Three Different Views

Recently I drove from Winnipeg, Manitoba to Jasper, Alberta for a recreation conference.  The event was really good and I met and re-met a number of fantastic people who appeared happy, in love with their jobs and content in their lives.  Yep, those are some of my goals too.

On the way to the conference fall had settled in nicely with its yellows, oranges and even browns, but upon my return 4 days later winter had descended and left a mystical white and green wonderland.  There will be several posts that focus on the pictures I took as I believe I added about 1.5 hours to my journey on the way home as I stopped repeatedly at designated view spots and on the shoulder of the road, as safely as possible, clicking the beauties of the mountains, 360 degrees around me.

One of the most interesting moments was stopping as I ascended into the mountains, removing myself from my vehicle, and realizing that my car and the music I was listening to inside were the only sounds to be heard.  Nature was silent.  There was not a person or vehicle around that could disturb the peace and even near by animals were docile, perhaps sensing the beginning of winter.  I leaned on my car and just observed, listened, and thought for a while.  A delightful treat in the mountains.

Here are three shots taken at the Jasper Park Lodge of a lake near the hotel.  I am having fun playing with my computer photo program.  Let me know if you have a preference.

Number one has a boost of colour and I really like the digital looking reflection of the mountains and clouds in the water.  

Number two looks like it should be in colour, but on second glance the eye notices the only colour is yellow, thus the sepia version of the picture.  Still the gradations of colour are quiet interesting.

In black and white the third shot still gives the eye a sense of the layers of tones, highlights, shadows and hues.  Looks like an old postcard with a modern twist of clear lines.

I like them all but for different reasons.  The joys of photography and computer programs!

Love Manitoba: Narcisse Snake Dens

In the winter my brother-in-law sent me a link to a set of snake pits, called the Narcisse Snake Dens, that were not far out of Winnipeg and suggested I go.  As the spring approached, I heard many references on the radio, from friends, as well as at other events that snake were beginning to wake up early this year and try to find a mate with whom to reproduce.  Time for another Love Manitoba trip.  

Only one of my Love Manitoba friends was able to make it to the snake dens but we still had a great time.  As we approached the sight we saw small fences, and I am talking small fences, 10-12 inches high, along the highway.  They were so short but meant for the wee snakes we were about to meet, so that they did not meet their death as squashed long meat on the highway.

We parked, gathered our few belonging and noticed that the first thing we forgot was a picnic.  In the heat of a summery May and with tables available we could have brought a light snack or a lunch, which we were not aware as an option.  Shrugging our shoulders and walking on, we noticed several boards pointing out what was in store for our visit.  

There were four snake pits, all active, but with two containing the most number of snakes.  The dirt path led us through and around short trees and bushes to the first deep snake pit.  With a fence to ensure we would not jump in the pit, we saw the following wee snakes.  I was expecting larger ones to be honest having grown up with the images of Indiana Jones falling into the snake pit with huge snakes, or attempting to get out of quicksand with a snake.  Even so, there were A LOT of snakes!!!  

Many bodies and tails.
One wee head.

Snakes all piled on each other in a frenzy.

In view was a pit about 30 feet around with various levels of vegetation, rocks and small alcoves.  In the midst of this natural setting small snakes piled one on top of the other.  The movement of each pile was never-ending and a soon as a pile was created, is morphed into a smaller grouping until only 5-10 snakes were left, then another pile would build a short ways off.  Quite amazing.

We watched the first den and moved on to the second, where the viewers were higher up on a rounded precipice with a fence looking 20 feet down and out about 60 feet out at another area full of vegetation, rocks, dark dirt, and snakes.  

Snakes appeared to be dripping off the edge of the den.

They just kept on moving up, down, around, all over.

The occasional snake took a break and enjoyed some sun.

