A little good news

My eighty-three year old aunt that was taken to the hospital with COVID on Sunday night is being released today.

Somewhere between Harptree and Viceroy, Saskatchewan

On a range road sits this great stone house. It is on private property. Shot from the road.

 

Time Stand Still

Alberta fall

 

Harptree, Saskatchewan 49.3115, -105.4209

I was here in August 2021. The really weird thing is that I could have sworn I had driven by this place before. I turns out I was never near here.

 

In the 1980’s the town had a population of four. A 120,000 bushel UGG (United Grain Growers) elevator was built here in 1982. It was torn down in 1997. The railway tracks are long gone. The population is currently zero.

 

All that remains is a one room schoolhouse. It operated from 1913 - 1966.

Rural art

Spotted somewhere near Richfield, Alberta.

 

Notified today the funeral is Friday

I rarely take photos of people. I prefer forgotten places and empty spaces. That needs to change. I only have a few photos of my friend Cliff LeGrow. This is from a motorcycle trip we did a few years ago.

Quick take - Pioneer Church

Just four kilometres west of Campsie, Alberta.

This is new

My mother lives in an apartment style two-bedroom condo in small town Alberta. She will be eighty this December. My aunt moved in with her about a year ago. Today I found out my aunt was taken to the hospital with COVID. She is quarantined and cannot have visitors. I spoke to her daughter and she thinks she will be fine.

Mom seems to be okay so far. I have not seen mom in person for about three weeks for various reasons. Mom is not vaccinated and I wish she was. Will see what happens.

Things can always get worse

Friday morning on my way to work my vehicle broke down again and stranded me.

Got it towed to the shop that repaired it last time. They admitted they screwed up and did not fix it right the last time causing this issue and they are eating the cost of this repair and they are paying my tow bill. With what I have been dealing with I do not want to say more about it. Lately events have been hard to take.

No news on if or when there is going to be a funeral for my friend. His parents and family are devastated. I have been hesitant to contact them. They have my number and I want to give them space.

I highly doubt he had a will. His wife is trying to find out where all the bills and accounts are. She had always left all of that up to him. Now she is trying to locate everything. I am not sure if he file taxes for years. Please, if you do not have a will, get one. Have your affairs somewhat in order. It matters.

I have some unexpected additional personal stuff that came up. Due to this I am not sure what posting will be like.

Late night tree post

 

Riverhurst, Saskatchewan Elevator

 

Fifty-six is too young

My friend lives in a very rural area. I knew he had COVID. I did not know he was that sick. For obvious reasons I had not seen him in person in a while.

Last night his wife called an ambulance. They performed CPR on him on his deck and took him to the hospital. He did not make it.

He leaves behind a wife and three kids that he loved. For the last few years it was hard to meet up with him. He worked four twelves and picked up as much overtime as offered. He worked as much as he could because he was concerned about the future.

Take some time to enjoy the time you have. Life is fleeting.

I am in shock

Just got word my best friend died from COVID.

This hurts. I do not have many friends. I always thought he would be here.

Random abandoned Saskatchewan

 

Random Fargo

 

September Leduc County, Alberta

 

Linkage

glenbowe.home.blog/2021/08/28/two-old-stone-houses/

And now for something completely different

Earlier this year as an experiment I printed some photos and posted them on Facebook Marketplace to see if anyone wanted to buy one. The price was low so I thought it would be an easy sell. Anyway there were no takers which does a lot for one's ego.

So if anyone wants the following 12"x18" photo for free I will mail it to you. Email me your address. If this works I may resort to this method to get rid some other ones I printed.

Update: Photo has been claimed.

Maxstone, Saskatchewan August, 2021

The last time I was here was July 2020 and it was pouring rain. This time it was a nice day and I got a few photos with some sun.

Church and school is all that is left of the original town.

Remembering Norm

Norm MacDonald died this last week. I do not know why but his death bothered me. I was a fan of his stuff. I spent a lot of time these last few days re-watching his stuff on the internet and on Netflix. 

Sixty-one is too young.

I got the shot

Pfizer. September 3, 2021. 

I am able to get the second one the first week in October. I felt fatigued for about four days. No discernible side effects.

