There was a downtown walk, but

Once upon a time last summer Linda and I went to Newfoundland for a month. I'm still working through putting photos on the blog. However I ended up missing my community association's Stampede breakfast. Yet there are photos from the even on my photo blog page. How? My friend Sean stepped in for me and took a lovely set of photos. He shared that folder with me and I put a link to it on the blog.

Except photographer's run out of disk space eventually. I still have space, mainly because I've been pruning. We met up to pass over a USB stick, (yes we know there are ways to migrate from one Google Disk to another, but we didn't want to mess around with it, and I don't really trust some (or any, really) of the cloud stuff.) and went for a walk along the Bow. As always we discussed many things. I took along the 35mm film camera, with colour film, and used about half a roll. I've been carrying that camera around a bit looking for the rest of the roll. Not sure when that will happen.

I'm finally getting to the point of contemplating thinking seriously about replacing computers. This photo editing computer is a 2015 era iMac. It's beginning to show it's age when ingesting lots of images. It can't run the current version of Photoshop, not that I know how to use it. 

The writing laptop is even older, I think it's 2012 or so. It's adequate for running Scrivener but it's beginning to fall apart and the trackpad is going wonky. I replaced the battery a while ago, and now this one seems to be losing it's zap. It can't run Lightroom, so I can't take it to a photo session to tether to the camera, if a client should ask for such a thing. The OS and browsers are old enough that some websites won't talk to it.

I think it's safe to say I got my money's worth out of them, but my problem is that I'm prudent with money, and don't like to spend it before I have to. As long as something is working I don't want to give it up. Yes, I hear the peanut gallery yelling "cheap, you're cheap!" And the monitor on this computer is the best one I've ever used in my life. 

I've been thinking about getting a mid range M4 Macbook, and having to buy a replacement monitor. Except the immediate replacement is $2000. Yes, really. There are monitors almost as good as the one I have for half that price. And no, there is no way to continue to use the iMac as a monitor. Sigh. I've even contemplated using a low end mac mini as the front end to ingest and build previews, (previews are the bane of Lightroom) then do the final edits on this iMac. That's more than a little cumbersome. Stay tuned for news. If you have any advice on this topic I'd love to hear from you.

If you're in Calgary in February and interested in photography, you have to check out the Exposure Festival. If you come, you'll see one of my prints. Come on the 13th and I'll be there. If you want to get my take on the prints or learn more about the process, and can't make that date, buy me a coffee and I'm happy to give you a tour on almost any other day. Don't wait too long, I've already got one date booked.

Of the Day

Driftwood (NZ)

Film

From a recent walk in Fish Creek. Delta 100.

Linda

Newfoundland

Polar bears

Why ever didn't I publish this, and maybe I did

90 days, or so ago

The one week chip

It's actually been a busy week. There's lots going on in the community association. Lots and lots. In a couple senses that's good. Much of what I'm involved in is behind the scenes, involving lots of reading and thinking about words, but also attending a surprising number of meetings. Some of them I run, and those move along briskly. Some I don't, and let's just say they are not as brisk. 

One of the bits of good news is that much to our surprise, the City has delayed the introduction of the current Calgary Plan. I had expected another steamrollering example of not listening. It isn't just me, or our community association, there were lots of other voices as well.

Which brings me to Facebook. Instead of looking at a computer and opening Facebook, there's usually something else to open and actually do something productive. That feels good. One of the things we're doing for the community association will involve setting up things in Facebook, and so far I've managed to avoid getting dragged into that. 

Not missing Facebook, though the habit to look at it in odd moments is strong. I'm also trying to cut back on news, since most of it is the ongoing crash of a fully loaded circus train run by idiots in the middle of fully avoidable stupidity. I admit to a certain fascination, kind of like watching one of those fail army videos where you just know something is going to go bad that wouldn't have happened if anyone involved had thought anything beyond 'hold my beer.'

Some of you might be wondering why I write out community association, rather than use the initials CA. That comes back to my so-called career in oil and gas, where CA meant corrosion allowance. Some habits are hard to break.

From a few days ago, after a walk in the cold weather, wearing a really warm coat. Plus the speed and exertion left her sweaty but beautiful.

Of the Day

Driftwood (NZ)

Film

Linda and Newfoundland

Polar bears

Why ever didn't I publish this, and maybe I did

90 days, or so ago

It's cold out!

We went out to a play the other night. Well, sort of a play. The bones of a play. It's called Blue-Eyed Hag by playwright Jim Lair Beard and was a proof of concept scripted reading through of a kind of a prequel to The Tempest. I really enjoyed it, and was wishing I could have used the camera, since there were some nice portrait photos happening. I'd been invited to it as teaser for the tour later this year, with them hoping to use our hall. Discussions will be ongoing. 

This is just a taste of what we saw on the way out.

It's got colder since then, down to the minus mid teens. I was actually out in it for a bit. I'd met up with BRBE (though neither of us are running any more) for coffee and to look at the recent book and prints. We had a wonderful chat! I've got to get out and do more of this. 

