Abandoned Church in Larson

Have stopped in Larson several times over the years.  

This handsome, if neglected, old Lutheran Church is still holding its own.

A young hawk perched on top the spire...learning to fly. 

Photographed in Larson, North Dakota on September 14, 2023.

Holy Ascension at Wasel

The area between Smoky Lake and Two Hills is rich in Ukrainian pioneer heritage.  Holy Ascension Russo Orthodox Church and Cemetery near Wasel is one of many I like to visit when in the area. 

The churchyard is a mile and a half north of the North Saskatchewan River and covers about eleven acres of land, making it one of the larger churchyards I've seen in my travels.  In most cases, the cemetery is directly beside the church but here it is on a raised plateau five hundred feet northwest of the church...just a nice walk on a fall day.  I love the view across the cemetery, past the church and over the vast prairie landscape.    

In past times being a member of a church congregation was an important part of life for most everyone...

...and since there were only monthly services conducted at Holy Ascension, a little girl named Matushka Vasylyna Ungurian would walk barefoot with her family over four miles north to Saints Peter and Paul at Dickie Bush to worship most every other Sunday.

Not many years later and all grown up, she married Vasyl Ostashek at Holy Ascension.  They homesteaded, farmed and raised a family near the church...and later on in life Vasyl became an ordained priest and he and Matushka served Holy Ascension along with several other nearby temples for the rest of their natural lives.  

Then at the age of one hundred and five years, Matushka joined Vasyl, who had passed away twenty years earlier, at her home church of Holy Ascension.  God bless them.  I love a happy ending. 

Walking barefoot all those miles?  That was in order to save her "Sunday best shoes."

Information courtesy of the Canadian Orthodox History Project.

Photographed near Wasel, Alberta on September 19, 2021.

Farm House near Leeds

Large farm house, probably lots of kids and endless work on the farm.  

I wonder how often they had a chance to simply enjoy the view from the veranda?  Hope they made the time every once in a while.

Photographed near Leeds, North Dakota on September 16, 2023.

Madoc School

The former school in Madoc, Montana.

Had a nice visit with a father and son who were repairing a truck in their garage a little ways down the street.  

There's not much left in Madoc; some abandoned buildings, vehicles and machinery, a pair of old grain elevators, the train hasn't passed through town in decades...and that's just the way they like it.

I took my leave just as they were being called in for lunch by the head of the house.

Photographed on September 16, 2023.

Spring 2017

A flashback to mostly spring blooms...flowers make everything better, n'est pas?

May 21, 2017

A clump of buffalo beans alongside the highway just north of Simpson, Montana.  It's not spring without these cheery golden yellow blooms.  

May 28, 2017

At one time it was common to plant irises at the grave of a loved one...especially in country cemeteries on the prairies.  A lovely way of remembrance.  The grass was just barely turning green at Kincorth Lutheran Cemetery but these irises were already in full bloom.  They're tough and hardy. 

   

June 2, 2017

Fleabane is a native plant throughout the prairies.  This clump of happy white flowers was just outside the entrance to the Empress Cemetery.  The town of Empress is in Alberta, but the Empress Cemetery is just across the border in Saskatchewan.  

June 11, 2017

I'd stopped in Hilda, Alberta to take a few shots of the grain elevator and while doing so, came across this beautiful orange butterfly amongst the alfalfa flowers. 

June 17, 2017

If you're lucky enough to be traveling along Eagle Butte Road near Woolchester, Alberta at just the right time you'll be rewarded with the visual delight of these masses of pink flowers.  I always look forward to seeing "the pink fields" in full bloom.  I believe they are a species of vetch. 

 

June 21, 2017

A bee foraging in the blooms of a froebelii spirea in one of the gardens I tend in town.  Bees really are the busiest little guys.

June 24, 2017

Flowers and butterflies aren't the only spring delight...a doe with her fawns just across the lane from the Post Office where I pick up my mail.  The second fawn is hidden mostly behind mama deer.

June 24, 2017

A pincushion cactus flower on an acreage where I tend to some gardening.  The resulting fruit is sweet and delicious.  Leave some for the animals and birds...they need a treat every so often too.

June 28, 2017

The waxy yellow flower of the native prickly pear cactus.  I found this one high above the southern bank of the South Saskatchewan River in southern Alberta.

June 30, 2017

Bunchberries blooming in the Cypress Hills of Alberta.  They are the smallest variety of the dogwood species I've seen anywhere.  The unique four-petal flowers later develop into brilliant red berries that are enjoyed by a variety of wild animals and birds.

An interesting fact about bunchberries...when a bee or other insect lands on a flower it stimulates the flower to open at the incredible rate of half a millisecond...spreading the pollen at a few thousand times the force of gravity.  Imagine that.

Hope you enjoyed the somewhat belated spring tour of 2017.

Photographed in Montana, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Red-Winged Blackbird

Late afternoon near Lostwood, North Dakota.

This red-winged blackbird was trilling from his perch on top of a steel fence post.

Photographed on June 21, 2023.

Saint Paul's near Gros Ventre-Tothill

A long forgotten cemetery about ten miles northwest of the Cypress Hills in Alberta. 

 

It was active from 1914 to 1947 and, at one time, there was also a small church on the grounds.   

"Heaven is my home" reads the epitaph on this child's headstone.     

Saint Paul's Lutheran Cemetery near Gros Ventre-Tothill, Alberta was photographed on September 9, 2023.

Happy Orthodox New Year!

Almost forgot...Happy Orthodox New Year from Saint Michael's!

Even though it's late...a good bottle of champagne is in order.  Cheers!

Photographed near Rama, Saskatchewan on March 20, 2020.

Yellow-Headed Blackbird

It was late spring, the weather was beautiful and gardening duties were under control...time for a road trip.

Spent most days in North Dakota where they'd had lots of snow and spring rain.  That means all the ponds and sloughs were full of water, which in turn means a habitat for migrating birds.  Saw yellow-headed blackbirds just like this one in most every wetland I came across.  Good for them.

Photographed near Plumer, North Dakota on June 19, 2023.

Big Prairie Sky

We're currently in a deep freeze here in southern Alberta...definitely not good road trip weather.  So, in the meantime, here are a few pictures taken when it was good winter road trip weather.  

Gotta love the prairies...wide open spaces and an even bigger sky.

A five-minute drive will get me out of town and into the countryside.  Everyone should have that luxury.

Photographed near Winnifred, Alberta on January 28, 2017.