Saturday, 16 May 2020: our temperature at noon is 17C (windchill 17C). Sunrise is at 5:43 am, and sunset is at 9:22 pm. Yet another sunny day. Once my car gets fixed, the weather is forecast to change to nothing but rain - of course!
This is a long weekend here, with Victoria Day on Monday 18 May. Hopefully, people who go out (pretty well) every day will stay home and let those who are working hard to keep the rest of us safe and fed, get the chance to visit popular places without too many people.
Eleven days ago, on 5 May, I had to make a car repair appointment - the first open spot was for 20 May, so still another four days to go. Need my winter tires off but, more urgently, they need to look at why my car died on 5 May, east of the city, with a new, 3-month old battery. Exactly the same thing happened back in February, when the car died south of the city (with the old battery). On 5 May, I did eventually manage to get the car started, but it definitely should not have died the way it did. I dare not drive out of the city, because if it happens again, even if I am able to get my vehicle towed back to the city, the truck drivers are not allowed to have anyone in the cab with them, because of the virus. So, I would be totally stranded, standing there, out in the middle of nowhere, which I just can't risk! Not risking even going anywhere locally, such as food shopping - just not worth all the hassle that would be involved if my car dies again. My sanity is dwindling - fast : )
Most days, I am having to post photos from my archives, as I have been basically staying home, away from everyone and everything (apart from food shopping and just a few short drives out of the city over the last couple of months). For each archive photo, I am adding the description from under a previously posted photo from the same trip.
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"Monday, 27 January 2020: our temperature this morning is -3C (windchill -3C), and the sun is shining so far. Sunrise is at 8:20 am, and sunset is at 5:18 pm.
Two days ago, on 25 January 2020, the weather was beautiful, so I made a last-minute decision to drive SE of the city to take a few winter photos. For about five hours, I drove along wet, muddy, gravelly roads which were atrocious to drive on. You can barely tell that I have a white car : )
Needless to say, I did keep my eyes open in case there was a Snowy Owl somewhere. No luck until much later, after I thought it was time to turn around and start heading for home. I suddenly spotted a beautiful bird perched on a distant fence line. Far away, but at least it wasn't sitting on a utility pole insulator. Most of the time, it either sat there with its back turned towards me, or it kept looking away from me. Luckily, I did manage a few shots that are fit to post.
On this drive, I passed various old barns and houses that I always stop and photograph when I am out that way. A few new ones added to the joy of the day.
The day ended with my getting lost in exactly the same way as I did once before. To get out of it, I had to waste a lot of time having to drive back south again in order to turn around. However, the thought of seeing the Snowy Owl kept a smile on my face."
