The Storms Within

I was wondering which park to explore in the city that I hadn’t been to and mentioned it during a coffee break at work. One of my coworkers named off a few and I decided on Pearce Estate Park, which is only a 12 minute drive away and not hard to find. I checked the weather, the temperature having dropped below zero again, and picked the warmest day I would have off, Saturday. I charged up my drone and headed out just after lunch, taking my special touchscreen gloves and hand warmers just in case. Better to have them even if I don’t use them, which I ended up doing between battery changes. Good thinking ol’ chap.

I spied this odd-looking structure through the trees off the trail and stopped to read the nearby plaque. It was the “Lorna Jordan, Bow Passage Overlook, 2014” made from rundle stone and basalt columns. Perfect place to start. I found a dry spot on the wall and pulled out the drone for pictures and some video.

I landed the drone when the first battery got low, stuck it in my backpack, and continued on. The walking path I was following meandered on by the water and went under a railroad bridge. I thought I might get some good shots of the bridge and some of the open water nearby. Just as I got the drone airborne, this fellow happened by…

It’s a little hard to tell, but he’s holding ski poles and was doing some cross-country right beside the pathway. Good for him I say! We have to just use what we have sometimes, instead of making excuses why not to do what we enjoy. I saw him again as I was leaving, going through the middle of the park. I’m sure he got a good workout, and enjoyed some nice scenery along the way.

I took some pictures lower near the water, than flew up for some panorama’s. I was on a bit of a time crunch so couldn’t cover the whole park, which means I have a nice excuse to go back, probably during warmer weather. For now though, the winter shots are nice enough. Hope you enjoy them!

Last September I took my vacation from work and went to visit friends and family back in Chilliwack, and noticed something, mostly about myself but a bit with others as well. I never used to be much of a talker, but it seems some things change. Now I can talk and talk and just about never shut up, especially on certain subjects. Don’t misunderstand me, I still have quiet moments where I just don’t feel like talking, or if the subject matter doesn’t interest me, especially in a group setting where I’d rather just listen. But one on one, or even a group of three, I’ve noticed I’m a lot more vocal than I used to be.

With this however, something has caught my attention. One example is when I went to visit my sister for an evening. It had been more or less a year since I had seen her so we had much to discuss, and really only a few hours between putting her kids to bed and then going herself. So we talked about the many happenings in our lives, and I can’t say for certain who would have talked more, but it seems it may have been me. It’s not that my life is busier than hers or any such thing, but one thing leads to another and on and on it goes (sorry Lisa!).

There is something I realized a little afterwards. Conversation with others is good, great even, especially when we all hear about people just staring at their phones and losing the art of conversing, but when we DO have a conversation with another person, we must remember to listen at least as much as we speak. Some people love to talk and talk and sometimes it seems they don’t even realize they are still talking, but remember, conversation is a two-way street.

You may not remember what you were talking about with someone else, but if the other person was genuinely interested in what you had to say and really listened, there would only be good vibes afterwards and you would look forward to speaking with them again. Likewise if the person seemed bored and distracted, there’s not much incentive to keep going. I’ve had situations like the latter happen, and it’s really not much fun. I would have to say, however, it was partly my lack of conversational skills and self-confidence that really killed it before it went anywhere. Practice does help and I’ve pushed myself into talking more and getting out of my comfort zone, but there is still more to learn once we reach that next step.

In this day and age of texts and instant messages, don’t forget to have a one on one with people once in a while. It’s still the best way to connect and catch up. If you can’t visit face to face, give a call or skype/facetime with those you care about. I don’t get many calls so I always appreciate when someone takes the time to see how I’m doing and how life is going. I must remember to do likewise, and hopefully I’ll let the next person talk my ear off. Don’t forget: listening is a skill just as much as talking! So….listen away my friends!

Most people use weekends to catch up on sleep, get chores done, or Netflix binge. For the most part I do as well, although I don’t binge watch tv shows. I always shop for the week, do household cleaning/laundry, hit a parkour class if there’s one happening, or fly my drone. Last week though I went and bought a large wall map of Calgary, 42″x55″, to be exact and put it across from my desk so I can see it every day.

Calgary is a big city, the largest I’ve ever lived in, and I’m sure home to many many neat things to see and do, of which I’ve only just started looking into. So I got some non-permanent markers with the map and going to start plotting out places to see. This will take some time so you may not see much right away, but know that it’s in the planning stages.

Firstly, the parks around the city. I’ve already visited a couple, taken some aerial photos and hiked a little, but some are quite large and will take a couple visits before I can explore them in any depth. Nose Hill park is one of the closest to me, so it will be one of the first. It’s also one of the biggest in the city.

I will update as much as I can on here, while working on future adventures. I’m sure lots of people have traveled around Calgary before me and written or posted pictures about it, but a quote I recently saw fits in nicely here, “Discovery consists not in seeking new lands, but in seeing with new eyes.” So stick around if you are so inclined, you may see something you never have before.

Let’s go exploring!