Sunday, May 12, 2013

A tribute to Mother Earth on Mother's Day

Col. Chris Hadfield, Barenaked Ladies and the Wexford Gleeks
 
Canadian Astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield returns to earth tomorrow but not before he has touched many hearts with his remarkable photographs and insights into the beauty that is our ultimate Mother.  May we treat her with the respect she deserves.
 
To appreciate more beauty of our Mother why not visit
 
 
 

Thursday, February 14, 2013

Happy Hearts Day to All


Credit: Col. C. Hadfield 
"The clouds are quickly fleeting, but the heart continues beating"
Col. Chris Hadfield, ISS 

Credit: Col. C. Hadfield
"Seven billion hearts, but I can see only one." 
Col. Chris Hadfield, ISS

                                                                                                                               Credit: Col. C. Hadfield
"You make me feel light-headed, like I'm floating around the room." 
Col.Chris Hadfield, ISS
 
We seem to have a hopeless romantic in Canadian Astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield, Commander of the International Space Station
 
If you haven't seen Col. Hadfield's photos of our beautiful home from space why not "friend" him on Facebook and see some breathtaking skies from space.
 
Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
 

Monday, December 24, 2012

Merry Christmas to all and to all peace and joy

Merry Christmas to all
and
To all peace and joy to you and yours.
 

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Amazing Sky

 
Lots of heavy weather as of late ...
 and then you get something like this!
 For other beautiful skies from around the world why not check out

SkyWatch Friday

Friday, March 16, 2012

[ Image]
One of the prettiest walks on Haida Gwaii when the tide is in and the sky is blue is the 2 km. walk along the Yakoun estuary known as the Sunset Trail in Port Clements.  A well maintained, user friendly trail  it offers access to all from small children and strollers to elders and wheel chairs.   In 2000 Port Clements applied for a grant from the Government of Canada’s Millennium  Grant to develop a walking trail and campground along it's west facing coastline. The result is this lovely walk on the edge of wilderness.
[Image]The Yakoun River is the longest river on Haida Gwaii meandering about 60 km(37 miles) from Yakoun Lake in south central Graham Island to Masset Inlet, a large salt water inlet.[Image]The Yakoun estuary is broad and shallow partly due do silt deposits from clear-cut logging. It has a world famous fall salmon run and cut throat trout in the spring.[Image]Bank erosion of the river combined with high water in the spring sweeps large trees and windfalls into the esturary[Image]where some continue life as a "nurse stump" for new life.[Image]The sunset trail is bordered by the inlet on the west and Bayview Road on the east and although only 50 to 75 metres wide feels like a walk in a remote  part of the island.  The.trail runs close to the shore with beautiful vistas of the Queen Charlotte Mountains and Masset Inlet.  On the western flyway for migratory birds it is not usually to see sandhill cranes, trumpeter swans, brandts, and various other waterfowl along with resident great blue herons and eagles as you walk along the waters edge to the wheel chair accessible bird watching tower at the south end of the trail.  Beautifully constructed it is a great spot to watch birds, enjoy the every changing skies or have a picnic under its sheltering roof.
The forest walk is a great sampling of what the forests of Haida Gwaii were like with magnificant old cedars, towering spruce, CMTs (Culturally Modified Trees) and an understory rich in flora which in the past year has seen signs posted along the trail to identify the different species of plants.  For a beautiful, easy walk why not visit Port Clements and the Sunset Trail.




For other great skies from around the world why not join us at SkyWatch Friday.[Image]
Labels:Garbage, Masset Inlet, SkyWatch Friday, Yakoun River



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Friday, January 06, 2012

Extended Warranty.....

On November 16, 2011 I awoke to a group of symptons most woman my age are all too aware of and never want to have... but denying them can kill you so I got myself down to Emergency.  With my blood pressure  through the roof and symptons of a STOKE I was MediVac'd to Prince Rupert for a CAT SCAN, echocardiogram and ultra sound of my neck arteries!
Within an hour of stablizing my blood pressure I was loaded into an surface ambulance and then an air ambulance for the one hour trip to the mainland and from there depended on what my tests disclosed.
Nothing devasting showed up on the tests so after a night in emergency because there were no beds in the hospital I was on my way home.
Leaving Prince Rupert.
Prince Rupert does not have a walk-in clinic so everything goes through the emergency room....it was a busy night.
I was expecting to stay an other night in Prince Rupert because of weather however they(the helicopter pilots) said there was a window of opportunity....I didn't see it!
Fog over  Prince Rupert Airport(the planes were grounded!)
Heading out across the Hecate Strait in the fog.
Never let someone look at your camera if you don't want your picture taken! 
I could at least smile as I was heading home with some things to work out but generally a clean bill of health.
 (I also always travel with a camera in my hand or my pocket!)



The skies cleared but the seas where still pretty rough.
Finally the shores of home.
A welcome rainbow over Skidegate.
My ride! 
In Canada we have universal health care.  It varies a little from province to province but if you need care you get it.  That trip there probably used up all my premiums to date and then some! 
I am eternally grateful to the doctors, nurses and staff of Queen Charlotte and Prince Rupert General Hospitals and the EMTs and pilots of BC Ambulance Service for their care and compassion. 

Friday, November 11, 2011

11.11.11 ~ Lest We Forget


In Flanders Fields
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army




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