I am not pro or con on this matter. I did it because I want to travel internationally one of these days. I waited this long because I am reasonably healthy and there are lots of people that I figured could get it before me if they needed it. I knew there would be shortages and some of the vaccines manufactured would fall out of favour. I waited until I knew which ones would win out and waited until there were no shortages. These days they offer to bribe you to sign up for it.

This topic is a sensitive matter. I am surprised that people I know and people that I am related to have become believers in conspiracies. Personally I believe that most people in a group cannot organize a trip to the washroom let alone a conspiracy. It is a bit amusing and a bit frightening to see how people I thought were rational show otherwise.

I am not out to convince or advocate for anyone to get the vaccine. I believe in individual freedom and choice. You do what is best for you.

Sometimes I cannot find an adequate title for a post

A few weeks ago while working on my blog on my laptop the view somehow got changed where it shows that when I am trying to post it is in HTML View instead of Compose View and I cannot get it back to the regular view. I have no issues with trying to post with my iPad or Surface. I cannot seem to fix the problem on my laptop.

About six weeks ago I changed my truck for an SUV. I loved the truck but I was going to need something more convenient. One of these days I might have to drive mom somewhere and a different vehicle with some creature comforts would be easier. Coming back from visiting I was about twenty kilometres from where I live and the SUV suffered mechanical failure and stranded me. I bought it used, had it checked out, took it on a couple of trips to Saskatchewan and was generally happy with it. Everything worked until it did not. The next day I had it towed to a shop. I really do not want to get into specifics other than fixing it was not cheap. In the meantime I got my winter beater out of storage so I could remain mobile.

Over ten days ago my best friend that I have known since high school informed me via text that he was positive for COVID.  He works shift work, usually four twelves. Getting our schedules to match up is hit and miss and I had not seen him in person all that recently. There was a report of COVID at his kid’s school and he thinks he might have caught it from them. I jokingly said that since he has it I should start taking applications and interviewing for a new friend in case he did not survive. This was days ago.

Last Sunday night, after the SUV stranding me, I got the shills and cold sweats that continued into Monday. Tuesday I was a lot better and have been getting better through the week. I picked up a cold from somewhere. I do not have COVID although I did recently get the shot at the beginning of September. That has caused some friction with a family member.

New COVID restrictions were announced for Alberta. I really been discouraged about planning any trips.

Last Thursday I received a text that I did not read until Friday morning. My phone was charging and I had ignored it for the night. In the morning I grabbed my coffee mug, turned on my coffeemaker, and checked my phone. His wife sent me a text from his phone saying she took him to emergency Thursday night. I read that and felt horrible. I phoned later in the morning and found out that they gave him IV fluids and were releasing him later in the day. He was dehydrated. He was deemed well enough to fight COVID at home. I was able to talk to him that evening. He sounds like someone suffering from a nasty flu. I doubt that he will be back at work anytime soon. The only funny thing about it is that he is on vacation.

I have been doing very little these last ten days. 

A Little R&B

Some R&B.

That's "Road and Bales."

Photographed somewhere near North Battleford, Saskatchewan.

- Michael Truman

Past Presence Website

Cypress School

About six miles north of Elkwater, Alberta just off Highway 41. Quite a small school.

South of Scout Lake, Saskatchewan, eight kilometres east on Highway 705 and then four and one half kilometres south is

Grand Valley Lutheran Church 1911.

Highway 705 is a gravel  highway. This is truly rural. It is a beautiful church on a hill with nothing nearby. If it does not see regular service it looks like it can at any time.

One more Sunday photo

 

Random Sunday photo

 

The windmill post

Trying something a little different.

Cataraqui School 1904 - 1960

About twenty five minutes south of Moose Jaw in rural Saskatchewan. The last bit of road to get here has a sign that says "ROAD IMPASSABLE WHEN WET". The remaining stretch of road to get here is dirt so a bit of moisture would make it interesting to drive.

Post out of left field

 

Maxim, Saskatchewan

Not able to find much information on this place. I went to see the long abandoned grain elevator only to find it is now right on someone's farmland and not accessible. I shot it from the road. I would have asked at the farm if I could get closer however farmers are usually very busy at this time of year so I did not bother. I did not see anyone around either.

I think the place was founded about 1913. There was a post office that operated until 1970. There was a store and school. A small well kept cemetery is close by. It ceased being a town long ago. 

Abandoned Saskatchewan

Trying something a little different.

This is near what once was Harptree, Saskatchewan.