Beauty in a tree branch

While sorting through some boxes, I found this photograph I had taken in my days of being a for-hire photographer. I didn't do as well at that job as I would have liked, mostly because I didn't have very expensive photography equipment in the 1990s - being a struggling creative artist and all that. Hmmm... that's still the case actually, but I digress.

Nowadays, most of us carry a cellphone camera that surpasses the camera, lenses and lights I carried in boxes then.

I fell in love with photography when I learned about it in journalism school in the early 1970s. I even had a darkroom in the basement bathroom of one of my homes in the '80s. The bathroom was specifically built so no light came in to disrupt my developing skills (literally and figuratively). That's likely the place where I developed the roll of film and printed this photo of wintertime tree branches.

I love this photographic reminder that beauty surrounds us, often in unexpected places ... such as when you look up after a lunch break while delivering books to a shop in Emerald Park, SK - as in my photo below from earlier this winter!

Hoarfrost-covered Winter Wonderland

Although fog can lead to some serious traffic accidents, the mist in the winter air of the Canadian Prairies can lead to hoarfrost - ice crystals forming on wet surfaces - and some beautiful scenery.

Yesterday, we took a short stroll in Wascana Park, which at 2,300 acres is larger than New York's 843-acre Central Park. The park includes the Saskatchewan Legislative Building, University of Regina buildings, and City of Regina buildings. It has a unique tripartite operating structure.

The Legislative Building is undergoing reconstruction, so we concentrated our walk on an area to the east of that grand building, overlooking Wascana Lake.

Here are some photos of the hoarfrost-covered scenery. Enjoy!

This is likely the last blog I'll post in 2014, so we hope you have a wonderful holiday season.

These 'NOEL' candle holders have been in my husband's family for decades.

Al's dad began teasing Al's mom years ago by convincing our children to occasionally rearrange the letters to spell 'LEON' instead of 'NOEL'. 

Sometimes it would take awhile before Mom noticed, and our children and their grandpa would eagerly watch for a reaction any time Mom came into the room where the misspelled Christmas greeting was waiting for her.

When Mom finally saw the changed letters, she would inevitably act annoyed and ask, "Who changed these letters?"

Then Dad and the kids would giggle at their shared silliness.

Our adult children still pull that stunt on their grandma, and we look forward to it happening again this Christmas season, fondly remembering Al's dad in the process.

So from our home to yours this Christmas ...

... Joyeux Leon!