stories of passion

PASSION 

a strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something

A big thank you to the Polar Vortex over the past number of days, it dictated that numerous hours of indoor time were necessary.  I dedicated many of those hours to my recently discovered passion for knitting.  I am not sure how long this passion will survive but I am thoroughly enjoying riding this wonderful wave.  I completed my "Seaglass Sweater" which matches my "Seaglass Socks".   

It was the style of sweater and the easy pattern that drew me in.  I like the stand up collar, being open at the front and having the back longer than the front.  The shade called "Seaglass" brings me back to wandering beaches collecting seaglass (beach glass).  Those thoughts warm my heart while the actual sweater and socks warm my body after covering a few kilometres outside during the Polar Vortex.

This is a photo from the pattern I used.

My passion for learning feels like it is never ending plus I want to continue riding the enjoyable knitting wave.  Pairing those together lead me to taking on cable knitting.  This photo shows my progress so far on a pair of slippers.  I may or may not keep them once they are complete.  

PASSION

an extreme interest in a wish for doing something such as a hobby or activity

On this morning I pushed against the Polar Vortex and plunged into it!  I have always enjoyed testing the extreme cold as long as I could remain safe or quickly get to safety.  Pair that with my four year passion for birding and off I went to the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary.  I owned the trails for my entire ninety minute walk.  My favourite trail for this visit was the one that follows along the Bow River.  This is what -25C with a -31C windchill (-13F with a -23.8F windchill) looks like.  I found this view to be incredibly wild and beautiful.  

this section of the river was beginning to freeze 

that dark stretch in the middle is a line of ducks & geese packed together at the edge of the water

I enjoyed the scenery yet the highlight for me was following this Bald Eagle.  There were three chasing after each other.  I focused on this one. It flew in circles working its way away from being over the river, towards the trees along the trail I was now on.  

It landed on a tree top directly above me.  

It perched there for a lengthy enough time that I was able to capture many perfect photographs.  

It was at this point I wondered was it eyeing the faux fur trim on the hood of my jacket.  I normally unsnap the trim when I go birding but I needed it in place to help keep my face protected from the windchill.  I was content with the many photos I took, so moved on down the trail. I looked back at it and its' interest had shifted to the crows that now congregated near it. It was time to head back to my vehicle and hit the highway to home.  

PASSION

a strong liking or desire for or to some activity, object or concept

When I needed a break from the knitting and while the Polar Vortex was at its' peak, I invested time laying paint on paper.  Before doing so, I googled and learned a little bit about Bergen Norway.  Bergen is the gateway to the Fjords and the Marstein Lighthouse is the guiding light from the North Sea to the Fjords to Bergen.  I have always had a passion for lighthouses for as long as I can remember.  My kitchen theme is lighthouses.  Numerous trips I have been on, I incorporated a visit to a lighthouse.  

This is my "ink & wash" watercolour painting of the  Marstein Lighthouse.  It's been awhile since I worked in the "ink & wash" style so needed to do a little catch up lesson first before proecedding.  This passion for painting, just like my birding passion, has lasted for four years.  I see painting being a life long passion! 

This is the reference photo I used which I found on the VisitNorway tourist website. 

The "weather whiplash" happened!  The Polar Vortex abruptly departed and now we are on watch for melting, flooding, pipes cracking etc.  I still have hope I can invest time in my passion for skating.  I do know for sure though, being outside will rule over extended hours being inside knitting and painting. 

snow much fun

 This is my most recent painting and it will represent a winter month in my 2026 Calendar. 

I lived out that quote on today's visit to the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary.  

I learned all about the anatomy of a snowflake during my AST1 training (Avalanche Safety Training).  On that day we got to appreciate the design of a snowflake through a magnifying glass.  Each one is unique and perfect.  Today I enjoyed admiring them up close through my camera lens. There were lots to choose from.

On the other hand, there were not lots of birds to admire yet the ducks and geese numbered in the high hundreds.  Everything sported a snowflake or two or three or a dozen. The female Mallard Duck and her partner stuck to the inlet away from the hundreds. 

male Mallard Duck

this was the only Black-capped Chickadee that I saw

It was not until I got home and looked at my photographs from the day's outing, 

that I saw the Muskrat's tongue.  It was having a bath in the frigid water.  

I cut my visit to The Sanctuary short as the snow was becoming more than just flurries, it was hard to see anything and my focus became making sure to get home safely.  With all the new snow and the cold temperatures remaining, there will be lots of opportunities to appreciate the beautiful, unique, delicate snowflakes! 

