sunrise @ 40 below

it's warmed considerably since Saturday, when this was taken. we're at a balmy -10C today.

this is an albino moose. a cow, with 2 calves. the pictures have beeen circulating - i'm not sure who took them. but they're interesting critters, so i thought i'd share a couple of them. they're quite rare, but not miraculously so. twin calves are not all that common either.

there was an albino bull moose wandering in the wild country near the town i grew up in, when i was a child. a fellow who was know to be a tad reckless with the truth reported seeing it, but no one would believe him. after several reported sightings had been scoffed at, he happened to sight it again with a gun in his hand. "NO," you're thinking. "he didn't!" oh yes, he did. he shot it, to prove that for once in his live he was telling the truth. it's now stuffed and standing proudly in the Grande Prairie Pioneer Museum.

dreaming of summer

i'm dreaming of summer campfires with music and friends... taken last summer in a friend's yard


but, out the window, things look like this... taken recently in another friend's yard

RCMP

though i have tremendous respect for Canada's police force, it's also true that all officious bodies tend to take themselves too seriousl on occasion.

YOU CAN TAKE GRANNY OUT OF THE BUSH, BUT YOU CAN'T TAKE THE BUSH OUT OF GRANNY

we have a tradition, some friends and i. Friday evenings after work, we collect in a local pub to celebrate surviving another week. we order carafes of wine and platters of wings, and savor the coming weekend. this past Friday, as some of our more fortunate members were still enjoying their seasonal time-off, we met @ their home in the country. it was a mild day, for midwinter, so they built a campfire after we'd feasted and toasted each others' health, and we adjourned to the out-of-doors for more toasts, some involving flaming marshmallows. as i downloaded the pictures, my camera still smelled pleasantly of woodsmoke.

LETS STAY HOME TODAY

on days like this, i think only crazy people live this far north. it's -30 C and the wind is blowing. nothing with any sense goes out in that.... wild animals find a cozy place out of the wind, curl up with their tails over their noses and take a nap. only people go out in it, and those animals unfortunate enough to be domesticated by them.

but, on the upside, sunsets and sunrises are masterpieces - studies in subtle color painted on a pristine canvas of unblemished snow.