Link to My Newer Blog Postings

Link to My Newer Blog Postings on Wordpress

Initially, I was looking for a way to stay in touch with several people at once and because I wanted to use lots of pictures, email wasn't really an option and Facebook was definitely not the right medium. What I really needed was a website, and thus I began looking into blogging.
I started blogging here at Blogger.com just to see how it would work out and found it to be quite a good site as long as I was using my laptop to compose the blogs. Once I made the decision to miniaturize further (ie using a Win8 Tablet and Android Phone) I found that composition became more difficult (especially without the use of a mouse).
A little research led me to Wordpress.com and after a bit of a learning period in which I attempted to keep both sites more or less active, I have decided that Wordpress wins out. To connect to the newer postings, click the link above or cut 'n paste the URL below. :-)

The URL to my newer postings is https://gone4aday.wordpress.com/

West Coast Winter

January in Sidney

As I am writing this, Calgary is experiencing another mid-winter summer (or chinook) so some of the shine may be lost, but not much, since mid-winter summer only lasts for a few days but the weather here continues...

    People say the west coast can be dark an dreary and wet in the winter, which is true except I haven't noticed the dreary part. I have however noticed that it is almost always warm here (at least by Canadian winter standards). When the sun does pop out, it is like instant springtime because everything is already green and if you look closely there are even flowers. 

a misty day in the woods...

 To be fair, not all days are bright and sunny, but for the most part they are still quite warm and even when the air is damp i don't find it uncomfortable (nothing a sweater doesn't fix) and it can even be enjoyable!

a slightly under performing Cdn$

It is looking like I"ll have to suffer through this weather for a while longer yet as we have more delays in business. A good amount of headway has been gained but not much has ultimately changed as yet, although a closing date has finally been proposed, so things will all fall into place soon... it's just a little unfortunate the Cdn$ decided to do a swan dive recently.

west coast Arbutus trees

Otherwise the hiking and other outdoor activities -including a little tennis the other day- are quite pleasant and offer some rather interesting atmospheres. 

i have a few more photos, but unfortunately i don't have them here yet!

Searchmont Ontario!

50ft contour with our ski tracks overlaid

Searchmont is a small town 40ish km north of Sault Ste. Marie Ontario. Searchmont is also the location of a ski hill with 3 main lifts (that I saw) in addition to a bunny hill lift.
Only 2 lifts were running so we started on the left and worked our way across the hill, trying each new run we came across.  It is too bad the one lift wasn't running as that looked to have the most challenging runs and the deepest, steepest powder.


...yes, they are shovelling the roof

It isn't a mountain by any means, but it is a very decent hill and with no lift lines it was quite enjoyable. Ok, yes that was a bit of an exaggeration (the part about no lines - the part about it being enjoyable was very true) as we did have a 3 or 4 chair wait once or twice.
In a way it is too bad it isn't a mountain, what with the enormous amount of snow that is normal for this area of Canada


if the powder is too deep,
sometimes it is easier to use
the snowboard as a toboggan!



view from the top

Ticket prices here were quite reasonable - lift and rentals for 2 of us were $63 for a half day. We only snowboarded in the afternoon as the morning temperatures were still below -20 C and although Pepper had my vintage 1976 Lake Louise jacket (warmest jacket ever!) I was by no means equipped for that temperature! 

New Years Eve 2014/15

Yes, this is a little late.  I actually posted it on time, but a technicality prevented you from being able to view it, so I re-did it just for you! 😁

 Not a lot exciting going on these past few weeks. I'm homeless, but so far not without a place to stay.


The new year finds the girls and I in Buffalo Niagara, London and Sault Ste. Marie.

Buffalo City Hall

Buffalo is a city...
...with people

Some people seem to have money - the city does not. There is some interesting architecture that dates back to the days when Buffalo was a vibrant city about a century ago, but the intervening decades of decline have taken their toll and the vast majority of the city now just feels tired.



this guy stood in the
 freezing mist a bit too long

Having previously made a daytime visit to Niagara on the Canadian side in summer, we decided to visit the American side in winter at night. New Years Eve started as a light blizzard in Buffalo, but by the time we got to Niagara the snow had stopped, although the wind was still pretty bitter. It made for some very frosty scenery downwind of the falls.

We managed to avoid being frozen in place by alternating visits to the falls with visits to the pub or restaurant as we waited for midnight to arrive. Usually, with the American affinity for fireworks, they outdo fireworks displays put on by the Canadians, but this time it was the Canadians who significantly outdid the Americans.

can you see me at midnight sitting
in the freezing mist painting this
wonderful scene with my mittens on?
'cause that totally happened!

On the Canadian side there were fireworks over the falls, more at the concert and even more falling from the tower. In comparison, the Americans had a somewhat longer but much less vigorous display spouting from their tower. To say the Canadians outdid their American counterparts re their respective New
Years Eve concerts would be a bit of an understatement as well. I won't comment on the performers, as that is a personal preference issue, but there must have been 20 times the number of people in attendance on the Canadian side.

US falls with Canadian falls in
the background

The falls themselves are a very different experience by night. They are still huge and very impressive of course, but night give a sence of mystery, and being lit gives them a very different look where they are much more the centre of attention. It may have been due to the freezing wind, but the experience
was a much more personal one as well, since there were almost no other people around.
.