Done for the Threadless "Loves green" competition.

I bumped into this funny sign at the last railway stop on a train trip from San Diego to Santa Barbara, California. The rail stop was in the little town of Goleta near the USCB campus.Looks like a nice way to encourage carpooling. Notice is does not say kiss and drive! That would be just as bad as texting or phone calling while driving. Anyway it made me smile and I hope you do too. Cheers.

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Got up at 230AM this past weekend and carpooled with a coworker up to Gooseberry Falls. We got up there at 645 for a 720 sunrise. The sun never came out, so most of my shots were trying not to have any sky in them. The lighting was actually really nice for water movement. It was nice to have the whole area to ourselves for 3 hours.

I was driving westward, from Las Tunas to Varadero when our vehicle was stopped at the check point. The Cuban police fumed our car with anti-mosquitoes spray- there was a campaign to eradicate the mosquitoes. The white little pick-up truck that passed us a few kilometers back was now in front of us. I could see the number of people came out of the little truck. It was incredible! While I appreciated the fact that hitchhiking and carpooling were the important part of Cuba transportation system and was essential in Cuba society, I was l stunt that almost 20 living souls coming out of the truck, that included this giant man and his little baby..

Stuck.

Sort have how I'm feeling. Yesterday, without me realizing it, we reached a milestone in our family. I'm officially done with picking up my girl from school now. Dropping off was my husband's responsibility and picking up was mine. My husband's duties ended at the end of her freshman year last year, this year she carpooled with a neighbor in the mornings but I was still picking up. Well the neighbor got her license and so now she drives my daughter and brings her home. I'll be picking up and driving to soccer games should my daughter make the team but for the most part, I'm done with that. Fourteen years of picking up and I'm all done.

The member agencies of the SCRRA purchased 175 miles (282 km) of track, maintenance yards, and stations and other property from Southern Pacific for $450 million in 1990. The rights to use Los Angeles Union Station were purchased from Union Pacific for $17 million in the same year (Union Station has since been purchased by and is owned by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority). The Authority was formally founded in 1991. It began operation of the Ventura, Santa Clarita, and San Bernardino Lines on October 26, 1992 (the Santa Clarita Line later became the Antelope Valley Line) which were operated by Amtrak.

In 1993 service was expanded to include the Riverside and Orange County Lines in 1994. The Inland Empire-Orange County Line opened in 1995, becoming the first suburb to suburb commuter rail line in the country. In 1995 more trains on the Orange County service were funded. The system gained its current form in 2002 with the addition of the 91 Line.

From July 2004, Metrolink fares were changed from zone based to one based on distance. In 2005 a five-year operational contract was awarded to Connex Railroad/Veolia Transport. In 2005, the Orange County Transportation Authority approved a plan to increase frequencies to 76 trains daily on the Orange County and Inland Empire-Orange County Lines by 2009, and funding for increased Metrolink service was included in the renewal of the Measure M sales tax for transportation approved by voters in November 2006. A proposed station in Yorba Linda was canceled in 2005 due to local opposition.

In July 2008 it was announced that ridership had risen 16% over the previous year. Following the 2008 Chatsworth train collision in which 26 people died and 126 were injured a number of safety measures were taken; in the fall of 2009, inward-facing video cameras were installed in locomotives in order to ensure that staff were complying with regulations, in particular a ban on use of mobile phones, $200 million of funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was provided to implement the positive train control crash avoidance system, and in 2010, the first of 117 energy absorbing passenger carriages (which lessen the toll on passengers in the case of an accident) were received by the operator. Amtrak regained the contract to operate Metrolink beginning in July 2010. Average weekday ridership for the fourth quarter of 2009 was 38,400.

In 2010, to save money in the face of funding cuts, the Metrolink board voted to reduce mid-day service on the Inland Empire–Orange County Line, as well as weekend service on both the Orange County and Inland Empire–Orange County lines.

Average weekday ridership is 41,000 by May 2011. A survey found that 90% of users during a typical weekday in 2009 would have previously driven alone or carpooled and the system replaced an estimated that 25,000 vehicle trips. During a weekend closure of Interstate 405 in July 2011 the system recorded its highest-ever weekend ridership of 20,000 boardings which was 50% higher than the same weekend in 2010 and 10% higher than the previous weekend ridership record which occurred during U2 360° Tour in June 2011.

Wikipedia Quote

Instead of posting more mushroom/fungus photos tonight, I had thought about uploading a few totally different images. However, I have ended up starting to post photos (8) from today, 22 September 2019. We were fortunate enough to be invited to explore another acreage SW of the city. It is so interesting to see that various acreages, really not all that far from each other, can have some different species.

Again, I drove myself instead of carpooling, as I had been invited to a friend's birthday party and needed to get back to the city by a certain time, in order to get a ride with another friend. From years of experience, I know only too well that once you get our enthusiastic leaders into the field, there is no telling how long they will stay out there! Normally, that is fine, but today I had a deadline.

The weather was beautiful for our bioblitz, which was so much appreciated, as there are snowflake icons in our weather forecast in a few days' time. It still definitely feels like fall, though, and golden leaves were constantly falling to the ground, making it a challenge to see any fungi. Many of the mushrooms we saw today have started to rapidly decline, but others proved to be of interest. One of my favourites was a mushroom that had a number of water droplets on its cap. I could be wrong, but I suspect that these were guttation droplets, Usually, I see these on Red-belted polypores growing on tree trunks, so it was interesting to see these on the cap of a smallish mushroom.

We were warmly welcomed by the landowners, Michael and Marie-Claude Singleton. Marie-Claude accompanied us on the walk, which was great. Their beautiful property is a mix of mowed lawn (that certain mushrooms love), grassland and forest. They have a beautiful pond, too, edged with very healthy cattails and other water plants.

Thank you so much, Michael and Marie-Claude, for inviting us to come and see what is growing on your land. The coffee, too, was just what was needed after time spent outdoors.

Adding five more photos from my archives this evening. If I wrote a description under any previously-posted photos that were taken on the same outings as these 'new' photos posted today, I will add it under today's photos.

"On 18 July 2016, I had a wonderful day out NE of the city with my daughter. The last time I actually drove eastwards was about six months ago, when I was shooting Short-eared Owls near the end of January. The last time (also the first time) I had ever driven out as far as Drumheller was on 29 September 2014. A few times, I had been fairly close when I went on several botany trips out that way, but when you are carpooling, you can't just go wherever you want. So, my daughter and I had a great time exploring some of the roads between Calgary and Drumheller. There were a handful of things or places we wanted to check out, but many things were total surprises. We knew we wanted to see fields, yellow fields full of canola as far as the eye could see. No disappointment there as we took in the gorgeous colour and the perhaps not so pleasant smell of this crop. When we were driving through regular, green landscapes, it all seemed so 'ordinary' after being treated to vibrant gold.

As well as canola fields, we also knew of a particular grain elevator and nearby old barn that we were keen to see. There was also an old, two-storey house in a hilly setting that we knew would have to be photographed from a great distance, but we were curious about it. There was also a small wetland that I wanted to drive by, just in case there was something to see. How glad we were that we went, as a magnificent Black-crowned Night-heron was posing nicely on a post, out in the open. This was the first time I had ever seen one close, so it made my day. At least, an adult - in October 2015, I had seen a gorgeous juvenile in Fish Creek Park.

Continuing on our way, we stopped to take a couple of quick shots of an Eastern Kingbird and then my daughter spotted a dark patch just above ground level, hidden in the bushes. It turned out to be an Eastern Kingbird's nest, with what looked like three large babies in it. No idea how she caught sight of this, but it was a treat to see.

Soon after this, we stopped to photograph two beautiful red barns and then stopped again to photograph a Western Kingbird. This is not a bird I normally see, so i was very happy to catch sight of this one.

A short drive further, we spotted a shorebird standing on a fence post - and then a second one a few posts away. At first, we thought maybe they were Wilson's Snipe, but then realized that they were something different - two beautiful Upland Sandpipers. I had seen one a number of years ago, but it was too far away for a photo. These are uncommon in Alberta. So, another very lucky find.

It was a pretty good day for hawks, too - so much so, that I got a gentle reminder form my daughter that I didn't need to photograph EVERY hawk we saw, lol. We had other places and other things that we wanted to get to.

As well as birds and beautiful scenery, we saw several old barns, including a special small shed/granary. Each year, the farmer allows the graduating class from the local high school to decorate this old building in any way they wish. A fun idea and it certainly adds a splash of colour. I was absolutely fascinated to read a little bit of history from someone who was a contact of mine on Flickr two or three years ago. Her Grandmother was apparently born in this house/shed. It was later converted to a granary and now, of course, has become the canvas for local students.

