Moods and Walks- Ponderings and Meanderings in Alberta

[ian mcdonald]

A nice sentiment, Cohan.

[Maggi Young]

Two years  already  since  your  Mother  passed - time  spins  away from us  at great speed.

[cohan]

Two years  already  since  your  Mother  passed - time  spins  away from us  at great speed.

Indeed, and I am not much closer to figuring out what the next steps are!!

[cohan]

A nice sentiment, Cohan.

Thanks, Ian.

[cohan]

Selfie fromSept 14-- it was almost all green behind me!  Roughly the same spot on Sept 26, Viburnum edule and friends in full colour (it goes red in sun, pinks etc in shade). Chilly that first day, as you can tell by my clothes, second day 24C. Our temps have been up and down as they always are, but it has been dry for several weeks ( ideal at this time of year, no garden worries, as summer tended to wet.. after a slow summer, harvest has been surprisingly early and complete, many farmers are even getting a second haying in! hoping the dry continues as I move toward getting firewood!) and many seasonally warm days with no noticeable frost in the yard ( lettuce, peas and Aralia are fine so far, I don't have anything genuinely tender outside).
Blue tarps in background mark my main woodcutting area, just at the acreage border.

[cohan]

A few recent views on the road-- it's been a good season for colour-- a combination of several dry weeks for early fall, no serious frosts and no strong winds to knock down the leaves mean peak poplar colour has lasted longer than usual. Atypically, the tamaracks (Larix) are starting to turn while there is still a lot of colour on the poplars (not seen in these shots).
Summer was generally cool and wettish, I wondered whether crops would ripen for farmers, but the dry weather came at the right time, and most got the harvest done early! I've even seen many getting a second hay crop, which has not happened much in recent years.. we've had a few wet days recently so anyone still trying to get things off the ground might have a harder time..
Some smoke from far away has returned off and on, visible in a couple of shots..

[Hoy]

Nice views, Cohan!

We (or rather I because it has rained where I have been and the weather has been nice all other places!) have had much rain the last weeks and the trees shed their leaf rather quickly in the mountains where I am now. Back home only the birches changed colour so far.They are usually early because they are often attacked by a leaf fungus in autumn.

[cohan]

Nice views, Cohan!

We (or rather I because it has rained where I have been and the weather has been nice all other places!) have had much rain the last weeks and the trees shed their leaf rather quickly in the mountains where I am now. Back home only the birches changed colour so far.They are usually early because they are often attacked by a leaf fungus in autumn.

It was a rather long period of autumn colour in the trees this year-- the poplars lasted so long that they overlapped the Larix, which usually come mostly after everything else is done... Now it has all turned abruptly white, pics to come...lol

[Hoy]

No snow or frost at home yet but they have gotten much of it other places!

[cohan]

No snow or frost at home yet but they have gotten much of it other places!

We are already on round 3 of snowfalls, in one week ( not counting the lighter ones)..

[cohan]

Some recent road views-- after our first snow, only a week ago, but now things are much whiter, this already seems so long ago! More pics and more blabber on my blog- https://cohanmagazine.blogspot.com/2020/10/and-then-came-winter-mid-october-views.html
1-Wetland area across the road, with some baby tamaracks, Larix laricina


2-(zoomed) View towards the mountains from the highway


3-Tamaracks, always the last native tree to turn, though the poplar season was extended this year, so they overlapped a little


4-Town of Rocky Mountain House, where I work; view of the gas station across the street from the gas station we were at!


5- Sunset, just outside of town

[Hoy]

Photographs of snowy landscapes are always nice. But I don't miss the shovelling!

They have gotten snow on many places here also but most has melted as the temperature increased a lot. Haven't had frost at home yet.

[cohan]

If I ever move to someplace snow free, I will not miss it, I can look back at the thousands of photos...lol.. This week it is warming up-- with so much snow and mostly still cold nights, I'm not sure how much will melt,  but for sure roads, rooves, shovelled paths etc should become clear.. 11 or more today, up to mid-teens by Sunday! If it keeps up, we may yet melt all of it, but there is a long way to go...

[cohan]

Digging back a little-- the day the snow came, Oct 13. First set, on the drive into town (Sylvan Lake, Alberta, Canada) a bit gloomy, but still a fall day...  these are from the moving car, pics, so tend to need a bit more editing! (I'm not the driver)
1- from the gravel road several miles from home, looking out towards the highway (the large building is across it) and some rooves of the hamlet of Condor beyond



2- not far, on the highway, looking at a nice stand of Tamarack / Larix laricina



3- a bit of wetland pasture, not far from Sylvan Lake



4-just outside Sylvan Lake, Aspens /Populus tremuloides, in a field

[cohan]

The same day, less than 2 hours later, on the way home, the snow began, getting whiter as we got nearer home. this set from near Sylvan Lake to near Eckville, Alberta, October 13, 2020
As I post these, it's been above 10C daytime for several days, lots of melting-- but there is still a fair amount of snow in some shady spots, places where it was shovelled etc.. still waiting to see whether we will be snow free before the next wintry spell (starting this coming weekend, probably)