Although I love Alberta, the very heart of my family is in the southern counties of Ontario. We have such a history there most town lines have names associated with the family, there are houses that have been in the family for a century or so and one hundred year old ketchup (hello botulism!) my great grandmother made stored away in the cellar.

I will be in Ontario until August 8th however feel free to connect with me through my contact page.

Because I am sure you are dying of curiosity to know who these fine looking people are I will tell you. The fellow to the left with the death grip and welcoming grin is my great great great great grandfather John Ferguson (b. 1804) with his cane from Mississippi. In the middle is the Wigle home in the late 1800s, third from the left is my great great grandfather Norman Iler, to his right modeling the rocking chair Vanna White style is his wife Linnie Wigle Iler, and second from the right is her mother Mary Wright Wigle. The image on the far right is my grandfather, Murrary Ferguson, looking quite suave in his overalls.

Pictures provided by my Aunt Joan. The family genealogist extraordinaire.

Enjoy!

I am so excited to share these. So excited that when I had just finished putting together the images and this little write-up, the power went out for an hour and all I could think about was how much I needed internet access to get it up.  I met with Leah Wood and her family south of Calgary as they are making their way down to Disneyland.  Dunstan and Leah’s four kids were an absolute riot and made my job quite fun.

Enjoy!

This morning I was up at the crack of dawn to drive to Canmore for a session with recently married Les and Charlene.  It may have taken the aid of a large Tim Horton’s coffee but it was entirely worth it. The early morning mountain air, the sweet light, the sheet of dew. Oh it was just divinity.

Also, if you are wanting to contact me this weekend it may take me a couple of days to reply as I am participating in the 60km Weekend to End Women’s Cancers. If you happen to see the hundreds of walkers in Calgary either Saturday or Sunday honk your horn, break out the sprinklers on your front lawn, or smuggle one of them (aka. me) into your car to the last pit stop (okay maybe not so sure about that last one). Every word or jester of appreciation is awesome!

Here are two images from this morning – I can hardly wait to put the rest up!

I first photographed Shauntel and Matt as a couple when I was first delving into photography and you can always be sure to have a good time with them. The fun is now doubled (or squared if you prefer)! We met at Nose Hill Park (where oddly enough neither of us had been) and wandered and took in the amazing light.  Here is just a sampling of the day – the rest will be posted later this summer.

Enjoy!

You may also notice over the next few weeks some changes with the blog – it is a work in progress!

Enjoy and leave a comment!

Just as promised – myself with a camel! Okay, not quite as you may have been expecting but I had never seen a ‘yield to camels’ sign before!  Sure enough as you drove along some of the highways in the United Arab Emirates in the distance you would see a few camels scattered here and there. Little bit different than the herds of cattle you see here in Alberta!

Not being much of a shopper myself one of my favourite excursions from Dubai was going dune bashing – a type of off roading that has me even more convinced I must learn how to drive standard.

The Sheikh Zayed Mosque, located in Abu Dhabi, is the eighth largest mosque in the world and is home to the world’s largest chandelier and carpet. A spectacular piece of architecture to be certain.

With five hours left before flying home it was decided that seeing Dubai from the observation deck of the Burj Khalifa would be a good idea – words cannot describe how rewarding this last minute decision was. The Burj Khalifa currently holds the world’s tallest manmade structure record, standing at 828m – this of course also accounts for the 3m leeway of sway one can feel from the top when the wind picked up.

Thank you so much for looking! That is all for this summer’s trip images so we are now back to our regular programing so be sure to check back soon :)

I have since fallen in love with hummus and pita bread – which has led to a week long search for comparable items back home. For any Calgarians, Kalamata Grocery is the best so far however any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Enough of my chatter, here are a sampling of images from my first trip to Jordan.

Church of St. George. Madaba

Having not yet visited the Grand Canyon I can hardly put it at a relative scale but to step off a comfortable air conditioned bus into 44°C dry heat, and this view, it is hard not to have your breath taken away. The lowest nature reserve in the world.

Wadi Mujib. 410m below sea level.

