Sad Sunrise

This sad little farmhouse leans a little more every year.

Near Beasejour, Manitoba.

- Steve Boyko

St. John Evangelist Fidelity Ukrainian Catholic Church

Dale Redekopp was kind enough to send this. This is northeast of Myrnam, Alberta. When he and Lynn Redekopp were there some seniors were working on the grounds and let them have a look inside. One of the problems is that as time goes on there are less people caring for rural churches.

Crownest Mountain

Made it out for a day trip today. After a few weeks of staying at home, going to work, then back home it felt good to be out. This was taken at Frank, Alberta today.

Daresbury School

When I first saw this I thought it was a church. It is an old one room schoolhouse. There is a sign on the tower that states the name of the school and that it was built in 1903. It is on a steel deck in preparation for a move elsewhere. I am thinking that someone or some organization is going to restore it.

Spotted this by chance southeast of Camrose, Alberta.

Your one stop shop for bale posts

You cannot get this kind of content just anywhere.

The lone tree post

I probably do too much of this kind of thing however I like this kind of thing.

Spring is arriving in fits and starts. We get some nice weather, then a dusting of snow, then some indecisive weather. Events that are currently affecting us will be over soon. People will be yearning to get back to normal. I want to take a quick trip to somewhere on Sunday to enjoy the sun and take advantage of the low gas prices.

Empress Laundry

The old laundry in Empress, Alberta.

Difficult to make out but the sign reads:
Empress Laundry.
Cleaning Pressing.

Seems like a luxury now.

- Michael Truman

Past Presence Website

Bud's Tire Shop

A "Firestone" advertisement painted on the side of a stone and brick building in downtown Helena, Montana. Look at all that texture!

- Michael Truman

Past Presence Website

The abandoned collective

Dale Redekopp generously sent me a collection of abandoned houses that he has run across in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

A splash of colour

The start of spring is always drab here. The backroads are becoming soft with the melting snow. There are not yet any signs of greenery. World events kind of add to the mood. Everything seems a bit grey.

It is nice to see colour in an unexpected place. Spring will come and with it a sense of renewal that every spring brings. With spring, colour will once again come to the world. Colour means life.

The church collective

I thought I would post some of the churches I have run across in the past couple of years.

I like to find churches in rural out of the way areas. It makes it more interesting roaming the countryside and discovering one.

An important message for my readers

No matter how weird things get this blog will continue to post bales.

Six Pack

A handsome stack of bales near Fidelity, Alberta.

- Michael Truman

Past Presence Website

Abandoned Alberta

Spotted this near Richfield, Alberta.

Rural sign

I like this one. It has character.

I might have lost five pounds . . .

Thank you to everyone who reads this blog and replied to my posts. I am greatly heartened that things are relatively normal with people like me.

With the current weird situation going on in the world right now I, like everyone else, have changed some of my daily habits.

I liked to have a glass of wine or a beer or two after work. I largely quit doing that. If I am staying in place I do not want to have a drink to pass the time. Doing that could become a habit to deal with the boredom. I have also been brown bagging it more and more and cut out a lot of fatty foods and have been eating more salad. I could use some more exercise. Out of curiosity I stepped on the scale this morning and think I dropped a few pounds.

Silver linings.

Barn time!

Near Cherhill, Alberta.

I would like to hear from you

I am curious about how things are in your corner of the internet. This is a sincere request. I do not trust the media and I genuinely want to know how people are doing. What is the current situation like where you are?

To clarify, when I say I do not trust the media I am not a conspiracy type. I do not believe what is being reported is accurate. Everyday life seems a lot different from what the media says.

Except for the doom and gloom and shutdowns, things in my neck of the woods are relatively normal. The run on groceries I think hit its peak on the weekend. I say this for a few reasons. For those that went out and bought a few months worth of groceries they will not be doing that again right away. If you buy a bunch of groceries you have to have someplace to put them. You would likely run out of freezer space and storage space quickly after a repeat visit to the store. Also I think the scare factor will wear off soon.

Stores here were close to stripped. Toilet paper is making a comeback with restrictions on the amount you can purchase. A Canadian internet buy/sell site is banning any ads for those posting sales for toilet paper and disinfectant wipes. I think it is reprehensible for people to profit off situations like this. I stopped at a local grocery store yesterday to pick up a few things and the store was reasonably well stocked. Meat was in short supply, no coffee cream, and no toilet paper. There was enough of everything else. I might lose weight during this time.

A lot of schools are closed. Gas prices took a sharp drop which might be a good thing.

I am doing okay for now. I go to work, like most people. I just go home after work simply because I that is what I regularly do. I refuse to listen to news on television or the radio while this is going on. I would go somewhere on the weekend however a lot of hotels are shutting down.

Most people I talk to do not see anything in day to day life that warrants a crisis of this magnitude. So far there are four deaths in British Columbia and one in Ontario. Anyway, I would like to know how things are where you are.

Stewartfield School 1923

No sign or marker on this one. It is an old school south of Barrhead, Alberta. A thank you to Dale Redekopp is warranted as he sent me the location on this one.

It is sitting in a farmyard so I am thinking it got used as a granary or for storage at one time in the past.

Mosside Holy Cross Catholic Church 1916

South of Barrhead, Alberta.

This happened again

I was at work and one of our clients called. She is an older lady and I discussed her file with her and gave her the information she needed. During the call she interrupted me to say that I have a voice for radio and I should really be on a radio station.

The amusing thing is that I have been told this many times in the past. Once when I was at my drycleaner and talking to him and his wife, who I had known for years who both owned and operated the business, a guy walked in, listened to the conversation for a minute, then  interrupted to say to me "You, (slight pause) you have a voice for radio." I politely thanked him and said I do not work in radio. Personally I have no idea how one goes about working in radio.

Hopefully I do not have a face for radio.  

Nick's Service Shop

This is where you used to take your car to be serviced in Andrew, Alberta.

- Michael Truman

Past Presence Website

Summer reminder

Alberta Canola field, July 2019.

Its the end of the world as we know it

Or not.

Who knows.

I usually trust the experts to be wrong.

I no longer care. Nothing is within my control anyway. I am confident all of this will blow over. My answer is to take a road trip this weekend. If it is the end of the world as least I will get to enjoy myself before the end hits.

Chahor Church

Near Smoky Lake, Alberta.