It is better to travel hopeful ...

... than to arrive. This simplified phrase is based on a Robert Louis Stevenson quotation, from Virginibus Puerisque, 1881: "Little do ye know your own blessedness; for to travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labour." Stevenson was expressing the same idea as the earlier Taoist saying - "The journey is the reward."

Simply put, hope and anticipation are often better than reality. You could avoid the past and the future by, as my wise cousin Barb once said, by living in the moment. The past may be filled with good and bad memories (odd, how we remember the bad ones most clearly). The future may include good and bad things also but we won't know until it becomes the past. Indeed, right at this moment, we don't know if there will be a future.

Happiness is living in this moment ... and keeping on journeying.

Better Late than Never

Writing a blog post lately has seemed a chore. With a cold wet spring and now an unusually hot summer, there always seems to be something else that needs to be done (including a daily nap!). Photography leads the way. I've taken hundreds of images over the past month or so, some of which I've posted on my Flickr page.

Because I edit all my images in Photoshop Elements before I upload them to Flickr, that process often takes longer than the photography. The good thing is that I can sometimes enhance a mediocre image, minimizing the discards to the recycle bin. Others, I just toss, knowing they can't be salvaged.

Then, there's the time spent trying to identify a particular flower, weed or bird. I've dozens of great images, waiting in that category. I don't like to post an image unless I'm fairly sure I've correctly identified the subject. I spent a lot of time browsing online and in my reference books.

I also do get ideas for blog posts. I keep them in one of my Evernote folders. I have other folders for ideas for photography that I periodically review.

Some of my photos of family (my kids and their kids) are posted to my Google+ account that is only shared with family. I won't post these to Flickr for privacy reasons.

I won't get into the time involved with yardwork, cooking, grocery shopping, medical and dental appointments, or visiting family.

Nevertheless, I'm enjoying the summer. Happiness is ...

Heat Warning

Winnipeg seems to be a city of extremes.  A long, cold, snowy winter.  A very wet spring.  Mosquitoes so bad that they're starting to fog tonight.  Now, a heat warning.  The humidex is already 38 deg C and it will get worse this afternoon.  Add possible flooding due to high river levels.

This has been a crazy year ... hopefully, the sump pump and the air conditioner will keep running okay.

About that Grass

I posted a note on seeding grass a couple of days ago. Then, it rained. A lot. My rain gauge holds two inches of water. It filled and overflowed. My best guess is that three inches of rain fell over 43 Carbutt. The old sump pump was going constantly. It still is, as that water percolates downward. Now, it's mostly sunny and things are looking up for the grass seed.

But, the rain also encouraged the weeds to flourish. Thistles are everywhere. Many of them are well over 12 inches high.

Happiness does not include weeding ...

Responsibility and Joy

The older I get, the more I feel good about my two children and my six grandchildren. When I was much younger, I was often too busy to show them my love. As they grew up, I grew up too. As I saw them become mature, decent, and caring people and then parents, I realized that I had a part in that and I became more proud of them and their achievements.

Time to Seed Some Grass

The Winnipeg weather forecast suggests we'll have some rain off and on this week so I thought I'd top-seed some of the bare spots in my backyard. The bare spots reflect the activity of two of our dogs who shall remain nameless.

The procedure is simple: rake the bare spots, spread some expensive grass seed, and re-rake the seed into the spots. Then, sprinkle the areas on those days that it doesn't rain. Two weeks from now, those spots should look fresh and green.

We'll see ...

Go figure ...

Speaking of my Flickr statistics, there was a recent and unexplained large number of views of a series of photos that I took of the River Run Floating Cottage in Ladner, BC. When I say a large number of views, I mean over 7000 views during a 1 week period earlier this month.

At first, I thought the images were shown on Flickriver or Explore, which thousands of people view on a daily basis. However, I could find no evidence of this.

Go figure ...

Cuddly Kittens

The popularity of my Flickr photo, called Kittens, posted in September, 2003, continues to amaze me. I was reviewing the statistics for my Flickr photos this afternoon and discovered that this particular photo has now had 4835 views.

I suppose there are many cat lovers out there that search for images like this one. Note, however, that the image of my best dog friend, Holly, is not nearly as popular. When it comes to cats, she'd prefer to chase them up a tree and bark her head off at them,

About Time

Yes, it is about time I posted something to my blog. Now that summer has finally arrived here in Winnipeg, It's good to get outdoors again. I've been busy with my camera, photographing flowers around the house. One of the other things I've wanted to photograph has been my 'new' 2011 Ford Escape. I can now replace the old red 2006 Ford Escape at the top of the page with my silver one.

Coming May 9th Memorial

The Prime Minister of Canada has declared May 9, 2014, the National Day of Honour to recognise the important work done by our Forces' members in Afghanistan. People across Canada are planning a day to remember and honour those who died and to give thanks for the sacrifices of those who came back from serving their country over the past 12 years.

In all, 635 were wounded in action and 138 were killed in action. Many more were traumatized by what they experienced in that country. Countless family members were also affected.

Was it worth all the cost to Canadians and the personal sacrifice of our troops and their families? Our senior politicians and military chiefs say that it was, helping the local people to decide the future of their country. I wonder how many of the people directly affected (here in Canada and over there in Afghanistan) would agree with them.

My heartfelt thanks go to the families and loved ones of the Canadian soldiers who gave their lives so that others can experience some form of free speech and equality. The sacrifice our soldiers have made hopefully will affect and help the average Afghani now and in the future.

Easter Get-together 1

This afternoon/evening, we had Marg's side of the family over for supper.  I made 3 dishes: honey-mustard baked ham, a creamy hash brown casserole, and a creamy broccoli casserole.  M&M provided some squares for dessert.  There was more than enough for the meal (enough is a feast) plus lots to send home with our guests.

I'm now looking to Easter get-together 2, tomorrow evening with my kids and their families, at Celebrations Dinner Theatre.

Happiness is ...

Transition Time

Let there be light!  The switch to DST was difficult.  It was like, 'where am I' at first.  Now, I'm used to it and enjoying the morning and evening light.  The daylength feels stretched out.  Not that I seem to be making the best use of it yet.  I still spend too much time surfing YouTube for cooking shows and inspiration for future suppers and having some enjoyable daytime naps.  On my Flickr page, I've seen a dramatic increase in the number of views of my daffodil image, leaving the kittens in the dust for a while.

If you which to see my daffodil image, go to https://www.flickr.com/photos/papa-ellis/6996087640/in/photolist-bEdM7G-bEeTJy

It was taken on May 4th, 2012.  I wonder if I'll see this year's daffodils on the same date.  A lot of snow will have to melt soon!

This morning, I checked the weather forecast and not that we are about to have our first week of above freezing temperature of the year.

Happiness is!

Meow ...

Well, amazingly enough, my most popular Flickr image, Kittens, hit the '4000 views' mark.

To view the image on Flickr, see http://www.flickr.com/photos/papa-ellis/6303296444/

You can view lower resolution image below:

Enjoy!

Zoom, zoom ...

Finally, my battered 'old' red 2006 Escape Ltd. has been replaced by a 'new' silver 2011 Escape Ltd. Funny, they don't call it a 'used' vehicle these days; no, it is a 'previously owned' vehicle. Regardless, I'm quite pleased with it and all of it's new features. Things like a back-up camera and parking assist. Woohoo!

Coming soon ... a photo of the new 'beast'.