Crusader Castle – Kerak. Al Karak

Oh Petra. If you ever have the chance you  must go. It is such an amazing experience despite the numerous other tourists. The variance in brilliant colours of the stones and the amazing architecture is something that will be impossible to ever forget.

Toonie sized beetle in the Siq leading to Petra. Please rest assured however I did not make this one dinner. If you aren’t sure what this is in reference to, when I was in Thailand last year I was asked what I wanted for my birthday dinner. In jest I replied, “bugs”, as you commonly see a variety of different roasted bugs in the markets. Sure enough, I got a plate of roasted crickets. I can assure you they taste significantly better then they sound.

The last turn at the end of the Siq before seeing the Treasury nearly met the expectations laid out in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade! You can’t help but wonder how amazing a view this was when Petra was a vibrant city.

Although there was no time to attempt the full day hike, there were four crazy souls (myself included of course), who thought it would be a brilliant idea to climb the second highest path in Petra. Eight hundred steps in fourty-some-degree-heat. Entirely feasible! Although I will admit I was somewhat jealous of this dog about three hundred steps up.

The view however made the short hike more than worth it.

Thank you so much for looking! Next up Dubai (and me with a camel…)

Enjoy! I hope they leave as much of a smile on your face as they did mine!

I have been keeping a marvelous part of Guatemala from all of you. Colours. Everywhere there are the most brilliant and shocking colours – whether it be in the women’s huipils, the cuisine, or the landscape. Although black and white is just so wonderful for displaying textures which are so common and intricate throughout Guatemala the colours are breathtaking. So, expect to see a few smattering of colour images within this post.

I would now like to introduce you to one of my favourite elderly couples.  In the aldea of Tuixoqel, Doña Maria Dominga Gomez Perez lives with her husband and six children.  Twenty years ago they started a pharmacy in their home to aid their community and the surrounding towns. With loans through CAUSE Canada‘s microcredit program, Doña Maria has been able to purchase a wider variety of drugs in the city of San Marcos. Before leaving, they asked for a portrait of the two of them. I can’t recall precisely what was said, but what I said in English was translated first to Spanish by the interns and then to Mam, their native language, by one of the local CAUSE representatives. These are the images that followed. I can not help by smile every time I see them.

Don’t you just wish you could just grab a cup of coffee and sit down and discuss life with these two?

Doña Maria with her pharmaceuticals.

From Comitancillo we stopped in Veinte Reales where Don Cornelio, one of the CAUSE teachers, and his family live. It required a thirty minute hike across fields, up and down hills and across several streams but it was more than worth it to see these smiling faces.

I’m going to say it. Perfection is over rated. After taking the above images I showed the two kids the images on the back of my camera and this was the reaction – blurry as anything but I love it.

Before leaving, Don Cornelio’s wife and kids insisted on giving us a giant bag of ripe plums. I can not even explain to you how delicious they were. Absolutely delectable!

Doña Reina leads a leadership class at her home in Tuilelan – the primary topic this day was community leadership and savings.

Doña Isabella, one of the ladies in the leadership class, invited us to her home at the end of class.

Below is another of my favourite elderly couples. Don Desiderio and Doña Tecla reside in Todos Santos, Huehuetenango where they are a well respected family.  Prior to the escalation of violence during the Civil War Don Desiderio was the mayor of Todos Santos for two years.  In 1991 the founder of CAUSE Canada, Paul, approached Don Desiderio at the prospect of starting a nursery to help combat the growing problem of uncontrolled deforestation.  For seventeen years Don Desiderio spearheaded the project before being made director of Institucion Mam de Desarrollo Integral (IMDI) – providing potable water, pilas (device used for laundry and washing dishes present in most Guatemalan households), agriculture knowledge and health initiatives.

Don Desiderio and Doña Tecla are now retired and dedicated to working at home growing milpa, apples, and peaches.

One night while returning to my hotel I turned around to see Bobby, the local dog, stopped under a streetlight after following me that far from the interns’ place.

That’s it! A small sampling of the experiences and sights I had the pleasure of having in Guatemala.  I could not have enjoyed myself more and hope someday (soon) to return. Thank you for taking the time to read these posts.

To end – one of my favourite images.