This day's greeting!

As it turned out, I did not make the day's skate quick and short. I got into a rhythm, all the cobwebs and noise left my mind, I got lost in no thoughts at all, I was where I wanted to be and needed to be both physically and mentally.  When the time came that I felt I had etched enough, my distance showed 16.3  kms.  I did not realize until I got home and recorded my distance, the 16.3 took me over the total distance I skated last season.  Last season I covered 218.5 kms, so far this season I have covered 218.9 kms of skating and the season is not over yet. 

etching along on The Canal

cotton candy blue in the sky

hibernating for the winter 

inside outside : February 10, 2025

When I checked the weather shortly after waking this morning and saw the igloo diagram I knew this morning would be an inside morning.  The 9:00am temperatures were warmer than what it showed at wake time. But, around 9:00am I did step outside to plug in the block heater in my car so it would be warmed up and ready to go shortly after noon.  

 

Two Bald Eagles sitting in a tree

first comes 

b- u- i- l -d- i- n- g     a     n-e- s- t

then

one flies away while the other one rests

then comes.....

 

The few inside hours were spent painting and knitting.  Over the past few days, I followed tutorials on how to paint Bald Eagles.  I am invested in the two that are building the nest at Carburn Park. I followed them last spring only to one day see an Eaglet peeking out of the nest.  This morning I completed the last tutorial and painting showing the Bald Eagle flying.

one flies away

while the other one rests

then comes.....

The Eaglet!

Working on the above three paintings was such a delightful way to past time, as is knitting my very first ever sweater.  It will be called "Seaglass Sweater" as it is the same shade as my bulky socks.  It is being knit with two single pointed needles, will be made up of five pieces, then the pieces knitted together.  Both Stockinette Stitch and Seed Stitch are being used.  

Shortly after noon, the igloo became a sun 

it was time to bundle up and head outside.  

This was my welcome to Nose Creek!  

I heard it before I saw it! 

The Coyote was up on the ridge.

It's the time of year when Coyotes are aggressive.

 They have probably already mated and their pups will be born in March or into April. 

I watched it for awhile.  

It watched me as the Magpies watched it.

I continued walking along the Creek down in the valley bottom doing an out and back.  While climbing the hill back up to the ridge and then towards the Birth Forest, the Coyote came out of the bushes and walked in front of me, it appeared to have had no idea I was behind it.  It looked larger but maybe that was just because we were closer in proximity. 

When I reached the top of the hill,

I saw it stopped and turned around!

It looked bushier, maybe that was due to being at a different angle. 

Then it walked off!

I walked towards the Birth Forest to meander along the trails through the trees.  As I entered the Forest, there were three Coyotes standing at the first opening, looking at me.  I did a quick turn around and got the heck out of there returning to my vehicle by circumnavigating the Birth Forest. While I do enjoy seeing and watching Coyotes from a safe distance, this was not the time to stick around snapping more shots.  It was good to see they looked healthy with shiny, bulky fur coats. 

Being both inside and outside today were fulfilling!

I still have a full evening ahead of me!

Mmmm!

back on track

Or I should say, back on The Ice Trail and back on The Birding Trail!  With the "warm up" I was keen to get out the door and stay out for awhile. The warm up is all relative, -19C with a windchill of -24C (for my United States friends -2.2F with a windchill of -11.2F) is considered warm these days. My only concern was getting safely to and from my play locations on somewhat slippery sections along busy, major thoroughfares. 

back  on  The  Ice  Trail

I wish I could attach a feeling to this story!  The river scenes, the etching sounds, the skating motions, the ice views, the bird songs, all packaged together afforded me a most joyous morning filled with good feelings of all kinds!  The ice had not been swept nor flooded, there was no need for it. A very light sprinkling of sparkly snow was scattered here and there along the ice surface.  The crystals were dazzling when the sun hit them.  

For the first fourteen of the 14.5 kms I covered, no one else was skating.  

On mornings like this, I like it like that. 

🎵"In restless dreams I skate alone!"🎵 

  

The cold muffled all sounds.

 I could not hear the trains nor the planes nor the close by workers.

I could here the slight sound of my etchings

and the rejoicing sigh which I.....

🎵"Whispered in the sound of silence!"🎵 

I wish I could attach a feeling to this blog post!

