Somebody is wearing her cranky pants!

And that somebody would be Mother Nature! Wow, has she been in a pissy mood lately!! She has wreaked havoc across Alberta this week, with non-stop rain and subsequent horrific flooding. Calgary and High River have been particularly devastated, and other areas around Medicine Hat, Lethbridge and Red Deer have seen way too much water as well.

The community closest to my heart which suffered, is the Rocky Mountain paradise town of Canmore. Luckily for me, my place escaped unscathed (although I haven't actually seen it yet - I guess at the very worst, my third floor condo could now be a first floor condo, with a lake view!!), but sadly, many homes did not fare well.

Here is how peaceful and beautiful Cougar Creek normally is:

And here is Cougar Creek, at the peak of its wrath:

The brute force of something which is usually so inert will never cease to amaze me. These pictures show how the water just chewed its way through everything and went wherever it wanted.

Fortunately, few lives were lost in the province-wide fiasco, and now that the flood-waters have receded, the massive clean-up process and recovery can begin.

I'm wishing good karma and positive vibes to everyone who was affected by this incredible natural disaster - nature is truly the epitome of beauty and the beast, all at the same time.


Cheers.

**The second, third and fourth pic are mine.... all others came from various sources and are used for editorial purposes only - no copyright issues are intentional. Thanks.**

For my parents....

It's Father's Day today! And you know, thinking back (and actually going and having a look through my blog to confirm it), I did not make mention of the equally important Mother's Day, last month. Tsk.... My bad. So I'm shouting out a Happy Father's Day and Happy Mother's Day to all those VIP's in the world who've taken on the life-long career of being a parent.

I have to laugh a little, because I am always hearing people boast about their offspring: Everybody thinks their own child is the absolute smartest, cutest, most advanced, most amazing, most perfect child in the history of children. Well, having parents is very similar.... because if I do say so myself, MY Mom and Dad are truly the coolest, most perfect parents a person could ever want, and need. Now don't get me wrong - my sister and I got hollered at and grounded and even got our butts swatted on the odd occasion when we were particularly smart-mouthed.... But we also received unconditional love and support, our home was open and always welcoming to all of our friends, our summer vacations rocked, I learned some mad card-playing skills, and I saw alot of eye-rolls but honestly do not ever remember hearing "I told you so" from either parent (even though I'm sure they were thinking it, many many times over!! LOL). I wanted for nothing; I had so much fun growing up and at every available opportunity I was encouraged to try new things.

I am never going to be a parent, but I will forever be someone's kid.... and I am probably the luckiest kid on the planet, seriously. I love my Mom and Dad more than anything - they are the best people I've ever known and I am fortunate beyond belief to have the family that I do!

This is one of my favorite photos!
Love you Elmo and Dunkster!!

I wrote this for my parents, years and years and years ago.... but it still stands true.....


It Takes Alot

It takes alot for two people to be parents.
It takes even more to be good parents,
like you.

It takes alot to get through the sleepless nights in infancy,
and then again during the adolescent years.

It takes alot to let a toddler inquisitively explore the world,
and listen respectfully to a teenager who can take on the world.

It takes alot to be stern with a teary-eyed three year old,
and to reason with a defiant sixteen year old.

It takes alot to teach a child right from wrong,
to instill morals and values,
and to sit back and watch a young adult learn from mistakes made.

It takes alot to support all the activities a growing youngster is involved in,
and to support all the decisions and choices a grown child makes.

But you two did it all,
and you did it all so extremely well.

No complaining,
very little questioning,
minimal interference.

Just love, honesty and understanding,
and immense confidence and trust.

It takes alot.



Thank you Duncan and Elinor! I love you!!!


-Cheryle

Sportster Love....

Mmmmmm.... Love, love, LOVE my bike! No, sorry... not the kind with pedals.... this bike of which I speak has 1200 cc's of V-Twin goodness.... Mmmmm!!



My HD Sporty - Ember RED of course!

I got it out of storage a few weeks ago and have been out on it a handful of times. It's sooooo much fun... and I know, I've said that before... but really, it IS!! Can't wait to start riding to work on a regular basis - now if only the weather would cooperate!

Cheers!

Sunshine, where art thou?

June 8th. I had to do a double-take on the calendar.  June..... 8th..... Crikey, where does the time go!!? Sadly, between the uncooperative weather and that necessary evil called 'my job', I haven't been outdoors doing fun stuff nearly as much as I would like. Today however, I did spend some quality time outside and made a quick trip up to West Wind Pass.

I've been up to the pass several times, and it definitely has a huge reward-to-effort ratio. It is a fantastic place to breathe some fresh mountain air and enjoy lunch - which is exactly what I did. A bit of exercise, beautiful scenery, and best of all with great company.... what an awesome afternoon!

Tomorrow... not sure what's up. Rain, apparently. D'oh! Although I'm pretty sure I won't melt, so I am going to try to take full advantage of whatever the day might bring. I'm not at work, so how bad could it be!!

Cheers!

Not really related at all to this post... LOL!
I simply love graffiti, and I saw this old building
on my way home after hiking.

