there's soothing from shades

I already knew that but I'm finding the more shades I see, the more I want to see!  I'm addicted to the soothing that comes from being one with the shades out in nature and also when I am laying shades down on paper.  My new watercolour journal arrived and I could not wait to christen it. I have numerous painting projects ready to take flight!  During my visit to the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary on Monday, I spotted the resident small rabbit (not sure of the breed) and with my great zoom I was able to get a close up of its eye.  That eye become the muse for the first project in my new journal.  When I look at the painting of the eye, I see it looking back at me!

The colours were glorious on this morning and with not even a breeze, the reflections were glorious too.  These are two photos of the beaver dam taken from different angles.  It was cold enough for there to be fog on the pond.  There are still more leaves on the trees than there are on the ground, but that will soon change as we have rain/snow in the forecast in coming days.  

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On this morning, I hiked around a portion of Carburn Park then headed west walking the trail towards Fish Creek Park.  I was one amongst a couple of dozen who, like me, probably gave up looking for birds and shifted their attention to the works of Mother Nature.  The vibrancy was everywhere I looked, it felt like a big comforting hug!  Sigh!  So soothing!

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This was the day to check in on the Siberian Larch Trees at the Birth Forest at Confluence Park.  The majority of them do not look healthy, either they never grew new needles, they were blown down, or just looked dead.  This one front and centre was in the best shape and was prime in colour.  The tall one behind to the right looked a little beyond prime yet healthy.  The clouds and the colours put on a wonderful show on this day.  I wondered what it looked like around every corner I approached! 

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My mind has been wandering!  I have been wondering!  I close my eyes and I daydream!  On this daydreaming occasion, I found myself back at that day in June on the mountain top in Innsbruck Austria.   I can distinctly remember how I felt as I sat on the corner of the bench and looked out over the Alps of Austria and into the mountain ranges of Germany.  As I was laying the mountain shades on a page in my new journal,  I experienced the soothing that came during those special moments when I was on the mountain top.  I left a piece of my heart in Austria!  I may need to retrieve it!  Daydreams!  I'm a Daydream Believer!

over the Hunter's Moon

The full moon for October is called the Hunter's Moon and will be at its peak on Thursday October 17, 2024 at 5:26 AM Mountain Time at which time it will be below the horizon.  This Supermoon will be best witnessed at sunset when you can watch it rise.  The Hunter's Moon will orbit closer to the earth than any other moon this year and will be the brightest Supermoon of the year.  The following excerpt was captured from the Almanac:

"Why Is It Called the Hunter’s Moon?  This particular full Moon is commonly referred to as the full Hunter’s Moon. It is believed that this name originates from the fact that it was a signal for hunters to prepare for the upcoming cold winter by going hunting. This is because animals were beginning to fatten up in preparation for the winter season. Moreover, since fields had recently been cleared out under the Harvest Moon, hunters could easily spot deer and other animals that had come out to search for remaining scraps. Additionally, foxes and wolves would also come out to prey on these animals."

This is my watercolour painting of the Hunter's Moon and will represent October in my 2025 Calendar.  I was quite pleased with the outcome especially after adding the stars, the light from the hunter's headlamp and the moon reflecting in the water.  

The following photos were used as references.  These are photos I took from two hikes to Tombstone Lakes on September 25, 2010 and on August 31, 2014.  Tombstone Lakes area is in a Wildland location which is open to hunting during certain times of the year.  I have seen hunters on foot and on horseback while I was hiking in the area.  The bottom photo was taken while hiking on Pigeon Mountain during hunting season on October 31, 2018. 

🌔a tease🌕

This morning at 3:00am an Aurora alert woke me.  Even though the forecast was very low for seeing the Lights, I went downstairs to look out my back door just in case.  I saw no Northern Lights but I did see the moon!  The first photo was taken just after 3:00am and the second photo taken a half hour later and is a zoomed in shot.  It's not quite full but should be by tomorrow night.   

 Wherever I am on the evenings of October 16 and 17, 

I will be over the moon if I get to witness the full Hunter's Moon!

Aurora Borealis October 10 & 11, 2024

Pinch me!  Am I dreaming?  Because this is what dreams are made of!  It was an unbelievable eight hours stretching from 8:00pm last night until 4:00am this morning!  As I put together this blog post of my experience witnessing the Aurora Borealis, it's 5:45am and I still have not gone to bed!  Bed time will have to wait until tonight!  