One of our main goals was to visit the old grain elevator at Sharples (not the one seen in this photo). I had wanted to visit there for quite a while and finally, we made it. Unfortunately, the elevator and nearby barn were in shadow, but it was great to see both old structures. We also passed the old elevator in the photo above when we were driving along the road north of the river, on the way to Drumheller. This, needless to say, meant another stop for photos.

www.bigdoer.com/9124/exploring-history/prairie-sentinels-...

A great day of fun, seeing and photographing such a variety of things. Beautiful weather and, best of all, a day spent with my daughter. Thanks so much, Rachel - glad you felt up to a day out, but sorry you got so many mosquito bites!

Total driving distance, round-trip: approximately 397 km, 247 miles."

I am not sure if it is funny, but the pandemic and slowly thinking whether my actions are hypocritical of my words. As such I didn't chase many rare birds in Kansas during 2020, I stayed close to home and ventured out alone or with my wife and kids predominantly, and that I didn't focus on year species totals. This bird has been around Lawrence Kansas and close to home for 10 days, yet I didn't go see it last year even though it would have been a year tick and county tick. I also noticed the person directly in front of me for the state this year would probably enjoy beating me, so it was a win win.

I caved this past weekend and went to Globe Prairie to see this bird. I parked and simply enjoyed watching it from a distance, which only resulted in the next car parking right below the bird and flushing it. I asked my girls and wife if they wanted to go with, but they decided to stay home. I am hoping carpooling is soon an option again.

Here is a backside view of the bird.

www.flickr.com/gp/malcolmgold/VoqH6n

ebird.org/checklist/S78516796

Tuesday, 22 September 2020: our temperature at 7:00 am is 5C (windchill 4C)). It is forecast to get up to 15C this afternoon. Sunrise is at 7:23 am and sunset is at 7:32 pm.

Almost three years ago, on 12 November 2017, I went with a group of seven birding friends on a very enjoyable day trip S and SE of Calgary. This old barn on one of the roads was an unexpected treat (for me) and, as I only managed to take a few rapid shots of it through the windscreen from the back seat, I was determined to one day do this drive myself and take a better look at this fine old barn (from the road, as usual).

Yesterday, 21 September 2020, was THE day! It started around 9:00 am with a drive south to the Saskatoon Farm for breakfast. It was very quiet at that early hour and on a weekday, though I knew it would get busier as the day wore on. There are always all sorts of things to photograph there, including colourful flowers, a chicken or two, and various odds and ends. There is sadness at the Farm at the moment, as someone stole one of their much-loved cats, named Alfie, a matter of days ago. He is a pure grey cat and he has a sister at the Farm who looks just like him. She now wanders around the farm grounds, looking for him, in vain. Despite pleas to return Alfie, there has been no response.

From the Farm, the next destination was to go and find this old barn again. When I was there in 2017, I'm not sure if I saw the old rocking horses on each fence post. We were carpooling and I suspect they were out of my view. The barn is certainly weathered, but it is still standing straight and tall.

Driving further S and SE, more barns were to be seen. Part of the drive was in an area that I had explored recently. A few old grain elevators were thrown in for good measure.

At one stop to take a few photos, this dainty little damselfly flew inside my parked car where I was sitting and eventually landed on my jacket. Just managed to take a quick macro shot, though in fact it was in no hurry to leave. Only when I was editing the photo did I see that those big blue eyes were looking into my own blue eyes, ha.

As for birds, where were they? Not a single Hawk of any kind and really no small birds, either. A handful of Grey Partridge taking off were pretty much the only birds we saw. However, this was not planned as a birding day, but as an old barn day, and it turned out to be satisfyingly rewarding!

As usual, any fungi IDs given are always tentative, not 100% confirmed. Rule is, if you are not an expert in mycology, do not pick wild mushrooms to eat! You could end up very sick, or worse.

Another gloomy morning today, 13 September 2019, with a temperature of 14C just after noon. Yesterday, however, it was actually sunny, so I had to get out and make the most of it in the afternoon. It definitely feels and looks like fall. Snow is already being forecast for parts of Alberta. It will soon be time to get all-season tires off and winter tires put on.

Five days ago, on 8 September 2019, we had such a wonderful four and a half hours, searching for different kinds of fungi in the amazing forest on Rod Handfield's land, SW of Calgary. I believe this was our tenth visit - the first one I went on, being on 25 June 2009 - each one resulting in various different species. This last visit was so overwhelming! You didn't know which direction to face and which mushroom to photograph first. They were everywhere! Such a contrast to our visit on 6 August 2017, when basically there were no mushrooms (other than maybe three), because everywhere had been so very dry.

A day like this can be so exhausting, not just from the walking and fresh air, but also because of all the excitement. The quality of many of my photos is not the best, as the day was very overcast - the last thing one wants when trying to take photos deep in the forest. After leaving Rod's, it did rain. I had driven myself there instead of carpooling, so that I could drive some of the backroads in the area after we had finished. The forecast was for sun and cloud - and I had foolishly believed it. The rain put an end to my plans and I headed for home. I'm so glad I had checked a special little spot near Rod's first thing in the morning, when I got there a bit too early. A few years ago, there was a beautiful display of Fly Agaric / Amanita muscaria mushrooms growing there, but not since then whenever I have checked. To my absolute delight, there were maybe half a dozen, in different stages of development. Surprisingly, we didn't come across a single one in Rod's forest this year.

As always, thank you so much, Rod, for so generously allowing us to explore your property. This has been my favourite place to visit for quite a number of years now. We greatly appreciate your kindness - you are always so welcoming, and we learn so much and discover so many beautiful things. Thank you, Karel, for leading the group and helping with identifications. I'm sure at least some of us are anxiously waiting for you to have time, in between leading botany walks, to post some of your photos along with their IDs. Meanwhile, "fungus" has to be sufficient for most of them.

Wow, what a day I had the day on 5 August 2019! For a few decades, I had longed to get out east of the city again, to the Badlands of Alberta. I had been a few times in more recent years, either on botany trips to Horseshoe Canyon, or a couple of times for the Christmas Bird Count. However, we always carpooled and we never went to the places I really, really wanted to go to. Finally, in 2014, I took my daughter out there, taking the main highway into Drumheller. She has an amazing sense of direction and is great at navigating, so I knew I wouldn't get lost.

This time, though, I wanted to avoid Drumheller itself, so I took a back way to the few places and things I wanted to see and photograph. Each year, I try and make a new, long drive that I have never done before. Trust me, a real challenge to someone with a driving phobia!! Now, there are a handful of places that I make myself get back to each summer, to make sure I don't lose the courage to make the drive by myself.

Maps had been made, a few 'drives' taken along a few bits of road on Google Earth, so I was well-prepared. Still, I felt sick to the stomach at the thought of doing the last half of the drive. If I happened to take one wrong road, would I ever get out of the Badlands?

When I checked the weather forecast, I noticed that rain was expected on some upcoming days, but not for that day, so I knew I needed to go. It was still quite hazy all day, getting up to 30C. When I was almost ready to leave home, I suddenly realized that it was a public holiday! Never a good time to visit anywhere, with so many people everywhere. Normally, I would have stayed home. Left home at 8:45 am and got back home at 7:15 pm, after driving 402 km, using roughly three-quarters of a tank of gas. In this time, I was able to see my favourite hoodoos (with so many cars parked along the road and endless people climbing all over the hoodoos), a little almost-ghost town, and one of my absolute favourite old grain elevators. My route also took me past the Bethlehem Lutheran Church of Dalum - I had seen photos of this church before and I had always wanted to photograph a church like this. One other stop had been on my mental list, but, even though I would have had time to get there, my big concern was running out of gas on the way home.

There was only one unpleasant thing that happened and it still keeps coming to mind. Along one of the paved roads on the way to the Badlands, I had noticed a very scruffy looking hawk standing on the road. I turned around and drove back to see if I could check if it was OK. Just when I was going to pull over so that I could slowly walk back, I looked in the rear view mirror and there was a car coming behind me. Not sure if the driver tried to position his wheels so that they were either side of the hawk, or not. Anyway, the bird tried to fly and got caught up by the car, which ripped and mangled it. I could see it being tossed and caught back. I walked back to see if I could tell if it was still alive. I couldn't tell, but it was a real mess. Much as I would have liked to move it to the ditch, I couldn't. Trying to convince myself that, because it had looked so scruffy to start with, and stayed on the road, maybe it had been sick. I have seen plenty of dead wildlife of all kinds, but never before have I had to witness something actually being killed. Still haunts me.

