Thursday, December 6, 2018

A trip back to Nordegg

Last Friday night the Monochrome Guild met at my place.  We just wrapped up the show at Dandi-Lines Gallery a few weeks ago, and now are preparing to show some prints at Cafe Blackbird.  We also have another show coming up in early January.  The group has grown in size to over 15 members and most are keen and interested in promoting our work.  We are planning on putting together a portfolio of prints and trying to get our work shown more.  The task of promotion is a little easier when there are so many people pitching in.
On Saturday morning I hit the road for Nordegg.  This was yet another solo trip.  I hadn't been out there since back on Remembrance Day when Jon and I spent a couple days at the cottage.  I wanted to make sure that everything was OK.  I had some furniture to deliver.  And there were a few chores to deal with.  Most importantly I needed to confirm a bunch of measurements. Rough openings of interior doors, spaces for cabinets, counter top sizes, etc.  This will allow me to keep working on some of my millwork projects over the winter months.
The trip out was painfully slow.  Road conditions were not great and there was a multi vehicle accident near Ponoka.  I sat at a standstill in a traffic jam on the QE2 highway for nearly an hour before things started moving.  Road conditions were clear and dry west of Lacombe, all the way to Nordegg but it was nearly 2:30 in the afternoon before I finally got to the cottage.  At this time of year the sun sets at around 4:30, so there was not much day left.
It was wonderfully quiet out there and the only other neighbours that were out were Rob and Brenda, two doors down.  I wandered over to their place and gave them a framed historic print of Nordegg and one of my calendars.  We had a couple of beers together and just as it became dusk we watched a herd of 13 elk wander by and head off over into the forest near my place.  When I walked back over to my place in the dark a bit later I could here crashing in woods so I assume the herd was still back there.  Unfortunately the memory card on my game camera was full and I didn't get any images.  But I put a fresh card in when I left so hopefully they return.
When I woke up on Sunday there was about three inches of fresh snow.  I puttered around for a while and eventually hit the road for home at around 1:30.  The drive was slow as the further north and east that I got, the more snow there was.  By the time it finally quit on Sunday night there was accumulation of nearly a foot in Edmonton.  I understand that Nordegg got a lot less and only another inch was added after I hit the road.
Things were busy for me after that.  The whole family went over to my Mom's place for a belated 85th birthday dinner on Sunday night.  Monday I returned to work but had a bunch of meetings with accountants and bankers all day.  I always find shit like that really draining and I become frustrated with the fact that my day to day work gets pushed back and nothing is accomplished.
On Monday night I went to my weekly guitar lesson.  As soon as that wrapped up I dashed home, traded by guitar for my hockey gear, and headed over to the rink for a late hockey game.  The Renegades managed to defeat the Pissed Bird Penguins by a score of 6-5 and retain our hold on first place in our division.
A very busy few days to say the least.....





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