We were in luck at the second den as an interpretive guide appeared and my friend and I sequestered him for a while and rapid fired questions.  He explained that this was mating season and there were far more male snakes than females, all with the biological need to mate.  As it turns out there is one, ONE female at the bottom of each pile, and HUNDREDS of male snakes on top of her all vying for her attention as she picked a mate.  We asked if she does get to pick and he said yes, that it is in her biological make-up to pick a mate each spring.  He has seen piles as many as 150-200 snakes large.  Imagine being the small wee female snake at the bottom of that pile!?!  Wow!  Animal behaviour.  Quite amazing!

Our trusty park interpretative guide.

Where is the female?  Who knows!

In the third den there was less activity and more individual and small groups of snakes just slithering about.  The snakes had begun their mating early this year but some were sticking to their usual schedule.  

Calm snakes in the sexual storm.

At the last snake pit I took the opportunity to hold a snake that had escaped its thin, small, shallow pit.  With families about, kids holding touching and shrieking, and pets chasing snakes, this pit was active with humans and noise.  

I really liked the yellow and bright orange stripes on the snakes.
Funny enough, my nail polish that day matched.

Many years ago in the 1980's my two mature and extremely cool cousins came to visit and live with us in Belgium for one year.  They flitted about Europe on various travels (while I was stuck going to grade 7, still kinda bitter) returning with trinkets and presents they had purchased themselves.  Cousin Rebecca was obsessed with the recent trend of snake jewelry and purchased herself a snake necklace, earrings and bracelet.  I wrapped the snake around my wrist and it stayed to hang out.  I remembered the jewelry at this moment and took these few pictures for her.  I wonder what ever happened to those pieces?  

My snake skin/real bracelet

The bracelet begins to climb

If you are ever out this way in late April or early May, head to the Narcisse Snake Dens for fun with some little, wiggly creatures that will put a smile on your face.  Remember, snakes aren't slimy they are slithery.  Two very different things.

Recreation Connections

As part of my graduate studies I am at the network and meet new people portion in attempts to eventually be a productive member of the recreation, leisure and tourism community, as well, to obtain gainful employment.  This past week I attended the Recreations Connections conference in Winnipeg and enjoyed all the keynote speakers and the break-out sessions.  Usually there are one or two presenters that don't meet the expectations that you may have, but this conference was an exception.  We heard about the National Recreation Summit, the first of its kind held in Lake Louise in October 2011.  Professionals, students and educators met to discuss the future of recreation and leisure in Canada, in hopes of developing a vision and strategy to improve the current commitment and understanding of the field by governments, organizations and the general public.  It was an interesting review by one of the key-note presenters Brian Johnston.

At Recreation Connections I also learned the difference concerning the roles and responsibilities of volunteer boards, the High Five program, and continued to learn about nature deficit disorder.  A term coined by Richard Louv, it addresses the broadening gap between nature and humans.  We as humans are not spending enough time in nature and this is most evident in our teenagers and children.  Not only is  little commitment to including natural spaces in large urban development an issue, but children are playing on concrete courts, with plastic swing sets and slides, and metal play structures.  There are some schools who are moving to create nature gardens in order to alleviate the issues that nature deficit disorder can cause, but we need to ensure that children, teens and we are accessing nature in its most basic forms in order to continue to develop into healthy, productive, understanding individuals.

These are the two books written by Richard Louv and I would suggest you grab a copy, give it a read, then take a group of friends and family out into nature.  Then again, a solo trip is also as enjoyable as an excursion with others.   We also need to ensure that our neighbourhoods make natural spaces a priority, including natural parks, forests, rivers, streams, etc.

Below is part of a paper I wrote last year based on Parks Canada and the need to study why people visit our provincial and national parks in order to create experienced based recreation that meets visitor needs, in order to increase the number of people visiting our amazing parks system.  Have a read, then get up and go out and enjoy some nature today!