Yesterday, 6 August 2019, my daughter and I had planned to spend the day together but decided to cancel, as the forecast was for rain and it's no fun taking photos in the rain. Such a shame, as I had been looking forward to being out with her. Her free days are so few and far between. Sure enough, 4:30 pm and we had torrential rain, wind and thunder - SO glad we weren't out in this! Today, it is very overcast - happy I decided to do my long drive two days ago.

You do what you have to do when you need to go somewhere. Read all about it in the Cuba travelogue posts over on my blog.

Copyright © 2015 Seldom Scene Photography, All Rights Reserved.

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This morning, it's back to posting more photos of fungi from our visit to Rod Handfield's acreage. Still more left to edit and post and I really must get these done. Sorry about the lack of IDs for so many of the fungi, but at least I have made a photo record of species seen.

On that day, 8 September 2019, we had such a wonderful four and a half hours, searching for different kinds of fungi in the amazing forest on Rod Handfield's land, SW of Calgary. I think this was our tenth visit - the first one I went on, being on 25 June 2009 - each one resulting in various different species. It was so overwhelming yesterday! You didn't know which direction to face and which mushroom to photograph first. They were everywhere! Such a contrast to our visit on 6 August 2017, when basically there were no mushrooms (other than maybe three), because everywhere had been so very dry.

A day like this can be so exhausting, not just from the walking, but also because of all the excitement. That night, I slept well. The quality of many of my photos is not the best, as the day was very overcast - the last thing one wants when trying to take photos deep in the forest. After leaving Rod's, it did rain. I had driven myself there instead of carpooling, so that I could drive some of the backroads in the area after we had finished. The forecast was for sun and cloud - and I had foolishly believed it. The rain put an end to my plans and I headed for home. I'm so glad I had checked a special little spot near Rod's first thing in the morning, when I got there a bit too early. A few years ago, there was a beautiful display of Fly Agaric / Amanita muscaria mushrooms growing there, but not since then. To my absolute delight, there were maybe half a dozen, in different stages of development. Surprisingly, we didn't come across a single one in Rod's forest this year.

As always, thank you so much, Rod, for so generously allowing us to explore your property. This has been my favourite place to visit for quite a number of years now. We greatly appreciate your kindness - you are always so welcoming, and we learn so much and discover so many beautiful things. Thank you, Karel, for leading the group and helping with some of the identifications. For the rest, "fungus" will have to be sufficient. As usual, any IDs given are always tentative, not 100% confirmed. Rule is, if you are not an expert in mycology, do not pick wild mushrooms to eat!

This morning, it's back to posting 10 more photos of fungi from our visit to Rod Handfield's acreage. I think these may be the last few odds and ends that I will be adding from this trip. Sorry about the lack of IDs for so many of the fungi, but at least I have made a photo record of many of the species seen.

On that day, 8 September 2019, we had such a wonderful four and a half hours, searching for different kinds of fungi in the amazing forest on Rod Handfield's land, SW of Calgary. I think this was our tenth visit - the first one I went on, being on 25 June 2009 - each one resulting in various different species. It was so overwhelming this day! You didn't know which direction to face and which mushroom to photograph first. They were everywhere! Such a contrast to our visit on 6 August 2017, when basically there were no mushrooms (other than maybe three), because everywhere had been so very dry.

A day like this can be so exhausting, not just from the walking, but also because of all the excitement. That night, I slept well. The quality of many of my photos is not the best, as the day was very overcast - the last thing one wants when trying to take photos deep in the forest. After leaving Rod's, it did rain. I had driven myself there instead of carpooling, so that I could drive some of the backroads in the area after we had finished. The forecast was for sun and cloud - and I had foolishly believed it. The rain put an end to my plans and I headed for home. I'm so glad I had checked a special little spot near Rod's first thing in the morning, when I got there a bit too early. A few years ago, there was a beautiful display of Fly Agaric / Amanita muscaria mushrooms growing there, but not since then. To my absolute delight, there were maybe half a dozen, in different stages of development. Surprisingly, we didn't come across a single one in Rod's forest this year.

As always, thank you so much, Rod, for so generously allowing us to explore your property. This has been my favourite place to visit for quite a number of years now. We greatly appreciate your kindness - you are always so welcoming, and we learn so much and discover so many beautiful things. Thank you, Karel, for leading the group and helping with some of the identifications. For the rest, "fungus" or "mushroom"will have to be sufficient. As usual, any IDs given are always tentative, not 100% confirmed. Rule is, if you are not an expert in mycology, do not pick wild mushrooms to eat!

Remembering the horrific tragedy of 9/11 2001.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------As usual, any fungi IDs given are always tentative, not 100% confirmed. Rule is, if you are not an expert in mycology, do not pick wild mushrooms to eat! You could end up very sick, or worse.

Another very gloomy day, with fine drizzle today, 11 September 2019. Our temperature is 9C (feels like 6C). It definitely feels like fall. Snow is already being forecast for parts of Alberta. It will soon be time to get all-season tires off and winter tires put on.

Three days ago, on 8 September 2019, we had such a wonderful four and a half hours, searching for different kinds of fungi in the amazing forest on Rod Handfield's land, SW of Calgary. I think this was our tenth visit - the first one I went on, being on 25 June 2009 - each one resulting in various different species. This last visit was so overwhelming! You didn't know which direction to face and which mushroom to photograph first. They were everywhere! Such a contrast to our visit on 6 August 2017, when basically there were no mushrooms (other than maybe three), because everywhere had been so very dry.

A day like this can be so exhausting, not just from the walking and fresh air, but also because of all the excitement. The quality of many of my photos is not the best, as the day was very overcast - the last thing one wants when trying to take photos deep in the forest. After leaving Rod's, it did rain. I had driven myself there instead of carpooling, so that I could drive some of the backroads in the area after we had finished. The forecast was for sun and cloud - and I had foolishly believed it. The rain put an end to my plans and I headed for home. I'm so glad I had checked a special little spot near Rod's first thing in the morning, when I got there a bit too early. A few years ago, there was a beautiful display of Fly Agaric / Amanita muscaria mushrooms growing there, but not since then whenever I have checked. To my absolute delight, there were maybe half a dozen, in different stages of development. Surprisingly, we didn't come across a single one in Rod's forest this year.

As always, thank you so much, Rod, for so generously allowing us to explore your property. This has been my favourite place to visit for quite a number of years now. We greatly appreciate your kindness - you are always so welcoming, and we learn so much and discover so many beautiful things. Thank you, Karel, for leading the group and helping with identifications. I'm sure at least some of us are anxiously waiting for you to have time, in between leading botany walks, to post some of your photos along with their IDs. Meanwhile, "fungus" has to be sufficient.

Over the years, I had passed by this old Lodge/Community Hall a number of times, but always when carpooling. On my drive on 11 June 2020, I decided to pull over and take a few photos. It is used as a Community Hall for people in the area.

My main purpose for going for a drive this day was to find and photograph a certain old, faded barn. I had hoped to get up north of the city to see it last year, but it just didn't happen. Also, I had noticed that rain was forecast for many of the coming days, so I wanted to make the most of a sunny day.

A Great Gray Owl was a very unexpected sighting on this trip, and such a treat. I didn't notice it until I had just driven past it. Wondering if it might fly, I reversed the car very slowly, but, to my relief, it was still sitting on the fence post. After just a few minutes of turning its head to one side or another, it turned to look across the field of glorious Dandelions behind it. I don't know if it had a nest in the trees, but maybe it heard its mate or a young one calling. Whatever it was, it resulted in take-off.

Last year, 2019, I didn't see any Great Gray Owls. In March 2018, I had better luck. In 2017, I saw one on our May Species Count. Actually, 2016 was a great year for these owls. Various views in the years before 2016.

After taking a few photos of the barn (from the road), I continued my drive and, a short while later, got lost. It was while trying to find my way to some familiar road that I came across the owl. Sometimes, getting lost brings something wonderful, that you would have otherwise missed.

Wednesday, 23 September 2020: our temperature shortly after noon is 17C (windchill 17C)). It is forecast to get up to 22C this afternoon. Sunrise is at 7:25 am and sunset is at 7:30 pm.

Almost three years ago, on 12 November 2017, I went with a group of seven birding friends on a very enjoyable day trip S and SE of Calgary. A beautiful old barn on one of the roads was an unexpected treat (for me) and, as I only managed to take a few rapid shots of it through the windscreen from the back seat, I was determined to one day do this drive myself and take a better look at this fine old barn (from the road, as usual).

The day before yesterday, 21 September 2020, was THE day! It started around 9:00 am with a drive south to the Saskatoon Farm for breakfast. It was very quiet at that early hour and on a weekday, though I knew it would get busier as the day wore on. There are always all sorts of things to photograph there, including colourful flowers, a chicken or two, and various odds and ends. There is sadness at the Farm at the moment, as someone stole one of their much-loved cats, named Alfie, a matter of days ago. He is a pure grey cat and he has a sister at the Farm who looks just like him. She now wanders around the farm grounds, looking for him, in vain. Despite pleas to return Alfie, there has been no response.

