My oldest daughter Hailey and I set out for a day trip this afternoon. It was a gloomy day with leaden skies. Like the day before, the clouds were skimming the ground and the light was very dull and flat. The temperature seemed mild enough, with a daytime high of about -8C, but the humidity was very high, and there was a slight breeze, making it very cold and damp. Its always great to get out with my girls and this time was no exception. Hailey and I listened to music on the radio, and talked, as we scouted around. Photographically speaking it was a very uninspiring day and was quite the disappointment, particularly in comparison to the trip last weekend out to Nordegg.
We headed to the southwest of the city and my first destination was the hamlet of Ireton. I had photographed here in the past, and there used to be an abandoned railway snowplow as well as several other old rail cars, sitting on a siding. But, the hamlet itself is pretty much non existent now, with most of the old buildings gone, and a couple of new industrial buildings in their place. The railway siding and the rail cars are also gone. It seems that the tracks on this old line that parellels highway 39 have been replaced, and there is a new high voltage power line that follows the railway right of way.
We continued west and took a look around the town of Thorsby. There is an old abandoned theatre and a couple churches that were mildly interesting, but nothing spectacular. Further west of Thorsby an old school house still stands, but the farmer that owns the land has now installed a row of ugly granaries right beside the old schoolhouse, ruining any photographic value.
We took a drive out to Sunnybrook. The old service station that I photographed in the past is still there, but it is now boarded up more than it was previously. There also used to be an old building in town that had a big billboard for Robin Hood flour painted on the side of it. That too is now gone. We headed north from there and checked out Telfordville, and then slowly made our way back to the city. I didn't even bother with the side trip out to St. Francis as I already know that the old church that had once stood there is also now gone. We did stop a couple of times... once along the Strawberry Creek Ravine and a second time along Conjuring Creek Ravine to photograph some trees coated with hoarfrost. The big view camera came out and a few sheets of film were exposed. Both times it was excruciatingly cold and after returning to the truck to warm my frozen hands I once again questioned why I do what I do.
I guess if I learned one thing from this trip it is not to procrastinate. When I find something that is even mildly worthy of a photograph, I need to stop and take the time and make the effort to explore it. I am often guilty of thinking that I can return another time but this trip has taught me that the next time, it might be gone.
When we got back to the city Hailey and I went out for an early dinner together and continued the days conversation before eventually heading back home to meet up with the rest of the girls.
The rest of the weekend was also quite busy. The Monochrome Guild met at my place on Friday evening and we had some discussion centered on an upcoming group exhibition. On Saturday night my hockey team, the Renegades, had a game at Northlands Coliseum, the former home of the Edmonton Oilers. Unfortunately we lost the game, by a score of 5-2, which doesn't really help our chances with only eight games remaining in the regular season.
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