Nature Deficit Disorder

In essence, as our world becomes more urbanized with fewer natural and groomed spaces therein, and access to larger, natural spaces appear more remote, we begin to experience what has been labeled nature-deficit-disorder or biophobia (its opposite is biophilia).  This is the discomfort or aversion to nature and the natural world, which is on the rise in post-modern society, and is subtle as this disconnect is slow for many adults and children (Condon, 2008).  There are individual and social repercussions to the loss of contact with nature, particularly when studying children, which may influence children to have poorer co-ordination, loss of self-discovery, antisocial and aggressive behaviour, less unstructured play, loss of boundary formation, and less physical knowledge about the world (Condon, 2008).  These skills are important in the development of the individual and point to a new continuum identified to help researchers understand the divide between biophobia and biophilia.  This model places the individual on a continuum with people who focus on and enjoy living things and life like processes at the biophilia end; as compared to the biophobia’s end, the people who “culturally acquire…[the] urge to affiliate with technology, human artifact, and solely with human interests regarding the natural world” (Orr, 1993, p. 416; McVay, 1993).  The two most important points to grasp about this continuum is the ability to make regular, learned, culturally influenced choices about one’ degree of contact with nature, which leads to the second choice, one’s individual movement along the nature-contact axis.      

Urbanization is not the only forerunner to this social change (Condon, 2008), as researchers have pointed to the causes of the lack of contact with nature.  These include the removal of nature from community and school playgrounds; fear or injury or loss of a person; potential litigation of a person is hurt on public or private property, lack of government initiatives to preserve space; undervaluing of childhood play; commercial entities that advertise to children (Condon, 2008).  As North Americans we are also spending more time inside structures and buildings (ie. home, work, school, cafés, restaurants, movie theatres, etc), and less time in the natural world.  A large portion of recreation and leisure time for many people has become electronic-based with computers, video games (online and console), movies, Internet, which requires access to electricity, objects of play, and demarcated inside places of entertainment.  Another influence is the aestheticization of people’s lives as we begin to use objects of consumption as signs and symbols to demarcate ourselves from others, for example, the public wearing of ear-buds or large earphones, the café culture and free WiFi use therein.  These elements of life also distract a person away from the outside environment to spend more time in the inner sanctuary of the mind or gazing at small objects such as mobile devices.  These changes in our social world have widened the divide between the inner lives we lead through technology, and increasingly insular world in which we ignore or do not find significance in the natural world around us.          

Interestingly nature and parks can have positive influences on individual lives and the social world.  Research has demonstrated that visual images of nature have the power to calm the physiology of people including lowering stress; interactive zoo animals held the interest of children diagnosed with ADHD who began to associate with the animals as kin; and children asked adults to teach them respectful ways to treat animals rather than fear or revile them (Katcher & Wilkins, 1993; McVay, 1993).  It is these kinds of stories and academic research that Parks Canada can use to set the stage for healthy and enjoyable visits, which will lead to an increased sense of place in national parks.

References

Condon, M.  (2008).  Why Kids Don’t Run Free?  In Play and Folklore, 4(50).

Katcher, A. and Wilkins, G.  (1993).  Dialogue with Animals: Its nature and culture.  In S.R. Kellert & E.O. Wilson (Eds.), The Biophilia Hypothesis (pp. 173-200).  Washington, D.C: Island Press. 

McVay, S.  (1993).  Prelude: “A Siamese Connexion with a Plurality of Other Mortals”.  In S.R. Kellert & E.O. Wilson (Eds.), The Biophilia Hypothesis (pp. 3-19).  Washington, D.C: Island Press. 

Orr, D.W.  (1993).  Love It or Lose It: The coming biophilia revolution.  In S.R. Kellert & E.O. Wilson (Eds.), The Biophilia Hypothesis (pp. 415-440).  Washington, D.C: Island Press. 

