Home Sweet Home

Heartland
It seems as though we have been experiencing days of continuous fog throughout Southern Alberta lately. You would think that this would please me with all the photo opportunities that are to be found around every corner, as the trees are wearing a coat of hoarfrost that is to die for. Well think again, as along with the fog, we have not seen the sun in days. Fog can make your photos sing, however a requirement is light and I do not mean muddy light, but light that gives your photographs the sparkle that is required to acomplish this.
I had been out and about with my cameras last week-end in the fog, and was somewhat disappointed with the photos that I shot upon returning home and viewing them on my computer. Yesterday I had taken a drive down to High River, where I hooked up with the guys for coffee at the Heritage Inn. While I was there, Graham, who lives over near Black Diamond, happened to mention that the sun was out over his way, and the landscape that lies along the eastern slopes of the Rockies was stunning.

With those words in mind, as I exited the house earlier this morning, heavy fog and overcast skies had me on the move for the Priddis area that lies southwest of Calgary. Driving west through heavy fog, I enjoyed a early morning coffee, while casting a eye to the sky from time to time, in hope of seeing something other than clouds through breaks in the fog. West of Calgary, I picked up the Bragg Creek road and drove south over to highway 66, where I turned east towards Priddis.

 By now I was beginning to see serious breaks in the fog, and the sun was making its presence known. Just as I picked up the road into the hamlet of Priddis, it was as though someone above read my mind, and the curtain of fog before me opened. I have to tell you that the vistas along the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies were to die for. The Rockies looked stunning along with the hoarfrost that lie on all the trees in the surrounding area. I was like the proverbial kid in the candy store, as I shot photo after photo around every corner on the various backroads that I travelled in the Priddis and Millarville area.

About when I thought it could not get any better, I did a double-take as I rounded a corner on a backroad that I have not travelled before. As I drove past a gate to my right, I sort of noticed this trashy looking travel-trailer situated on a small rise just off of the road. I had not travelled more than 50 meters or so when a light-bulb came on in my head. I came to a abrupt stop, and throwing my truck into reverse, I backed down the road to the gate that marked the lane leading up to this down and out spread.

 At this point, I should explain that one of the few TV shows I watch is a series on CBC on Sunday night called "Heartland" and is filmed in the Priddis/Millarville area of Alberta. I always watch for the location that the series is shot from as I travel the backroads, but without any success. Well, that is until now as I had just stumbled on to a part of the set. This trailer is where one of the characters lives in the series, and is seen in almost every episode. In the series "Heartland", the character "Caleb" has been given the boot by his girlfriend Ashley, who now lives in his trailer. I have to say that on this morning and with all the hoarfrost, my photo of this trashy trailer blows away the one seen in the series of "Heartland". Of course, in the series "Heartland", Caleb's dually pick-up and his girl-friends hot-pink Mustang are normally parked out front. That's ok, I'll take my hoarfrost version.