Each year the Moosomin & District Regional Park celebrates it's fireworks contest, Living Skies Come Alive. It brings the best out in fireworks from Manitoba & Saskatchewan to face off. The regional park in itself is an amazing place to visit, with a beautiful lake & beach to spend your time. Along with excellent campsites, & shore fishing spots. Arriving early for the festival I took in the sites of park, & enjoyed putting my toes in the sand. It is definitely a place I can't wait to visit again next summer, & take in for a few days. Some of the old arcade games in the beach front store, & cafe, are just calling my name. Along with that, some time on the beach under the beach shelters. If your a person that enjoys time in a quite off the track park that still has all could need, then the Moosomin & District Regional park is the perfect place for you. As the night came in my family, & I, settled down with our ice cream into our firework viewing spot early. It was a good thing, as the time for fireworks drew near the area filled up fast with people wanting to take in the show. The stage to the south of the beach provided excellent background music as we enjoyed our ice cream on the beach during our wait time.
Then when it got dark enough the sky opened up with a fantastic display of fireworks. The colors, & coordination, showed that much thought was put into the event. If you're going to take in one fireworks display within the year this competition should be at the top of your list. It does not disappoint, & it is excellently executed by all those involved. Right down to the parking! I can't wait to go again next year.
1 Comment
This summer was a wet one, & with that came a lot of mud! This gave me plenty of great opportunities to get my feet dirty this summer. Now to most, hiking around in flip-flops seems like a bad idea. However, for myself I adore the feeling of mud between my toes & so I love the chances I get to feel it between my toes as I wear my flip-flops. Sure they break on occasion, which leave me walking barefoot, but nothing could replace the feeling of that Saskatchewan mud in between my toes. With the summer colors coming through on the landscape, & the water that accompanied these colors, there was no lack of amazing photographic opportunities. I felt so lucky this summer to get the chance to witness how flooding can change a landscape, & watch the floodplains of the Qu'Appelle Valley come to life. To see this natural "washing" of the landscape is an immediate reminder of the strength that water can hold. It is also a stark reminder that as we develop as humans on the landscape mother nature will always have the last say in what happens, & when it is time to "take a bath". The areas surrounding the water were alive with color, & movement, as animals & plants enjoyed the fresh green foliage drenched in the summer sunlight. The mud left clues as to whose feet have graced the landscape before I came, & some tried to hide their presence as they attempted to blend into the landscape. The landscape that surrounded the flood plains were alive with color as well, as the agricultural landscape did what it does best... grow. Yellows of the canola fields brought forth a yellow sea that reflected the golden glow of the summertime sun. The cattle, & other animal neighbors, that grazed on the range land looked very pleased with the abundance of green foliage that surrounded them. As the landscape turns to be blanketed with its sheets of white I find it is always comforting to look back at the warmth in these summertime pictures. Pictures that remind me of what is hidden under the snow, & that even though first it will get colder, there will be these colors to treasure this following year.
The colors of summer are always an amazing treat. There is something comforting about getting to watch that sky turn brilliant orange, pink, & red while enjoying warm weather. There is so much color in the skyscape in the summer it is hard not to be distracted by it all. Then on top of the sky it is the landscape that keeps changing throughout the summer. As wildflowers bloom, & now the fields are turning color. It is so amazing to watch a canola field come into bloom. The seas of gold I get to now witness come & go from the landscape never stop to amaze me in the brilliance of yellow they display. Oh summer, how beautifully distracting you are as Mother Nature continues to change your colors. It is amazing how Mother Nature can keep us guessing what we will see everyday as she works to add changes in the colors we get to see. With the warm weather, & plentiful landscape we aren't the only ones to be out enjoying it. All the critters that spent so much of the winter hiding away are now out exploring & soaking up the sun along side us. If the colors weren't distracting enough the added element of catching all of Mother Nature's beautiful creatures has just increased the pressure on a person to enjoy those sites rather than doing actual work.