From the Farm, the next destination was to go and find the old barn again. When I was there in 2017, I'm not sure if I saw the old rocking horses on each fence post. We were carpooling and I suspect they were out of my view. The barn is certainly weathered, but it is still standing straight and tall.

Driving further S and SE, more barns were to be seen. Part of the drive was in an area that I had explored recently. A few old grain elevators were thrown in for good measure.

As for birds, where were they? Several Mourning Doves, but not a single Hawk of any kind and really no small birds, either. A handful of Grey Partridge taking off were pretty much the only birds we saw. However, this was not planned as a birding day, but as an old barn day, and it turned out to be satisfyingly rewarding!

Costa sempre meno. E' il nuovo modo di viaggiare, in tempi di treni sempre più cari e benzina alle s

carpooling, autostop, sconti, prezzi www.diggita.it/v.php?id=1268440

Yesterday, 25 August 2019, was such an enjoyable, special day, spent with friends. My photos are downloaded, but I haven't had a chance to do anything with them yet. Wild mushrooms galore : ) I even got the chance to check off something that had been on my mental Bucket List for decades, lol. So, this morning, I have added another 6 images from our wonderful visit to Akesi Farms on 18 August.

Eight days ago, on 18 August 2019, I was fortunate enough to make a return visit to a wonderful farm, NW of the city. I left home a few minutes before 8:00 am and arrived back home at 8:00 pm, feeling totally tired out. This was partly because I had only had a couple of hours' sleep the night before, and because it took me two hours to get to the farm. This was the first time I had ever driven myself there, as we had carpooled on the previous two visits. To say the least, I was not at all impressed to see the Maintenance light on my car dashboard come on before I had even left Calgary! After leaving the farm, I took some back roads that had been recommended to me while I was at the farm; roads that I had never driven before. Beautiful scenery, and I discovered a rather nice old log cabin and two or three old rusty vehicles, including a beautiful big, blue bus. I am SO happy that I made myself do both drives. I had to do it, as this is an amazing farm, and I couldn't bear the thought of not visiting again.

This 53 acre farm, Akesi Farms, is a 90 minute drive from downtown Calgary and is near the town of Sundre. It belongs to Meghan Vesey and Kwesi Haizel. It is permaculture based with future crops of eggs, mushrooms, fruits and nuts! Hard to believe that this beautiful place has only belonged to this young, hardworking, enthusiastic couple since November 2014. A tremendous amount of work, thought and planning has already gone into adding to what was already there, with a 'little' help from family and friends.

www.akesifarms.com/

Below is the link to a video about Meghan and Kwesi and the farm, by The Redneck Gourmet Show, 23 March 2017. The video was taken in winter - in summer, the farm is a mass of colour!

youtu.be/Tih5H5uMDNE

Our visit coincided with Alberta Open Farms weekend, where about 100 farms were open to the public. Our Naturalist leader had arranged to take anyone interested in nature on a nature walk, at 10:00 am and 2:00 pm. A very interesting, short talk on the history of Bergen and the area around the farm was given by Marilyn Halvorson, who has lived in the area for many years. Three tables had also been set up - one had attractive barn quilts painted on wood (Jenni Weeks at N50 Barn Quilts). Another had knitted items and quilts from Irene Echlin. The third had produce such as jars of home-made marmalade (from Kettle Crossing Farm), and also green tomatoes which had been grown in a massive greenhouse near Olds. I discovered when I got home that eating just one tomato at a time was not enough, they were so good. This is something I have been very impressed by ever since I first met Meghan and Kwesi. They are very community-minded, helping other farmers, which is so good to see.

We were also shown a small display of several edible mushroom species that are being grown on the farm, Some of them are also growing in a few places around the farm - Meghan's mother very kindly pulled a little cluster of three Wine Caps that were growing in the vegetable garden, for me to take home and try. Of course, I had to take a few photos the other night, before I added them to a Spanish Omelette : )

Check out their mushroom business. They are selling mushroom spawn for if you want to grow your own. They also offer talks on how to do this. The Fante word "Akuafo" means farmer.

www.fungiakuafo.com/

Thank you so much, Meghan, Kwesi and Meghan's parents, for such a lovely day! Great to see new additions to the farm (well done, Kwesi!), as well as all the familiar things, including those beautiful dogs, Whiskey (male Border Collie/Great Pyrenees cross) and Titan (male Great Pyrenees), and your chickens and geese. Too bad we missed the honey created in your beehives. I wish you all the very best - you deserve all the successes that come your way.

I am adding 5 more photos from my archives, all taken on 30 May 2017, during a day's drive with my daughter. We passed this long row of distant silos and old sheds/granaries after we were SE of Calgary, after Nanton.

"On 30 May 2017, I was out for the day south of the city with my Daughter (a belated day out for my birthday and Mother's Day), to Nanton and a few roads nearby, then making our way north to Frank Lake and finally ending up at the Saskatoon Farm.

It takes about 45 minutes to drive south to the town of Nanton. Though I had been quite a few times over the years when carpooling with various friends, I had never driven quite that far south and through the town myself. My daughter wanted to walk round two or three of the antique shops there and we both wanted to take a few photos of the grain elevators.

Once that was all done, we drove westwards from the town. Though the scenery is beautiful, we did not enjoy being on a main road with no shoulder to pull over to. We did stop once in a small pull-off, to get a few scenic shots. This was where we saw the metal cut-out of a cowboy riding his horse, with a real, live bird perched on top of his hat.

We decided to turn around and cross over to the other side of the main highway (#2) and drive north to Frank Lake, hoping to find a few things to photograph along the backroads. A barn or two and a few distant birds were enough to make the drive worthwhile.

Frank Lake was deserted when we arrived there, though a couple of other people turned up shortly. Not that many bird species, either. The water was quite choppy thanks to the wind, and there was just one Coot, a pair of Ruddy Ducks, a Barn Swallow, one Eared Grebe, two American Avocets, a Killdeer and a pair of Phalaropes. Franklin's Gulls were their usual noisy selves. Not a single White-faced Ibis to be seen, and only one or two Red-winged and Yellow-headed Blackbirds. When we had been on a road near the lake, we had seen a Black-crowned Night-Heron perched on a distant fence, being harassed by several smaller birds - Brown-headed Cowbirds? I was so happy to see the Heron, as I so rarely see them. We had also seen a shorebird in a field of stubble, but I'm not sure what it was.

On our way home, we called in at the Saskatoon Farm and were just in time to order a meal before they closed at 4:00 pm.. A quick wander round gave me the chance to grab a shot or two of a very loud Rooster and the male Wild Turkey. My favourite kind of day, so thank you, Rachel, as always!!"

This small structure near the house was originally a hot-tub house when Meghan and Kwesi bought the farm. For Meghan's 40th birthday, Kwesi took it apart, removed the hot tub, and redesigned it as a beautiful gazebo. Well done, Kwesi!

Another 5 photos, taken at Akesi Farms on 18 August 2019, have been added this morning.

Six days ago, on 18 August 2019, I was fortunate enough to make a return visit to a wonderful farm, NW of the city. I left home a few minutes before 8:00 am and arrived back home at 8:00 pm, feeling totally tired out. This was partly because I had only had a couple of hours' sleep the night before, and because it took me two hours to get to the farm. This was the first time I had ever driven myself there, as we had carpooled on the previous two visits. To say the least, I was not at all impressed to see the Maintenance light on my car dashboard come on before I had even left Calgary! After leaving the farm, I took some back roads that had been recommended to me while I was at the farm; roads that I had never driven before. Beautiful scenery, and I discovered a rather nice old log cabin and two or three old rusty vehicles, including a beautiful big, blue bus. I am SO happy that I made myself do both drives. I had to do it, as this is an amazing farm, and I couldn't bear the thought of not visiting again.