Almost perfect!

What a kick-ass weekend! There was some serious rocking, and a bit of chilling out, and some wicked outside time.... does it really get much better than that??

You may have read my post about me getting to see the best rock band of all time on Friday night.... Mmmm mmm!! Well I slept in and puttered around Red Deer before driving to Canmore on Saturday. And on Sunday, when I was finally recovered from the hype of the concert, I parked my carcass on the couch while it poured rain outside, and I got in some major quality reading....

Can't wait for THIS movie now!

And today, the forecast was still iffy, but I decided to get some miles on my new hiking boots, so I went and had lunch on the top of EEOR (East End of Rundle)....

Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs.... LOL!

Gorgeous views on the ascent.

Can you see all the peeps on Ha Ling??

Wish you were here!

Can't help but smile... love this place!

Hey - check out my new tattoo!

The day was really quite perfect - the temps were exactly right, and the clouds threatened to misbehave but never did open up. Mother Nature got up to a bit of mischief however, when she cut loose a slab of rock and sent it on down over the access road this morning....

Lucky for me, I was parked very close to the event.... LOL.... i.e. I was inside the area which the road maintenance crews gated off. So I was allowed to make my way over the rubble pile and drive back to town, the usual way, as opposed to having to drive the Spray Lakes road to Hwy 40 and back around.

**SIGH** It's back to work tomorrow dang-it, for a busy, busy week. Fortunately, my days off more than make up for it!

Cheers!

Best.... concert.... EVER....

 

Wow. If I were to die without having seen another live music performance, I would be okay with that. I'm dead serious. Ha ha - bad pun, sorry...

You see, last night, I went to the Fleetwood Mac concert in Calgary. That in itself could almost be "nuff said". But I need to elaborate, because they were freakin' incredible!

I have loved Stevie Nicks, and the rest of the crew as well, for as long as I can remember. "Dreams" was the song that initally hooked me, way back when... I must have been about ten years old when I first heard it... heard that voice... I think it was on their 'Rumours' album? That same summer, I bought one of their LP's at a garage sale and took it home and played it on my silly little Sony record player in my bedroom for hours on end. Truth be known, not much changed for me over the years. Any one of their albums/cassettes/CD's was the go-to music for parties, road trips, or just plain chilling out in my living room.

So imagine my delight, when I heard last fall that they were coming to a city near me! I didn't hesitate to scoop up a couple of front-row tickets and I'm telling you, they were worth every penny!!

I touched Lindsey's guitar!!
Watching him play 'Big Love', up close, was indescribable.

Stevie - she's still definitely got it!

Mick - energetic and crazy as ever!

Best concert EVER!

Lindsey Buckingham is an amazingly passionate musician, and talk about a talented guitar player... I was mesmerized by him the entire time! Stevie Nicks has about the most powerful, beautiful, unique voice in all of music history, and it sounded as fabulous last night, live, as it ever has. That gorgeous woman has not missed a beat. Mick Fleetwood.... he's crazy and has energy like you would not believe... he has GOT to be in the top ten drummers of all time - that man LOVES to play! And John McVie is of course just completely cool on the bass, always has been, always will be. Sadly, Christine was not touring with the group. I think I read somewhere that she has fully retired.

I had a most wickedly great evening, with one of my best friends, and it will be a show that resonates within me for quite some time. I loved it, loved every second of it! Yeah!! I am so darn fortunate!!

Me and one of my besties, IN THE FRONT ROW!

Cheers!




Gooseberry!

Few things can beat spending a gorgeous day, climbing in the Rockies!

Can you guess what route we did?

Kirstin did all the leading....

....and I followed and was the belay bee-otch.... LOL!

Other parties were enjoying the day too!

Most excellent views!

It was so much fun - thanks Kirstin!

Yesterday, we climbed a wickedly fun multi-pitch route up the east side of Tunnel Mountain. Today, we wandered up to a crag along Carrot Creek. Wandered being a very loose term.... we bushwhacked a bit, and had a couple of interesting creek crossings.... but it was an awesome day and I loved going somewhere new!

We may or may not have been in a closed area?! Ooops!



Checking out the guidebook - mostly 11's and 12's!! Eeek!

 

Will was the ropegun! Yay Will!

Random tiny pinecone.

Back to the car in the rain....

The sun disappeared by about 3pm, and it started to sprinkle - perfect timing for the walk out. It didn't matter though, because the company was great and it was fabulous just to be outside.

It's back to the grind tomorrow for a few days, but next weekend, I'm hoping for more of the same! Did I mention yet today, how much I heart the mountains? Well I do! Yeah!

Cheers!

Shakakan!

Dear Brent:

Wow.

Two years have gone by, in what seems like the blink of an eye. You were with us.... and then you were not. Things changed forever, in a heartbeat.

I think you know this, but you are forever loved and are missed dearly, every day..... Your amazing aura and energy are felt everywhere, always. I know you are watching over us and are laughing and dancing with us, in spirit.

Shakakan Brother!! Shakakan.

xxoo
Cheryle