So much better than mindlessly scrolling through Facebook! Still logged out. Two days and counting. I was actually wondering if there's a support group to help Facebook addicts dealing with withdrawal. "Hello, my name is Keith, and I'm a Facebook addict. I've been clean for 2 days." "Hi Keith."

Afterward I took the scenic route to Carburn park, since other than being cold, the light was nice. I wasn't really dressed for it, but took a quick walk and got a couple photos, including one of mist over the Bow River that I hope turns out. I chatted to another photographer who was trying to get a photo of eagles. He and his camera were well dressed for the day, but his friend with binoculars was already looking cold.

Monday is supposed to be not so cold, so maybe I'll wear some ice cleats and go back, better dressed. If the light is nice, of course. That's part of the problem with trying to get better photographs, is that we can't control the light, and that's an important part of a good photo.

Of the Day

Driftwood (NZ)

Film

Linda and Newfoundland

Polar bears

Why ever didn't I publish this, and maybe I did

90 days, or so ago

Social media vacation

I'm not sure what finally pushed me over the edge. But I logged out of Facebook this morning and have no intention of logging back in till February. Or if I'm liking what I'm not seeing, maybe not ever. I'm tired of the click bait posts, and the algorithm not showing me what I signed up for in the first place. Even a few of the groups I belong to have had some idiocy come along. 

I logged out of the name changed rage machine years ago, and don't miss it in the slightest. I stopped looking at Instagram last summer, and don't miss it. I was using Vero to show photos, but the astute of you will notice that I closed it about a month ago because they opened it up to content pirates. I think they were trying to copy Instagram, aiming for more content instead of quality.

Even the news has gone down hill. There was always a sensationalist edge to it because that's what sells. After the headline there was a team of editors making sure there was a factual basis to the story, and that it was written in English. But now they let politicians and others spout whatever stupid thing comes into their head that they think will do them some good, and media publishes it. It's all bad for my blood pressure. Don't get me started on the comments section. 

Some people I know have signed up for Bluesky, and the little I've heard about that is good. So far. If it does well I've little doubt some ego-centric billionaire will buy it and open it up to the hateful trolls. I am undecided about signing up.

So what will I do with the time freed up by not doomscrolling? Hopefully more time with a camera, or in the darkroom. You might, or might not see the results here.

An odd abstract pattern I found.

Of the Day

Driftwood (NZ)

Film

Linda and her next oldest sister.

Newfoundland

The tour boat we took to the end of the Western Brook pond.

Polar bears

Their paws kind of fascinate me.

Why ever didn't I publish this, and maybe I did

90 days, or so ago

A fun book with lots of interesting photos. They did it in reverse chronological order, so I had intended to read it the second time from back to front, but never got around to it and then the library wanted it back. If I were to see it on the shelf, and had some time, I might read it there.

Curtis

The road to Delecour

It was a bit convoluted, a drive with friends. There is no photo evidence from me, but try to follow along. We zoomed out onto Stoney Tr, deked off onto 52nd to get a buddy, then back on Stoney heading east. Avoid getting diverted on the stupid and misleading intersection design. Settle in going east till Gleichen, turn right. Turn left and zigzag up the grid roads to Hussar for a brief stop to speculate about real estate sales. There were some photos taken of an old building that happens to be for sale for $65,000. There are homes for sale if you want a quiet life. More zigzagging past many wind turbines to emerge at Dorothy. The old grain elevator is still standing, just barely. Scoped out the famous church and school that is not as photogenic as it once was. Then north and out 573 in some interesting landscape and so so light. The Little Fish Provincial Park is closed, which wasn't a terrible surprise. We tried to find the way to Hand Hills Eco reserve, and failed. The road that appears to go there isn't plowed. Then along and back down the gully to Cambria. I did not have high expectations, and they were not met. There's even less of it than what I missed on a previous trip. Then into Drumheller for a surprisingly good lunch. Somewhere along there in no cell service land I got a thank you phone call voice message from mom. Up till then we had had pretty good weather, but it started to rainsnow in Drumheller, and did that all the zigzagging way home via the community of Rosebud, famous for dinner theatre. We tried to find Rockyford without looking at the map, and missed it by that much. We did not stop in Hamlet, though we slowed down for the railroad tracks near Delacour.  I once tried for a sunrise session near there, and nearly froze as the wind tried to blow me and the car away. Then it was back onto Stoney trail, rain pouring down, dodging traffic till 52nd again, then home, where it wasn't raining. 

Along the way, many things were discussed. It's been a while since I had seen Cam and Sean, and it was fun getting caught up. The time with friends is even more important than the photos created. There were spots along the way where with the right light the photos would be quite nice. We had hoped that a covering of snow would help the Drumheller gully would look less like a gravel pit. It appears not.

I did get the film camera out for a couple photos, so now I want to find something worth finishing off the roll for. Something I could print. Decisions, decisions.