This 53 acre farm, Akesi Farms, is a 90 minute drive from downtown Calgary and is near the town of Sundre. It belongs to Meghan Vesey and Kwesi Haizel. It is permaculture based with future crops of eggs, mushrooms, fruits and nuts! Hard to believe that this beautiful place has only belonged to this young, hardworking, enthusiastic couple since November 2014. A tremendous amount of work, thought and planning has already gone into adding to what was already there, with a 'little' help from family and friends.

www.akesifarms.com/

Below is the link to a video about Meghan and Kwesi and the farm, by The Redneck Gourmet Show, 23 March 2017. The video was taken in winter - in summer, the farm is a mass of colour!

youtu.be/Tih5H5uMDNE

Our visit coincided with Alberta Open Farms weekend, where about 100 farms were open to the public. Our Naturalist leader had arranged to take anyone interested in nature on a nature walk, at 10:00 am and 2:00 pm. A very interesting, short talk on the history of Bergen and the area around the farm was given by Marilyn Halvorson, who has lived in the area for many years. Three tables had also been set up - one had attractive barn quilts painted on wood (Jenni Weeks at N50 Barn Quilts). Another had knitted items and quilts from Irene Echlin. The third had produce such as jars of home-made marmalade (from Kettle Crossing Farm), and also green tomatoes which had been grown in a massive greenhouse near Olds. I discovered when I got home that eating just one tomato at a time was not enough, they were so good. This is something I have been very impressed by ever since I first met Meghan and Kwesi. They are very community-minded, helping other farmers, which is so good to see.

We were also shown a small display of several edible mushroom species that are being grown on the farm, Some of them are also growing in a few places around the farm - Meghan's mother very kindly pulled a little cluster of three Wine Caps that were growing in the vegetable garden, for me to take home and try. Of course, I had to take a few photos the other night, before I added them to a Spanish Omelette : )

Check out their mushroom business. They are selling mushroom spawn for if you want to grow your own. They also offer talks on how to do this. The Fante word "Akuafo" means farmer.

www.fungiakuafo.com/

Thank you so much, Meghan, Kwesi and Meghan's parents, for such a lovely day! Great to see new additions to the farm (well done, Kwesi!), as well as all the familiar things, including those beautiful dogs, Whiskey (male Border Collie/Great Pyrenees cross) and Titan (male Great Pyrenees), and your chickens and geese. Too bad we missed the honey created in your beehives. I wish you all the very best - you deserve all the successes that come your way.

SNOW, SNOW, GO AWAY. DON'T COME BACK ANOTHER DAY! Sigh, it snowed again overnight and this morning. There are about 10" of the white stuff along the top of my fence. After today, the forecast says we are in for some sunny, cold days. Sure hope the snow melts as fast as possible.

All sorts of problems with Flickr this morning!

Today, I have added 8 more photos from 8 September 2019, taken at Rod Handfield's acreage.

On that day, we had such a wonderful four and a half hours, searching for different kinds of fungi in the amazing forest on Rod Handfield's land, SW of Calgary. I think this was our tenth visit - the first one I went on, being on 25 June 2009 - each one resulting in various different species. It was so overwhelming yesterday! You didn't know which direction to face and which mushroom to photograph first. They were everywhere! Such a contrast to our visit on 6 August 2017, when basically there were no mushrooms (other than maybe three), because everywhere had been so very dry.

A day like this can be so exhausting, not just from the walking, but also because of all the excitement. That night, I slept well. The quality of many of my photos is not the best, as the day was very overcast - the last thing one wants when trying to take photos deep in the forest. After leaving Rod's, it did rain. I had driven myself there instead of carpooling, so that I could drive some of the backroads in the area after we had finished. The forecast was for sun and cloud - and I had foolishly believed it. The rain put an end to my plans and I headed for home. I'm so glad I had checked a special little spot near Rod's first thing in the morning, when I got there a bit too early. A few years ago, there was a beautiful display of Fly Agaric / Amanita muscaria mushrooms growing there, but not since then. To my absolute delight, there were maybe half a dozen, in different stages of development. Surprisingly, we didn't come across a single one in Rod's forest this year.

As always, thank you so much, Rod, for so generously allowing us to explore your property. This has been my favourite place to visit for quite a number of years now. We greatly appreciate your kindness - you are always so welcoming, and we learn so much and discover so many beautiful things. Thank you, Karel, for leading the group and helping with identifications. I'm sure at least some of us are anxiously waiting for you to have time, in between leading botany walks, to post some of your photos along with their IDs. Meanwhile, "fungus" has to be sufficient for many. As usual, any IDs given are always tentative, not 100% confirmed. Rule is, if you are not an expert in mycology, do not pick wild mushrooms to eat!

This dark-phase female Swainson's Hawk is the mate of the light-phase male that I posted yesterday. They make an interesting pair. Like the other photo, this is a poor quality shot taken against an overcast sky. I'm posting it mainly as a record of this encounter that I had two days ago, 28 August 2016 and also because dark-phase Swainson's are more unusual. What a fine pair they make. I'll add the photo of the male in a comment box below.

The following link (thanks, Tony) leads to an interesting article about the different colour phases of Swainson's Hawks. Apparently, only about 10% of the world Swainson’s Hawk population are dark types, the other 90% is made up of light and intermediate types.

www.nemesisbird.com/bird-science/determining-age-and-colo...

The meeting place for a birding walk on this particular day was just a few minutes away form home, so I drove my very noisy, dying car and was finally able to get out for a few hours, after a week at home. We carpooled to the east end of Fish Creek Provincial Park, covering Mallard Point, Bow Valley Ranche area and then walking east to, and along, the Bow River. Birds seen included American White Pelicans, Double-crested Cormorants, Sharp-shinned Hawk and Cooper's Hawk, Swainson's Hawk, Osprey and a variety of small birds and waterfowl, almost all very distant.

We ended up at the Ranche at lunchtime - a few people continued into the afternoon, but friend, Tony, who had driven me to stopping places in the morning, and I, left to go home. First though, we drove to check on a pair of Swainson's Hawks with one youngster. These were the Hawks that had dive-bombed me three times in the two minutes maximum that I was there on 1 August 2016! Needless to say, I didn't feel at all comfortable being near them again, especially when the female started to shriek - and my thought was "Oh, no, she recognizes me!" - but all went well.

Since late yesterday afternoon, I no longer have to stay home because of my old car - and I am SO thankful! It took three weeks to arrive, which felt longer than that. It would have felt even longer if it wasn't for two wonderful day trips to the mountains, thanks to friends Dorothy and Stephen, and Pam - so much appreciated! Now I have to learn the overwhelming complexity of a new car. There is such a difference between an old 1999 vehicle and the newer cars.

Couldn't resist taking a few photos of one of friend Lynn's cats, which was hanging out with a few birders when I drove to her property at Marsland Basin yesterday afternoon, 7 September 2016. Down an embankment from her house and extensive yard lies a beautiful wetland, which is part of their property. Eventually, this cat could no longer keep its eyes open, after quite a long struggle to do so.

This was quite a long drive for me. A fellow birder had sent out an email to everyone, saying that he was going east of the city yesterday, to visit Lynn Gratz and her partner at Marsland Basin, and that anyone else was welcome to join him. This was enough incentive to make me do the drive eastward. I have been out there maybe three or four times before, but by carpooling. Yesterday was the very first time I had ever driven there myself. So much traffic and construction on the eastern edge of the city, so I really don't like that drive, until I am way past it all. I certainly hadn't intended doing a long drive like this is my new car, at least not until it has been 'broken in'.

The weather was beautiful all day and there were a fair number of birds, especially shorebirds in the water and on the mudflats. Too far away, really, for much in the way of photos, though I did take some.

Just before I got there, I spotted a beautiful juvenile Red-tailed Hawk perched on a fence post. Didn't see it till I was almost past it, and then I couldn't figure out how to put my window down, lol, so had to turn around. Then I found that the Hawk was too low down because of a ditch, so I couldn't see it from the driver's seat through the passenger window. Silly new cars with the front console!!! In my old car, I could slide across and point out the passenger window, if needed. So, had to drive down the road and turn around again! This time, I found how to put down my window and managed three quick shots before it flew away. These were really the main photos I took that afternoon - and by the time I had driven all the way back to Calgary, I was exhausted.

Many thanks, Lynn, for always allowing us to come and see your beautiful property! What a treat. You certainly have an amazing variety of birds to enjoy.

The spring following the Chimney Fire, on private property near Rocky Butte

at higher elevation of the Santa Lucia Range,

Northern San Luis Obispo Co., California

This was one of two birds in the same tree. They would be fed nearby that evening.

You may notice from the adjacent information that this was not taken with a telephoto lens. It was a carpooling trip focused on exploring plants after the fire and I had "gone light." Oh well.

Back home after a successful day at the market in Mali. It is really amazing to see how trucks are loaded to the maximum in Mali and people still finding some place for themselves on top of the goods.

