Run. Beach. Shorts. November

This run map makes total sense, right?

When I was shooting some sunrise photos I found this bit of trail right down by the water. No idea how far it went, but my run buddy (best ever!) was keen to explore. We got down the only way I knew to find it, ran past the canoe club and turned around at a little inlet I hadn't known was there. We ran back along the shore, past the picnic area, and almost into Weasel Head. Scrambled up a slope, then back and forth a bit, and around a wetland I hadn't known was there.

I wished I had the good camera.

As always, we had a good time chatting, marveling at the warm weather. I wore shorts, she wore capri's. We found lots of new stuff we'd never known was there in North Glenmore park. The trail was a mix of stuff, lots of packed gravel, some clay, a bit of almost bog, all very nice to run on.

We went 10 K, 1:22, but we didn't care about the time. It was so nice to run along the water and enjoy the changing views, and just be outside when it's so nice out.

Linda is putting the final touches on putting the garden to bed. Believe it or not, there is still some bloom!

Here's part of the garden a little more affected by the cold weather.

Finally over 5K words! At this point I doubt much of will make it into the final edit, but what the heck. I think this is one of the places I need to blither a whole bunch of words to find out what is going on and how they get there. Then I can figure out the best way to tell that bit. It won't be the first time I've written myself three sides around the square, then later figure out how to do it better.

Here's a little snippet, just because I'm so good to you guys.

The room was larger than he remembered, and he didn’t see any of his own people, not that he would have sat with them. He picked out a tall chair at a long counter where he could watch most of the room. He enjoyed every sip of coffee. It just wasn’t this good at home.

“Been a long time. Join you?”

Regan was a little startled. How does he do that? He hadn’t noticed Davenport approaching and gestured to the next chair.

Davenport settled himself and took a sip of coffee. “I love how they do it here. Always just right.” He smiled the affable smile that he knew irritated Regan.

“Yes.” Bastard. He’s doing it again.

“Now you’re wondering if this is a chance meeting. Perhaps it is. The other possibilities you’ve probably already considered is that I knew you were coming and have been waiting, or that someone was watching for you and told me.”

Calm. Calm. “It matters little. As you say, it’s been a while. I thought it would be nice to escape my office and visit old friends.”

Davenports eyebrows went up a fraction. “Your influence must be growing if you can persuade your Chairman to counter sign your travel authorization, just to visit old friends.”

“Perhaps it is. You’ve probably already considered that I knew you would hear of my coming here, and that I was sent in expectation of that.”

“Your people are big on sending, I have to admit that.” Davenport waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. “We both know we can both dance around the small talk all day, and we’re both busy people. Shall you get to the point, or shall I finish my coffee and be about my business?”

First the closet, then the world

Curtis has learned to open the closet near the front door. I'm not sure why. As far as I know there's just a shoe rack on the floor. It's not even the shoes in daily circulation, so I don't know what would interest him enough to go through the effort of opening it. What I'm worried about is that he figures it's the first step to figuring out the front door. I've seen him pawing at the handle, and sniffing the deadbolt. He watches as we open it.

I've been thinking of this photo over the last little while. One of my buddies is struck by the number of celebrities that have passed recently. She was on about Bowie, but I'm pretty sure some will be swooning about Cohen and Vaughn. Some see Trump being elected as a sign of the coming apocalypse.

People sometimes talk about wanting to go back to bed and pull the covers over their head for a while. Curtis looks like he is hiding in the closet and trying to decide if it's safe to come out. The house is safe for him, but he doesn't believe me when I tell him the world is a tough place for kitties.

In the past I've tended to either lose myself for a while in a book or a movie when the going gets tough. Once I picked The Blues Brothers and that turned me onto the blues, a form of music that I hadn't been much exposed to. Once it was Being There, and for the first half of it I was wondering what the heck I was doing there.

Today I was lost in the novel, and managed to pound out about 1500 words. I'm still way behind. This is more difficult than I expected, telling the "bad guys" story from his point of view. He's very much a facts and figures kind of guy, looking at the world rationally. His colleagues respect him but are a little afraid of him. He is polite and soft spoken, though he doesn't say much. His internal thoughts are a joy to listen to, in a potty-mouthed sort of way. He doesn't know that in one important way he is completely blind.