I can though, share my thoughts!  

on The Birding Trail

With the warm up I was raring to get back on The Birding Trail! Like I mentioned in my skating story above, "warm up" is all relative!  I needed my "heatwave gloves" to keep my hands and fingers warm yet they were bulky to snap shots with.  I missed a few good photos due to that but I was very fortunate to see some sweet sights this morning and scored good shots of them. I picked Carburn Park as it had been awhile since I ventured there plus I was curious to see what the Bald Eagles were up to.  

Well, they were up there, up in their nest! I was so happy to see them at home!  They were busy building!  I believe the male is on the left and the female behind to the right.  The one at the front kept flying off and bringing back branches.  They worked together to place them in special spots.

 flying off to collect a branch

The Black-capped Chickadees were busy dee dee deeing about!  

I am in awe of how they survive the cold temperatures, they are such tiny bundles of sweetness. 

This is one of the 17 or 18 Trumpeter Swans that have been here for many many weeks.  There seem to be just as many Juveniles as there are Adults.  I like how the droplet of water is falling from the edge of this Adult's beak.  The droplet even shows up in the reflection.  

a male Common Goldeneye 

those red feet are busy paddling away

a male Redhead

the sunshine made his head glow

The last time I was here, the porcupine was not out of its home, which is the hole underneath it.  I was happy to see it was out sunning itself this morning.  What I was not happy to see was......

.....when it lifted its head! I thought what the heck am I seeing!  

When I realized those were teeth, I skedaddled out of there.  

You can see an eye at top left of the face.

I did not skedaddle when the deer showed me its teeth!  This was a youngster nestled beside its Mom to keep warm.  You can see the frostiness on its fur and around its nose and whiskers.  I could see their breath when they breathed but the camera did not pick it up.  

Yesterday and today were the "warm up" days, the best days to be "out & about".  

We are back to cold tomorrow and for a few more days after that!

polar plunging stories

When it's polar-like outside, I plunge into the comfy & warmth inside!  We have come out the other end of the coldest days and it's safe to get back on track living life outside for extended periods of time again.  Covering distance got off to a slow start this month, I already feel I won't reach the 199 kms I covered in January.  If I could convert minutes of painting and knitting to distance, I would be travelling far!  

When I was "out & about" during the polar snap, there was total cloud cover, it was dull & dreary & grey. I was not motivated to snap shots. This motivated me to seek the beauty in the monotone look.  Then I got into learning how to paint a scene with one colour. Then I got in even deeper, learning about the emotions that monochromatic schemes can evoke!  I followed two lessons on painting a winter scene with one colour of watercolour paint.  

The first scene is painted using only Ultramarine with splatters of white gouache.  The white on the big tree is negative space.  The second scene was painted using only Paynes Grey with splatters of white gouache. You may feel chilled looking at them, yet the various levels of intensity of paint offer the sense of unity, cohesiveness and harmony.  

After completing the two tutorials, I then put to use what I learned.  This scene is painted using only Indigo with splatters of white gouache.  The white on the large trees is negative space.  The reference for the painting is the photo below which I quickly took while "out & about" on a recent polar-like day.  

This is what it took to be safe while out there.  

I took my sunglasses off to capture the selfie.

from the sea to the desert

While plunging into the warmth within my home, I passed lots of time knitting. I finished the second "Seaglass" Sock.   I also finished knitting another pair but changed the pattern to add my own twist.  The patterned dark colour is called "Saguaro".  The shade caught my attention while walking down the yarn aisle and once I saw the name of the colour, from that second on no other colour mattered.  Not only does monochromatic evoke emotions but names of colours evoke emotions for me also.

Back in February of 2022, I did a post about the Saguaro Cactus.  No doubt during those February days, I was probably plunging into the warmth of my home and investing time in learning more about the Saguaro.  This photo is from a hike in the Superstition Mountains in Arizona.  It puts into perspective, the size of a Saguaro Cactus.

photo showing the fit of the the Saguaro Sock

and that it was still monochrome outside

Today I returned to the Birth Forest to capture another photo, the same as the one I took and used as the painting reference.  This version evokes more pleasant emotions even though it still felt polar-like.  A few more people were "out & about" yet wildlife were plunged into shelters somewhere.  I choose to walk early morning, took a few more photographs yet walked at a brisk pace against the brisk cold.  It was comfortable to stay out longer yet I was happy to be back home where I could plunge back into the warmth with my "Seaglass" Socks on. 

some sights I saw