This afternoon, 19 August 2019, I decided that I would post the last 9 photos taken on 18 July first, before editing and posting any of the photos I took yesterday, on a visit to a wonderful farm. I left home a few minutes before 8:00 am yesterday, and arrived back home at 8:00 pm, feeling totally tired out. This was partly because I had only had a couple of hours' sleep the night before, and because it took me two hours to get to the farm. This was the first time I had ever driven myself there, as we had carpooled on the previous two visits. After leaving the farm, I took some new back roads that had been recommended to me while I was at the farm; roads that I had never driven before. Beautiful scenery, and I discovered a rather nice old log cabin and two or three old rusty vehicles, including a beautiful big, blue bus. I am SO happy that I made myself do both drives. I had to do it, as this is a wonderful farm and I couldn't bear the thought of not visiting again.

The 9 images posted today were all taken either at or near Frank Lake, SE of Calgary. After seven or so long, brutal months of winter (coldest on record?) and then endless weeks of rain and cloud, I eventually decided, enough is enough. I have become a fair-weather photographer, and we don't get that much fair weather, especially this year. So, on 18 July 2019, despite the weather forecast for a thunderstorm, I decided to drive SE of the city mid-afternoon. My plan had been to go to the Farm first and have a meal, and then continue on to Frank Lake. Seeing the beautiful storm clouds on my drive south, I was torn as to whether to go to Frank Lake first and catch a few photos. Then it occurred to me that I could also get a few sky shots once I had turned off the main highway and on to the country road leading to the Farm.

The Farm was pretty busy. So much wonderful colour everywhere that I almost forgot about the weather. That is, until I was eating outside under the open shelter. It was so cold, I had goosebumps, and the wind increased, sending a huge picnic table umbrella flying fast through the air, like an arrow. Just a short bit of rain and all returned to normal.

As usual, I wandered around the grounds, shooting flowers, rabbits, landscape, clouds, and old tractors. One barn stood out to me and had me puzzled. I have visited the farm many times before, but I don't remember seeing this particular barn before. It looked so pretty, with its colourful flower border.

Eventually, I continued my drive to Frank Lake. The storm clouds stayed with me. One side road has a small wetland on either side of the road and I pulled over to check what birds might be there. I was about to turn off my car when a loud buzzer sounded and a tornado alert was announced - to take shelter and if there was no shelter nearby, to get into a ditch or ravine. Then I heard that the area covered was further SE - in fact, where I had been a week earlier.

"Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) confirmed a weak EF0 tornado touched down two kilometres northeast of Crossfield at around 2:15 p.m. Sunday, 14 July 2019, marking the 12th confirmed twister of the season." (This was roughly 50 km north of Calgary.)

According to the weather agency, Alberta typically sees an average of 15 tornadoes per year with the peak season starting mid-to-late June and ending early-to-mid August.

So far in 2019, there have been 12 confirmed tornadoes in Alberta and three probable ones. There have also been many reports of funnel clouds." From Global News.

While i was standing by this wetland a White-faced Ibis flew in. I believe this was the first one I had really seen and photographed this year. Further on, when I was at the blind, there were so many Ruddy Ducks. The Barn Swallow pair flew back and forth to their nest that is just out of sight. I had checked to see if I could spot the Red Knot (bird), but without binoculars, it was pretty much impossible to check the very distant water birds.

A very enjoyable afternoon/evening. Mid-evening, the main highway wasn't very busy, and the rain only started when I arrived home and had to get out of the car.

BlaBlaCar started as an online marketplace for carpooling in France. Later the company expanded to other countries. In 2018 it purchased the Ouibus bus operation of the French Railways SNCF. Their service to Amsterdam ends at the Sloterdijk railway station.

Air pollution pamphlet, circa 1975. Found in Vertical File 787, Seattle Municipal Archives.

This morning, it's back to posting more photos of fungi from our visit to Rod Handfield's acreage. Still more left to edit and post and I really must get these done. Sorry about the lack of IDs for so many of the fungi, but at least I have made a photo record of species seen.

On that day, 8 September 2019, we had such a wonderful four and a half hours, searching for different kinds of fungi in the amazing forest on Rod Handfield's land, SW of Calgary. I think this was our tenth visit - the first one I went on, being on 25 June 2009 - each one resulting in various different species. It was so overwhelming yesterday! You didn't know which direction to face and which mushroom to photograph first. They were everywhere! Such a contrast to our visit on 6 August 2017, when basically there were no mushrooms (other than maybe three), because everywhere had been so very dry.

A day like this can be so exhausting, not just from the walking, but also because of all the excitement. That night, I slept well. The quality of many of my photos is not the best, as the day was very overcast - the last thing one wants when trying to take photos deep in the forest. After leaving Rod's, it did rain. I had driven myself there instead of carpooling, so that I could drive some of the backroads in the area after we had finished. The forecast was for sun and cloud - and I had foolishly believed it. The rain put an end to my plans and I headed for home. I'm so glad I had checked a special little spot near Rod's first thing in the morning, when I got there a bit too early. A few years ago, there was a beautiful display of Fly Agaric / Amanita muscaria mushrooms growing there, but not since then. To my absolute delight, there were maybe half a dozen, in different stages of development. Surprisingly, we didn't come across a single one in Rod's forest this year.

As always, thank you so much, Rod, for so generously allowing us to explore your property. This has been my favourite place to visit for quite a number of years now. We greatly appreciate your kindness - you are always so welcoming, and we learn so much and discover so many beautiful things. Thank you, Karel, for leading the group and helping with some of the identifications. For the rest, "fungus" will have to be sufficient. As usual, any IDs given are always tentative, not 100% confirmed. Rule is, if you are not an expert in mycology, do not pick wild mushrooms to eat!

Singapore, Singapore - December 7, 2021: Vehicles parked on a street before Grab's headquarters at the One-North precinct. NASDAQ-listed Grab is the developer of a 'superapp' that provides transportation, food delivery and digital payment services in various Southeast Asian markets.

Citroën : Origins since 1919

Unveiled at the 2000 Paris Motor Show, Osmose receives suitable equipment for urban traffic : on-board camera and radar, sliding side doors and pedestrian airbag. An assistance system for carpooling allows the meeting between car drivers and pedestrians. Osmose hybrid drive train reduces the polluting emissions and its solar air purification regenerate the air in the carrier and around the car.

Salon Rétromobile 2019

Paris Expo - Porte de Versailles

Paris - France

February 2019

Film is tough for me. Either I overcook it, or undercook it. Charcoal, or tomaine. One decent shot out of 8. Bon Appetit!

"A reminder for the upcoming Worldwide Pinhole Photography Day event Sunday 4/24. Please join us for this year's WPPD. The Portland Pinhole Photographers Flickr group has planned an outing to the Enchanted Forest Amusement Park south of Salem. Plans are to meet at 10:00am at Barbur Blvd Park and Ride in Portland for carpooling.

We've seen your great pinholes, now we want to see you! Come meet the people behind those mysterious Flickr names...

Even in the event that you're unable to make the group meet up it's time to dust off the pinhole camera, find some like minded friends and get out and make some pinhole images.

Because WPPD falls on Easter this year they are accepting images taken on Saturday and Monday as well."

Thanks to Don

2020 Ford Transit 350

A typical Metro Vanpool 12-15 passenger van. Metro Vanpool is a program that subsidizes the cost of a rental, via Commute by Enterprise, to groups of 5 or more carpooling employees working anywhere within the 7 county metropolitan area.

www.metrotransit.org/vanpool

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Please do not use this image without first asking for permission. Thank you.

PortLUG was invited back to Wonder Northwest to host another LEGO room. While the LEGO room was off the beaten path, Billy Galaxy made several awesome huge signs to guide attendees to us. Like last time we had a small table display of MOCs, as well as a free build area, with bricks provided by Angel. In addition we had gaming tables where people could play several LEGO games we brought. The undisputed favorite of the convention was Heroica.

Scott Kirkwood and I also hosted a LEGO panel, which was very well received. The topic was coming out of your LEGO Dark Age. If the number of new PortLUG members that have joined the mailing list over the weekend are any indication, I think the entire thing was a success.

I want to thank several people.

First and foremost Billy Galaxy for putting on Wonder Northwest, and for inviting PortLUG back for a second year. Billy Galaxy is one of weird people who is both super organized, and super friendly.

Aditionally I want to thank fellow PortLUGers - Cory Jansen for bringing his awesome steampunk airship (pictured above), printing fliers for Bricks Cascade, and just generally being a huge help watching the LEGO room. Kyle Smith for helping me finish the Scorpion on time by helping locate parts in my disorganized LEGO room, and graciously building "Fourteen of these, and seven of these", and for carpooling and helping carry and set up all my stuff. Scott Kirkwood for helping with the LEGO room, and especially for writing and and assembling the Powerpoint presentation for our LEGO discussion panel.

