Of Festivals and Fortieths

Who is that folksy pixie with the spritely green elf hat? (chapeau on loan from a certain Crazy Colombian.... thanks, Nene!)...

Why, it's "still-thirty-nine"-Tim at the Calgary Folk Fest AND awesome Feist up on the screen in the background!

Such great music at Calgary, as compared to Winnipeg (sorry, peggers...) Feist rocked socks -- she was a humanform energyball as she jumped & spun around the stage AND she plays a right mean guitar + drums! (who knew...?)

The long-haired beauty on this next big screen is from an Iranian/American band called Niyaz --- SO worthy was this spooky band that the other two little pixie-hippies beside us (pictured here, licking each other) almost got up to dance!! (but didn't....) Calgary was a much more subdued crowd than Winnipeg until...

Broken Social Scene hit stage --- that changed Everything!!

Don't know if the picture will reproduce it well enough but.... anybody recognize that bass player at the far right (stage left) of BSS...? Hobson!!!

We didn't even know he was in the band...

Anyway, after howling at the moon with the Calgary folkies, it was time to celebrate Tim's 40th birthday -- AND as it turns out, the birth of the newest member of the extended family.!!!... Welcome to the world, Sao Mai!!!!

There are lotsa pix from Tim's big day but... we're all old & ugly so I'm only including a picture (below) of the real "lovelies" in our family.

Damn, these girls are gorgeous! It's almost criminal! Wait'll they're all 40......

Shaggin' Down in Cow Town

Sundre, Alberta: one hour north of Calgary, and home to Tim's sister, Laurie's, expansive and seriously peaceful acreage.

It's 'critter paradise' out here --- with horses grazing right beside Shaggy, and farm kittens playing in the barns and cows mooing and chewing in the pastures.... I even bridled up one of the horses (too lazy to throw a saddle on, tho) and barebacked around the farm a bit --- not that anyone takes any pictures of me, though......

Tim, on the other hand, has been playing with all the farm equipment! Guess who wishes he had a tractor now!?! It took him about five minutes to figure out how to work the tractor, and then within a few more seconds he was lifting, loading and leveling some soil that he'd been moving around (for no real reason except to play with the tractor).

Laurie's got about 160 acres of rolling hills, with a stream running through it, as well as some flat pasture & farmland and a large area at the top of a noll where she has a trailer, an airstream (!!) -- see the pic at left of Laurie walking beside her 'silver bullet'. There are also several lovely log cabins on the farm --- We have Shaggy parked beside one cabin that Sami's is staying in....

Everyday we take the dogs for a walk along the horse-trails that wind through Laurie's lower pasture & alongside her stream. We've also been bike riding beside the endless cow pastures that make up this wide countryside. Whoever said that "curiosity killed the cat" has obviously never met a cow. I don't condone bovinicide (that's "cow-killing" for you lexiphobes out there), BUT honestly, these animals will walk right up to anyone doing anything. Nevermind "sitting ducks"..... try "standing cows".... they're live target practice, if I've ever seen it. (just kidding....) But they are endless fodder for dumb-animal jokes, we've discovered.....

There are also two big rivers that criss-cross at Sundre and we took a drive down to one of them for a swim. Both Sam & I felt some kinda gross & slimy, little fishlets scampering over our feet & legs, so we hightailed it outta the water while Tim & Laurie kept on swimming.

When I get a better internet connection (not just random roadside stops), I'll try to upload a bunch of the Sundre farm pictures to my photo website because --- it's just been so gorgeous out here that it's impossible to describe. I agree with (lovely) Emerson when he said that "as soon as we walk out of doors, Nature transcends all poets so far...."

It's been a good place, out here, to read & write & play with tractors.....

Here a Moose, There a Moose......

First up --- "Moose Lake", Manitoba --

at the southeasternmost corner of the province, right next to both Ontario and Minnesota. In other words: the best d*&*#ed variety of bugs & flying critters that anyone could ever hope to encounter! From mega-moosequitos to flesh-eating-blackflies, we've got the holes in our legs to prove it!

My cousin's husband's family (otherwise known as "the relatives of Dick Shaney") have a beautiful cabin on ultra-peaceful Moose Lake, nestled among trembling populars & white pine, and we were fortunate enough to squeeze ol' Shaggy right in next to their toolshed for a few days of Manitoba-style "lake life" (until the eager Park Rangers told us that we couldn't actually camp in their driveway but... that's a whole other story....)

The first few days we were battered senseless by the kind of thickly intense and humid heat that can only be produced within the abusive Canadian Shield. The heat, accompanied by venomous insects, forced us all to drink the only known Praire antidote: mas cervezas.

Even the kids were drinking beers -- Moosehead, of course... Luckily, this particular prescription to ward off evil bugs & weather ALSO effectively quietened the kids (see picture of passed-out child below--- what luck!!)

We stalwart adults, however, found some energy to do such things as swim & canoe & such (between beers)...

If this d*&%med bad internet connection lasts, I might post Tim's newest movie documentary called "Moose Canoes" at my movie site (listed at top right of this page)...

SO relaxing was our time at Moose Lake that Tim even began to....

READ!! (not kidding)...

then again, who could resist reading when there were approximately 5000 magazines to choose from (Thanks Joan!!)

Next "Moose" stop was --- Moosomin, Saskatchewan --- where Tim's Aunt & Uncle have a large & lovely farm (which became our own private campground for a few days!... that's Shaggy, hidden behind the red tractor...)

I was in particular dreamland there because...

1) there were Purple Martin birdhouses all over the property & I was able to watch these crazy dive-bombing bugeaters defend their young while I tried to approach their nests and....

