Global Warming...?

Owning property out at Nordegg really makes me question the concept of Global Warming.  For a couple of years in a row we got a big dump of snow on the last day of summer.  This year we had snow in August and September.  We have had snow several times now in October.  

It has been cold with a little snow back in Edmonton, but things are a lot more severe in Nordegg.  I headed out by myself on the afternoon of Friday October 23rd.  The girls all decided to stay home.  There wasn't really much on my agenda, just wanted to get away from the city for a bit, before heading back to work.  For the next couple of weeks I have to work two days per week but then by early November I am down to just one day per week until the end of the year.  Then retirement will be a reality.  Still trying to wrap my head around that, but really starting to enjoy the slower pace.

I brought along some of the prints that I've been working on.  There are three negatives that I shot back in July when my neighbors daughter got married.  My first attempt at shooting a wedding in large format, and it turned out pretty well if I do say so myself.

Road conditions were not great driving out on Friday, but not terrible either.  They generally get worse once we get further into winter.  I just hung around the cottage on Friday and didn't do much of anything.  On Saturday I slept in until around 10:30... so I must have needed it.  I felt really refreshed and relaxed most of the day Saturday.  I brought in some firewood, fed some oats to the deer and played guitar for a good part of the afternoon.  I made an early dinner and then watched a documentary on TV for a while.  In the mid evening I walked over to the neighbors place and presented them with the prints.

For the most part these were actually the rejects.  They all had little flaws and printing errors.  I kept the good ones back at home so that I can drymount, mat and frame them soon.  Rob and Brenda were thrilled with the pictures and there was a huge sense of satisfaction on my part for creating something that is so much appreciated.  A couple of other neighbors, Gene and Chris were also over.

We sat up until the early hours, visiting and doing a few tequila shots.  I tried to pace myself and think I kept reasonably coherent.  I actually didn't feel bad at all the next morning.

When I left their cottage shortly after midnight and got back to mine, it was -24C.  There was about six inches of fresh snow.  I think most of it fell on Friday, but it snowed lightly through the day for most of Saturday too.  I saw on the news that the ski hill on Mt. Norquay in Banff opened on Saturday, the earliest opening in 95 years.  The warming part seems to be missing the eastern slopes of Alberta...!

On Sunday I did more of the same.  Lounged around, doing as little as possible.  Changed out the swivels on some barstools that I bought on line.  The ones that they came with were really rickety and wobbly so I replaced them with better ones.  Puttered on a few other little chores, and played guitar a little more, but generally did next to nothing.  After dinner I watched a documentary for a while, and then went back to playing guitar for a couple of hours before going to bed.  By the time I quit playing my fingers were so sore I couldn't play any more even if I wanted to.

It stayed overcast on Sunday night and only dropped off to about -5C.  It was heavily overcast on Monday morning and looked as though it might snow.  Sure enough it did...  started around 10:00AM and snowed lightly through the morning.  I tidied up the cottage and got a few things organized before hitting the road for home in the afternoon.