Spotted on my bike ride earlier today.
Art in the trees
Spotted on my bike ride earlier today.
bike ride
Bike ride, May 24
I decided to put my weird little Lensbaby 2.0 on my camera and take it on what turned out to be a 20km ride yesterday. I used the narrowest aperture ring on it to make sure I had a decently-large area in focus. I think it turned out all right.
Bike Ride Photos — May 19, 2025
I went about 15km today with my camera. I set myself up with a challenge: try to use the 35mm lens and the filters I bought at the Dunrea Flea Market[1]Which, as I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, takes place in Boissevain. a few years ago.
I set myself up with a polarizing filter and a red-blue filter (ie, one that will let through red light or blue light but not, it seems, both). It was a cloudy day and I figured I might get a bit of drama from the clouds by polarizing the red / blue light.
Did I succeed? You tell me.
Footnotes
| ↑1 | Which, as I’m sure you’ve figured out by now, takes place in Boissevain. |
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Kite flying weather
Souris Valley
My friend Kelly talked me into going for a bike ride in the Souris Valley today, in a wildlife management area. He wasn’t sure how many hills there were[1]There were lots. but he was pretty sure there’d be some great views[2]There were..
Continue reading “Souris Valley”Bike Ride, Sep. 22, 2024
I took my camera on today’s ride and snapped a few photos, all, apparently, of plants.
This tree stands in for a 1,000-word story about how I’m not ready for autumn to be here, but it is implacably here nonetheless.
There were quite a few sunflowers planted at the community gardens this year. This one was being particularly photogenic today. Someone, though, has removed the Ukrainian flag that used to fly there, and I’m not sure why.
Writing Retreat 2024: The End
I went for a bike ride today, and got a couple of panoramas: one of the hillside to the north (above) and an interesting tree along the trail (below).
Then I cleaned up the cabin, packed, and headed home.
So how’d I do?
I deliberately didn’t set myself any goals this year. I took my bike, my laptop, my cameras, and a bunch of books; this, I decided, would be a vacation vacation, not—as it’s kind of turned into over the years—a working vacation.
I read Rules for a Knight by Ethan Hawke, a book I didn’t know existed until Corey Redekop posted about finding it at a used book store; I read Annihilator by Grant Morrison and Frazer Irving; and I read about ⅔ of Kurt Vonnegut’s Bluebeard[1]And once this is posted, I’m probably going read some more.. I wrote about 3000 new words, I think, in my “derelict starship” story. Since the cabin owner have Disney+, I watched a season of The Mandalorian. I took a lot of photos.
It occurred to me, earlier today, that this “writing” retreat was really about 65% photography by weight, and I’m OK with that. Should I call it a “photography retreat”? An “art retreat”? Maybe, but I’m not going to. I’m the one writing these posts, after all, and I’ll title them as I see fit.
Good night, and good luck.
Footnotes
| ↑1 | And once this is posted, I’m probably going read some more. |
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Writing Retreat 2024: 6
Another day, another bike ride. This was about 16km, and started at the coffee shop, where I noticed I was that weirdo who wears a Slaughterhouse-Five T‑shirt but reads Bluebeard.[1]A Vonnegut book is a Vonnegut book, though.
Then I noodled around town for a bit, and out into the countryside, where I took photos of a tree…
…and some hydro lines.
Then back into town, where I saw—
Look, I know some of you can’t wait for Pumpkin Spice Cable-Knit Sweater time, but I’m not ready to let go of summer yet. So this little cluster of yellow leaves felt particularly cruel, at least to me.
Ah well. So it goes, as Kurt Vonnegut[2]Full circle. would say.
Writing Retreat 2024 (4)
Yesterday’s big thing was a 20-km bike ride. I took my camera along and snapped a couple photos; the bison up above and the signposts below, which reminded me of the Watson Lake signposts we saw on our trip, decades ago, to Yukon.
I also finished reading “The Metamorphosis”, and it was, well, Kafkaesque[1]As you’d expect..
Today’s plan: writing some sections of one of my stories; reading some Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut (I’m about 5 chapters in and he’s got some interesting things to say about art; I also wonder if Michael Swanwick lifted a few names[2]Like “Mintouchian” and “Gregorian”. from the book for characters in his novel Stations of the Tide), and probably another bike ride, since the weather seems similar to yesterday. I need to inflate my bike’s rear tire, though, before I go.
And if it’s clear tonight, as the forecast suggests it should be, I think I’ll gather up my cameras and tripods and go find a big, open sky with a Milky Way or other nighttime delights.
Cookie Ride redux
On July 20th, 2024, Chez Angela held their second Biking Around the Whole City Biking Event of the City[1]I don’t write the headlines, I just report them., and I set out to try and get myself a cookie. It was a hot one, but at least the ride started at 8:30 am when it was still only about 20°C[2]Even if it felt like 105% humidity..
I caught up with the Cookie Crew after about 17km, on the bike path along Richmond Ave. between 26th and 34th Streets. I got my cookie and—after posing for a brief “Good Morning!” video—a fetching tie-dyed T‑shirt for Kathleen that says “I did it for the cookie”.
Then I kept going, and saw a house that looks like it was made with Lego…
…and Hoss, the itinerant rabbit[3]Yes yes, I’m aware there’s more than one rabbit in town, but it’s easiest if we just name them all “Hoss”.,[4]Short for “Hasenpfeffer”..
Then I went home with over 30km under my belt. Good times. Good, sweaty times.