Uploads from PrairieEyes, tagged rural

In-Spired

nobody@flickr.com (PrairieEyes) — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:13:29 -0700

"Then I'll dream about churches, with great tall spires. Cathedrals and candles, chimneys and choirs" (The Waterboys lyrics, All the Things She Gave Me)

Timing and serendipity are components in my camera kit that often trump my proper technical intentions. Fortunately I'd stumbled across a popular 1911 small rural collapsed church in ruins within the hamlet of Laura, Saskatchewan.
Her lifespan is down to 24 hours advises the hard working trio of contractors, the crew ready to knock down that final remaining tower steeple. It was moved closer to a 'catalogue assembled house' for final reclamation and demolition. The roof collapsed in 2011. Time for the recyling bins.

"Take anything you'd like, splintered wood memorabilia, frames, or spires. An artisan painter historian who lives a few kms away has spoken for two of the spires, they'll end up in a garden arrangement".

Sizing up the SUV, and doing some quick Galileo geometry calculations those spires are larger than first appear. How will I remember this historical moment, through imagery or reclaimed souvenirs of decorative symbolic significance. I'm torn between bungee cords and the surreal circumstances of the discovery. I suddenly feel in-spired.

[Laura is a hamlet in Montrose Rural Municipality 315, Saskatchewan, Canada. The hamlet is located southwest of Saskatoon along Highway 7 and Canadian National Railway Saskatoon-Rosetown stub.]

*Please view LARGE for best rural Saskatchewan detail~
**Textures courtesy of various sources on Flickr
***Thank You for visiting~

Winds of Change

nobody@flickr.com (PrairieEyes) — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 23:35:49 -0700

PrairieEyes posted a photo:

"All the really good ideas I ever had came to me while I was milking a cow." (Grant Wood)

Other that escalating fuel prices, early summer is coaxing abundant adventures on our Southern prairies from Alberta towards Saskatchewan. That brings a certain anxiety, the digital clock is ticking. I'm certain covering many of the potential ideas in my loosely constructed travel diary is far-fetched and debatable, as I'm primarily a weekend photographer. And I'm reminded, yes I have a book to create.

The Hallonquist school house was active from 1946-1968, however June 26th, 2012 a tornado destroyed most of the weathered structure and many other remaining buildings within this ghost town. Fortunately I'd been through a previous trip, and pulled from those archives. The "Heyday" as described through Wikipedia leaves a sad frog in the ole throat. Well, hardly a suitable swimming hole for frogs, but armies of grasshoppers chirping in the wind.

[Hallonquist is a hamlet in Coulee Rural Municipality No. 136, Saskatchewan, Canada. The hamlet is located on Highway 363 about 21 km (13 mi) west of Hodgeville. In 2006, Hallonquist had a population of 15 living in 11 dwellings.

In its heyday Hallonquist had two general stores, two restaurants, a blacksmith shop, a shoe repair shop, a lumber yard, two livery barns, a butcher shop, a pool hall, a barber shop, three oil agencies, three machine agencies and three elevators. Today, all that remains of the community is the Evangelical Lutheran Church. Also, every year Hallonquist has their amateur rodeo, a get-together for most of that area, including Swift Current.]

Video courtesy of Donald Malcolm Wilson
www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4fJJnxeux4

*Please view LARGE for best rural Saskatchewan detail~
**Textures courtesy of various sources on Flickr
***Thank You for your generous support, visits, comments, favourites, and galleries.

Emblem Attic

nobody@flickr.com (PrairieEyes) — Fri, 24 May 2013 12:44:52 -0700

PrairieEyes posted a photo:

Emblematic [adjective….serving a a symbol of a particular quality or concept]

"There is no harm in repeating a good thing." (Plato)

"In cities of course, you lock doors, windows, rooftops, businesses, and vehicles tight" the owner wryly suggested while I externally photographed his workshop/garage.

"It's generally the case in rural-ville we all know each other, and lending or borrowing equipment to the neighbour is a given. So we leave everything unlocked, houses and vehicles."

I felt a bit uneasy with a comical grin, realizing I'd just locked my Jeep 50 ft from the property. We're inundated with electronic gadgetry (cameras gear, tablets, computers, iPods etc) that unsavoury roving eyes would enjoy owning back in the city shopping centre parking lot.

"Would it be problematic if I snooped inside this characterful museum".

"Have at er' son, wait till you see what's stored in the attic".

*Please view LARGE for best rural Alberta detail~
**Textures courtesy of various sources on Flickr
***Thank You for your generous support, visits, comments, favourites, and galleries.