2) Tim's cousin has a huge Elk Farm just down the road and we got a great tour of his operation. It's been good for us to see all these working farms to help us sorta decide whether we'd like to go WWOOFing within the next few years.... it does seem like something we'd enjoy doing...

Next "farm stop" is Sundry, Alberta where Tim's sister has 150 acres of horses & praire & big sky &.... more to come!

The Flock Festival Diaries -- First Edition

After a few frustrating days of fighting with my blogging program, I have emerged victorious. I am bloggin' again! Which means that I can post pictures from the start of our trip --- right back to when we picked up our Edmonton hitchhiker (that's her in the fancy cowboy hat --- a ubiquitous fashion statement across the praires, by the way)!

We also picked up one extra furball to make it a complete team-of-three, scratching and shedding inside of Shaggy (brought new meaning to her name, as the furballs were tumbling down her hallway....)

Anyway, this posting is really just a sampling of the wonderful and varied eye candy that the festival offered. Again, as mentioned in the post below, lotsa smoking .... is it really that cool or is it a praire thing....?

Spent an afternoon listening to a bluegrass band called the High Flyers, napped out on a ratty blanket in the hot sun, thoroughly enjoying their female slide guitarist(!) and trying desperately to get a good picture of this young hominid balanced in his native environment. The subject, tho' shy at first, began to take notice of my sneaky photographic glances and, eventually figured out that he was the focus of my lense.

The Flock Festival Diaries

Winnipeg: where heat & humidity are an evil flip side to this region's deeply frozen winter windchill. To the degree that Winnipeg winters have given birth to the phrase "frozen solid", their scorching summers OWN the definition of unsurvivable heat spells. It is so bleeding hot here that air conditioning is just futile.

HOWEVER (according to my cousin's immensely informed husband, TRENT... aka "Dick Shaney") there is a new entymologist in the southern Manigawtoga region who has miraculously introduced the cure for 'death-by-mosquitos': Dragonflies (no kidding)!! These Winnipeg folk have purchased a good supply of killer dragonflies who have been
routinely patrolling the praire skies
in search of a bloodsucking feast. And, thankfully, they are
gorging themselves!! YA!! The evening skies
are full of fat, happy dragonflies cruising around
and filling up on evil mosquitos. Around sunset
every evening we all look skyward & give our
"thanks" to them!
In other words --- no (or, rather.... "few") mosquitos here on the praires!!

Which almost makes up for the unbearable heat & humidity.... (almost)....

Anyhew --- at right is our most awesome new set-up there at Birds Hill Provincial Campground. The uber-hubby positioned our netted, outdoor gazebo so that we could just truck right on into it from Shaggy & BBQ up whatever quick-&-easy meals we pleased.

Below is a silly photo of 'yours-truly' getting ready to dine at our indoor table. Honestly, we were both ready to fight-the-power of these mean & manhungry Manitoba mosquitos (with our handy screened-in eating area) and then.... there really weren't any bloodsuckers around. But we still hung out in the gazebo because it made us look so cool (& prepared!)

So, the Winnipeg F*&k Festival was an event-&-a-half. We were camped about a kilometre away from the festival grounds and the photo of Tim (at left) shows part of our daily bike trip to the music --- past fields of tall reeds and deer-filled thickets, a lagoon and a praire lake (among other sights). At night, when we would ride home, there were late-night shows of fancy fireflies in the meadows accompanied by a fat praire moon above. Amazing that there were no mosquitos... (did I mention?)....

The Freak Festival was.... well.... just that. It's amazing that we didn't suffer whiplash from the amount of "people watching" we engaged in. Fer instance --- the fellow below (to Tim's right) was really wearing a sequined, sky-blue miniskirt and a lovely embroidered halter top. I must admit that it was a wise choice to pair with his cascading dreadlocks and the eagle feather that he had balanced on his head.

The age of the crowd was nicely varied --- basically people of every age attended, from newborn to 92. Why on earth someone would want to take a newborn to an overheated, loud outdoor music festival, I can't tell you but --- one thing we noticed was that, in the "hippy chic" culture: kids are kool.

Like--- they're everywhere! Kids and cigarettes --- that's what's cool among hippies right now. Must run out & buy a pack of Benson & Hedges & get myself a bun-in-the-oven before summer is over. These dreadlocks just aren't cuttin' it.

Tattoos are also still very cool with the Flake Festival crowd (as evidenced above). Tim embarked on a serious study of the various tribal body art that the young women had emblazoned upon their skin. I was deeply impressed with his dedication to his studies (he could probably start his own blog just on this subject)....

There was all kindsa other stuff at the festival, too --- art installations, tons o' great food, handmade items. We kept finding all this cool art hanging in the trees and almost banged right into it. The photo doesn't do it justice but the material under which Tim is standing has all kindsa little intricate ornaments strung from it (like the clay eye below)....

And then there was the music. Some great (but also not-so-great) artists to enjoy like ---- Cindy Cashdollar, Hawksley Workman, Fred Eaglesmith and --- our faves of the festival --- the South Austin Jug Band.... awesome! They were a big group of (very) young bluegrass musicians from Texas who were just a multi-instrumental melee of foot-stompin' fun. We spent many hot afternoons stretched out on our blanket, sipping secret beers (don't tell!) and enjoying their groove. lovely......






The last night of the festival was, perhaps, a bit mellower than we'd hoped for. My memories of this particular folk fest include finale performances that got entire crowds of thousands on their feet.

It was much more subdued this year, tho...

The final performances were solos by Ricki Lee Jones and then Bruce Cockburn. Sombre and sober.... more background music than festival fare. There was a full harvest moon above the praire horizon as Bruce Cockburn rocked us to sleep so.... Tim & I hopped on our bikes & headed back to the campsite. Sorta anticlimactic but... we felt healthy in the morning! (for the first time in my festival history....)