Lastly I want to thank Angel of Guardian Games for introducing us to Wonder Northwest last year, and for being an all around great friend. PortLUG wouldn't have nearly as many shows without her. I also want to thank Dangerous Kids .Net for inviting us to their Wonder NW Podcast and letting us plug Bricks Cascade (May 31-June 3)

Come on out to Bricks Cascade to see Cory's Airship, and the Scorpion in person, as well as hundreds of other awesome LEGO creations.

Another 7 photos, taken at Akesi Farms on 18 August 2019, have been added this morning. I know Meghan's Mom had a lot to do with creating this new Blue Garden. I love it, and the new Barn Quilt hanging on the fence looks amazing.

Five days ago, on 18 August 2019, I was fortunate enough to make a return visit to a wonderful farm, NW of the city. I left home a few minutes before 8:00 am and arrived back home at 8:00 pm, feeling totally tired out. This was partly because I had only had a couple of hours' sleep the night before, and because it took me two hours to get to the farm. This was the first time I had ever driven myself there, as we had carpooled on the previous two visits. To say the least, I was not at all impressed to see the Maintenance light on my car dashboard come on before I had even left Calgary! Have an appointment this afternoon, to see to the matter. After leaving the farm, I took some new back roads that had been recommended to me while I was at the farm; roads that I had never driven before. Beautiful scenery, and I discovered a rather nice old log cabin and two or three old rusty vehicles, including a beautiful big, blue bus. I am SO happy that I made myself do both drives. I had to do it, as this is an amazing farm, and I couldn't bear the thought of not visiting again.

This 53 acre farm, Akesi Farms, is a 90 minute drive from downtown Calgary and is near the town of Sundre. It belongs to Meghan Vesey and Kwesi Haizel. It is permaculture based with future crops of eggs, mushrooms, fruits and nuts! Hard to believe that this beautiful place has only belonged to this young, hardworking, enthusiastic couple since November 2014. A tremendous amount of work, thought and planning has already gone into adding to what was already there, with a 'little' help from family and friends.

www.akesifarms.com/

Below is the link to a video about Meghan and Kwesi and the farm, by The Redneck Gourmet Show, 23 March 2017. The video was taken in winter - in summer, the farm is a mass of colour!

youtu.be/Tih5H5uMDNE

Our visit coincided with Alberta Open Farms weekend, where about 100 farms were open to the public. Our Naturalist leader had arranged to take anyone interested in nature on a nature walk, at 10:00 am and 2:00 pm. A very interesting, short talk on the history of Bergen and the area around the farm was given by Marilyn Halvorson, who has lived in the area for many years. Three tables had also been set up - one had attractive barn quilts painted on wood (Jenni Weeks at N50 Barn Quilts). Another had knitted items and quilts from Irene Echlin. The third had produce such as jars of home-made marmalade (from Kettle Crossing Farm), and also green tomatoes which had been grown in a massive greenhouse near Olds. I discovered when I got home that eating just one tomato was not enough, they were so good. This is something I have been very impressed by ever since I first met Meghan and Kwesi. They are very community-minded, helping other farmers, which is so good to see.

We were also shown a small display of several edible mushroom species that are being grown on the farm, Some of them are also growing in a few places around the farm - Meghan's mother very kindly pulled a little cluster of three Wine Caps that were growing in the vegetable garden, for me to take home and try. Of course, I had to take a few photos last night, before I added them to a Spanish Omelette : )

Check out their mushroom business. They are selling mushroom spawn for if you want to grow your own. They also offer talks on how to do this. The Fante word "Akuafo" means farmer.

www.fungiakuafo.com/

Thank you so much, Meghan, Kwesi and Meghan's parents, for such a lovely day! Great to see new additions to the farm (well done, Kwesi!), as well as all the familiar things, including those beautiful dogs, Whiskey (male Border Collie/Great Pyrenees cross) and Titan (male Great Pyrenees), and your chickens and geese. Too bad we missed the honey created in your beehives. I wish you all the very best - you deserve all the successes that come your way.

These five photos are all from my archives. Grabbed them while going through old files on my computer, searching for ones to delete to help get my computer out of the red 'danger zone' (i.e. not enough space to function properly).

I am adding the description that I wrote under a different, previously posted image taken on the same day.

"On 29 September 2014, I finally drove out to an area that lies NE of Calgary that I had longed to go to for so many years. It must have been 30+ years ago that I first saw one particular area of the Badlands of Alberta (The Hoodoo Trail). A few times, I had been fairly close when I went on several botany trips out that way, but when you are carpooling, you can't just go wherever you want. So, my youngest daughter and I decided that we both wanted to make this trip. All summer, we had been waiting for a day on which she didn't have to work and where the weather forecast was for no rain on the day or there had been no rain the previous day. The Bentonite Clay in the area becomes treacherously slippery when wet. The forecast for 29 September was for a mainly sunny day - at last, we were going!

I think this was the longest day of driving I had ever done, especially to, and in, an area that I'd never driven to before. For anyone who doesn't know me, I have battled a driving phobia for decades, plus I have no sense of direction, lol! Thankfully, my daughter has an amazing sense of direction, so I knew we wouldn't be stuck out on the prairies in the middle of nowhere. A typical question at too many intersections went as follows: me - "Do we go left?"; my daughter - "No, we go right", lol!

I met my daughter at 8:00 am. and I got home shortly before 9:00 pm. Much of that time was spent driving; the rest was spent wandering round three main areas - The Hoodoo Trail, Dorothy and Rowley, in different directions from Drumheller (which is known for its remarkable dinosaur findings).

The forecast was far from accurate on our drive out to the Badlands and I began to wonder if we'd made a mistake going on this trip on that particular day. However, knowing that snow would be returning very soon ("returning" because we had two snowstorms on 9 and 10 September), I was beginning to feel rather desperate and really didn't want to risk not getting out there this year. The afternoon was less cloudy and we did have some sun.

One of our destinations was the tiny, almost-ghost-town of Dorothy. I had longed, for a long time, to see the two small, old churches there as well as the old grain elevator. Both churches were restored in 2006, which is good in some ways but not photographically. A few people do still live there. This old, abandoned 1964 Plymouth Valiant looked like it had been at a standstill for many years, alongside this old, wooden building.

www.bigdoer.com/9004/exploring-history/dorothy-alberta/

After that, we went to Rowley to see the old grain elevators and to wander round this very small, historical place. There are actually three elevators, with two being right next to each other and the other slightly apart from them. Dorothy felt and looked almost deserted, whereas Rowley was beautifully kept.

From Rowley, we made our way back across the prairies to Calgary. I had planned on getting back before it got dark as I no longer like night driving and very rarely do it, but we didn't quite make it. On the return drive, the last sighting was a Great Horned Owl that was perched part way up a power pole. Well done, Rachel, spotting this welcome bird! Not easy to see in the dark. By the time I got home, I was so tired and my arms were so painful from driving, but, what a great day we had!!"

This photo has been entered in the MAPC MetroFuture photo contest, in the Transportation Choices category, and appeared on the MAPC MetroFuture home page, under "Equity" :-) The Transportation Choices page is described as follows:

• • • • •

• 44. An expanded transit system will provide better service to both urban and suburban areas, linking more homes and jobs.

MetroFuture would make transit a more attractive option by improving service on existing lines and by extending the reach of service to new locations that can support it with transit-friendly land uses (new, old, or a mix of the two).

Metro Boston’s businesses will compete in the global marketplace thanks to efficient movement of goods and people on a well-maintained system of railways, roadways, ports, and airports.

On February 25, 2014, a 2014 Toyota Camry Hybrid LE (in Cosmic Grey Mica) was assembled at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, Inc. in Georgetown, Kentucky. That car would eventually be shipped to Canada, and be picked up by Ens Toyota (through an independent contractor) and delivered to Ens Toyota on March 29, 2014. I wouldn't get to pick up this car until April 8, 2014. At the time, my cousin Ky met me at the dealership and drove me to go buy insurance for this car. My cousin Tho would drive my "other" car (a 2011 Toyota Camry LE) back to my home.

The original plan was for the car to replace a 2001 Toyota Camry LE. Because of a hit-and-run accident, this ended up not happening, as the car was declared a "total loss."

One year since its production, a lot has happened within the car. Here is a recap of what has happened since its production, as well as some interesting facts:

- The car, named "Lenny," has been on numerous road trips (most of them unplanned). Trips include visiting Regina (four times), Moose Jaw (once), Rouleau (once), Prince Albert (once) and North Battleford (twice). The car has yet to make its first out-of-province road trip.

- An undisclosed number of dates have occurred that involve being transported in this vehicle ("first date in car" photos were never taken, because it seems extremely weird, even for me).