Just after dinner, I began to watch the "My Aurora Forecast"' website.   Conditions were looking favourable for a good opportunity to see the Northern Lights.  As people were sharing photos of their sightings from Europe and then Eastern Canada, I hoped we would be as fortunate here in Calgary.  I left home shortly before seven and drove to the parking lot for Nose Hill.  I had a place in mind where I wanted to be up there and I wanted to get up there before it was pitch dark.

The sun just set as I hiked up the dirt trail to higher hills.  

I arrived at my spot around 7:30 and meandered about here and there not venturing too far.  This was the view as I looked to the northern sky. There were lots of clouds which is not a good thing but I hoped for the best.   

To pass the time, I watched the clouds dance around the moon.  I chatted with a few others who were heading further along the trail.  I took photos with my big camera, my little camera and my iPhone.  It was around 8:00pm when I began to feel cold so pulled out my down vest and while I was putting it on, I turned around and saw something in the sky I had never seen before.  When what to my wandering eyes should appear!

The Aurora Borealis came to life!  

All my Aurora photos were taken with my iPhone, which I just pointed and shooted!  I needed to be still for three seconds while it captured the photo.  Pinch me is this for real?  Am I dreaming?  I was speechless! I felt a lump in my throat and my lips quivered!  My eyes watered!  These are a few of the over one hundred special seconds in time that I captured in a half hour.   At 8:30 the show stopped so I began to hike down the hill and back to my car, with the assistance of my head lamp.

When I got home, I downloaded my photos and picked out the ones I wanted to share.  I moved them directly into the blog post so they would be ready for when I was ready to add my story. I made a warm beverage and sipped it while checking out what photos other locals had to share.  I checked the "My Aurora Forecast" again and Calgary was in the red meaning the strongest.  I looked out my back door and low and behold the Aurora Borealis was dancing with full force!  I bundled up, grabbed my hot beverage and iPhone then sat out on my deck from roughly 1:00am until just before 4:00. The Northern Lights never stopped dancing!  These are just a few of the dozens and dozens of sights that I captured.   

This is the Aurora forecast at 3:30 this morning.

I went onto the Sunshine Ski Hill webcam and watched the live Aurora webcam. 

I also took screen shots of two of the webcams.

 

This is a screen shot of a very small part of my photo album.

As I finish writing my story, after looking at all my photos many times, I still wonder is this all a dream!  This is the Thanksgiving long weekend and I have so much to be thankful for!  

3 short stories

These days my palette contains those earthy autumn shades and no doubt it will until the time comes to start working with negative space (blank white areas) or with lots of white gouache, you know where I am heading with that, the "s" word!  Before even going to Waterton Lakes National Park last week, I knew I would be creating a painting from one of my photos once I was back home.  When I have a painting intention in mind, I find I pay greater attention to the composition in the photograph.  During that wildly windy encounter on the shore of Lower Waterton Lake, I planted my feet, held on to my hat, aimed my camera with the other hand and tried my best to keep still to capture a photo worthy of a painting.  This is my watercolour creation using the photo below as a reference.   

Wherever I go these days, it's to witness the beautiful autumn colours.  The season is so sweet yet can be so short.  It has been many  moons since I last wandered through Pearce Estates to admire the scenery.  The first to-do thing when I arrived was to find the Siberian Larch Trees. There are a dozen or so in one area and as of this day, they vary in their stage of changing shades.  The first photo in the collage shows the one that holds the most beauty with colour, size, fullness and degree of healthiness.   I took every path I could, each being tree-lined with colours galore, some followed beside brooks, others were being enjoyed by Robins while others lead over bridges and onward to Harvie Passage. The large photo shows the Passage is still running and open to rafters and kayakers.   

When visiting a bird sanctuary you would think the reason for going was for birding.  It's time to concede that any good birding opportunities will come again next spring.  While I did see some of the usual suspects, there was not a sighting that excited me so I have no bird photos to share from this visit to the Bird Sanctuary.  What I do have to share are a few of the dozens and dozens of beautiful autumn scenery shots that I snapped.  That's what excited me! It was a cold crisp morning with fog hoovering over the ponds offering up great photo opportunities. It was not about the birds on this day, it was all about the colours, the colours, all about the colours!

Nose Hill kissed by Mother Nature October 8, 2024

I've never seen you looking so lovely as you did today

I've never seen you shine so bright !

After seeing someone's recent photos from up on Nose Hill, I knew I needed to get up there and witness the views for myself!  The photographs I saw looked so different from when I hiked there two weeks ago on September 23rd.  I thought is was beautiful then but today was so over the top!  I spent three hours following trails of breathtaking beauty.  There are no words I can use to enhance my story or my experience.  The only thing I can utter is not even a word but a SIGH!