Change of name

I just realized the title of this blog needs to be changed. You see, Dawg is no longer with us, at least not physically. We had to put Dawg done several months ago. By the way, Dawg was our cat. He suffered from irregular heart beat and when we were spending alot of time last year on the road, we think perhaps the stress of being on the road so often took its toll on him. We did take him to the vets for a check-up. The decision to have him put down was a difficult one.
I was never a cat lover, in fact, i was the one who said the best cat is a dead cat. I take those words back now, i'm converted, cats are cool. Dawg was cool.Dawg was a wise man. He could look at you and you just knew he was thinking you were crazy or something like that. Dawg never meowed, he just sat on his hounches, looked at you in a particular way, and you just knew he understood everything. He taught me cats are good friends. They are great company, amuzing and really do have a place in ones home. Dawg, we miss this guy but we know we made the right decision. Dawg, he's gone physically but the greatest thing is he left us with all these wonderful memories.

Day tripping

Saturday was a great day to get out, and like the times when we leave our natural surroundings we head to wherever. Today we went to Black Diamond, about an hour south from where we are. We've been there before but never really stopped in and checked the town out. There is history to this town but what really drew us in was Marv's Diner. A burger joint like burger joints use to be back in the 50's 60's. Marv is the owner and along with his wife runs this very cool diner. You get your original basics, hamburgers, hot dogs, malts, shakes, fries onion rings. All the really good stuff. When you walk into Marvs you know you've stepped back in time. No tables here, a soda bar, a bar with really chrome stools screwed to the floor and a bar where you can enjoy your ice cream cone. Booths, booths for two, booths for four. And the soda jerk, he had one of those boat shaped hats on, along with an awesome smile, and the waitress, no jeans and t-shirt here, she wore a pink dress trimmed in black, it was all too cool. When you sit down at Marvs Diner you get to play the mini juke boxe, for a quarter a song. You won't find lady gaga, celine dion, madonna, or any of the new or newer artists. These juke boxes belong to the rock and rollers, the big bopper, elvis, everly brothers and many more too numerous to mention. All too cool, all so right, all so bring back the memories. Marv use to be a country singer, and while we enjoyed our sandwich, all of a sudden, real music; there was marv, twanging his guitar and singing, and man-o-man can this guy sing. It really made for tripping back to the 50's 60's all that more pleasurable. There is one thing else that is very different at marvs diner. They sell a carbonate ice cream. They claim it has only 125 calories, and you gotta love that. Apperently this ice cream was invented back in 1922. Of course i had never heard of it. Nope, we didn't have any ice cream, thats why we have to go back. Oh, and something else they sell there, black jack gum, clove gum, behmans gum, charlestone chews, and sugar daddys along with a few other mix of old time candy. Awesome, marvs diner gave us an unexpected trip back to the good old days, and, the food was great too.

ABANDONED

"A" is the first challenge. Awhile ago I was out for a country drive. I headed north and came across these old abandoned farm buildings. I found it interesting and wondered, how long ago did these buildings serve their purpose. What were they used for, when were they built, why were they left? Did one bulding actually lean and then push the others, or was it a result of a wind storm? What happened to the owners of the house?, where did they go, when, why? All questions I'll never find the answers to.

A Challenge....

I've been reviewing my blog and seems to me I'm taking a different direction with it. It originally starting out as a diary of our adventures. This was a good idea at first, figuring I would write about all the adventures we have in our daily lives...but we've more or less settled down for now. Oh, we're still have adventures, lots of them, but I'm taking a new direction for now. One of my hobbies is photography, and I've gotten away from it and now want to get back to doing something I enjoy the most. So I was thinking, how can i get myself out there to take more pictures, capture the moments, look at things differently. I came up with the idea of photographing the alphabet. You know, starting with the letter "A" and running through to the end. So with that in mind I"m going to start. Post a picture a week, and sprinkle in between some of the other things I've been doing. So, here we go. 26 weeks of pictures. I figure this will be relatively easy to start with, but as I work my way into it, the challenge will become greater....like...what picture will i take when i get to the end...the letter "Z"....and I'm not going to make it easy on myself...like taking a picture of an APPLE, or Boat, or Cat or Dog...this will be interesting....

Sunday reflection

Sunday was an unusally warm day for our area ,14C and an excellant opportunity to get out and take the warmth in. We decided to go to Prince's park, an inner city park in Calgary. Its a beautiful park with lagoons and the Bow river meandering through it. As might be expected on a day like it was, there were plenty of people to fill the path, kids, people walking their dogs, cyclists and roller bladers. Reminded me of walking the seawall in Stanley park. We did a walk about, stopping in the Eau Claire market for a cup of coffee, sitting on a park bench listening to the fellow playing his saxaphone, passing by another playing his violin. The music was enchanting. It was also an opportunity to get the camera out and take some pictures. I find when i have my camera it makes me more aware of my surroundings and what is happening. It makes me really see, always looking for a photo op. On our return to our car i noted the reflection of building upon building. What you see is really not infront of you but behind you. I love it when i can capture this type of picture. I love buildings, their strength, their design, their everlasting. So, snap, snap, a couple of reflective shots. No doubt there will be many more to come as the days lengthen, the sun becomes warmer, and the thought of winter is far behind.