- On January 7, 2015, one crazy woman nicknamed "Empress Megan" officially declared what "in-city road trips" were after initially coming up with the nonsensical idea on November 1, 2014. A checklist was created on January 11, 2015 for nonsensical purposes, but was revised to include some additional requirements, such as a car window being rolled down for a minimum of 30 seconds. To date, 13 of those in-city road trips have occurred. Sometimes, Stephanie comes along... and it's more fun that way.

- Since the car's production, 19,753 kilometres have been logged on the car's odometer. Out of those 19,753 kilometres, 19,746 of those kilometres have been driven by me, the car's rightful owner.

- As many as five people try to send me text messages while I'm in the car with the hopes that I'd be driving at certain times of the day on a regular basis. In about 97% of time, my phone will send a signal to the car's stereo that will in turn notify me that I have received a text message. I then have the option of have it read out loud, ignoring it, or calling the sender. Most of the time, these text messages contain gibberish, outlandish catchphrase(s) and/or song lyrics. These people may or may not be named Kevin, Chelsea, Megan, Jennifer and/or Daniel. The most memorable text was when someone sent me a text that said "I'm going to punch you in the shirt."

- The first time anyone besides me sang along to music in my car was on June 8, 2014. At the time, someone crazy, named Megan, sang along to Taylor Swift's song "22." Over time, this became a regular thing. Today, she has essentially annexed the car's glove compartment, the stereo system, one of the cup holders in the front of the car (with a pink tumbler that has essentially become hers as well). However, one pair of orange sunglasses have been taken out of retirement and are now designated as "Megan's road trip sunglasses."

- Attempt(s) have been made to park the car at the fake gas station on the set of the TV show "Corner Gas." This attempt was thwarted by a bitter old man on a "power trip," who threatened to call the RCMP.

- The guests/"mooches" in the car represent a variety of different countries. Guests include people from Canada, Hong Kong (before it became a part of China in 1997), Pakistan, Vietnam and Quebec (I don't always consider Quebec to be a part of Canada). Mooches (unsavoury characters, or people not worthy of riding in such a car because of their nonsensical beliefs, such as carpooling and cycling) include people from the United States and Bangladesh.

- The car has visited three different Toyota dealerships in Saskatchewan (mainly for accessories and vital fluids, such as windshield washer fluid), which include Rainbow Toyota in North Battleford, Ens Toyota in Saskatoon and Taylor Toyota in Regina. A trip to Yorkton Toyota is planned for the spring of 2015.

- The car has visited a total of six Real Canadian Superstore locations in Saskatchewan, with the exception of the store in Yorkton. A trip to the Real Canadian Superstore in Yorkton is planned for the spring of 2015. In fact, the stores in Regina, Saskatoon and the store in Moose Jaw were all visited in one day on July 5, 2014, totalling five stores in a single day.

- The car has gone through two oil changes. Its first oil change occurred on August 12, 2014 at Ens Toyota in Saskatoon with an odometer reading of 8,000 km. Its second oil change occurred on December 15, 2014 at Rainbow Toyota in North Battleford, with an odometer reading of 16,029 km. The car's third oil change will occur at Yorkton Toyota at about 24,000 km. This will likely occur sometime in the spring of 2015.

- My cousins Ky and Tho would both fart in the car before I got to do so myself. They did that on April 12, 2014, when we went to Regina. I wouldn't get to do this myself until August of 2014.

- The car has its own special licence plate that says "REV HUY," which was acquired in October 2012. This licence plate was given to me as a gift by a friend named "Reverend" Nathan, who insisted that it was "worth every penny."

Future plans for the car include a road trip to Edmonton... for a One Direction concert, a visit to a Real Canadian Superstore, IKEA and possibly a trip to the West Edmonton Mall.

Research on a Toyota Highlander Hybrid began in 2009 until 2011 or so, when Toyota redesigned the look of the Toyota Camry for the 2012 model year. In late 2011, things changed, and I decided that I wanted a Toyota Camry Hybrid (for practicality and because of cash money). After nearly two years of research and a total of five test drives, I ordered the car on February 1, 2014. Upon its arrival, I had many high expectations of the car, and it has failed to disappoint me.

On October 26, 2013, before even acquiring this car, I told a young lady that I planned on buying a hybrid car someday. Her response was: "That's what gets the ladies." This would later prove to be false (this should be a good thing to normal people). However, I really, really wanted to tell people I managed to score some dates because I drive a hybrid car.

I look forward to many more years of driving pleasure until that day I "decide" to have a mid-life crisis. At that point, I will consider replacing this 2014 Toyota Camry Hybrid with a Scion tC, or something similar. Ultimately, I'd love to own a Toyota Highlander Hybrid.

April 8, 2015 will be another date to look forward to, as it will be one year since I've had the car.

Rosslyn Walk: Commuter Slug Line on Lee Highway between North Fort Myer and North Moore Street in Arlington VA on Monday evening, 2 May 2016 by Elvert Barnes Photography

For more information visit www.slug-lines.com/PM_lines/Rosslyn.asp

(History.com) Dec. 1, 1955 - In Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks is jailed for refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man, a violation of the city's racial segregation laws. The successful Montgomery Bus Boycott, organized by a young Baptist minister named Martin Luther King, Jr., followed Park's historic act of civil disobedience.

"The mother of the civil rights movement," as Rosa Parks is known, was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, in 1913. She worked as a seamstress and in 1943 joined the Montgomery chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

According to a Montgomery city ordinance in 1955, African Americans were required to sit at the back of public buses and were also obligated to give up those seats to white riders if the front of the bus filled up. Parks was in the first row of the black section when the white driver demanded that she give up her seat to a white man. Parks' refusal was spontaneous but was not merely brought on by her tired feet, as is the popular legend. In fact, local civil rights leaders had been planning a challenge to Montgomery's racist bus laws for several months, and Parks had been privy to this discussion.

Learning of Parks' arrest, the NAACP and other African American activists immediately called for a bus boycott to be held by black citizens on Monday, December 5. Word was spread by fliers, and activists formed the Montgomery Improvement Association to organize the protest. The first day of the bus boycott was a great success, and that night the 26-year-old Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., told a large crowd gathered at a church, "The great glory of American democracy is the right to protest for right." King emerged as the leader of the bus boycott and received numerous death threats from opponents of integration. At one point, his home was bombed, but he and his family escaped bodily harm.

The boycott stretched on for more than a year, and participants carpooled or walked miles to work and school when no other means were possible. As African Americans previously constituted 70 percent of the Montgomery bus ridership, the municipal transit system suffered gravely during the boycott. On November 13, 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Alabama state and Montgomery city bus segregation laws as being in violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. On December 20, King issued the following statement: "The year old protest against city buses is officially called off, and the Negro citizens of Montgomery are urged to return to the buses tomorrow morning on a non-segregated basis." The boycott ended the next day. Rosa Parks was among the first to ride the newly desegregated buses.

Martin Luther King, Jr., and his nonviolent civil rights movement had won its first great victory. There would be many more to come.

Rosa Parks died on October 24, 2005. Three days later the U.S. Senate passed a resolution to honor Parks by allowing her body to lie in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

Feeling fancy today.

-vest worn as top ( i love this thing!): 0.50 local thrift

-belt: borrowed/stolen (since she doesnt know) from sister

-fiori de zucca skirt: 11.00 loehmanns

-shoes glued to my feet since I wear these now practically every day

-bag glued to my side since I bring it with me practically everyday.

-heart and pointy stone thingy necklace: 0.50 thrift

Apartment Therapy progress:

I know part of the checklist this week was to clear the fridge and kitchen of old food, and we did that, but that's not our big problem. Our problem is that we don't buy food in the first place. Or not as we should, anyway.

We both enjoy cooking, and I actually enjoy popping down to the green grocer to pick up things every few days, but inevitably there gets to be too much to do and it doesn't happen, then we end up slightly miserable that we can't cook anything we fancy because we don't have anything and we can't be bothered to drive to a supermarket open past 5pm.

With the rubbish cold I have right now, it would be cruel to inflict myself on the general population, sneezing my way from aisle to aisle. So I did the grocery shopping online, managed to book a slot at the same time as my neighbour -- whoo-hoo for carpooling vegetables! -- and now we have fresh veggies and such galore, plus our cupboards are stocked with things that actual people should have, like tins of soup, paper towels and the odd bar of green & blacks.

Infographic to inspire people to consider car sharing

Citroën : Origins since 1919

Unveiled at the 2000 Paris Motor Show, Osmose receives suitable equipment for urban traffic : on-board camera and radar, sliding side doors and pedestrian airbag. An assistance system for carpooling allows the meeting between car drivers and pedestrians. Osmose hybrid drive train reduces the polluting emissions and its solar air purification regenerate the air in the carrier and around the car.

Salon Rétromobile 2019

Paris Expo - Porte de Versailles

Paris - France

February 2019