Bois-des-Esprits or Spirit Trees

While I was walking last spring on the south side of Winnipeg, I came upon a beautiful neighbourhood in St. Vital with its own forest, the Seine River Greenway Forest.  It was a delightful day with leaves all over the path, children actually playing in the forest, small groups of people enjoying a walk.  I happened upon another woman walking by herself and we began a conversation.  She asked me if I had seen the spirit trees of the forest as of yet, to which I replied no.  She walk me deeper into the woods and there it was, the Bois-des-Esprits.    

Stunning multiple faces and animals.
Carved on both sides.

The same tree.
The other side.

This woman and I talked for a while as she gave me more advice of a few different places to visit in the city.  We parted ways and I continued walking out of the forest I spied several more faces that I had completely walked by, not realizing they had been staring at me and others along the path.  The faces were stunning, carved right into the trees, rough slices, with long whisky beards.      

Old tree
Old face

This was the last tree as I left the forest.  I took one picture, stared at the tree for a while, then realized that this was not simply a face.

Old tree
Old face
With a bit of extra

A view from below so I could capture the face's friend.

Sadly, someone committed an act of vandalism this past June and lit the largest of the trees on fire.  One wonders what pushes someone to light something so stunning on fire.  Sign of discontent.  This tree provided me with much content.  I hope people continue to enjoy it despite a part of it now being charred.  I shall continue to walk, talk with random strangers, and enjoy the outdoors.  I am thinking the Winnipeg Trails Association will help.  Love walking!
  

Winnipeg Weather 3

A dead flower in winter

It is now my second winter in Le Peg (2012) and it is much warmer and more enjoyable than 2011.  The Chinook's from the Rocky Mountains have somehow lasted all along the prairies and warned us over during past two weeks.  (That statement is probably completely meteorologically incorrect and perhaps improbable but it sounds good to me.)

Hoar frost all over

This one appears to be covered during a windy day.

Last week, the weather would dip down just under freezing overnight, then rise up just at or barely above freezing during the day.  This produced several days of gorgeous hoar frost on the trees. (The first time I heard that word, I though someone said whore frost.  I could not believe that frost would be named after disenfranchised women/women making money for them selves.  Turns out is was hoar.  Sounds similar, but not.)  Several days of this frost on the trees, bushes, plants and wooden structures must made the city a magnificent winter wonderland.  I thought it would not get better, but then the fog moved in and the beauty doubled.  So gorgeous!

Pavilion in Assiniboine Park

Under another tree, taking pictures of this tree.

Time to head out with my camera and see if I could capture a thing or two.  Assiniboine Park was my destination of choice and I was able to capture several beautiful pics.  I also sent a text to several friends in town encouraging them to head out and capture the delicious vision of a city.  My friend Darren went to the Legislature and captured some photos now on Flikr.  Several others went out but I have not seen their shots as of yet.

Crusty and lovely

Who love a weeping tree?  Me!

I walked around the park, drove around the park (it is very large), and clicked away at everything that took my breathe away.  While standing taking pictures of the Pavilion, I heard a rustling in the bushes.  Twas a small family of deer looking for food in the bushes behind me.  What luck!  I turned, slowly perched on the bench nearby and snuck a picture of this deer behind the branches.

There was mutually observing and gazing for a time, then they moved on to a trodden path, then on behind several buildings.  Before they got away, I slowly walked around the bushes, squatted and found the same deer unable to stop looking at me, as I was unable to stop looking at it.

Winnipeg Weather 2

Due to the copious amounts of snow that fell during the winter of 2011, the Spring was upon us here in the water drenched province of Manitoba.  With 56 rivers, over 1,000 lakes we were join to lose.  Lose what?  I did not know as this was my first Spring in Winnipeg, but that amount of snow and the continuous rain?  We were going to lose.

Canadians were smart back in the day, and most of our cities are built on waterways as this was the best way to transport goods, people, and the necessities of life as Canada was being stolen from the First Nations people (might as well be blunt).  This also precipitates flooding in many cities as the water is right there meandering through the centre of the city.  Too much water in any form will eventually turn to the liquid variety, collect at the lowest points in town, and forge onwards.  Flooding is a big problem in several cities, but in a province where water flows in from the West, South and North, it can be even more damaging.