In case you were wondering, these flowers were the first photo of 2025.

Here's a nicer photo of them late last year.

Of the Day

Driftwood (NZ)

Film

Linda

Newfoundland

Polar bears

Why ever didn't I publish this, and maybe I did

90 days, or so ago

An alternative printing process. Way beyond my wheelhouse right now.

Celina

14610 days to ruby

That seems like a lot of days, but it went by in a blur. Add in 60 days or so, and we were sitting in a bank office, signing paperwork for what seemed like all the money in the world at a brutal interest rate. I think it was 12 or 13%. The initial mortgage term was 15 years, and that was an eternity. Then again, we were callow youths at the time. 

The first couple years were a little scary, but we both had steady jobs for the City, even if shift work was beginning to take a toll on me. We were fortunate our budgeting was good and we didn't have any emergencies. There wasn't much left over at the end of the month but we scraped by.

Things change. Interest rates went down. We made more money. There are lots of years I made more than that initial mortgage amount. We put some money into the house over the years on renovations and upkeep. We look at what we could sell it for now, and we're totally gobsmacked. We never dreamed house prices would go up this much. The problem with selling is that we would have to find somewhere to live.

Much as I'd like to live somewhere the air doesn't hurt my face for part of the year, those places are expensive. The house we'd like to live in might not be particularly big, but it's going to be nice, and that translates to expensive. Plus there's all the stuff in this house we'd have to deal with. 

So we're likely to stay in this house till we can't take care of ourselves in it. Somewhere along the way we might not want to be cutting the lawn and shovelling snow, but there are people willing to do that. We already pay other people to do things like painting when needed. I can do it, I just don't want to. 

The hard part is taking care of ourselves. It's a slippery slope. Like the lobster in the pot of water that is gradually heating up, slow changes creep up on you. It's easy to let things go, and then you're missing showers for multiple days in a row, or medications aren't being taken properly. Neither of us is on any medications now, but that will almost certainly change. Big Pharma and getting older will intersect sooner or later.

Children are often the ones that notice their parents are losing their grip, physically or mentally. Except we don't have any of those. We each have some cousins that live within a short drive, but one couple is our age, and the other is just a bit younger. We're going to die if we fall down and wait for one of them to show up. Sooner or later we are going to be shopping for a granny nanny.

It seems that we're rare creatures. Married 40 years. Both in good health. Our travel isn't hiking in the Himalayas or anything like it, but we're still able to travel, even if I hate airports now. We've got a long weekend in Pincher Creek for a photography conference, and a June trip to visit the grizzly bears. Musing about a trip to New Brunswick and PEI, or going to Haida Gwaii. The thought is to travel while we still can.

According to stats here, the average length of a marriage in Canada is 15.3 years. Just over two thirds of first marriages end within 40 years. I'm not sure why that is, but I suspect one of the big reasons is the constant barrage of messages that you deserve more. A better car. A bigger house. An important job. All the toys. A spouse who is everything, best friend, sex partner exactly as kinky as you are, hot date, rich, beautiful, or in other words, the unobtanium that powers science fiction space ships. Once you've been married a while it's easy to see the faults in the other person, and if divorce is easy, why not?

I've been trying to think of people about our age still married after 40 years. My cousin Vivian just celebrated 44 years. Linda's cousin Terry is a little past 40 years, though we aren't sure of the exact number. My friends Gord and Gail have been together about that long, but actually married much less time. There's some where I don't know the number but it could easily be in that range. Feel free to comment and tell me how long.

The stats say fewer people are getting married, and age at first marriage is increasing. I get that. It used to be that getting married was the reliable way of getting regular sex. Plus there was the whole expectation of 'getting married and settling down'. Becoming a contributing part of the community. That doesn't happen much anymore. People move to different communities to find work, or go to school. And then they grow roots there. Just like we did. Or maybe they don't, and are the X Y Z of no fixed address in the police reports. I can still remember news stories ending with "This is Jocko Thomas reporting from police headquarter."

Here's a few of the house, from way, way, WAY back, fall of 1984. With the then new best car ever.

Here's that same view from late last year.

And while you've seen these, here we are, those callow youths. You'd think I could have got a haircut for my own wedding.

And today.

Advice for staying married 40 years? You can't expect perfection. Learn to live with imperfection. Both of you. Respect your partner and support them. Take your time deciding who to marry and talk about money first. There shouldn't be any surprises when it comes to money. 

The wedding isn't the important part, it's the easy part. Round up the appropriate authority and some family and friends, say I do, sign some paperwork and it's all over. Big whoop. People who spend big dollars on a wedding are stupid. Put the money towards a home. Celebrate the actual accomplishments; the anniversaries, if you have children celebrate their events. 

And guys, the most important words you can say are "yes dear."

Of the Day

Driftwood (NZ)

Film

Linda

Newfoundland

Polar bears

Why ever didn't I publish this, and maybe I did

This fence no longer exists.

90 days, or so ago