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canada general

snow!

The most snow we’ve had in town so far… I was sitting at work all day, where the snow just didn’t stop, and it really does feel like you’re inside a snow dome.

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canada general

halloween

I had a deprived Australian childhood, so I’d never dressed up for Halloween before. Trick-or-treating wouldn’t have been particularly practicable in the neighbourhood I grew up in anyway.

But: Celebrating the final harvest, starting the dark half of the year, boundaries between the living and the dead becoming blurred, all sorts of dead souls and creatures from the underworld coming back to life and wreaking havoc, and everyone running round dressed up in an attempt to mimic or placate the spirits. Or in an attempt to get candy from their neighbours. Or just an excuse to wear a silly costume (and perhaps as little clothing as possible) and drink copious amounts of alcohol. So, a snapshot of Halloween 2007 in Banff:

And I just discovered that I really should have been carving a Halloween turnip (or a mangelwurzel). It’s traditional. This pumpkin business is modern rubbish.

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canada general

an ungulate

I think it’s an elk (rather than a deer or a moose), grazing by the road just outside of Banff, by the Vermilion Lakes.

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canada general

attempting to blend in with the natives

I got hold of a pair of ex-rental ice skates for $8…

 
Spent some time skating round in circles the other evening. Phase two will be trying to skate while holding a stick and hitting a small round black thing towards a net. I hear it’s traditional here.

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canada general

scenic tour of the bodies of water round banff

Well, the only unsecured wireless network available from where I’m staying at the moment has become secured. This post is brought to you by much wailing and gnashing of teeth as I post from free internet accessed sitting on a park bench outside in a blizzard… or something like that… it’s certainly chilly. But behold! Some of the pretty lakes and creeks surrounding Banff. So scenic you could punch them in the teeth.

Two Jack Lake
 

Creek below Two Jack Lake
 

Johnston Canyon
 

Lake Minnewanka