This is why in the Red River Floodway was built around Winnipeg in 1969.  Essentially, it is a big ditch into which water from the Red River can be diverted that would normally flow through the city, but can be taken around the city if the Red River is too high.  It truly is a large ditch.  Ingenious really.  Until the flood waters of 2011 collected and could not find a place to go.    

In May 2011 it all hit with evacuations, planned dike breaches, farm and reserve land flooded, roads cut off, people losing their home, it was chaos for many all along the Hoop and Holler Bend.  I was unfamiliar with all this information until the news, media, World Wide Web and people talked about it for months.  Interestingly enough, because of the floodway, Winnipeg was not flooded.  It could have been disastrous for the city but in diverting all the water to the floodway, most of the city did not even notice there was a flood.

The park path over-run with water

Water very close to the underbelly of this pathway bridge

Will the truck survive the day?

Don't live on the first or second floor

Just outside the city however, the floodway was dangerously high and the government stepped in and planed a dike breach.  This decision flooded farm and reserve land halting the growing season for many farmers, leaving many First Nations people without homes and a community, and cottage dwellers were left with little information about available support to help their properties remain in tact.  7,000 sandbags, $8 million dollars in temporary housing, multiple rivers high enough to evacuate homes.  All outside the city.

Trees in the river

Another road was needed to get to this destination

I was safe.  My apartment was higher up in my building.  My car was parked far from the river.  A series of philosophical questions filled my mind.  What is more important, a city of cement and wood or farmland on which we grow our food?  Whose lives are more important and should be left undisturbed, rural people, First nations people, or urban people?  Who decides what is important, government, city officials, general populace?  How do I take a flood seriously when my home and car are not in immediate danger?  I am new here and don't necessarily feel that this is my community, so how do I contribute feeling like an outsider?  Still thinking about some of these questions.

Twenty Twelve

Another year dawns and I am still alive and well.  This year there will include several milestones.  I leave my 30's in March and enter my 40's, which I hear are the new 20's.  Lucky me.  I want this year to be filled with a completed thesis of which I am proud, another graduation from University, a bit of travel, a bit of good conversation, a large amount of enjoyment.  Other than this, no New Year's resolutions as I want to live in the moment in which I am currently situated rather than looking too far forward or too far back.  The last decade has sped quickly by and I want the next one to be remembered moment by moment, embracing the good, difficult, painful, beautiful, thrilling and divine.  Here is to another year and completing those 39 new things I was to be doing since last March!

Enjoy a recent trip I took for a conference to Lake Louise, Alberta.
Ever capturing moments through a lens.
Enjoy the beginning of twenty-twelve.

Lake Louise, Alberta

The Edge of the Lake

The Sun Sets

Uh...Really?

While studying in the abnormal heat of September in Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg this past fall, I took a break, went for a walk and found a place to relieve myself.  I found a port-o-pottie, a place we all dread and praise at the same time.  Better than a bush along the river I suppose.  On the door I spotted a sign.  Yep. Odd?  Weird?  or Normal?  You decide.

The saviour of my bladder.

Follow you on what? Really? Why?

Project Love Manitoba: Caving

It is important to keep good friends who pay attention when an opportunity arrises.  Such are my I Love Manitoba Adventure friends.  Once of them heard about a caving club and attended a meeting, after which she set up a caving adventure with one of the groups organizers.  Brilliant woman and so excited when she called me!  I have been in several caves in the rockies but it was mostly enter the front portion, peek around, then leave as the cave is too dark  This adventure seemed far more exciting and interesting as special equipment, a membership in the club and a knowledgeable guide were all required.  The excitement of joining a club is a well researched topic and fulfills a layer of human need, as well I am an Enneagram seven, trying new things is a strong motivation in my life.  Oooooo, the excitement built through conversations, emails, and gathering supplies, then the caving day arrived!

