Special Places

  This past week was a frustrating week for me.  One in which I have felt a need to re-connect with the things that matter most, and with the things that energize me.   Perhaps John could sense this, because on Tuesday night he kindly offered to put the kids to bed before his meeting, so I could go for a drive to Waterton.  (I've been wanting to for weeks but just have not been able to find the moment.)      

I knew as soon as I started heading that way that it was going to be a beautiful evening!
This charming little family of geese were heading home (at least I think so;) just past Leavitt.   I pulled over and watched them for a few minutes.   Watching birds is really quite interesting as you can really see family dynamics play out amongst them.    So cute!

Waterton was breathtaking!   As I drove up to Red Rock I could tell that the park was on the brink of exploding with wildflowers.    I identified three new flowers that I'd never seen before, and got tonnes of pictures of these favourites that became familiar to me last year.    (Old Man's Whiskers is what I think they are called?)    

Balsamroot seemed to be the dominating plant everywhere I went.  They dotted every hillside and lined the road.  I drove past them for the most part, not really thinking of them as special, perhaps because they were so common and abundant.   At one point though I came over that famous bump along red rock road and was greeted by an entire FIELD of them.   The sun was shining in a way that illuminated them perfectly, and finally I saw them for the beautiful plants that they are.   

During this drive I saw several deer, lots of ducks and birds, and I laughed as an Elk wandered along the road ahead of me for quite a stretch.   He seemed very disoriented, though I imagine having me on his tail wasn't helping.  I tried to hang back and let him find his way to wherever it was he was going but we really just inched along, toward red rock, him and I.   I thought of taking a picture, but it would have only been a photo of an Elk's bum, so I decided to just not worry about it.  
You're welcome!;)

On Thursday I needed to go up to Calgary for an appointment.  As with most of my Calgary appointments, I had a narrow margin of time to spend enjoying the city,  but this time I chose to avoid ALL shopping malls and retail outlets, which John had better be thrilled about!!! haha.   Instead, I decided to wait out the dreaded "rush hour" by attending a session in the Calgary temple for the first time ever.    

Of course I had to change into a dress in order to go in, and after battling with bad directions, and congested traffic, and barely getting to the temple in time, I decided it would be fastest to just get changed in the van right there in the parking lot.   This actually turned out to be a not so good idea, as it was until after I'd changed that I noticed the caretaker mowing the grass just a little ways off.   Ahhhh!!!!!

So... that was awkward;)

Luckily things improved from that point on, and I truly enjoyed having the chance to take in some of the details of this particular temple.    It is gorgeous!!! 

While I was sitting in there I thinking back on the first year of John's and my marriage when we were living in Edmonton and would go to the temple every single Thursday evening.
What a fun memory that is now!

I was glad I got to go, and it was the perfect way to find balance amidst a busy day in the city!

As I look back on this past week, these two trips are really what stand out as highlights. 

  My two chances to escape to two very special places!!!