Target Practice

nobody@flickr.com (PrairieEyes) — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:03:37 -0700

PrairieEyes posted a photo:

"Swing low my accurate archery archaic adventurists." [tc]

Rural oddities and abandoned swing sets. Two visual items targeted on my Prairie wish list. However, it's rare I find a makeshift archery range a stones throw from nowhere. Today combat paintball facilities are all the rage.

Only by getting closer did I realize the deer mannequins were frozen in time, and not hypnotized creatures. I was now the photographic hunter.

Weathered swing sets constructed from frayed rope and slat boards usually tug at my imagination. Makeshift playgrounds seemingly sheltered from urban influence and slick groomed city parks, plunked in the overgrown prairie grasses. Now that's a bullseye for the simpler pleasures.

For those celebrating the Canadian Victoria Day May Long weekend…..enjoy and travel safely~

*Please view LARGE for best rural Alberta detail
**Textures courtesy of various sources on Flickr
***Thank You for your generous support, visits, comments, favourites, and galleries.

Worts n All

nobody@flickr.com (PrairieEyes) — Sun, 05 May 2013 11:01:15 -0700

PrairieEyes posted a photo:

"You don't know what light feels or how its thinking goes. You do know this is where it's most at home. On the plains where you were born, there are no mountains to turn it back, no forest for it to shoulder through." [Lorna Crozier…..first cause: light]

I'm taking you back to the crime scene from a recent image "Nuts and Bolts". Take a step further and the view is different. You'll seldom have multitudes of elements to consider for composition with prairie photography, primarily it's the light that holds your attention, the mind plays dusty tricks as your curiosity suggests it's superior down that "other" gravel road, and the long way home becomes another excuse to prolong the day.

It's larger than your visual container, you'll chase endlessly and never catch. You might as well sit tight, sip a tea and make the rounds through the wind swept grasses. A step here, or there and the view changes again.

Wishing everyone a weekend of interesting perspectives~

*Please view LARGE for best rustic Alberta rural detail
**Textures courtesy of various sources on Flickr
***Thank You for your generous support, visits, comments, favourites, and galleries.

Camouflage

nobody@flickr.com (PrairieEyes) — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 08:30:19 -0700

PrairieEyes posted a photo:

"She was camera shy, and when grilled about this reticence, it was simply a case of modern advances in transportation overshadowing the past" [TC]

A reoccurring theme throughout my rural travels is transportation, discovering those remaining bygone antiques that are tucked away in old garages, backyards, and down back-alleys. Seldom found in villages on Main Street , this charming "ride" was loaded onto a small trailer, ready for a trip somewhere, someplace…..barely in a hurry. It'll require plenty of work by automotive wizards and mechanics for a complete restoration. Ah, yes…..breathing new life into the shiny patina.

A few strut their flashy chrome and lavish paint schemes during hot summer car show n shines, resuscitated from a previous life lost within the weeds of timezones and backroads.

Wishing Everyone a rejuvenated weekend~

*Please view LARGE for best rural Alberta detail~
**Textures courtesy of various sources on Flickr
***Thank You for your generous support, visits, comments, favourites, and galleries.

[Empress is a village located along the Alberta/Saskatchewan border; in southern Alberta 121 kilometres (75 mi) north of Medicine Hat. The town was named, in 1913, for Queen Victoria, who was also Empress of India.[3] In the past known as the "Hub of the West" connected major cities together by Canadian Pacific Railway.

It is located at the confluence of Red Deer River and South Saskatchewan River, at an elevation of 650 metres (2,130 ft). It is connected to Buffalo Trail by Highway 899 and Highway 562.
In the 2011 Census, the Village of Empress had a population of 188 living in 69 of its 73 total dwellings, a 38.2% change from its 2006 population of 136.]

Nuts and Bolts

nobody@flickr.com (PrairieEyes) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 11:33:42 -0700

PrairieEyes posted a photo:

"You can't put in a nickel and expect a dollar tune"

Bygone "Time" machinery and rust sits unattended and unadorned in many select locations across the prairies, and with winter finally melting away in Southern Alberta, these hidden oddities are popping up once again. I don't always jump to the camera bag on arrival, preferring to commune with familiar surroundings, enjoying the privilege of having another seasons "nuts and bolts" to tighten and reassemble. A sort of visual exercise that always challenges.

These are old friends, time machines that seldom count those seconds.