The sites, sounds, & colors is why summer is a time not made for work but enjoyment. Mother Nature has designed it that way. She has given us a reason to really break from our lives, & give us a moment of rest before all the work begins again. So take a break, & soak it all up. As we know all to well in the prairies, this beauty is not around nearly long enough. Which perhaps is part of its beauty, making summer so bittersweet. Wildflower chasing is probably one of my favorite past times. I am addicted to their fragile color & the urgency in which they need to be captured since their color only lasts a short time as they bloom. My spring & summer are divided into their own special "seasons" that revolve around the blooming & the colors of these flowers. I am now in the height of the peak of the wildflower bloom, & am transitioning into the final blooms. Seed pods are showing on the early bloomers, & starting to show on mid bloomers. The last colors are springing forth each time I travel down back roads. My time spent wandering down back roads to find these flowers, usually greets me with some other fun faces to enjoy. One of my favorite places to wander is my Grandparents farm, which always comes with a golden, smiley, & excited walking partner. The farm also provides time spent with the farm feline family, which sometimes gives me an opportunity to catch great "family" photos. Seeing all these faces, plus all the green & the plants, is one of the great gifts that summer brings me. This year was a great year as some, that had not previously bloomed for a very long time, decided to show their face. Sometimes wildflowers can stay in seed form for years waiting for appropriate growing conditions to spring forth in. One of those characters I got to see this year is the beautifully pink Red Paintbrush flower. This has to be one of my favorite wildflowers as it is uniquely beautiful, but also so incredibly soft to the touch it is hard to believe it is indeed a wildflower.
I am so lucky to live a life in which I get to experience all this natural beauty that Mother Nature has to offer in this great province. Some people ask me why I don't leave much on holiday's in the summer, & truth be told it is because I don't want to miss this beauty. I should however, maybe add a few holiday days in in which I just send myself out to random locations to go chase wildflowers. Maybe next summer... Maybe next summer. This summer though I am going to take time to appreciate my new home. Over the last couple months I have had the pleasure of taking in multiple events that span over the many different ways people can have a relationship with horses & cattle. I took in a reining horse show, a multiple discipline horse show, a calf branding, & a couple rodeos. Since it is "Western Wednesday" I thought would take some time to reflect on all these disciplines. In May I took in a Reining horse show. Reining is defined* as: " Reining is a judged event designed to show the athletic ability of a ranch type horse within the confines of a show arena." A reining horse is defined* as: “To rein a horse is not only to guide him, but also to control his every movement. The best reined horse should be willingly guided or controlled with little or no apparent resistance and dictated to completely. Any movement on his own must be considered a lack of control…” *as defined by the National Reining Horse Association This is what you see being displayed in the first two photographs above. Specifically, you're seeing the "big finish" slide that is the pride of the reining pattern. It is an amazing site behold, & shows just how strong, along with talented, both horse & rider are. In the third photograph you see the horse I spend my Monday's learning to ride properly. The final end game of my education however is not to learn reining, but instead to learn how to work cattle. One area of this I am currently learning about is cutting horse work. Cutting is defined as: "During the two and a half minutes of work, a rider demonstrates the ability of his horse to out-think the cow with terrific short bursts of speed, the ability of turns in mid-air, fabulous foot work and coordination between horse and rider that is unexcelled in any other arena event." " It then becomes the objective of the contestant to quietly pick from the herd an animal that will give him maximum play and sustained action to test and show the ability of his cutting horse. Along with action goes the risk of penalties; out of position, reining, and many others, not to mention a severe penalty if a cow is lost back into the herd." * as defined by Canadian Cutting Horse Association As you can see the two different styles of working a similar horse in a similar area can be quite different. One is about control of horse through reining abilities, & the other actually has reining listed as a penalty. Too be good in both styles it takes great equitation skills, & lots of time to improve these skills, along with the allotted skills needed for each style. The remaining pictures above, including the top picture, display yet two more different events in which on can participate in. The two styles above would be a Tail class & an example of an English event class. A definition of both can be found on the American Quarter Horse Association website, along with the many different competition classes one can participate in. The horse competition world is varied, & each type comes with its own history that connects it to the working world it developed from. All share one thing in common that the people & horses that participate in it work hard to be able to display their talents with pride. There is something for every type of person out there, & there is tons of knowledge to learn. I am looking forward to spending much of my life learning all I can about the various styles out there. This past month I got to also take in branding (without the iron brand). It was a very interesting day as I got to see just how hard of work ranching activities can be. I got to enjoy the faces of many young calves, & watch how they interacted with all the people that worked with them. The people there worked through all kinds of weather, & it was an interesting, along with enjoyable, experience to say the least. I will forever value the things I had a learned while out there. Finally, in the last couple weeks I got to take in one my favorite sporting events, Rodeo. As I watched from the side lines I enjoyed the power I seen out of all the animals & the skills that I had seen displayed. I thought back to everything I had experienced in the past months, from the horse shows & to the branding. I could not then, nor now, understand how one is allowed to share challenging activities in such varied ways in one area but not another. There are some out there that say rodeo is not based on anything, but from my time out the branding it was made very apparent that rodeo is in fact based on a ranching history.
