PUBLIC OPINION

 

A house in my neighborhood. Perhaps a sign of the resistance. I hope so. After yesterday, our retirement investments have lost 10% since Trump’s inauguration, and they are cautiously managed.                  

EH?

I need help from my Canadian friends on this one. I don't get it. As mentioned, the theme of the parade was blue but there isn't a bottle of Labatt's in sight. Otherwise, the meaning completely escapes me. The people who marched beside the float were dressed in white with necklaces made of small plastic Canadian flags. Maybe there is a cultural reference that we down here can't understand.           

Eh?

What to do with your life: fly all the way to Tamarindo bloody Costa Rica, sit in Sharky's bar and watch a hockey game between the Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers. Works for me.

No surprise, but there are a lot of Canadians in Tamarindo at this time  of year. The majority of people staying at the condo complex were from the Maritimes, Edmonton or Calgary. (There was one family from Wasilla, Alaska - you know, the town where a former vice presidential candidate ostensibly lives).  We were the southernmost people there. When we were returning to the airport Sunday we got stuck behind a long procession of identical Hundai SUVs, all flying the Quebec flag.

Sharky's is an odd little place. We went there for lunch a bit before noon and the alcohol was already flowing freely. Once again, pura vida.

In The Canadian Rockies

Looks like Ansel Adams wannabe time. We're up in the town of Banff in the spectacular Canadian Rockies. Mrs. C thinks that is Mt. Cascade in the top photo (but how would I know?). I'm sure the bottom one is Mt. Rundle, taken from behind our hotel room at The Juniper Hotel just outside of town.

The middle picture is Lake Louise, one of the main local photo ops. The skies have been rather dull, not ideal for photography, but this shot will do. It's pretty, but unless you are a serious hiker there's nothing to do but exclaim "How beautiful!' and take some snaps. And the place is bloody overrun with tourists. 15 or 20 minutes circling the parking lots.

Some observations about Canada:

The people are simply delightful. I have to add the Canadians to my list of the sweetest people on earth, up there with the Irish, Nepalese and Costa Ricans.

The average body mass index of people at the Calgary Stampede is a fraction of those at Fair St. Louis.

There are far fewer people with tattoos than the US. Not none, but not many.

The speed limits on Canadian highways are way slow compared to the US and Europe. Safety first, eh?

It's supposed to rain off and on today. Don't know what we will do.                    

It's Yahoo!, Not Yee Haw!

Greetings from Calgary, Alberta, where it's still Friday. Our first few days here at the Calgary Stampede have been fascinating and exhausting. I hit a personal best or worst on Thursday, taking 2,123 photos, although many were repeated shots of the same subject, trying to get exposure and composition just right.

There were so many exciting things to see that I can only touch the surface in this post. That's me and Mrs. C in the top pic, doing the hi, kids, pose. Below, several shots from the ceremonies of the Canadian indigenous peoples. Farther down, two young women promoting a local radio station snack on the famous Canadian delicacy, chocolate covered bacon on a stick.

By the way, at least half of the people around here are wearing cowboy hats. It's no more unusual than baseball fans wearing a Cardinals hat at Busch Stadium. And we were instructed that the proper etiquette is to cheer someone on by shouting yahoo! The expression yee haw is for those, um, Texans.

So much more to come.               

O Canada

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This was lying in the pavement in Kiener Plaza near my office. It may have fallen off the apparently homeless man sleeping on a bench a couple of steps away, surrounded by a few plastic bags with his possessions. If he were in Canada, would there be less chance of him sleeping on a park bench?

It's an appropriate theme, though, because Mrs. C and I are flying to the great city of Toronto tomorrow for a few days of fun. We'll be there on Wednesday, July 1, which is Canada Day, the national holiday. It's sort of like the Fourth of July in the US but a lot less militaristic. And more welcoming, since almost half of Torontonians were born in other countries. There's a huge fireworks show over Lake Ontario and we'll be in the bleachers (don't forget the tripod!). Then on to northern New Jersey, near NYC, where the Crowes gather over the Fourth of July weekend - more fireworks!

BUT today is St. Louis' annual Pridefest Parade and Fest, where I've gotten some of my very best pictures in past years. Check back TOMORROW.