Wishing Everyone a weekend of time well spent~

*Please view LARGE for best rustic Alberta rural detail
**Textures courtesy of various sources on Flickr
***Thank You for your generous support, visits, comments, favourites, and galleries.

Seedling

nobody@flickr.com (PrairieEyes) — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 13:04:11 -0700

PrairieEyes posted a photo:

"I'm a little worried about my brother; he thinks he's a chicken."

Counselor: "Have you thought about getting him some help?"

Woody Allen: "I've considered that, but we need the eggs."

If my memory serves me correctly, not all that far down a quiet Alberta country road, I'd planted some seeds for my imagination to revisit, while recalling winters magic also lingered. These seeds could generate new growth, a visual nest egg of sorts to hatch when least expected. Wishing all my Flickr friends inspiration wherever you might venture.

*Please view LARGE for best Alberta rural detail
**Textures courtesy of various sources on Flickr
***Thank You for your generous support, visits, comments, and favourites

The amazing Sweet Charlotte free stock image courtesy of ms.bailey {Thank You Mary}

Pulling Out Stops

nobody@flickr.com (PrairieEyes) — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 09:52:00 -0800

PrairieEyes posted a photo:

Pulling Out Stops

"My ideas have undergone a process of emergence by emergency. When they are needed badly enough, they are accepted.” [Richard Buckminster Fuller]

The past couple days we're setting record temperatures for early March in Southern Alberta, topping 14C. With snow cover obliterated, the back roads have their own set of soft ground rules and muddy conditions. Caution exercised for some rural Range Roads/Townships and homesteads.

This Dodge emergency services {tow truck} sleeping in Ernfold breaths countless stories of those needing rescue from precarious driving conditions, mechanical failure, and perhaps that late appointment to the community grocery store or hair salon.

I hope you're pulling out all photographic stops this weekend. Enjoy~

*Please view LARGE for best Saskatchewan rural detail
**Textures courtesy of various sources on Flickr
***Thank You for your generous support, visits, comments, and favourites

[Ernfold is a village located between the lanes of the #1 highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, population 35]

Lost Years

nobody@flickr.com (PrairieEyes) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 14:34:38 -0800

PrairieEyes posted a photo:

"The Bamboo Tree that bends, is stronger than the Oak Tree that resists"

During my rural Saskatchewan trips, it's increasingly common to find the early nineteen-hundred wooden constructed churches converted into alternative practical projects. From renovated living quarters, to an occasional gift shop, a wood working facility, relocation, or forgotten storage.

Sometimes I pull a story from the owners, while others remain private. These are vanishing ways within these diminishing rural communities, where once upon a time folks gathered together for companionship and worship. I can't begin to describe the moments of reflection when I ask myself who, what, when?

*Please view LARGE for best Saskatchewan rural detail
**Textures courtesy of various sources on Flickr
***Thank You for your generous support, visits, comments, and favourites

[Ernfold is a village located between the lanes of the #1 highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, population 35]

Terminus

nobody@flickr.com (PrairieEyes) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 11:53:15 -0800

PrairieEyes posted a photo:

Melancholy were the sounds on a winter's night.” {Virginia Woolf)

Following a series (see Nest Egg and Second Hand Lions) captured during a refreshing yet very brief 30 minute December 'last light' shoot in the village of Ernfold, Saskatchewan. I sensed this was the Automotive Garage/Hub where vehicles received TLC, nearby a snow covered tow-truck sits lonely and forgotten.

I may have embellished smaller details.

*Please view LARGE for best Saskatchewan rural detail
**Textures courtesy of various sources on Flickr
***Thank You for your generous support, visits, comments, and favourites

[Ernfold is a village located between the lanes of the #1 highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, population 35]

Second Hand Lions

nobody@flickr.com (PrairieEyes) — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 11:34:39 -0800

PrairieEyes posted a photo:

Melancholy were the sounds on a winter's night.” {Virginia Woolf)

A return to a series (see Nest Egg) captured during a refreshing yet very brief 30 minute December 'last light' shoot in the village of Ernfold, Saskatchewan. Once a meeting place for the local Lion's Club chapter and other histories, it's also designated as a community Centennial Project and Heritage building.

I may have embellished small details.

*Please view LARGE for best Saskatchewan rural detail
**Textures courtesy of various sources on Flickr
***Thank You for your generous support, visits, comments, and favourites

[Ernfold is a village located between the lanes of the #1 highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, population 35]

Nest Egg

nobody@flickr.com (PrairieEyes) — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 11:51:47 -0800

PrairieEyes posted a photo:

A sleepy village in Saskatchewan not far from Moose Jaw caught my attention recently during a trip to Regina, heavy snow had plugged up the street corridors. A local chap and resident snow plow operator was clearing the way for two wheel drive cars to make their way up and down the undulating streets in Ernfold.