I won't argue that doesn't look different, because in fact what happens in a rodeo area looks different than what happens in a cattle pen. However, the difference to me seems t0 be the same amount there is between each of the varied horse competition events. It has the same amount of difference that each of those events shares with the history they are based on. Rodeo also shares in common the drive to be best in the skill sets it takes to accomplish each event. I have yet to meet a rodeo person who doesn't show respect for the animals they work with, or take any easy way to do their event that would harm the animals they work with. They show the same amount dedication to their sport, event, & teammates that I have seen displayed at horse shows. I will admit I fell in love with rodeo because it doesn't look as "pretty" as the other events. There is no doubt that rodeo is rough around the edges. However, the part that wins my heart is the way that the "rough around the edges" personality of the animals is allowed to run free in that rodeo arena. Every animal is bred, trained, & encouraged to do their best to deter the rodeo contestant from completing their job (exceptions to this would be the working horses, barrel racing & chuckwagoon/chariot racing). The sense of pride felt from the stock contractors & from the contestants can be felt everywhere around the rodeo arena. Pride in themselves, but most importantly the pride in the animals. There are people in society that think when rodeo personal discuss their animals that by calling them "animal athletes" this somehow belittles the animals. Where this thought process came from I will never understand, since I have seen nothing but empowerment come from that way of seeing the animals. By using this term they put the animals they work with equal to themselves, even the calves. This respect for equality & acceptance of the rougher side is what won my heart over, & over again. It has allowed animals to be truly what they are, & take pride in it. If you ever had the pleasure of watching cattle in a rodeo I hope you made note of the pride displayed in every animal that did it's job well. I have seen many bulls, steers, & even calves, prance around the arena as the contestant sat in the dust. The horses are always busting out of themselves with excitement to get the job done that it takes great handlers to be able to rein that horse in until it is time to be unleashed. I am very proud to be supporter of the sport of rodeo & because of this you will find me, with every opportunity life allows, up against the fence capturing the event with my camera. I was very proud in the last few months to be able to take in & capture all the events, in their various forms, that I did. I am glad to share this world that many don't get to see, & hopefully be able to tie people back to a past that wasn't long ago apart of many people's day-to-day lives. On June 21st in the wee hours of the day we welcomed in the new season of Summer. It is officially here, & everyone is excited for all the summer memories they know they are about to make. As we approach on the end of July I can't help to think how much of that summer is already past. I reflect back to how I enjoyed that first glorious day of the warm summer under a rainbow sky. I took a little drive, & had myself a little walk. I took in the beautiful golden hour as it washed over the Qu'Appelle Valley. I took in the warm tones & animal surprises Mother Nature had in store for me. The beauty of the Saskatchewan Skies & the Qu'Appelle River Valley to this day do not cease to amaze me. The tones & colors, so vibrant & rich, that decorate a unique landscape always make me catch my breath. I am very thankful that as each time I ask Mother Nature for the chance to experience the amazing views that can be experienced in this valley she is kind enough to oblige. That night I was extremely lucky as I not only caught a glimpse of two Moose calves, but I also got to catch the site of my first elk in the valley.