It's also more difficult because it has to dovetail at least somewhat with what I've already written, though I always reserve the right to have a better idea. It's only pixels now, I can go back and revise.

The other difficulty is more subtle. At the moment I don't know exactly what year the story starts in, though it's almost certainly sometime between the early 70's and the early 90's. That gives a lot of ground for fitting in with other parts of the story, which is good. But in another I have to be careful about mentions of computer or communications technology. I know that parts of the story that take place later, his operation makes sophisticated use of those technologies to make money by manipulating the stock market. Presumably he also did in the timeframe that I'm writing about now, but I don't want to have to describe the details just yet. Such are the tribulations of a writer.

Reflections part two

I had this clever photo and text analogy all planned out based on the results of a photo scouting trip and the US election. But the more I thought about it, the more it seemed tedious so I decided to go with just the text. I wrote that at the pool after a nice calming swim.

Now you get the photos, and you can construct the analogy yourself, if you feel the desire.

The trips to scout locations for a shoot have been almost more interesting than the actual photo trips. In one sense, they're easier. I don't care what the light is like, I just want to see what the view is. I want to know if there are other buildings/trees/poles/wires to mess up the shot, where is the best place is to park, and how far I have to hump my stuff. Plus, there are some places I want it to be daylight when I go there for the first time.

Once there, with the help of an extraordinarily clever app, I can picture the sun/moon//rise/set, then pick a time of year based on building orientation to the light. After that it's up to the weather of the day. All that planning and you could end up with blah light for whatever reason. Or maybe it's completely obscured with fog or snow. Or maybe spectacular light. You never know till you see the photos on the computer.

The other part that's interesting is to explore all sorts of nooks and crannies I haven't been to in the 36 years I've been living here. Calgary is a city with a little more than 200 named neighbourhoods. Some of these are quite small, like Meadowlark Park with just over 600 people in just under 300 residences. Some are ginormous, like Panorama Hills (I don't have the slightest idea where that is), with more than 22,000 people in 7400 homes. TIL that my neighbourhood, Woodbine, is a little over 9,000 people in 3,400 residences, which turns out to be one of the bigger ones. There are bike paths connecting them, and all sorts of bridges, and the most remarkable views can happen in the places you'd least expect them.

In the course of marathon training I ran through or by a bunch of these I'd never been to before, and documented it on the map I mentioned a few blogs ago. I've been back to some of those places with the good camera and have several others in mind. Sometimes it's landscape, or the skyline, or a cloudscape, or reflections in water. I'm still really new to photography, but the more I think about it, the more excited I get about the possibilities.

Tuesday morning was mainly to think about a shot for the full moon rise at mid-month. I think it will work. Along the way I got these other shots, one of which was more interesting than I had expected.

The shapes of the clouds gave me some hope for spectacular, but it didn't turn out. This pink edging was as good as it got, but the shape over the buildings was kind of cool.

Here I'm trying for the standard sunrise water reflection shot. Kind of meh. Still figuring out the exposure settings for different wind conditions.

Even just looking, the texture of the clouds was interesting, and it's even more so in the photo. I was tempted to Mordor-ize it, but no. I like the subtle shades of gray, with the sun reflection peeking below.

Wednesday's scouting trip unearthed a very nice possibility from the SW. No photos though, I hadn't  brought the camera.

Dear Mr. Trudeau

Dear Mr. Trudeau,

I read your letter congratulating Mr. Trump on his election victory. Of course that same letter could have been addressed to Ms Clinton upon her victory. These things have to be said, regardless of your personal feelings. That's fine.

It was once common to refer to the President as "The Leader of the Free World". Fortunately the term doesn't seem to be used much anymore. I don't think many people could use the term in reference to Mr. Trump without feeling a little sick. The only leadership Mr. Trump shows is in the leadership of Trump-World.

I don't really see any other individual nation or national leader to take on that role, and maybe that's just as well. But leadership is needed, and I'm calling on you to reach out to other world leaders. Push to bring more energy to existing coalitions, or create new ones, to take on the many issues facing the world. Push against the disinterest from the USA, or even active opposition. We cannot wait for the next President.

