Past Presence

Monday, July 26, 2021

Let's Get High

People enjoying a balloon ride over Medicine Hat, Alberta.

Photographed on July 12, 2021.

Sunday, July 25, 2021

Українська греко-православна церква святої Марії

Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Mary.

Blues crosses in glass and a turquoise archway...the handmade wrought iron fence really "sets the scene."

Not sure if the church is still in regular use...

...but it's well maintained. I'm sure there is an occasional wedding, funeral or baptism performed here.

This triptych of windows under the alcove would be just above the altar. Imagine the morning light streaming through the blue coloured glass.

Beside the church is a gray marble sign in both Ukrainian and English. A relatively new building...1956 wasn't all that long ago.

Looking up at the beautifully designed dome and cupolas.

Photographed in Nipawin, Saskatchewan on November 27, 2020.

Saturday, July 24, 2021

July 24 Part 2 - William and Mary

Sunset...

...and sunrise.

William and Mary Trischuk were my maternal grandparents. They were both born in Ukraine and immigrated individually to Canada in the early 1900's.

Didn't really get a chance to know them in any meaningful way...my loss.

Though I've been told I look much like a "Truman," I feel much more like a "Trischuk." Each of mom's family members had elusive and captivating personalities...impossible to pin down and always left one wondering. Family was an art.

Headstones photographed at Woodlawn Cemetery in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on October 12 and 13, 2020. Thank you to the unknown photographer of "William and Mary."

July 24 Part 1 - Frank and Hilma

The headstones of my paternal grandparents in the Halbrite Cemetery.

Frank Oskar was actually born in 1874 (not in 1876 as shown on the marker).

Both he and Hilma Louise were born in Sweden and immigrated to Canada via Illinois, U.S.A. Both were gone long before I was born.

This looks like a wedding day photo to me...the young and hopeful Frank and Hilma Truman.

Didn't really connect with members of the Truman family...simply didn't feel part of the clan. Not sure what to make of that.

Headstones photographed near Halbrite, Saskatchewan on October 17, 2017. Thank you to the unknown photographer of "Frank and Hilma."

Friday, July 23, 2021

Friday Morning with Daisy

Went to Daisy's house to do some weeding and ended up playing fetch half the time. Rather a nice way to spend a Friday morning if I do say so myself.

Photographed in Medicine Hat, Alberta on July 23, 2021.

Maple Green S.D. No. 28

A brick school in the R.M. of Abernathy, Saskatchewan.

The building is completely surrounded by trees.

Just left of centre is the front door.

A side view.

My favorite shot...bright spring light at work on the freshly unfurled leaves.

Photographed on May 18, 2021.

Thursday, July 22, 2021

Saint Mary's near Endeavour

Saint Mary's Ukrainian Church and Cemetary near Endeavour, Saskatchewan.

Just inside the gate. Look at all the animal tracks in the snow.

A side view.

The little cupola is confidently pointing straight towards heaven.

In the background surrounded by trees...

...is the bell tower.

A small grouping of gravestones.

The graveyard dates back over a hundred years and is still is use.

On my way back to the church I noticed that all those animal tracks lead right to this hole under the front doors...

...and then on my way back to the car was this skunk burrowing in the snow.

I would never have known about this one if a local hadn't stopped to have a chat while I was taking photos of another church in the area. That encounter led me to following him back to his mom's house...he was off to work but his mom and I had an amiable visit while enjoying a fresh cup of coffee accompanied by her delicious homemade oatmeal cookies. Some history and a few laughs later I was off again, but this time with a zip-lock bag of full of those homemade cookies. The kindness of strangers, chance encounters...I'm all for it.

Photographed on March 19, 2020.