I ended my adventure that evening as the last of the setting sun closed on the valley by taking in a common scene in the valley, cattle in a pasture. I love watching the calves of the year explore their world. They are truly some of the most adorable creatures that I know. I count the days till when I will get to have this experience with cattle are indeed my own. Till then I will enjoy the faces I get to watch through the fences. With September coming in, and the long weekend that associated with it, I had a trip to be planned. I was off to the beautiful North East portion of British Columbia with a tour of the Peace Region and Prince George. It was an amazing trip, and was happening at this particular time of year due to a very fabulous wedding I was to attend in the Peace Region. I did a whole round trip tour, and came back home through the wonderful Jasper, National Park. It was quick trip that I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of. I got to spend some time in the areas that I had not been to in quite a while, and it was nice to reconnect with another form of "home". Because, you see this prairie girl lived for many years in North Eastern B.C., more specifically Prince George. In Prince George I went to University, and met some of the most amazing people in my life. I, also, got to explore some of the most amazing landscapes. It was a beautiful trip, and excellent way to reconnect with a part of me that I had forgotten existed. I hope you enjoy the pictures I took on the trip, and a look into a world that used to be a huge part of my life. To make up for such a late delay on these pictures I have put them in video format for you to enjoy, and to the music by Anne Kendrick. I choose her song “Cups” because it seemed to fit this trip to a“T”, and was my unofficial anthem of the trip. With the end of August ringing in... it means my favorite time of summer has arrived. Harvest is here! The last Sunday of my August was spent helping the family doing one of the best things one can do after all the hard work of the summer. It was an amazing Sunday filled with good weather, and no major issues. It was the perfect evening since as the machinery was running good, and the sun was setting. It made for some of the most beautiful harvest pictures. One's that I can say looking at really give an all round feeling to the amazing time of year harvest really is. The color of the sunset really brought some amazing finishing touches to these photos. The blazing pinks, and soft oranges, made me think of some ocean/tropical scene with our "sea" of gold. Sure harvest is a time that can drive those driving all the machinery, and trucks, a little crazy. The long days, and the all the little things that can go wrong. But at the end of it all it is a great relief to have the crop off and safe in bins. It is a relief to see what the spring, and summer, work has produced. That is what I believe these pictures show, and I hope you see that in them too. I hope you enjoy this peek into the beauty of what farming, and farm life, really is. I have learnt a new thing this evening, and it is that kitten's LOVE camera's! My beautiful kitty cat had herself a set of five kittens. Long story short our house is currently overrun with kittens galore. They are adorable, and little bundles of trouble. But the thing I didn't expect, was there love for the camera. These little guys as soon as I pull out my camera come running for it. So since these little bundles of joy are such fans of the camera I thought I would share the pictures. Hope you enjoy them, and that they bring you much cuteness on your computer screen! The garden is alive with the buzzing sounds of bees that are pollinating the flowers. It is a beautiful thing to see the thing you planned, planted, worked, and hoped would turn out is coming together as planned. The garden looks better than I could have imagined, and I am itching to take off the harvest. I can't wait to begin to freeze, and can all the goodies that will come off of this garden. Planting a garden can really help a person get in tune with the seasons. In the Spring you plant, Summer you watch the blooms, and in August you see the fruit form. Since the garden, unlike watching nature, is something your own hands have toiled on, and brain has spent time planning, I feel one has a more connected feeling to those special moments as the garden matures. I plant, water, and weed just so I can enjoy those quite evenings in my garden amongst the product of what hard work can get a person. One can't beat August fun with the garden! The beauty of summer sunsets & the golden hour before is amazing. The golden hour of light before the sun sets is an amazing time when the world is washed with a beautiful golden glow. A golden glow that makes you really take a step back and realize how warm, inviting, and valuable everything in this world really is. It really helps you stop and take notice of all the beautiful flowers that are still in bloom, and welcoming in the fall season. When down by the water one can really notice how the water helps to reflect the golden light, and make the world on the water’s edge really sparkle. It can even make the cattails look like an amazing plant! On this lovely evening walk in August though I got to watch a spectacular show unfold. When I came upon the lake it was supper time for the frogs. It was quite the display that they put on for me. It really made me stop for a while and watch! After I took in the show, the sun began setting lower in the sky and I knew it was time to be getting home. But as always, I couldn't leave home without first trying something new. I decided to play with some long shutter speeds, and my zoom. It made for some very interesting pictures. But, at the end of it all when the light was last sprinkling the landscape I caught my sunset pictures for the night, and was amazed by the soft hues that decorated the landscape. August sunsets always have something special in them, and always give a treat to those who choose to walk during them. |
Categories
All
|