Sincerely,

Keith Cartmell

Reflections part one

The Americans have voted, and election day is over. Note that I'm not saying the election is over, that won't happen till the next President is sworn in. Right now it appears that it will be Trump standing at the podium taking the oath of office. I am horrified and appalled.

The Hilary Clinton of today would have made a fine Republican a generation ago. One might not have liked where you think she would have taken the USA, but it can be largely summed up as "same old, same old", with minor differences. You might disagree with her politics, but at least she's playing the political game by the understood rules. With Trump, all bets are off. Nobody knows what he's going to do, probably himself included. He's demonstrated zero respect for the rules and conventions of political life. It's scary that some people think that's a good thing.

I'm sure glad I live in Canada right now, though Alberta has a mini-wanna-be Trump running for office. His minions have already driven two female candidates out of the race for the leadership of the PC party. I'd like to believe the party voters will reject Kenny, but that's what I believed about Trump.

I quote a buddy. "Politics is awful in both the states and here in Alberta with bullying, misogyny, xenophobia, racism, homophobia. I feel like we've stepped back in time 50 years and lost decades of education. Where is the respect? The level of vulgarity that is the new norm is atrocious."

Exactly so. There are days I fear for our way of life, of going to the polls to vote for people to run the country, and trusting the results. To elect politicians that will respect the rules of political life, and respect all the people they are paid to represent. I mean ALL of them, whether they just arrived from Syria hoping their children can grow up in peace and safety, or have 8 great-grandparents born here, or their ancestors have been here for time out of human memory. ALL of them, no matter their gender, their skin colour, which god they worship if any at all, whether they are homeless or live in Mount Royal. To inspire people to continue to build on the efforts of the past, to make the future a better place for all of us, as opposed to divisive actions based on fear and ignorance.

The last several Republican Presidents were an unmitigated disaster. I didn't like their policies or their actions, but I wasn't afraid. For the first time since I was a small child, when it seemed that it was a few minutes to midnight on the Doomsday clock for nuclear war, I am afraid of what's going to happen.

Maybe Trump will govern better than any of us expect, which will piss off his base. Maybe he will recognize the depths of his ignorance and having appointed wise advisors will listen to them. Maybe he will revert to the moderate positions he held a decade or so ago. I certainly wouldn't bet on those things. The only certain bet is that he's surprised lots of people at every step along the way, and it's fair to assume that will continue.

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A nice calm picture for you, to help take your mind off the insanity down south.

Macro wine diamonds

Oh, the exciting life of a retiree! I know you are all living vicariously through me.

Today's project was to photograph the bottom of a cork from some wine we had the other day. There were both red and clear wine diamonds on the cork, and I wanted to see how well they would photograph. I know perfectly well how to build a light box, and even have the materials, but that's so pro, and I'm not quite there yet. I'll build one when I want to photograph the paperweights I made.

But first in case you don't know, wine diamonds are are particles that separate from the wine, usually while aging in the bottle if the wine is subjected to cold temperatures. They are mostly made up of potassium bitartrate. These natural occurring tartrates are not fully soluble in wine and may precipitate onto the cork or settle into the bottom of the bottle. Higher levels of tartrates can be expected in cooler climates that have naturally higher levels of acidity in the grapes.

Wine diamonds are completely harmless, tasteless crystals that are a natural part of the winemaking process. They also have no negative affect on the quality of the wine. In fact, they are often an indication that the wines have been made more naturally with less winemaker intervention.

Behold my high tech setup.

Here's a couple of the photos, gradually getting closer and closer. Keep in mind the cork is 20 mm across, and the white crystals are about 1 mm across. The red one is bigger.

Oh, and I added some cedar mulch to the back garden. It's ready for Linda's seal of approval, or maybe it needs a bit more mulch put down in places. Believe it or not there's still a bright green plant. It must like snow.

Great swim this morning, chasing two recent Roth Challenge finishers. 2K overall, 1K 18:55 long course(!), 5 x 100 hard, 500 easy. The kick is coming along, and I'm faster in the water with less effort.