You would well imagine this was the local Home Depot before the "franchise business world" defined our way of living. There are several remnants and reminders around the village, just to the left of Eagle's Nest Contracting is a perfectly functioning Coke machine, nearby closed permanently a converted church, Lion's Club, car dealership and outdoor skating rink gazing up and down the street.

I dropped a loonie into the Coke machine, chatted with the snow removal specialist about his Christmas supper plans, he was thinking about the Boxing Day sales hours away. He'd need to leave this quiet place, and filter with crowds of shoppers. The Saskatchewan snow and frost was pristine, and I'd have plenty of time for accumulating merchandise later. There was more rural investigating down the visual highway.

*Please view LARGE for best Saskatchewan rural detail
**Textures courtesy of various sources on Flickr
***Thank You for your generous support, visits, comments, and favourites

[Ernfold is a village located between the lanes of the #1 highway in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, population 35]

Second Hand

nobody@flickr.com (PrairieEyes) — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 11:33:47 -0800

PrairieEyes posted a photo:

Those photographic voices called me to a secret location in Southern Alberta over the weekend, plenty of fresh snow had give back the pristine prairie that was depleting before my eyes from warm chinook winds.

There was a tangible presence from this fading memory that exists very isolated from ordinary surroundings. Not a neighbour in sight, nor anything to cling to. The door and windows gently whispered. It was a solemn space, and one that I'll not forget.

Time moves slowly during a winters Sunday hush, everything second hand seems timeless.

*Please view LARGE for best Alberta rural detail
**Textures courtesy of various sources on Flickr
***Thank You for your generous support, visits, comments, and favourites

****Stella Rose courtesy of ms.baily's photo stream, Thank you Mary~

Chesterfield Frost

nobody@flickr.com (PrairieEyes) — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 18:26:37 -0800

PrairieEyes posted a photo:

"Things do not exist until they begin to appear." (Humberto Maturana)

I've arrived at a sleepy and quiet ghost town called Mantario, Sask, the late winter sunlight is glistening off some frost gathering on trees sheltering an abandoned house, severely weathered and sadly forlorn.The sunlight is bursting and energizing these white quilt feathers. I have about 30 minutes of light to work with.

"Would you like to buy it" a voice echoes from a Chevy pickup truck.

The young fellow rolling down his window is referring to a snow covered 1970's muscle car missing a few key parts only a few steps away, near an abandoned automotive garage that closed in 2007.

"We have plenty of these old Camaro's stored away, ready for restoration. They're all for SALE. Are you interested."

I ask how many residents live in this slumbering Hamlet, he says three others including himself.

Later I wander over to a worn down 1925 Nazarene church converted into a woodworking shop by the resident living side by side.
A knock on the Jeep window, the friendly owner of the church standing outside is wondering what brought me to his doorstep. He's a skilled artisan, crafting with wood, his studio an inspiring piece of history.

I suddenly realize light is fading and I've met half the residents. I'll need to return and meet the whole community one day. It shouldn't take long.

[Mantario is a hamlet in Chesterfield Rural Municipality No. 261 in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The population was 10 people in 2001. The hamlet is located 70 km southwest of the town of Kindersley on highway 44]

*Please view LARGE for best rural Saskatchewan detail
**Textures courtesy of various sources on Flickr
**Thank You for your generous support, visits, comments, and favourites

Buck Choy

nobody@flickr.com (PrairieEyes) — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 19:42:57 -0700

PrairieEyes posted a photo:

I've been pondering about 'safety' lately within the direction of our personal ARTwork, or blitzing across open prairie spaces in Fall with camera slung in hand. As well as seasonal changes announcing October, hunting season in Alberta is beginning to open in select areas. The landscape provides plenty of camouflage given the variety of hues in thick trees and dense scrub brush.

Given the time of year, I couldn't recreate a safer place than the local diner or restaurant within these small rural hamlets and villages. It's not always the case you'll find lunch/supper anywhere. And don't ask if deer sausage is on the menu, it leaves everyone feeling nervous. The vegetable dishes are fine to fuel your next adventure. Play it safe!

*Please view LARGE for best rural Alberta detail
**Textures courtesy of various sources on Flickr
***Thank You for your generous support, visits, comments, favourites, and galleries.

