A Wandering Report 1

Dear Reader (2021-03-03),
Re: Sunday February 21, 2020

I have been walking with ghosts.  These are the ghosts of my past.  After returning from England earlier this year I made a commitment to myself to get rid of a lifetime’s worth of paper.  For most of February I have been doing some combination of recycling, scanning, or shredding.  Not counting the magazines and software manuals that went directly into the blue box., I have filled over 15 large clear garden bags with shredded paper.  I think I have another 25% effort to go.  When a friend mentioned the possibility of a drive, I was pleased at the opportunity to keep the ghosts at bay for a day.

Wanders may or may not have a destination, may or may not involve driving, and may be urban or rural.  In other words, they can cover just about everything outside of an overnight road-trip or a walk.  In fact, I go on more wanders than walks.

Keith needs wine kits from Red Deer, and has an idea of taking a winding route home via Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park. As we have both been very COVID cautious, we agree to wander in one vehicle.  After picking up a trio of wine kits, we turn east towards the coulees north of Drumheller.

For most of the drive, the grey skies limited form to the land. I am hard-pressed to see photographic dimensions.  The drive becomes part reconnaissance for future wanders and part catch-up.  My recent in person conversations have been with my wife and spectres.  Part way through the day I observe that my conversation skills are rusty.  It is though still a pleasure to drive and speak with a friend. Keith’s images of the wander can be found here.

The first three images below form a triptych called “Close, Closer, Closest”.

To remove the annoying band across the top of the full size image, click anywhere on the image.

As always, your comments are sought and welcomed.  Please come back on Saturday for A Wandering Report 2.

Cheers, Sean

All rights for all material on any media reserved – © Sean P Drysdale 2020-2024

4 Replies to “A Wandering Report 1”

  1. me and my dog walked some fields in the hills, the foot of the mountains today. It was my birthday. It was a Beautiful day

  2. It was a wonderful day! One of my plans for this summer is to take what is likely to be a very full day, and photographically explore the badlands canyons.

    Now I see what you were shooting as you disappeared over the edge of the jump. I’m quite taken with that image. My main thought at the time was hoping I wouldn’t have to go rescue you.

    I’d mentioned that I wasn’t impressed with my hay bale shots, though I do plan to look back at them and see if I’ve overlooked anything. Your shots of the bales are quite good, and a set gradually getting closer had never occurred to me.

    At first I didn’t care for the shed shot, but it’s growing on me. Or I think it is. Your shot has a very different mood than mine. I’ve been meaning to go revisit mine, in my copious (snork) free time.

    1. Keith thank you for visiting and commenting. I too had visions of me sliding down that cliff, especially as dirt started falling on me as I was trying to find a stable position. Let me know if you would like company on a badlands day, maybe beginning with a Horsehoe Canyon dawn, or ending with star trails there. I agree with your observation on the difference in our shed image moods. The darkness in my view was intentional. The more I think about it, my shed image could be an illustration for your post on barriers. Cheers

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