We gathered in a Winnipeg parking lot, met the guide Scott and three men who were experienced cavers and already members of the Speleological Society of Manitoba (I am putting that on my resume as it sounds very official and intelligent).  I paid my minimal membership dues ($15) then received a book called Caves and Karst edited by W.D. McRitchie and K.M. Monson.  We jumped into cars and headed north of the city toward the direction of the Peguis Reserve and Fisher Branch, Manitoba.

As we drove along I opened my new book to realize I had joined a secretive and exclusive society as the book contained graphs, charts and a language with which I was unfamiliar.  I joked with my friends that I was excited to receive a book but I had no idea what it was telling me.  More research to come complete once back at home after the adventure's end.

I keep forgetting that I am not in Alberta and that there are no mountains in Manitoba.  In my mind's eye, we were going to climb a slight hill, find a hole in the side of said hill, walk in and cave around a bit, but there are very few, and I mean VERY FEW hills in Manitoba.  My expectations were about to be challenged, as they often are.

When we reached the first location, we parked our cars and dressed in our caving gear.  Protection and physical safety are most important elements to caving, and one's personal sense of style takes a back seat.

Christa and Steph in the hood(?)

Bright colours so hunters don't shoot us.

Wat up?!?
I did not wear bright colours.
Prime hunting target.

We began walking into the flat, densely packed but small treed woods and then stopped.  "Here is it," said Scott and we all looked down as a gently slope in the ground, which opened up into a small hidden subterranean space.  Scott stated that this was just a precursor to the actual caves and we enjoyed looking at the change in rock formations as we slowly descended then crouched underneath a rock shelf to peer into a bit if the earth.

Stephanie with two experienced cavers

After a brief stop, we headed to the first actual cave.  Upon arrival my hill was no where to be seen, but there was a hole in the ground.  That is what we were here to do, crawl into a hole in the ground?!?  I remembered that Scott had warned me that I should not expect huge caves and wondrousness but I flippantly dismissed his comment.  I was not disappointed but I had to adjust my perspective to realize that crawling into the belly of the earth was going to be as cool as walking into a small entrance of a vertical rock formation, which is what I had been expecting.  Mental flexibility in traveling; a requirement for a good experience.

Christa being lowered into the first cave.
We used climbing ropes for safety
and a permanent ladder to descend into the cave.

Me at the bottom of the cave entrance looking up.

Cave wildlife found by Stephanie.
Such a cute frog!

As we crawled on our hands and knees, on our bellies, pushed ourselves backwards we got a feel for the first cave which included changing rock formations, a frog, piles of dried poop and bats.  Very cool!  Hole in the ground or not, I was impressed and excited to be caving.

The bottom of the ladder in the cave.
I am in the first small room looking out into the cave .
Sparkles from the rock formations appeared on most of my pictures.  Think of it as glitz and glamour!

Some of us glowed in the dark.
This was good as the darkness was quite consuming.

We waited at the top of the cave for the last two people inside for what seemed like a long time.  After they appeared one of the men explained to us that they had found a large pile of small bones, and one of the men was a palaeontologist / archeologist who had worked at the Royal Alberta Museum for 25 years, was explaining to the other what they had found.  Are you kidding me?!?  This trip just moved from excitement on the travel scale to phenomenal!!!  

The palaeontologist picked a collection of bones out of his pocket and began to explain, "This is a femur of a small animal, probably a rabbit.  This one is a piece of the arm of a prairie mouse, oh yes, and one half of a hip joint....." and he went on as we stood there is awe at our luck.  The excitement in the group rose to a new level as we headed to the next cave.  

The Provincial Parks officer came out to visit us to ensure we were doing well.
She had a bullet proof vest on and a gun.  Wow, what a job!