Double mOOn

nobody@flickr.com (PrairieEyes) — Tue, 25 Sep 2012 22:08:59 -0700

PrairieEyes posted a photo:

"People with glass pumpkins shouldn't throw gourds"

I don't know whether it was a collaboration while I was driving a back road South of the city, admiring the lush coulee gorges when these two characters decided to block my frame. I started chatting them up, suggesting what position would best compliment my composition. While driving home thinking about spiced lattes, I felt like a complete pumpkin, realizing I'd probably imagined the whole event.

A generously late warm September in Southern Alberta is slowly rolling away, while glowing orange balls are appearing in market centres everywhere. There's a particular comfort about that, the month of ghoulish ideas is merely a lanterns throw away.

*Please view LARGE for best rural Alberta detail
**Textures courtesy of various sources on Flickr
***Thank You for your generous support, visits, comments, favourites, and galleries.

Key to Curfew

nobody@flickr.com (PrairieEyes) — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 00:03:33 -0700

PrairieEyes posted a photo:

I'm knee deep in rural Saskatchewan during an afternoon road trip in a tiny hamlet (most are tiny) called Candiac, and my mind turns to curfews. Wandering photographers really don't think about these issues, but this historic facia with decorative elements must have kept decent hours with its swaggering style.

Suddenly a quad machine appears from nowhere along the gravel roads, I hear a voice as a fellow with hard working hands extends a friendly handshake, offering me keys to the city. "Go visit the sturdy brick church, you look like a history buff, the doors are open. Downstairs you'll find all kinds of old photographs outlining this once thriving community. Wander at your leisure."

I could sort of get used to this lifestyle of photography without schedules.

*Please view LARGE for best rural Saskatchewan detail
**Textures courtesy of various sources on Flickr
***Thank You for your generous support, visits, comments, favourites, and galleries.

[Candiac is an organized hamlet located at the intersection of Highway 48 and Highway 617 in the southeast quadrant of Saskatchewan, Canada. It is directly south of Wolseley, and between Montmartre and Glenavon, approximately one hour's drive southeast of the provincial capital Regina. The population within the community's boundary is less than 50. Besides some bush on the northern end of the town, it is surrounded by open fields and pasture.]

Rush Seating

nobody@flickr.com (PrairieEyes) — Mon, 03 Sep 2012 11:36:43 -0700

PrairieEyes posted a photo:

"The arts make vivid the fact that words do not, in their literal form or number, exhaust what we can know. The limits of our language do not define the limits of our cognition." (Elliot W. Eisner)

Happy Labour Day, or Labor Day… North and South of the border!

While returning from a short rural road trip near the Saskatoon/Regina area my last stop was the small community of Rush Lake. A pair of gas pumps in full skeletal condition caught my attention, but most noticeable the overgrown trees seemed unusual. Were the leaves beginning that familiar rush to the exit, soon to fuel a sea of changing colours and combinations. A few hours back home hardly a hint of yellow.

I've decided rather than rush through this inevitable script, I'm hanging on to summer a few more weeks.

*Please view LARGE for best rural Saskatchewan detail
**Textures courtesy of various sources on Flickr
***Thank You for your generous support, visits, comments, favourites, and galleries.

[Rush Lake is a village in the south west part of Saskatchewan, Canada. Other towns in the area include Waldeck, Herbert, and the city of Swift Current. Located east of Swift Current, it's a small village with an approximate population of 50 people.]

Lemons to Fords

nobody@flickr.com (PrairieEyes) — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 21:08:22 -0700

PrairieEyes posted a photo:

We've been having a terrific run of hot weather (30C+) in Southern Alberta throughout these July and August months, a droplet of rain becoming the odd event. Needless to say, I've not been near the digital darkroom much, enjoying shorter day trips.

A view near the Lemsford Hall in Saskatchewan, although I don't know the particular use for this ramshackle structure with a quonset style elongated shape. I'm usually fortunate someone appears to provide the full background of these vanishing rural landscapes. It did offer some shade and time for a lunch break on the steps. Some places feel better as simply time windows and mysteries to our "young" past.

*Please view LARGE for best rural Saskatchewan detail
**Textures courtesy of various sources on Flickr
***Thank You for your generous support, visits, comments, favourites, and galleries.

[Lemsford is a hamlet in Clinworth Rural Municipality No. 230, Saskatchewan, Canada. It previously held the status of village until January 1, 1951. The hamlet is located 42 km east of the Town of Leader at the intersection of Highway 32 and Highway 649, the hamlet is also serviced by the Great Western Railway.]