as one would get to Susan.

Blue-eyed alpaca!

We visited the pasture where the mothers and youngest crias are, and watched them from a distance.

Buddy was very glad to have visitors!

Alpacas do not like cars - here they are, fleeing as we drove away.

Now, we didn't drive over 3 hours just to enjoy the scenery and look at alpacas. We also bought yarn. I got 3 skeins of sock weight yarn, 200 g each. Lovely and soft!

Seven Sisters at Moraine Lake

04:00 Alberta, Banff National Park, Moraine Lake, photography No comments

I went to Moraine Lake and back. That is a long drive for one person. I did invite two ladies from knitting but both had to back out due to other commitments. Next time we'll do it together!

It was beautiful and I'll be posting lots of photos. This one is of the "Seven Sisters", seven peaks around the lake.

ƒ/13.0 ~ 18.0 mm ~ 1/160 ~ ISO 100 ~ Landscape mode

Sky over Horseshoe Canyon

03:50 Alberta, photography No comments

My thoughts and prayers are with the people of Moncton, New Brunswick tonight.

Yesterday, on a whim, I went to Horseshoe Canyon. I even hiked in it a bit. It was a beautiful day.

"Lost" Northern Lights photos

11:46 Alberta, aurora, Canada, Northern Lights, photography No comments

Not really lost ... just that I had a lot going on at the time I took these photos, and honestly thought I'd posted them. I'd processed them and everything. Anyways, this is from my one solo excursion. Many photographers, male or female, don't really like being out on their own, but this was a surprise appearance by the Northern Lights and I decided at the last minute to go out. I didn't broadcast that I was going alone - I just went. I ended up east of Crossfield, north of a main road. I was far enough from the road that I wasn't easily visible as a lone woman out on her own listening to Canada Geese and croaking frogs.

And what a show it was!

April 29, 2014

View the above photo full size on Flickr.

The Northern Lights

00:11 Alberta, Calgary, Canada, Northern Lights, photography No comments

One thing that Calgary has over California is the Northern Lights. I've long admired a coworker's photography and wished I had the nerve to chase Northern Lights like he does.

Normally, there's a cloud cover when an aurora watch is issued. Tonight there wasn't. And I decided that for once, I'd go for it. I grabbed my trusty Lumix and a tripod and set off for a nearby park area.

And now I'm going to bed.

Calgary is freaking cold

22:03 Alberta, Calgary, car, snow 1 comment

-40 wind chill advisory. If you value our friendship, you will be kind if you share the current temperature in your area. ;-)

I haven't driven my car since last Saturday and with the -40 advisory, I knew I had to plug in the block heater tonight. I speak from experience that if you don't plug in a car in -50 wind chill, the compressor can freeze and it will take a mechanic to get your car to start again.

First, I started Lily to make sure that I could. She protested a bit in the beginning, but started without any coaxing. I let the engine run while I did everything I needed to.

I also haven't brushed the snow off of Lily since last Saturday. The snow on the hood was over a foot thick. I brushed off the hood so I could open it to pull out the plug for the block heater.

So now Lily is plugged in and I have the assurance that she can run when needed. I hope I won't need to go out into this cold again.

Lily is a 2007 Saturn Ion with standard transmission. I used to have a Nissan Micra with standard transmission that needed coolant antifreeze below -10C, I'm happy that Lily is much hardier.

Ah, Banff

23:01 Alberta, Banff, Canada, photography No comments

Just another beautiful day by Angela Boyko

New on Zazzle

16:03 Alberta, Banff, Canada, elk, photography No comments

Here are some new products on Zazzle!

Photo Print of a Handsome Elk by Angelamermaid
Find more info about printing large photos

Heat Wave

23:49 Alberta, Calgary, family, flood, gardening, reiki 1 comment

First it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. I didn't keep track, but it sure felt like it.

Then came the floods. Fear of the unknown. Would my basement flood? Did I stock the fridge with enough water? Am I on the same power grid as the evacuated parts of Deer Run? Do I have candles and a lighter in a central location? Would I have to evacuate? (No. Yes. No. Yes. No.)

I have never in my life seen so many emergency alerts on TV. None of them were a test.

There was the horror and sadness. I've seen floods on TV before. I've seen the annual floods in New Brunswick. But I have never seen Calgary flood like this. The train tracks for my daily commute buckled and the tunnels filled with water.

I am one of the lucky ones. I can stay in my home with my cats. We are safe.

Water restrictions went into place. Quick showers. Trying to use disposable plates and cups and cutlery to avoid using the dishwasher.

The uncertainty of working from home. Am I doing okay?

And then days without rain. I watered the garden with rainwater from those 40 days and 40 nights. I'm almost out.

Today the temperature rose to 36 degrees Celsius. (97 degrees Fahrenheit). Felt higher, with the humidity. It's been a long time since I've had to deal with such hot and humid conditions. I used the timer on my phone to remind me to drink a full glass of water every hour.

The cats were limp. I found Hermione huddled up against the cold air vent in the living room while Chloe slept upstairs and looked miserable. Charlie was subdued.

None of them seemed to want to go into the basement, Charlie and Hermione wanted to stay in my vicinity.

The mayor asked people to reduce their power usage ASAP as rolling blackouts had to be initiated.

So I grabbed some catnip, some cat beds, and some blankets. I went down into the basement and rubbed catnip on the bedding. Charlie and Hermione came down first. I tried to catch Chloe but she wouldn't let me. She came down on her own.

I turned on one light and started organizing the basement a little better. When the cats were looking perkier, I turned off the light and brought out the laser pointer. We had fun playing Red Dot of Doom.

I didn't do any gardening until 9:30, when it was cool enough to be bearable. I sprayed myself with Off and got to work. I'm going to lose some of the sweet peas to the heat and lack of rain.

Now we're under alert for a severe thunderstorm. High water alerts have been issued for places north of Calgary.

There have been good moments. My sister came to Calgary this weekend to be my guest at a coworker's wedding. I got to practise some reiki on Mary-Anne and she loved it. We had a great time at the wedding and reception. It was the first time I'd seen my coworkers since the flooding started.

The next day, I took her to the labyrinth in Silver Springs. I walked behind her. I noticed at one point she paused to look at a dark butterfly.

Afterwards, she hugged me and told me that she thinks the butterfly was our father, that he was happy to see the two of us together. She said that black butterflies are meant to represent souls of the dead. I thought it was pretty.

Now I'm tired and sweaty and covered in dirt and Off. Time for a quick shower before bed. I want my normal back.

Deer in Fish Creek Park

19:20 Alberta, Calgary, Canada, deer, Fish Creek Park, flood, photography No comments

Deer in Fish Creek Park, a photo by angelamermaid on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
Totally not caring about the flood waters nearby, deer enjoy a nice snack in Fish Creek Park, Calgary.

Incoming

23:27 Alberta, photography No comments

Incoming storm by Angela Boyko

I'm really glad I started using 500px. It's much more community minded than SmugMug, and a lot more about the photos than the award systems of Flickr. Going back and looking through quite a lot of unpublished photos, I'm renewing my passion for taking pictures. I don't know that any big trips are in the works for 2013 - I'm thinking more and more of exploring Alberta. For example, today I learned from a coworker that Lethbridge boasts a Japanese garden. I've never been to Lethbridge and I smell road trip ...