Christmas tree decorations.

A scene in Jasper National Park.

Licking road salt in Jasper National Park.

Christmas lights.

Christmas 2007.

Christmas 2007

I seem to be ready for Christmas. The gifts are long purchased, wrapped, and under the pine tree. Christmas music is emanating from the stereo, specifically George Winston’s “December Album”, my all time favourite Christmas recording. His rendition of the “Carol of the Bells” still gives me goose bumps as it did when it was released in 1982. In recent years I have increasingly preferred the instrumental renditions of Christmas music as I find the lyrics distracting. I especially enjoy eclectic and/or electric offerings with an international flavour as they seem more germane or generic to mankind as a whole.

As I contemplated writing this Christmas letter I drew a blank. I didn’t wish to regale anyone with our exploits of the past year though interesting some would inevitably be. Nor did I wish to appear like a doting parent with the two best kids in the world even though they are ;-). So what to say at Christmas that I hadn’t said in previous years? Nothing jumped out at me.

My usual response when I’m not certain as to what to do or say is to do nothing or say nothing. Heh, heh! I could put a greeting at the top of the page, sign off on the bottom, and invite everyone to fill in the blanks ;-).

I suspect that my writer’s block has less to do with what to write than what not to write. However either could easily lead to a book not a letter. There are so many things of interest, so much happening, and so little time to take them in. Then there is all that living to do! I don’t know about you, but it is a constant struggle for me to prioritize and to focus on the essentials so that I continue to live a healthy productive life and to learn and develop in the process.

So here is my wish for you all in 2008: That you come closer to your centre in order to find and maintain that balance which results in a successful path to manifesting a healthy, productive, and growing life.

My warmest regards,  Roy

A puddle on the lane - shades of things to come.

Prairie grasses in Autumn.

Mid November in Red Deer & where is the snow?

An Autumn landscape prepared for winter.

First ice on the patio.

Remnants of the summer lilies.

Yep, parsley in November in Red Deer!

“Eye” of the birch.

One last shot of a prairie giant.

Inside the main entrance at the Leitch Colleries.

Main entry to the historic Leitch Colleries in the Crowsnest Pass, AB.

SW Alberta foothills with the Livingston Range in the background.

Mountain stream in the late Autumn.

One of the disappearing fine artifacts of the Prairies.

The autumn brown foothills of SW AB.

Near the southern terminus of Hwy 22, AB.

1943 Pratt & Whitney 1200 HP 14 cylinder radial air-cooled engine.

Staggerwing at the Reynolds Museum of Transportation.

Vintage Indian motorcycle at the Reynolds Museum of Transportation.

Hammarberg Homestead 1907, near Forestberg, AB.

What can I say, I like prairie ponds & their denizens.

One of the ubiquitous prairie ponds.

Wind power was used to move water for the homestead.

An abandoned homestead near Forestberg, AB.

During warmer days...

Towers of power.

Twisted remains of man’s ephemeral works.

Huddled together awaiting a blanket of snow.

Light painting colours and forms on the water.

One of my favourite walks along the Bow River.

Dinner “on the rocks”.

A Watercolour ;-).

Fifth Ave SW at 5:15 PM, or why I take the bus.

A city in reflection.

Pouring the foundations for another tower in Calgary.

One last view looking south across Abraham Lake for my overseas viewers.

North Saskatchewan River just below the Big Horn Dam.

Part of the sculptured cliffs below the Big Horn Dam.

Looking South across the middle of Abraham Lake.

Snow squalls approaching Abraham Lake.

Moss on a Cottonwood trunk.

More warm Autumn colours.

Snowstorm racing west down Abraham Lake.

Abraham Lake along the David Thompson Hwy.

Juvenile Bighorn Sheep near the David Thompson Highway.